How to create an APEX Plugin
A perfect case study for the development of APEX Plugins is the integration of Google Maps into APEX. The Plugin we will develop here should not only show a part of a map, it should also provide the ability to place multiple markers on the map. The positions of the markers will be passed as a string which contains a JSON object. All the other information will come from settings of the Plugin itself. In the most cases, the GPS position we want to place on the map, came out of the database. Therefor we need a PL/SQL Function which converts this data into a JSON string. All the required functions are described in this article. To see a Demo of the Plugin, click here! |
Basics
Since version 4.0 it is possible to extend the functionality of APEX with the so-called "Plugins". The plugins are used in the APEX Application Builder like ordinary components (eg. items, buttons, forms, etc.). According to there use, Plugins are separated in the following types:
- Region Type Plugins
- Item Type Plugins
- Dynamic Action Plugins
- Process Type Plugins
Plugins are ideal tools to modularize and adapt APEX applications to individual needs. An APEX Plugin is characterized by the fact that all files and programs that are necessary for the plugin are managed together in one place. These are PL/SQL-Programs and/or JavaScript code as well as CSS and image files. This makes it possible to reuse a Plugin and so it is quite easy to install it in another APEX environment.
Joomla 3: Change the Order of Featured Articles
Sometimes, things which seems to be very simple, are in fact very complicated. One of those things are the custom ordering of Featured Articles in Joomla 3.3. It was quite tricky to figure out how it works but I found the key to solve the problem: |
Step 1:
Choose the Menu Item which contains the Featured Articles. In the "Layout" Tab there is an item called "Article Order". In the drop down list, select the entry "Featured Articles Order". This was the obvious part of the problem. Now, the tricky thing is, that there exists an item called "Category Order" which contains the value "Use Global". This setting controls the order of the Featured Articles as well. So to make sure, that the ordering of the Featured Articles is as you like, you have to switch it to "No Order". (Figure 1)