The new version, renamed Oracle Application Express 2.2, adds a wizard-based feature that helps developers package all the artifacts into a single file, and provides an InstallShield-like installer to simplify the process of activating the software.
The earlier version, Oracle HTML DB, which has had over a quarter million downloads since initial release two years ago, is a free program for developing simple database applications typically involving one or two developers.
According to Mike Hichwa, vice president of software development, HTML DB has also been one of the most discussed tools on the Oracle Technology Network (OTNM), its developer portal.
Because the tool tends to be aimed at less technical developers than its existing 4GL or JDeveloper Java tools, providing help with tasks like packaging software for installation has been anything but a trivial issue. Unlike more complex Java apps, programs developed using this tool typically reside inside the database.
If you’re developing a quick departmental program to get access to specific data, you may not always remember to include all the pieces, such as SQL statements, or web layouts, and you might not always remember to check if there’s room on the database server to host such an app. The new tool steps developers through a workflow to check to see if all the right pieces are in place.
The new version also sports several others bells and whistles, such as making provision for developer comments, changing the color or skins of various visual features, and providing data dictionary views of metadata.
Oracle Application Express 2.2 is available now.
