Web 2.0 is one of those hard to define terms that can mean different things to different people at different times. To many, Web 2.0 defines a class of popular Internet applications that are technically innovative and frequently a cultural phenomenon. For Internet users, Web 2.0 is the second generation web that emphasizes collaboration, participation, and interactivity. For web application developers, Web 2.0 is also synonymous with technologies that underpin modern, dynamic, rich client web applications. These technologies include AJAX, PPR, DHTML, Flash, and JavaScript.
Another important attribute of Web 2.0 is it also implies the ability to scale. This means that if you engineer a dynamic web site, and if it becomes popular, it is advantageous to have an architecture that can deliver unprecedented scalability. Popular web sites can generate millions of dynamic page views per hour. Even if you're just building an Intranet application and not attempting to compete with Ebay, Amazon and Yahoo, the ability for your users to run applications by simply pointing their browser to a URL can, and hopefully will, result in significant numbers of page views.
Oracle Application Express is designed to create Web 2.0 applications. More specifically, it is designed to take much of the complexity out of building scalable, dynamic applications by providing a declarative database-centric framework. Some Web 2.0 features, such as partial page refresh (PPR), Flash, and many JavaScript enabled controls, are simply built in. Other, more custom capabilities, are easily facilitated using Oracle Application Express.
Below are some examples that illustrate the Web 2.0 features and capabilities of Oracle Application Express.
PPR Reporting and Charting
Partial Page pagination of reports is provided by templates included in each theme. These can be easily extended to customer specific themes. To test partial page refresh, simply create any report page that returns enough rows to be paginated. Then, paginate the report and notice that only the report changes, the other components of the page are not refreshed.
Auto Updating Reports and Charts
Click to see an example of Auto Updating Reports.
AJAX Region Pull
You can dynamically generate a report based on a select list.
Click to see an example of AJAX Report Filters.
Reports with AJAX based Detail Frames
This example shows how you can dynamically show report row detail inline with a report.
Click to see an example of Reports with AJAX based Detail Frames.
AJAX-Based Cascading Select Lists
This example shows how one select list on a page can drive the values of another select list on the same page, without doing a full page refresh. Click to see an example of AJAX-Based Cascading Select Lists.
Integrate your favorite AJAX/DHTML library
With Application Express, you have the ability to use any server agnostic AJAX/DHTML library. For example, dojo, jquery, prototype, script.aculo.us.
On Demand Processes
Oracle Application Express supports an On Demand Process component that can be invoked using AJAX. This is a built in framework for client-side communication (which respects security) between a rendered page and Application Process On Demand or Application Pages. It has the ability to access current session state or set session state of items. This is what implements most every example you see on this page.
Dynamic Menus
The Document Library packaged application is a great illustration of providing dynamic pull down menus. Each pull down menu uses AJAX controls to determine a user's domain of actions. To download the document library application, visit the Packaged Application page.
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