APEX 4.2.1 Patch Set Released

Today we released APEX 4.2.1 on the APEX OTN Download page.
This  is a cumulative patch set for APEX 4.2.0.
If you already have APEX 4.2.0 installed then you will need to download the patch from My Oracle Support , Patch # 14732511 {Filename will be p14732511_420_Generic.zip until Oracle Support has 4.2.1 loaded at which time the name will change to p14732511_421_Generic.zip}

There were quite a number of APEX 4.2.0 Known Issues, the majority of which have been incorporated into APEX 4.2.1.

It is important to read the APEX 4.2.1 Patch Set Notes and also the APEX 4.2 Release Notes when installing APEX 4.2.1.

... But Wait - That's Not All
On the APEX OTN Home Page I have added a new button :

This leads to a collection of pages on Installation, Upgrades, Deploying Applications, User Interface, Security, and Performance. These pages are designed to answer the questions our team often gets asked and  provide additional information to that available in the documentation.

.. Still More
On the Collateral - White Papers Page the Extending Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 using Oracle Application Express white paper has been revised to include some corrections and include OAM which is the new Oracle standard for single-sign on integration across Oracle Applications.

... And Last But Not Least
On the OTN APEX Home Page there are a number of new Case Studies. One of the best case studies I have seen for Application Express comes from APEX Consulting Partner Inoapps, who delivered a system for INEOS in Scotland: INEOS Group Cuts 80% off Application Design and Build Costs for Managing Hydrocarbon Accounting and Refinery Information.

There is also a new book listed - Oracle APEX Best Practices.

APEX 5.0 Statement of Direction

We have published an updated Statement of Direction for Application Express and plan on calling out next major release APEX 5.0.

This outlines the major features we *plan* on delivering, however, as always there is also a large number of other features we have listed in Team Development for this release. These are covered under the "Numerous functional improvements" bucket. Many of the features we are planning to deliver come from the APEX Feature Request Application.

As always our disclaimer (as listed at the bottom of the Statement of Direction page) in relation to such forward looking statements applies.

Looks like our team is going to busy ... again!!!

Application Express 4.2 Goes Production

New release and new look for our http://apex.oracle.com page

Also our APEX OTN Page(s) at http://otn.oracle.com/apex

Of course the most active page will be the updated Downloads page on OTN where you can download Release 4.2. But don't forget to look at all of the other great content we've been working on.
There is still some work to do such as updating the latest Presentations so don't be a stranger!

Enjoy building Mobile Applications declarativiely and playing with all the other great features we have introduced or enhanced.

Application Express 4.2 Early Adopter 1

Following on from Joel's post this morning (http://t.co/HW9dflZC) the first Early Adopter for APEX 4.2 is now available @ https://apexea.oracle.com.

A list of Feature Descriptions and Known Issues is also available @ http://apex.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p=38997:1:0

One of the main features we are introducing in APEX 4.2 are the Packaged Applications.

Instead of having to download them from OTN and install them they are now part of the APEX installation.
Simply go to the Application Builder and click on one of the many packaged applications.

There are two main types of applications, Productivity Applications and Sample Applications. 
The productivity applications are locked by default and in their locked state are fully supported. However, these applications can also be unlocked to allow developers to customize the application or simply look at how it was made.
The sample applications are unlocked by default. You can also download the sample applications for installation into an APEX 4.1 environment from OTN: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/apex/application-express/packaged-apps-090453.html.

If you have any Feature Requests then we have made one of the new productivity applications {Community Requests} available for the APEX community to use: https://apex.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p=55447:1

Please provide feedback from within the EA Application Builder.

Regards,
David

New Oracle By Examples Now Available

For sometime Kris Rice and I have talked about wanting to do a "Soup-to-Nuts" series of labs. With many thanks to Marcie Young from Curriculum Development, such a series now exists on the Oracle Learning Library (OLL) : http://apex.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p=44785:24:0::NO::P24_CONTENT_ID,P24_PREV_PAGE:6265,1

Marcie is also the one responsible for building the whole OLL site in APEX and even developing the Mobile version of the site.

The workshop series includes the following labs:

• Data Modeler
• SQL Developer
• APEX (x2)

These are designed to be taken as a complete unit where you start with the Data Modeler to get your data structures correct, then use SQL Developer to work further on database objects, before using Application Express to build an application on top. I really appreciate that the tables you work on with the first lab are the same tables you build an application on top of in the APEX labs. These labs should prove very useful for anybody who needs to meet some new business requirements. 

I have always been a huge proponent of modelling since my days using Oracle CASE and then Oracle Designer. If you don't have a well designed base (tables, etc) then whatever applications you build on top will be inherently harder to build and less performant. Too many young developers consider the data structures one of the least important aspects of designing a computer solution.  My take is the better you design the database structures the easier your application development will be so spend the time upfront and reap the rewards later.