Oracle Application Express (Oracle APEX), formerly called HTML DB, is a web application development tool for Oracle databases. Using only a web browser and limited programming experience, you can develop and deploy professional applications that better, faster, and safer. Oracle application combines the quality of a personal database, productivity, ease of use and flexibility with an enterprise quality database, security, integrity, scalability, availability and built for the web. Application Express is a tool for building web-based application development environment and web-based application is also easy.

Background

Oracle Application Express can be installed in the Oracle database 9.2 or higher, and the start of Oracle 11g will be installed along with the database.

In January 2006 Oracle HTML DB was renamed “Oracle Application Express”. Version 2.1 of Apex is bundled with the free Oracle Express Edition (XE) database.

In 2007 released the Oracle Apex 3.0. This third major version features several new features, especially the PDF Printing and Flash charting. Apex 3.0.1 was released in July 2007, and this version can also be installed into the Oracle XE database.

In Spring 2008 released Oracle Apex 3.1. This includes major new features, known as the Interactive Report, which allows end users to extensively customize reports without programmer intervention, using techniques such as filtering, sorting, group-by, select the columns to be displayed, and others. Users can even save multiple versions of their custom reports. Programmer can limit the feature is activated. With this power comes the loss of the programmers control over the layout of the report.

Historically, the Application Express has gone through many name changes since its inception in 2000. A fairly comprehensive history includes name:

* Aliran

* Application Express (APEX)

One popular misconception is that the new version of Web DB. Mike Hichwa create Web DB, a successful web front-end for Oracle, but the development of Web DB began to move in the direction that deviates from the vision of Mike. When the duty to build internal web calendar, Mike enlisted the help of Joel Kallman, and began to “flow”. They are jointly developing a Web Calendar and Flows for a few years, adding features to flow when they needed them to develop the calendar. In the early days of flow, there is no front-end for it, so all changes to an application made in SQL * Plus through the inserts, updates, and deletes. In some ways APEX is an evolution of Web DB, but it’s really a fresh start with new code and no upgrade path.

One of the most popular applications developed on AskTom Application Express is an application that was developed by Thomas Kyte. Oracle’s Metalink support site has been running in Apex, but replaced by the Flash version on September 2008. Oracle’s online store also runs on APEX.