Saving $200,000 with Application

Express

A presentation for ODTUG Kaleidoscope 2006

June 21, 2006

Bill HoltzmanNational Air Traffic Controllers Association

Air Traffic Controllers

Most work for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), part of the US Government

National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) is the exclusive and official bargaining representative of air traffic controllers

NATCA

15,000 member organization 600 official representatives 400 offices across US $20 million budget High volume paperwork filings No internal network No programming staff One IT employee Headquartered in Washington, DC

My IT experience

Fortran, Drexel University, 1985 3 static HTML web sites, 1997-2002 Several MS Access apps, 2002-2003 7 one week classes at Learning

Tree Int’l, 2003-04 8i, 9i Intros, PLSQL, SQL Queries, App

Dev DBA, Backup & Recovery, Tuning

Grievances

Art. 9, Sec. 1. A grievance shall be defined as any complaint:

by any employee concerning any matter relating to the employment of the employee;

by the Union concerning any matter relating to the employment of any unit employee; or

by a unit employee or either Party concerning any claimed violation, misinterpretation, or misapplication of any law, rule or regulation affecting conditions of employment as provided in the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 or this Agreement.

From the 1998 Collective Bargaining Agreement:

Sample grievance

System requirements

Secure, internet-based Multiple access levels Event-based processing Timeline tracking Document storage Search Accelerated data entry Online reference library E-mail notifications Much more!

Grievance listing

From this listing users can access all information associated with each grievance and add new information. The light brown text are links to other pages or javascript.

A typical listing from the application.

SQL report region: Definition

Note: The image has been altered and the SQL simplified for this presentation.

SQL report region: Attributes

Automated report link

The link for the column is created below.

An image link:

HTML result (Automated link)

This HTML is generated by the ApEx engine for the column when the page is rendered. The image is the browser result.

<td class="alt" align="CENTER" ><a href="f?p=104:27:11611713660565463579::NO:: P27_GRID,P27_RETURN_PAGE:5360%2C32&cs=339E2700710A71397BE8B4014F66659CE" onMouseOver="return window.status='View or add attachments to this grievance'" onMouseOut="return window.status=''"><span style="padding:16px">4</span></a></td>

f?p=App:Page:Session:Request:Debug:ClearCache:itemNames:itemValues:PrinterFriendly

URL syntax

Note: %2C is a URL comma

Grievance listing

The NATCA/FAA column is more difficult to generate.

The light brown text is a link but the black text is not.

Manual report link

select '<a href="' || htmldb_util.prepare_URL('f?p=&APP_ID.:8:' || :APP_SESSION || ':::8:P8_DUP_GRID,P8_RETURN_PAGE,P8_ARTICLE:' || g.grid || ',32,' || g.article)|| '">' || g.natca || '</a><br><span style="font-size:8pt">' || g.faanum || '</span>' "NATCA2"from grievance g

This code is used to generate the values in the column.

SQL report region: Definition

Note: The image has been altered and the SQL simplified for this presentation.

HTML result (Manual link)

<td class="alt" align="CENTER" > <a href="f?p=104:8:11611713660565463579:::8: P8_DUP_GRID,P8_RETURN_PAGE,P8_ARTICLE:5380%2C32%2C1&cs=3AFB9E7AE3C788204B13372F5C05793B7" onMouseOver="return window.status='Duplicate this grievance'" onMouseOut="return window.status=''"> 06-ZDC-13</a> <br><span style="font-size:8pt">NC-AEA-ZDC-00120-2</span></td>

This HTML is generated by the ApEx engine for the column when the page is rendered. The image is the browser result.

Manual display conditions

selectdecode(g.status_id, 1, decode(g.date_sub_2, null, trunc(g.u_action_2) - trunc(sysdate) || '&nbsp' ||casewhen (g.u_action_2 - sysdate) > 7 then '<img src="#FLOW_IMAGES#greenN.gif" alt="NATCA must submit this by ' || to_char(g.u_action_2, 'MM/DD/YY') || '">'when (g.u_action_2 - sysdate) > 3 then '<img src="#FLOW_IMAGES#yellowN.gif" alt="NATCA must submit this by ' || to_char(g.u_action_2, 'MM/DD/YY') || '">'when (g.u_action_2 - sysdate) > 0 then '<img src="#FLOW_IMAGES#redN.gif" alt="NATCA must submit this by ' || to_char(g.u_action_2, 'MM/DD/YY') || '">'when g.u_action_2 is null and date_rec_1 is null then '<img src="#FLOW_IMAGES#greenN.gif" alt="FAA has not replied at the E1 level">'else '<img src="#FLOW_IMAGES#past.gif" border="0" alt="NATCA failed to submit this by ' || to_char(g.u_action_2, 'MM/DD/YY') || '">'end,to_char(g.date_sub_2, 'MM/DD/YY')), 'Closed') "DATE_SUB"from grievance g

The column shows different elements depending on date data.

HTML result (Manual conditions)

<td class="alt" align="CENTER" >3&nbsp <img src="wwv_flow_file_mgr.get_file?p_security_group_id=19526826517643043&p_flow_id=104&p_fname=redN.gif" alt="NATCA must submit this by 05/27/06"> </td>

Session state protection

Session state protection is set by a wizard.

Session state: Checksum

Session state: Violation

Tampering with values in the URL produces this error message.

Upload/download

Users upload and download documents associated with each grievance. The process is analogous to a legal case.

Upload/download: Custom tables

The custom tables are tied to individual grievances by the primary key GRID.

Upload to custom table: Page process

Upload: Javascript validation

Javascript restricts the length of the file name. Application Express will not accept more than 78 characters.

Upload: Server (ApEx) validation

A validation restricts the size of uploads.

Download from custom table: Report

The SQL report region lists all stored files associated with the grievance whose primary key (GRID) is passed into :P27_GRID.

Download from custom table: Link

An automated column link uses the DOWNLOAD_MY_FILE procedure to make the File Name column a download link.

Note: DOWNLOAD_MY_FILE is available on OTN

PLSQL region: Sample code

if p_letterhead = 1 thenmsg := '<table width="90%" border="0"><tr><td width="50%" align="center"><img src = "#WORKSPACE_IMAGES#natca.gif"></td> <td><i><font size="4"> NATCA ‘ || p_facid || '</font></i><br><font size="3">‘ || p_fac_address || '</font></td></tr></table><br><br>';elsemsg := '<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>';end if;

msg := msg || to_char(p_date_sub, 'FMMonth dd, yyyy') || '<br><br>' || p_address || '<br><br>Grievance Number ' || nvl(gr_cursor.faanum, '______________________') || '<br><br><b>Re: Grievance Regarding ' || gr_cursor.topic || '</b><br><br>Dear ' || p_dear || ',<br><br>' || p_preamble || '<br><br><b>Name of Grievant: </b>' || gr_cursor.grievant || '<br><b>Name of Representative: </b>' || gr_cursor.rep || '<br><b>Date of Violation: </b>' || to_char(gr_cursor.violation_date, 'FMMonth dd, yyyy') || '<br><b>Request Oral Presentation: </b>' || p_oral_text;

htp.p(msg);

The following PLSQL code is used to create a form letter:

PSQL region: Display result

The form letter is an HTML file that can be printed.

PLSQL region: CLOB data

for j in 1..trunc(DBMS_LOB.GETLENGTH(gr_cursor.nature)/3000) + 1 loopDBMS_LOB.READ(gr_cursor.nature, p_text_amt, p_text_pos, p_nature_sub);msg := replace(p_nature_sub, chr(10), '<br>');

if :F168_SEARCH is not null and :P9_HIGHLIGHT is not null thenmsg := replace(replace(replace(msg, :F168_SEARCH, '<SPAN style="background-color:yellow">' || :F168_SEARCH || '</span>'), initcap(:F168_SEARCH), '<SPAN style="background-color:yellow">' || initcap(:F168_SEARCH) || '</span>'), upper(:F168_SEARCH), '<SPAN style="background-color:yellow">' || upper(:F168_SEARCH) || '</span>');end if;

htp.p(msg);p_text_pos := p_text_pos + 3000;end loop;

This code is used to push CLOB text (gr_cursor.nature) onto the HTML page. Since this page may also be called from the Search page, code is included to highlight search words.

PLSQL region: Highlight

Automatic row processing

Row processing can be handled automatically by the ApEx engine. This provides optimistic locking behind the scenes without input from the developer.

Manual row processing

for c1 in (select * from grievance where grid = :P8_GRID) loopcurrent_state := utl_raw.cast_to_raw(dbms_obfuscation_toolkit.md5(input_string => c1.FAANUM||c1.GRIEVANT||c1.REP||c1.TOPIC||c1.ORAL));end loop;if current_state = :P8_CHECKSUM thenselect empid into p_empid from gr_emp where upper(username) = :APP_USER;case :P8_GR_STATUSwhen 1 thenupdate grievance set faanum = :P8_FAANUM, rep = :P8_REP, topic = :P8_TOPIC, oral = :P8_ORAL where grid = :P8_GRID, userid = p_empid;:P8_RETURN_PAGE := 18;when 2 thenupdate grievance set faanum = :P8_FAANUM, rep = :P8_REP, topic = :P8_TOPIC, oral = :P8_ORAL where grid = :P8_GRID, userid = p_empid;:P8_RETURN_PAGE := 32;end case;else:P8_RETURN_PAGE := 39;end if;

:P8_CHECKSUM is calculated when the page is rendered. If it changes, the update does not execute.

Optimistic locking error

When the checksums do not agree, conditional processing prevents the update and conditional branching takes the user to this page.

Javascript

Javascript greatly enhances the functionality of the application and the experience of the user. Javascript can be included on individual pages or on a template.

Javascript: User tools

Sample javascript as it would appear in the page attributes is shown here. The first function opens a new window and the second populates a field based on a drop-down menu selection.

Javascript: onChange select

Javascript: Client validation

Since most browsers have a maximum content size of 32K, a graceful error message is needed should the user exceed that. This javascript provides a pop-up and halts processing.

Calling javascript

From a page button:

Manually in an SQL Report Region (with Session State Protection):select '<a href="javascript:myPopUp(''' || htmldb_util.prepare_URL('f?

p=&APP_ID.:9:' || :APP_SESSION || '::::P9_GRID:' || g.GRID) || ''')">' || g.topic || '</a>' "Topic“

from grievance g

Application Express skill set

Thank you!

For more information:Bill Holtzmanbholtzman@natca.net703-403-0139