HTMLDB_APPLICATION

Referencing Arrays

Items are typically HTML form elements such as text fields, select lists and check boxes. When you create a new form item using a wizard, the wizard uses a standard naming format. The naming format provides a handle so you can retrieve the value of the item later on.

If you need to create your own items, you can access them after a page is submitted by referencing HTMLDB_APPLICATION.G_F01 to HTMLDB_APPLICATION.G_F50 arrays. You can create your own HTML form fields by providing the input parameters using the format F01, F02, F03 and so on. You can create up to 50 input parameters ranging from F01 to F50. Consider the following example:

<INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="F01" SIZE="32" MAXLENGTH="32" VALUE="some value">
 
<TEXTAREA NAME="F02" ROWS=4 COLS=90 WRAP="VIRTUAL">this is the example of a text area.</TEXTAREA>
 
<SELECT NAME="F03" SIZE="1">
<OPTION VALUE="abc">abc
<OPTION VALUE="123">123
</SELECT> 

Since the F01 to F50 input items are declared as PL/SQL arrays, you can have multiple items named the same value. For example:

<INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="F01" SIZE="32" MAXLENGTH="32" VALUE="array element 1">
<INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="F01" SIZE="32" MAXLENGTH="32" ALUE="array element 2">
<INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="F01" SIZE="32" MAXLENGTH="32" VALUE="array element 3">

Note that following PL/SQL produces the same HTML as show in the previous example.

FOR i IN 1..3 LOOP
HTMLDB_ITEM.TEXT(P_IDX        => 1,
 p_value      =>'array element '||i ,
 p_size       =>32,
 p_maxlength  =>32);
END LOOP;

Referencing Values Within an On Submit Process

You can reference the values posted by an HTML form using the PL/SQL variable HTMLDB_APPLICATION.G_F01 to HTMLDB_APPLICATION.G_F50. Since this element is an array you can reference values directly. For example:

FOR i IN 1.. HTMLDB_APPLICATION.G_F01.COUNT LOOP 
    htp.p('element '||I||' has a value of '||HTMLDB_APPLICATION.G_F01(i)); 
END LOOP;

Note that check boxes displayed using HTMLDB_ITEM.CHECKBOX will only contain values in the HTMLDB_APPLICATION arrays for those rows which are checked. Unlike other items (TEXT, TEXTAREA, DATE_POPUP) which can contain an entry in the corresponding HTMLDB_APPLICATION array for every row submitted, a check box will only have an entry in the HTMLDB_APPLICATION array if it is selected.

Converting an Array to a Single Value

You can also use Oracle HTML DB public utility functions to convert an array into a single value. The resulting string value is a colon-separated list of the array element values. The resulting string value is a colon-separated list of the array element values. For example:

htp.p(HTMLDB_UTIL.TABLE_TO_STRING(HTMLDB_APPLICATION.G_F01));

This function is enables you to reference G_F01 to G_F50 values in an application process that performs actions on data. The following sample process demonstrates the insertion of values into an table:

FOR i IN 1..HTMLDB_APPLICATION.G_F01.COUNT LOOP
    INSERT INTO my_table (my_column) VALUES HTMLDB_APPLICATION.G_F01(i);
END LOOP;