Preface

Oracle Application Express API Reference describes the Application Programming Interfaces, referred to as APIs, available when programming in the Oracle Application Express environment.

Topic Overview

Title	Description
APEX_UTIL	Use the `APEX_UTIL` package to get and set session state, get files, check authorizations for users, reset different states for users, and also to get and set preferences for users.
APEX_MAIL	Use the `APEX_MAIL` package to send an email from an Oracle Application Express application.
APEX_ITEM	Use the `APEX_ITEM` package to create form elements dynamically based on a SQL query instead of creating individual items page by page.
APEX_APPLICATION	Use the `APEX_APPLICATION` package to take advantage of a number of global variables.
APEX_CUSTOM_AUTH	Use the `APEX_CUSTOM_AUTH` package to perform various operations related to authentication and session management.
APEX_LDAP	Use `APEX_LDAP` to perform various operations related to Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) authentication.
APEX_INSTANCE_ADMIN	Use the `APEX_INSTANCE_ADMIN` package to get and set email settings, wallet settings, report printing settings and to manage schema to workspace mappings.
APEX_UI_DEFAULT_UPDATE	Use the `APEX_UI_DEFAULT_UPDATE` package to set the user interface defaults associated with a table within a schema. The package must be called from within the schema that owns the table you are updating.
JavaScript APIs	Use these JavaScript functions and objects to provide client-side functionality, such as showing and hiding page elements, or making XML HTTP Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) requests.

Note:

In release 2.2, Oracle Application Express APIs were renamed using the prefix APEX_. Note that API's using the previous prefix HTMLDB_ are still supported to provide backward compatibility. As a best practice, however, use the new API names for new applications unless you plan to run them in an earlier version of Oracle Application Express.

Audience

Oracle Application Express API Reference is intended for application developers who are building database-centric Web applications using Oracle Application Express. The guide describes the APIs available when programming in the Oracle Application Express environment.

To use this guide, you need to have a general understanding of relational database concepts as well as an understanding of the operating system environment under which you are running Oracle Application Express.

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Conventions

Convention	Meaning
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