Editing Region Attributes

You can alter the appearance of a page by editing attributes on the Region Definition.

Topics:

Editing a Region Definition
How Region Attributes Affect Page Layout
Using the Reorder Regions Icon
Controlling Region Positioning
Specifying a Region Header and Footer
Enabling Users to Customize a Page
Utilizing Region Caching
Specifying a Static Region ID

Editing a Region Definition

To edit region attributes:

Navigate to the appropriate Page Definition. See "Accessing a Page Definition".
Under Regions, select the region name.

The Region Definition appears.
Edit the appropriate attributes.
To learn more about a specific item on a page, click the item label.

When Help is available, the item label changes to red when you pass your cursor over it and the cursor changes to an arrow and question mark. See "About Field-Level Help".
Click Apply Changes.

About Navigation Alternatives

The Region Definition page is divided into the following sections: Identification, User Interface, Source, Conditions, Cache, Header and Footer, Authorization, Customization, Configuration, and Comments.

You can access these sections by scrolling down the page, or by clicking a navigation button at the top of the page. When you select a button at the top of the page, the selected section appears and all other sections are temporarily hidden. To view all sections of the page, click Show All.

How Region Attributes Affect Page Layout

Table: Region Attributes Affecting Page Layout describes region attributes that affect the layout of a page.

Region Attributes Affecting Page Layout

Attribute	Description
User Interface, Template	Determines the look of the region. Select from the region templates defined in the application. To view template attributes, click the template name on the Page Definition. See Also: "Customizing Templates" and "Region Templates"
User Interface, Sequence	Specifies the display order of the regions within the page.
User Interface, Display Point	Identifies where the region displays within the page. Regions are rendered in order of sequence number within a Display Point. Click the View icon to see the page layout and select a position. The possible display points for a region are determined by the page-level template (which is a page attribute). If no page-level template is selected, the default page-level template, defined in the Application Definition, is used.
User Interface, Region HTML table cell attributes	Defines additional attributes to be used in the HTML table cells when regions display in multiple columns. The attributes control the cells in the table used to lay out a region in multiple columns.
User Interface, Column	Determines the column where the region displays. If two regions are in the same display point, you can place them next to one another by setting the second region to display in column 2. Many regions can display in each column and the display order of the regions within the region display point and column is controlled by the region display sequence number.
Header and Footer	Specifies HTML text to be displayed at the top of the region (just before the `#BODY#` content).
Conditional Display	Defines conditions and appropriate expressions that determine if the region displays. Conditions can reference session state, the currently logged in user, or environment preferences (such as whether a page is in Print View mode). See Also: "Understanding Conditional Rendering and Processing" and "Optimizing a Page for Printing"
Customization	Enables end-user customization. To utilize this feature, you must include the `#CUSTOMIZE#` substitution string in the Header, Body, or Footer section of the page template. See Also: "Enabling Users to Customize a Page"

Controlling Region Positioning

When you create a region, you must specify its position (or Display Point) on the page. You can choose either a default position (such as Page Template Body) or a user-defined position in the template (such as Page Template Region Position 1.)

In addition to Display Point, you can specify the column in which the region will be placed. When you place regions in multiple columns, Oracle Application Express automatically renders the necessary HTML to produce a multiple column layout.

Specifying a Region Header and Footer

In addition to the body content of a region (which can be a report, a chart, or HTML with form elements), you can specify additional HTML to be placed above and below a region or in its header and footer.

The region footer supports the following substitution strings:

#TIMING# shows the elapsed time in seconds used when rendering a region. You can use this substitution string for debugging purposes.
#ROWS_FETCHED# shows the number of rows fetched by the Oracle Application Express reporting engine (the page size). You can use these substitution strings to display customized messages to the user. For example:
```
Fetched #ROWS_FETCHED# rows in #TIMING# seconds.
```
#TOTAL_ROWS# displays the total number of rows that satisfy a SQL query used for a report.
#FIRST_ROW_FETCHED# and #LAST_ROW_FETCHED# display the range of rows displayed. For example:
```
Row(s) #FIRST_ROW_FETCHED# through #LAST_ROW_FETCHED# of #ROWS_FETCHED# displayed
```

Enabling Users to Customize a Page

You can use the Customization attribute to enable users to turn regions on and off in a running application.

To enable end-user customization:

Navigate to the appropriate Page Definition. See "Accessing a Page Definition".
Under Regions, click the region name.

The Region Definition appears.
Scroll down to Customization and select one of the following:
- Customizable and Not Shown By Default
- Customizable and Shown By Default
In Customized Option Name, enter the label that represents this region on the page to the user.
Include the #CUSTOMIZE# substitution string in the Header, Body, or Footer section of the page template.

To use this feature, you must include the #CUSTOMIZE# substitution string in the Header, Body, or Footer section of the page template.

If at least one region supports end-user customization, a link called Customize appears wherever you include the #CUSTOMIZE# substitution string in the page template. When users click this link, a window appears, enabling them to turn on and off regions on the page.

Utilizing Region Caching

Enabling region caching is an effective way improve the performance of static regions such as regions containing lists that do not use conditions or regions containing static HTML.

Tip:

Region caching is not available for interactive report regions. See "Editing Interactive Reports".

When you enable region caching, the Application Express engine renders a region from a cached (or stored) respository instead of rendering it dynamically. Keep in mind that the actual session identifiers are not cached. Instead, the Application Express engine caches a &SESSION. substitution string and the current session rendering the cached region is substituted on display. For example, if a region contains a link and the link includes a session, the exact session is not cached to ensure that the links works for all sessions.

The Application Express engine only renders a region from cache if it meets the defined condition. Additionally, regions can be cached specific to a user or cached independent of a user.

Enabling Region Caching

To enable region caching:

Navigate to the appropriate Page Definition. See "Accessing a Page Definition".
Under Regions, click the region name.

The Region Definition appears.
Scroll down to Cache and specify the following:
1. Caching - Select Cached to cache the region independent of the user. Select Cached by User to cache the region specific to a given user.
2. Timeout Cache After - Identify how long the cached region remains valid.
3. Cache Condition Type - Select a condition type from the list. If the condition returns false, the region is rendered dynamically and is not be cached. If the condition returns true, the region is cached.
4. Expression 1 and Expression 2 - Enter values based on the specific condition type selected.
Click Apply Changes.

Specifying a Static Region ID

Specifying a static region ID is useful when creating custom JavaScript or cascading stylesheets. You can use the Static ID attribute on the Edit Region page to uniquely identify a region. You can then reference the region using the #REGION_STATIC_ID# substitution string in a region templates, the header, the footer, or the body.

To specify a static region ID:

Navigate to the appropriate Page Definition. See "Accessing a Page Definition".

The Region Definition appears.
Under Identification, enter a value in Static ID.
Click Apply Changes.