APEX AJAX Basics

Introduction


I'll start of by saying this post isn't about achieving any particular task via AJAX - there are plenty of examples out there already - but how to perform AJAX with Application Express. There seems to be no official documentation on the matter, so wanted to do a general overview on how to achieve AJAX techniques. Of course, it is also worth mentioning, writing your own AJAX functions is not so necessary anymore, with the addition of Dynamic Actions in APEX 4. Never the less, it is still worth knowing.

The most common technique for AJAX in Application Express is to have PL/SQL code in an on demand process, and then calling that process via Javascript at run time. Application Express provides a helper function for calling an on demand process, and that is htmldb_Get (and additionally, apex.ajax.ondemand which is effectively a wrapper object for htmldb_Get object). With the release of APEX 4, came the jQuery library included - so another option for using AJAX is to use the jQuery AJAX API.

htmldb_Get

This function accepts 7 parameters: object, flow, req, page, instance, process, queryString - the most important being the req parameter (3rd one). Detailed explanation:

object – This is the variable that the ouput value of the process will be returned into. It is not important to set this, because the return value of the get function for the object returns this value. i.e. You could either pass a variable into the first parameter, or assign it to the return of the function call.

flow – This is the flowId of the page, which can be accessed via: $v(‘pFlowId’). It is not important to set this, as the object will set the value if it is not set
req – This is probably the most important parameter. This will determine what on demand process will be executed. As you know (or may not) to run an on demand application process, you can do so by placing in the request section of the URL, the text: APPLICATION_PROCESS=processName where processName is the name you gave your application process.
page – Not important as an on demand process isn’t tied to any particular page, however, if it is an authenticated page id, the user must be authenticated, else it has to be a public page.
instance – the htmldb_Get object will again fetch this from the page, so it is not necessary to be set
proc – used for calling a procedure
queryString – to add extra data to the end of the URL

Most of the attributes explanations were just paraphrased from Carls sample application, so please see that for a more detailed explanation – http://htmldb.oracle.com/pls/otn/f?p=11933:63

Most of the parameters are irrelevant, as default values are populated in the htmldb_Get object. So all you really need to call when running an on demand process is:


var get = new htmldb_Get(null, null, 'APPLICATION_PROCESS=processName');
//add some parameters to use in your on demand process
//session
get.add('SESSION_ITEM','SESSION_VALUE');
//or temporary
get.addParam('x01', 'x01_value');
var gReturn = get.get();

Any output generated (with htp.p or htp.prn) in the on demand process will be returned from the get() function of the htmldb_Get object. In the above snippet, returned into the variable gReturn.

Since it is an on demand process, which is PL/SQL, you can use regular session state variables just like in any other PL/SQL process. However, more than likely, you want to pass some value that does not yet have some submitted value. So, you can use one of the available functions of the htmldb_Get object:
  • addParam – Where the 1st parameter is a temporary item that you want to set the value of, and the 2nd parameter is the value of said item. There are 10 temporary items that you are able to set, and they are x01 to x10. Then in your PL/SQL process, you can refer to this item with: apex_application.g_x01 (assuming you set the parameter x01).
  • add – Where the 1st parameter is the session item that you want to set the value of, and the 2nd parameter is the value of said item. I personally think it better to create a temporary application item for use in your on demand process as it will make your code that much more readable. But whatever pleases you :-). Then you just refer to this item as per usual. i.e. bind syntax or with the v/nv functions.
There is also another object you can use, which is a wrapper for htmldb_Get – apex.ajax.ondemand – where you just need to pass in the name of the on demand process. i.e:

var aReq = new apex.ajax.ondemand('processName', function(){ //todo: success. 
 });
aReq._get();



Where the 2nd parameter is the return function, which you can program your function to behave based on the XmlHttpRequest objects’ ready state – which is referred to with the variable p. i.e. if (p.readyState == 4) { var response = p.responseText; }


jQuery

Since APEX 4 comes bundled with jQuery now, another possibility is to make use of the jQuery AJAX API that is available to you. See: http://api.jquery.com/category/ajax/

I tend to just use the jQuery post function, as it effectively wraps up the ajax function setting the properties used for a POST request.

As previously mentioned, when you specify ‘APPLICATION_PROCESS=processName’ in the request portion of the URL, that will result in that on demand process being executed. With that in mind, there are two URLs that you can post to.



  • The application URL with the request portion set accordingly
  • Post to wwv_flow.show and set the data for: p_request, p_instance (the session), p_flow_id (application number), p_flow_step_id (page number) and any session items you want to set the value of, with a combination of p_arg_names (session item) and p_arg_values (item value)
Passing parameters is a little more complicated using jQuery, as there are no add functions to specify a session item to set the value of. If using the standard URL for your request, you can just set session items as per normal, using the standard URL syntax. If however you want to set session items using the wwv_flow.show URL, you need to add a parameter of p_arg_names, which represents the session item, and p_arg_values, which represents the session value. For multiple items, you would make sure they are added in the correct order so that argument names and values are not mixed up. You can also add the temporary items (x01-x10) as per normal, i.e just pass them as an additional parameter.

Examples

Pass the standard URL to run the on demand process getTest, setting a session state item TEST_ITEM, alerting of the returned output:

$.post("f?p=106:2:3500881246167611:APPLICATION_PROCESS=getTest:::TEST_ITEM:test_input", function(data){alert(data);});


Pass the wwv_flow.show URL to run the on demand process getTest, setting a session state item TEST_ITEM, alerting of the returned output

$.post('wwv_flow.show', 
  {"p_request" : "APPLICATION_PROCESS=getTest", 
  "p_flow_id" :  $v('pFlowId'), 
  "p_flow_step_id" : $v('pFlowStepId'), 
  "p_instance": $v('pInstance'), 
  "p_arg_names" : "TEST_ITEM", 
  "p_arg_values" : "test_input"}, 
  function success(data) { 
   alert(data); 
  });


Pass the wwv_flow.show URL to run the on demand process getTest, setting a session state item TEST_ITEM, and setting the temporary item x01, alerting of the returned output:

$.post('wwv_flow.show', 
  {"p_request" : "APPLICATION_PROCESS=insertDum", 
  "p_flow_id" :  $v('pFlowId'), 
  "p_flow_step_id" : $v('pFlowStepId'), 
  "p_instance": $v('pInstance'), 
  "p_arg_names" : "TEST_ITEM", 
  "p_arg_values" : "test_input", 
  "x01" : "x01_value"}, 
  function success(data) { 
   alert(data); 
  });

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