15.2 Managing Page-Level Items in Page Designer

15.2.2.1 Creating a Page-Level Item from the Rendering Tree

To create a page-level item from the Rendering tree:

1. View the page to contain the item in Page Designer. See "Viewing a Page in Page Designer."

2. If necessary, create a region to contain the item. See "About Regions."

3. In the Rendering tree, right-click the region to contain the item and select Create Page Item.

   The Property Editor - Page Items appears.

   The Messages tab displays a red or yellow badge to identify messages you need to address. Selecting a message displays the associated attribute in the Property Editor. You must address red error message before you can save.

4. View all attributes in the Property Editor. Select Show All from the Property Editor Menu.

5. Edit the appropriate attributes in the Property Editor.

   Tip:

   To learn more about an attribute, select the attribute in the Property Editor and click the Help tab in the center pane.

6. Click Save.

15.2.2.2 Adding a Page-Level Item from the Gallery

To create a page-level item by adding if from the Gallery:

1. View the page to contain the item in Page Designer. See "Viewing a Page in Page Designer."

2. If necessary, create a region to contain the item. See "About Regions."

3. In the Gallery, click the Items tab.

   Passing the cursor over an item displays a tooltip that describes it.

4. Select an item and drag it to the appropriate location in Grid Layout.

   Tip:

   You also right-click the item, click Add To, and select the appropriate location.

   The Property Editor - Page Items appears.

   The Messages tab displays a red or yellow badge to identify messages you need to address. Selecting a message displays the associated attribute in the Property Editor. You must address red error message before you can save.

5. View all attributes in the Property Editor. Select Show All from the Property Editor Menu.

6. Edit the appropriate attributes in the Property Editor.

   Tip:

   To learn more about an attribute, select the attribute in the Property Editor and click the Help tab in the center pane.

7. Click Save.

15.2.2.3 Creating a Static List of Values

One way to create a static list of values is to edit an item's List of Values definition. Note that this type of list of values is not reusable. As a best practice, create a list of values as a shared component whenever possible.

To create a static list of values:

1. View the page in Page Designer. See "Viewing a Page in Page Designer."

2. Create a new item. See "Creating a Page-Level Item from the Rendering Tree" and "Adding a Page-Level Item from the Gallery."

3. View all attributes in the Property Editor. Select Show All from the Property Editor Menu.

4. Edit the appropriate attributes in the Property Editor.

   Tip:

   To learn more about an attribute, select the attribute in the Property Editor and click the Help tab in the center pane.

5. Under Identification:

   1. Name - Enter a name. See "About Item Naming Conventions."

   2. Type - Select Select List.

6. Under List of Values:

   1. Type - Select Static Values.

   2. Static Values - Enter the text for this static list of values using the following syntax:

      STATIC[2]:Display Value[;Return Value],Display Value[;Return Value]
      

      Where:

      • The first keyword may be STATIC or STATIC2.

        If the text starts with STATIC:, the list values displays alphabetically. Alternatively, if the text starts with STATIC2:, the list values displays in the same order they are specified in the text.

      • A semicolon separates the display value from the return value in each entry.

      • Return Value is optional. If a Return Value is not included, the return value equals the display value.

7. Click Save.

8. Click Save and Run to view the page.

   The examples that follow demonstrate syntax for three different static LOVs.

STATIC:Cow,Dog,Cat,Lion

STATIC2:10,15,20,25,50,100,200,500,1000,10000

STATIC:Yes;Y,No;N

15.2.2.4 Creating a Cascading List of Values

By creating a cascading list of values (LOV), one item on a page determines the list of values for another item. Application Builder includes cascading LOV support for the following item types: Select List, Shuttle, Checkbox, Radio Group, Popup LOV, and List Manager.

You create a cascading LOV by creating two items. To populate the second item, you specify a Cascading LOV Parent Item when running the Create Item Wizard or by editing the item's attributes.

The following example demonstrates how to create two related select lists where the value of the first list populates the second.

To create a cascading list of values:

1. Create the first item and name it P1_DEPTNO:

   1. Create a select list item.

   2. For Identification, Type, select Select List.

   3. For Identification:

      • Name - Enter:

        P1_DEPTNO
        

      • Type - Select Select List.

   4. For Label:

      • Label - Enter:

        Department
        

   5. For List of Values:

      • Type - Select SQL Query.

      • For SQL Query, enter:

        SELECT dname as d,
               deptno as r
          FROM dept
         ORDER BY dname
        

      • Display Null Value - Select Yes.

      • Null Display Value - Enter - Select:

        - Select Department -
        

   6. Accept the remaining defaults.

   7. Click Save.

2. Create the second item named P1_EMPNO:

   1. Create a select list item.

   2. For Identification, Type, select Select List.

   3. For Identification:

      • Name - Enter:

        P1_EMPNO
        

      • Type - Select Select List.

   4. For Label:

      • Label - Enter:

        Employee
        

   5. For List of Values:

      • Type - Select SQL Query.

      • For SQL Query, enter:

        SELECT ename as d,
               empno as r
          FROM emp
         WHERE deptno = :P1_DEPTNO
         ORDER BY ename
        

      • Display Null Value - Select Yes.

      • Null Display Value - Enter - Select:

        - Select Employee -
        

   6. Accept the remaining defaults.

   7. Click Save.

Two select lists appear. Making a selection in the Department select list, determines which individuals display in the Employees select list.

15.2.3.1 Editing Page Item Attributes in the Property Editor

To edit item attributes in the Property Editor:

1. View the page in Page Designer. See "Viewing Page-Level Items in Page Designer."

   Page Designer appears.

2. In either the Rendering tree or Grid Layout, select the item to edit.

   The Property Editor changes to display Property Editor - Page Item.

3. View all attributes in the Property Editor. Select Show All from the Property Editor Menu.

4. Edit the appropriate attributes.

   To learn more about a specific attribute on a page, click the attribute label. See "Viewing Field-Level Help."

15.2.3.2 Defining Default Values

You define default values for an item using the attributes under Default on the Edit Page Item page. The default value is used when the item's value is not derived from session state and when the source value is NULL.

To define a default value for an item:

1. View the item attributes in the Property Editor. See "Editing Page Item Attributes in the Property Editor."

2. View all attributes in the Property Editor. Select Show All from the Property Editor Menu.

3. Locate and expand Default.

4. Under Default:

   1. Select a Default Type:

      • Static Value

      • PL/SQL Expression

      • PL/SQL Function Body

   2. In the field provided, enter a value or code as appropriate.

   Tip:

   To learn more about an attribute, select the attribute in the Property Editor and click the Help tab in the center pane.

5. Click Save.

15.2.3.3 Configuring Page Item Security

To configure page item security:

1. View the item attributes in the Property Editor. See "Editing Page Item Attributes in the Property Editor."

2. View all attributes in the Property Editor. Select Show All from the Property Editor Menu.

3. Locate and expand Security.

4. Configure the Security attributes described in Table 15-2.

   Table 15-2 Property Editor - Page Item, Security

   Attribute	Description
   Authorization Scheme	Select an authorization scheme which must evaluate to TRUE in order for this component to be rendered or otherwise processed. See Also: "Providing Security Through Authorization"
   Session State Protection	Select a Session State Protection level. Options include: Unrestricted - The item may be set by passing the item in a URL or in a form. No checksum is required in the URL. Restricted: May not be set from browser - The item may not be altered using the URL or POSTDATA. Select this option to restrict the way that the item value can be set to internal processes, computations, and so on. This attribute only applies to items that cannot be used as data entry items and is always observed, even if Session State Protection is disabled. Use this attribute for application items or for page items having the following Display As types: Display Only (Save State=No) and Text Field (Disabled, does not save state). If Session State Protection is enabled, these additional attributes may be applied to items: Checksum Required: Application Level - The item may be set by passing the item in a URL if a checksum is also provided that is specific to the workspace and application. Checksum Required: User Level - The item may be set by passing the item in a URL if a checksum is also provided that is specific to the workspace, application, and user. Checksum Required: Session Level - The item may be set by passing the item in a URL if a checksum is also provided that is specific to the current session. See Also: "Understanding Session State Protection"
   Store value encrypted in session state	Specify whether to encrypt this item when stored in session state. If the contents of an item contain sensitive data, then you should encrypt the value when it is stored in the Application Express session state management tables. Otherwise, anyone with rights to read the Application Express meta data tables could potentially write a query to extract this sensitive data. Values up to 4000 bytes in length can be encrypted. Attempts to encrypt values longer than 4000 bytes produce an error message.
   Escape Special Characters	This attribute only displays with some item types. Select Yes to prevent Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks. Select No if you want that HTML tags which are stored in the page item or in the entries of a list of value are actually rendered. See Also: "Understanding Cross-Site Scripting Protection"
   Restricted Characters	Use this attribute to restrict the characters that can be saved in session state. Oracle Application Express displays an error message if a user tries to save data which does not conform to the selected character restriction. Available options include: All Characters Allowed No restriction applies. Whitelist for a-Z, 0-9 and space Only allow characters a-z, A-Z, 0-9, and space. Blacklist HTML command characters (<>"). Do not allow reserved HTML characters Blacklist &<>"/;,*|=% and --: Do not allow &, <, >, ", /, ;, ",", *, |, =, % and "--" (PL/SQL comment). Blacklist &<>"/;,*|=% or -- and new line Do not allow &, <, >, ", /, ;, ",", *, |, =, %, "--", and new line characters See Also: "Understanding Cross-Site Scripting Protection"

   
   

15.2.3.4 Creating a Quick Pick Selection

If the item type supports quick pick selection, use the Quick Picks attributes to define up to ten selections that display under a give item. Clicking on a quick pick sets the value of item. The following example shows quick picks for 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%.

To create a quick pick:

1. View the item attributes in the Property Editor. See "Editing Page Item Attributes in the Property Editor."

2. View all attributes in the Property Editor. Select Show All from the Property Editor Menu.

   Tip:

   TTo learn more about an attribute, select the attribute in the Property Editor and click the Help tab in the center pane.

3. Under Quick Picks:

   1. Show Quick Picks - Select Yes.

   2. Link Attributes - Enter HTML attributes that are associated with the display of each Quick Pick link.

   3. Label X - Enter the label for the each Quick Pick. This label is the text the end user of the application sees.

   4. Value X - Enter the value associated with each Quick Pick. This value replaces the existing item value when the user clicks the quick pick.

4. Click Save.

15.2.3.5 Displaying Conditional Page Items

To display a conditional item:

1. View the item attributes in the Property Editor. See "Editing Page Item Attributes in the Property Editor."

2. View all attributes in the Property Editor. Select Show All from the Property Editor Menu.

   Tip:

   To learn more about an attribute, select the attribute in the Property Editor and click the Help tab in the center pane.

3. Expand Condition. Select a condition type and enter appropriate information in the field provided.

4. Click Save.

15.2.3.6 Displaying Read Only Page Items

To display a read-only item:

1. View the item attributes in the Property Editor. See "Editing Page Item Attributes in the Property Editor."

2. View all attributes in the Property Editor. Select Show All from the Property Editor Menu.

   Tip:

   To learn more about an attribute, select the attribute in the Property Editor and click the Help tab in the center pane.

3. Edit the appropriate attributes in the Property Editor.

4. Expand Read Only. Select a Read Only type and enter appropriate information in the field provided.

5. Click Save.

15.2.3.7 Viewing Item Utilities

The Utilities page includes Grid Edit pages and reports that enable you to edit items on multiple pages within a selected application.

To access the Utilities page:

1. Navigate to the appropriate application.

2. Click Utilities.

3. From Page Specific Utilities region, click Item Utilities.

4. Select one of the following reports:

   • Grid Edit of all Item Labels

   • Grid Edit of all Item Help Text

   • Item Help Subscriptions

   • All Page Items

   • Conditional Items