About the Create Application Wizard

Creating an Application Based on Tables or Queries

You can create an application based on a table, query, or drill-down query by selecting Create Application in the Create Application Wizard.

To create an application based on a table, query, or drill-down query:

1. On the Database Home Page, click the Application Builder icon.

2. Click the Create button.

3. Select Create Application and click Next.

4. Enter the basic application details and click Next:

   1. Name - Enter a name to identify the application.

   2. Application - Enter an unique integer value to identify the application.

   3. Create Application - Select a creation method:

      • From scratch enables you to add pages manually

      • Based on existing application design model enables you to copy page definitions from a previous application model.

        Note that you will still have to define all other application attributes, or you can choose to copy some attributes using by choosing to copy shared components from another application (See step 7 and "About Application Models and User Interface Defaults").

   4. Schema - Your application will obtain its privileges by parsing all SQL as a specific database schema. Identify the database schema owner.

   Next, add pages to your application.

5. Under Add Pages:

   1. Select the type of page you want to add. Options include:

      • Blank creates a page with no built-in functionality.

      • Report creates a page the contains the formatted result of a SQL query. You can choose to build a report based on a table you select, or based on a custom SQL SELECT statement or a PL/SQL function returning a SQL SELECT statement that you provide.

      • Form creates a form to update a single row in a database table.

      • Tabular Form creates a form to perform update, insert, and delete operations on multiple rows in a database table.

      • Report and Form builds a two page report and form combination. On the first page, users select a row to update. On the second page users can add a new record or update or delete an existing record.

      Action displays the currently selected page type. For each selection, the wizard prompts you for a variety of different types of information.

      Report pages include the Include Analysis Pages check box. Select this option and follow the wizard prompts to extend a simple report or a report on a form to include multiple drill-down reports and charts.

   2. Click Add Page.

      The page (or pages) appear at the top of the page. To delete a page, click Delete icon.

   3. Repeat the previous steps until all pages have been added.

   4. Click Next.

6. Determine whether to include tabs in your application and click Next.

7. Determine whether to import shared components from another application. Shared components are common elements that can display or be applied on any page within an application.

   To include shared components:

   1. From Copy Shared Components from Another Application, select Yes.

   2. From Copy from Application, select the application from which you want to import shared components.

   3. From Select Components to Import, select the components to import.

   4. Click Next.

8. Select the following authentication and globalization preferences:

   1. Default Authentication Scheme - Identify an authentication scheme you would like to use by default.

      Authentication is the process of establishing users' identities before they can access an application. See "Establishing User Identity Through Authentication".

   2. Language - Select the primary language for this application.

      This attribute identifies the language in which an application is developed. This language is the base language from which all translations are made.

   3. User Language Preference Derived From - Specifies how the engine determines the application language. The application primary language can be static (that is, derived from the Web browser language) or determined from a user preference or item. The database language setting determines date display and sorting characteristics.

      You can alter the Language and User Language Preference Derived From attributes later on Edit Globablization attributes page. See "Configuring Globalization Attributes".

   4. Click Next.

9. Select a theme and click Next.

   Themes are collections of templates that can be used to define the layout and style of an entire application. See "Managing Themes".

10. Confirm your selections. To return to a previous wizard page, click Previous. To accept your selections, click Finish.

About Application Models and User Interface Defaults

The Create Application Wizard is designed with the assumption that the developer may run it multiple times. To facilitate this iterative approach to application development, every time you run the wizard it saves the page definitions to an application model.

Consider the following example. You create a new application by running the Create Application Wizard. After viewing the application, you realize it is not quite what you wanted. Instead of altering it, you can run the wizard again and select an application model. By selecting an existing application model when you rerun the wizard, you can quickly improve your application with minimal time and effort.

Another way to increase your productivity when creating an application is to specify user interface defaults. User interface defaults are metadata that enable you to assign default user interface properties to a table, column, or view within a specified schema.

Leveraging Application Models and User Interface Defaults

You can increase your productivity when creating applications by leveraging application models and user interface defaults. Consider the following scenario:

1. Create an application based on tables or views by running the Create Application Wizard.

2. Run the generated application. Note any functional deficiencies.

3. Evaluate whether to create or edit user interface defaults.

   For example, you can use user interface defaults to control how form field or report labels display. You can also utilize user interface defaults to display specific columns or have columns display in an alternate order.

4. Navigate to the Application home page and create a new application by clicking Create.

5. Select Create Application.

6. When prompted to enter application details, specify the following:

   1. Name - Enter a name to identify the application.

   2. Application - Enter an unique integer value to identify the application, or accept the default.

   3. Create Application - Select Based on existing application design model.

7. Select an application model.

   Note the pages you previously created already appear.

8. Add pages, edit pages, or remove pages.

9. Complete the wizard.

10. Repeat steps 2 through 9 until the application meets your functional requirements.