We want Apex 5.1!
Disclaimer: this in an early adopter version. I still want to add some pictures.
Release date
Of cause no official word about it yet.
From all the demos I’ve seen, especially from Patrick Wolf about Interactive Grid, and from Shakeeb about Universal Theme, the Apex team is pretty far.
However it seems there are still some minor layout bugs to fix before they will even to consider to start early adopter version one. Mike Hichwa commented that there will be probably two early adopter version, EA1 and EA2. So if EA1 would start in May or June and if we estimate that each early adopter phase will at least stretch over one to two months, then the release would be in August the earliest or more realistically October/September. Which would just be in time for Oracle Open World. However I believe the Apex team prefers to bring a version to EA1, that is almost free of those small design bugs that still cause problems. So they might take a couple more months to put the details in place then only then will start with the EA1. Mike also mentioned that because Apex did grow so much, they now need more time to thoroughly test all the elements and areas (Team Dev, Page Designer, etc.) than before.
If I would guess, then I would bet on the very end of the year for the final release date. Everything before that will be a bonus for us.
Interactive Grid
Interactive grids will be awesome! Patrick demonstrated them, and it seems they are almost complete. Here are just some of the many features that were demonstrated or mentioned.
feature list (incomplete)
- row based read only condition
= set fields to read only depending on the row value of another field. -
left fixed columns
= freeze the left side of a grid, similar to what is already possible with the headers of an interactive report. Of cause the grid headers can be frozen at the same time too. -
partial refresh by scroll down
= scroll down and the next set of data is loaded. the loading indicator shows that there is an ajax call going on
=> this can potentially eliminate the need for pagination -
validation over master detail grids
= edit the master record, edit the detail record, edit a different master records, save when your are ready.
=> I remember last years Apex connect where we discussed this together with Marc Sewtz at the hotel bar. How they implemented it is just the best possible way I can think of for this complex matter. -
revert changes
= undo everything you did in that specific tabular form -
group with hide/show groups
= group your report or grid, then click on the group to collapse and expand it.
=> really nice, since the user can set this up -
better sort columns display
= more than one column can be clicked and sorted and there is a small indicator (a tiny number) that gives a clue about the column sort order -
differentiation in action menu between “data actions” / “format actions”
= Data actions are actions that add data, like aggregations and computations. Format actions just present the data in a better way.
Universal Theme
feature list (incomplete)
- new red style
- styles can be set or choosen by the user
- Live Template options
=> Also for themes that were not migrated to UT! - Universal Theme Application
Universal Theme Sample Application
Tools and Utilities : Helps to build plugging to reference classes from theme roller
Design PatternsComponents
=> just “Cards” regardless if there are Report templates or List templates - Icons (+600)
Font Apex - 100+ improvements
ORDS
- better configuration
svenweller 