Step 6: Generate the Oracle Application Express Application

After validating and updating objects, you now need to generate the application in Oracle Application Express. You can create an application based on valid forms and reports, or a maintenance application based on valid tables and views.

When creating an application, a home page is defined by default. You have the option to create additional blank pages so that you can introduce further navigation possibilities.

You can then choose which user interface theme your application should be based on. By default, the application uses one level of tabs.

As a shortcut, you can also set some application defaults. These defaults are used whenever you create new applications.

Setting Up Application Defaults

To set up application defaults (optional):

On the right side of the project page, click Generate Application Defaults in the Tasks list.
Select the options you want to use as defaults.

For information, click Help or click the item label. Clicking the item label opens a separate window describing the item and its options.
Click Apply Changes.

The project page appears.

Generating Applications

To generate either type of application:

On the right side of the project page, click one of the following in the Tasks list:
- Generate Application - This option generates an application based on the forms and reports you selected to include.
- Generate Maintenance Application - This option generates an application based on the tables and queries you selected to include.
In the Selected Application Objects section, you can customize specific pages.

For example:
- To rename a page, click the page link and enter the new name on the New Page Definition page that appears.
- To select the type of navigation on the application's home page, click the Home Page link.
  
  On the New Page Definition page that appears, select Vertical Unordered List with Bullets, Vertical Images List or Horizontal Images List for Navigation.
- To display an image on a parent page, click the page link.
  
  On the New Page Definition page that appears, go to the Page Icon field and select the image you want to appear on that page. You can either select an image from the select list or click the Find icon (flashlight) to open a page of options.
  
  Repeat this step for each parent page. If you do not explicitly select an image for a page, the default image appears for that page.
  
  Note that for the image to appear in your application, you must have selected either Vertical Images List or Horizontal Images List for the Home page navigation.
To add a blank page to the application, scroll down to the Add Page section and click Add Page.

Note that the new page appears at the bottom of the list in the Selected Application Objects section.
Click Next to select a theme for the application, or click Create to skip the theme selection step.

If you skip the theme step, the default is used.
Select a theme for the application and click Next.

A theme is a collection of templates that define the layout and style of an application, including buttons and pages.
Confirm your selections and click Create.
To preview the application, click Run Application.
Log in using your Oracle Application Express workspace credentials.

Your application now appears as a separate application in Oracle Application Express.

To customize your application, scroll down to the Developer toolbar and click Edit Application.

You might want to do the following customizations immediately after you generate your application:

Rename the application. Each application has a unique ID, but the migration project name becomes the application name by default. To more easily identify an application, you might want to change its name to something more meaningful by editing the application attributes.
Change the authentication scheme. By default, the authentication scheme is Application Express authentication. You can change this by editing the application attributes.