19.2.1 Understanding Plug-ins
Learn about plug-ins and how to find examples.
- About Plug-ins
A plug-in is an extension to the built-in types available APEX. - About Template Component Type Plug-ins
Template Components are reusable UI components that work in Page Designer like any plug-in. - Example Plug-ins
View plug-in examples on apex.world and the Oracle APEX GitHub repository.
Parent topic: Implementing Plug-ins
19.2.1.1 About Plug-ins
A plug-in is an extension to the built-in types available APEX.
Create plug-ins for declarative use of new item, region, process and dynamic action types in your application.
APEX supports a set group of authentication scheme, authorization scheme, item, region, dynamic action, and process types. Plug-ins offer a means of augmenting these built-in types by declaratively creating and using new types in your application. Because plug-ins are designed for reuse, developers can export and import them to other workspaces and also share them with the Oracle APEX Plug-in community by using the Plug-in Repository.
The process of implementing a plug-in involves the following steps:
- Create a plug-in or import a plug-in into your application workspace.
- Edit or create an authorization scheme, item, region, process, or dynamic action type to use the plug-in.
- Run your application to test the plug-in.
Parent topic: Understanding Plug-ins
19.2.1.2 About Template Component Type Plug-ins
Template Components are reusable UI components that work in Page Designer like any plug-in.
About Template Components
Template Components enable developers to create templates with placeholders, including action positions and action templates. APEX exposes the placeholders in the templates as custom plug-in attributes.
Use Template Components to add new region types to APEX which are not based on PL/SQL. Template Components support template directives, Actions and Menu buttons with row-level conditions, and both CSS and JS files.
About Creating Template Components
To create a Template Component, create a new plug-in and specify the Type as Template Component. Under Templates, enter markup for the template. You specify how the plug-in displays and where it can be used by configuring the Available as attribute:
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Multiple (Report) - Use the Template Component for a region to show multiple rows with pagination options.
-
Single (Partial) - Use the Template Component for an interactive report column or for a region to show a single row.
Tip:
Template Component Type plug-in include support for template directives. To learn more, see Using Template Directives.Custom Attributes
To reference the Static IDs, edit the plug-in and add Custom Attributes
with a Scope of Component and use the
#STATIC_ID#
placeholder syntax. You can quickly synchronize all
placeholders as Custom Attributes using clicking the Synchronize from
Templates button on the plug-in Edit page. These Custom Attributes
are used by Page Designer to assign values to placeholders.
Action Positions and Action Templates
Editing a plug-in and adding Actions enables end users to interact with the Template Component. The Action Template defines if the template is a simple Button or displays a Menu button. The Action Position defines the position of the button within the template. You specify in Page Designer which action to perform on a click of the button.
Nested Templates
Oracle APEX enables you to embed another Template Component within a current Template
Component. Nesting Template Components is a way to break templates into smaller
reusable components. To nest a Template Component use the use the
{with/}
and {apply/}
syntax of template
directives.
Viewing Template Component Examples
The Universal Theme includes several Template Component Type plug-ins:
- Comments - Based on the classic report Comments template. Displays user comments and status updates declaratively using custom region attributes. Supports avatars.
- Content Row - Based on the classic report Content Row template. Displays region content and layout as a content row using custom region attributes. Supports avatars and badges.
- Media List - Based on the classic report Media List template. Displays region content and layout as a media list using custom region attributes. Supports avatars and badges.
- Timeline - Based on the classic report Timeline template. Displays a series of events by declaratively setting custom region attributes.
To view Template Component Type plug-ins available in the go to Shared Components, Templates, and then sort by Type, Template Component.
19.2.1.3 Example Plug-ins
View plug-in examples on apex.world and the Oracle APEX GitHub repository.
You can view plug-in implementation examples in the following locations:
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Explore APEX World Plug-ins.
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View Sample Plug-in in the Oracle APEX GitHub repository:
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Under Branches, select a release, and then Plug-ins.
Parent topic: Understanding Plug-ins