NEW Written for Oracle APEX 26.1 and Oracle AI Database 26ai

Oracle APEX 26.1 The Complete Guide

Build modern, secure, AI-ready web applications, from installation to production. In 828 pages you build one real application, Orbit Sales, and learn every part of Oracle APEX on the way: pages and reports, forms and grids, security, workflows, REST services, and generative AI.

Buy the paperback Kindle edition

Free code examples on GitHubWritten by Vinish Kapoor, Oracle ACE Pro

  • Installation
  • Page Designer
  • Reports & grids
  • Dynamic actions
  • Security
  • Workflows
  • Generative AI
  • REST & ORDS
The book Oracle APEX 26.1: The Complete Guide, in front of an open spread with chapter 1 and the finished sales dashboard
828Pages
48Chapters
474Screenshots
6Parts
1Complete application
Why this book

Learn APEX the way you will use it

Oracle APEX turns SQL and PL/SQL skills into complete, secure web applications. The hard part is not any one feature, it is knowing how they fit together. This book takes you through all of it, in order, on one application.

The usual way

Blog posts, old versions and toy examples

  • Answers scattered over forums and videos, each for a different APEX release.
  • Screenshots that no longer match the builder you have in front of you.
  • One-page demos that stop right where a real application starts.
  • Security, deployment and administration left for later, or never.
With this book

One real application, built step by step

  • Written for APEX 26.1, with New in 26.1 boxes wherever something changed.
  • 474 real screenshots, taken on APEX 26.1 while the book was written.
  • You build Orbit Sales, an order-management application with real data, from the first table to production.
  • Every script and code example on GitHub, plus the finished application to compare with.
How the book works

From an empty laptop to production

Every chapter builds on the last. You install the stack, build the application page by page, and finish with REST services, debugging and deployment.

01

Install the stack

Oracle AI Database 26ai Free, APEX 26.1 and ORDS, in containers or natively on Windows, Linux and macOS. Or use a free cloud workspace.

Chapter 3 · the database
docker run -d --name apex-db \ -p 1521:1521 \ -e ORACLE_PWD='Welcome_2026#' \ -v apex-db-data:/opt/oracle/oradata \ container-registry.oracle.com/database/free:latest
02

Build Orbit Sales

Reports, grids, forms, cards, charts, maps and faceted search, then security, workflows and an AI assistant, on real sample data.

Orbit Sales · Sales Dashboard
The Orbit Sales dashboard with metric cards and charts
03

Take it to production

Publish REST services with ORDS, debug, export as APEXlang, deploy, and administer workspaces and the instance.

Chapter 45 · a REST module
begin ords.define_module( p_module_name => 'orbit.sales', p_base_path => '/sales/', p_items_per_page => 25); end;
Look inside

Real pages from the book

Numbered steps, full-size screenshots, code you can copy, and boxes for tips, cautions and what is new in 26.1. Click any page to read it.

ContentsSix parts, 48 chaptersEverything from installation to administration, in the order you need it.
Chapter 1Introducing Oracle APEX 26.1Every chapter opens with its goals, then explains the ideas before you click.
Chapter 22 · ChartsThe finished dashboardBig, readable screenshots of what you build.
Chapter 42 · WorkflowsParallel flowsNew in 26.1 boxes show what changed in this release.
Chapter 44Generative AI in APEXAI services, agents with tools, and a local model with Ollama.
Chapter 44 · Step by stepAn AI assistant in a pageNumbered steps you follow in the builder, and the result.
Chapter 45 · ORDSRESTful servicesCode explained line by line, with the same service in the builder.
Chapter 23 · MapsThe map at workMaps, calendars and trees, on the same sample data.

Pages shown from the full-color edition. The Kindle edition has every screenshot in color; the paperback is printed in black and white.

The app you build

Orbit Sales, one screen at a time

A realistic order-management application for a fictional outdoor-gear retailer, with customers, products, stores and orders. Every screen below is built in the book.

Orbit Sales · Dashboard
Orbit Sales dashboard with metric cards and charts An editable interactive grid of stores Faceted search over products A map of stores and customers APEX Page Designer with a page of Orbit Sales The Workflow Designer with a parallel flow Theme Roller over the Orbit Sales home page

Chapter 22: metric cards, a combined bar and line chart, a donut, and drill-down charts on one dashboard.

What you will learn

Every part of Oracle APEX, in one book

CH 2–9Install anywhereDocker on Windows, macOS and Linux, native installs, ORDS in depth, oracleapex.com and Oracle Cloud.
CH 10–12The workspace and SQLA tour of the workspace, SQL Workshop, Quick SQL and data loading, and the Orbit Outfitters database.
CH 13–15Apps and Page DesignerThe Create Application wizard, Page Designer panel by panel, page modes, templates and navigation.
CH 16–19Reports, grids and formsClassic and interactive reports, editable interactive grids, forms and master-detail pages.
CH 20–24Cards, search, charts, mapsCards and template components, faceted search and smart filters, charts, maps, calendars and trees.
CH 25–32Items, logic and JavaScriptEvery item type, buttons and branches, session state, validations, processes, dynamic actions and Ajax.
CH 35–36SecurityAuthentication schemes, authorization, session state protection and a Content Security Policy.
CH 33–41Shared componentsThemes and Theme Roller, lists of values, files and printing, REST data sources, translation.
CH 42–43Workflows and automationsApproval tasks, the Unified Task List, workflows with parallel flows, automations, e-mail and push.
CH 44Generative AI 26.1AI services, AI agents with tools, an in-app assistant, APEX_AI in PL/SQL, and local models with Ollama.
CH 45–46REST and plug-insRESTful services with ORDS and OAuth2, AutoREST, and a template component plug-in of your own.
CH 47–48Production and adminDebugging, APEXlang and the life cycle, deployment, and administering workspaces and the instance.
Contents

Six parts, 48 chapters

Read it from the start, or jump to the part you need. Each chapter ends with a summary and review questions.

Look inside
IChapters 1–8

Getting Started

Install Oracle APEX 26.1 on the platform of your choice, configure ORDS, and create your workspace.

  • 1Introducing Oracle APEX 26.1
  • 2Preparing Your System
  • 3Installing with Docker on Windows, macOS, and Linux
  • 4Installing Natively on Windows
  • 5Installing Natively on Linux
  • 6Installing on macOS
  • 7Oracle REST Data Services in Depth
  • 8No-Install Options: oracleapex.com and Oracle Cloud
IIChapters 9–12

The Development Environment

Find your way around the workspace, master SQL Workshop, and build the database behind Orbit Sales.

  • 9Your First Workspace
  • 10A Tour of the APEX Workspace
  • 11SQL Workshop
  • 12The Orbit Outfitters Database
IIIChapters 13–24

Building Applications

Create the application, learn Page Designer, and build every kind of page and region APEX offers.

  • 13Creating Applications
  • 14Page Designer
  • 15Pages
  • 16Classic Reports
  • 17Interactive Reports
  • 18Interactive Grids
  • 19Forms
  • 20Cards, Content Row, and Template Components
  • 21Faceted Search, Smart Filters, and Search
  • 22Charts
  • 23Maps, Calendars, and Trees
  • 24Other Regions
IVChapters 25–32

Items, Buttons, and Page Logic

Make pages interactive: items, buttons and navigation, session state, validations, processes, dynamic actions, Ajax and JavaScript.

  • 25Page Items
  • 26Buttons, Branches, and Navigation
  • 27Session State and Substitutions
  • 28Validations
  • 29Page Processes
  • 30Dynamic Actions
  • 31Ajax in APEX
  • 32JavaScript and CSS in APEX
VChapters 33–44

Shared Components

What all pages share: logic, navigation, security, themes, data sources, translation, workflows, automations and generative AI.

  • 33Application Logic
  • 34Navigation Components
  • 35Authentication
  • 36Authorization and Application Security
  • 37Themes, Templates, and Theme Roller
  • 38Lists of Values, Plug-ins, Shortcuts, and Component Settings
  • 39Files, Reports, Printing, and Data Reporter
  • 40Data Sources
  • 41Globalization and Translation
  • 42Approvals, Tasks, and Workflows
  • 43Automations, E-mail, and Push Notifications
  • 44Generative AI in APEX
VIChapters 45–48

Advanced Topics and Administration

REST services with ORDS, a plug-in of your own, debugging, going to production, and administration.

  • 45RESTful Services with ORDS
  • 46A Simple Plug-in
  • 47Debugging, Lifecycle, and Going to Production
  • 48Administration
New in Oracle APEX 26.1

One of the largest releases in APEX's history, covered

Chapter 1 sums up what changed and where the book covers it. Throughout the book, New in 26.1 boxes point out new and changed behavior as you meet it.

44
AI agents with toolsSQL, PL/SQL and JavaScript tools the model can call, an in-app assistant, APEX_AI
47
APEXlangapplications as readable text files you can review, compare and keep in Git
42
Parallel workflowsactivities in parallel branches, tasks assigned through authorization schemes
39
Data Reporterself-service ad hoc reporting for business users
36
A stricter Content Security Policypages no longer need unsafe-inline or unsafe-hashes
37
Iris and Font APEX 2.5a new default theme style, new template components, drawers and badges
6AI providers: OCI Generative AI, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Mistral AI and Ollama
26aiOracle AI Database 26ai Free, with BOOLEAN items and JSON duality views
ORDSOracle REST Data Services 26, installed, configured and secured
Upgradea checklist for the changes to watch when you upgrade older applications

Written on 26.1

Every step was done on APEX 26.1 while the book was written, so the builder looks the way you see it.

Real screenshots

474 screenshots of the builder and of Orbit Sales, taken from the running application.

Tested code

The scripts and examples ran against the book's own database before they went into the book.

Free to follow

Everything runs on free software: Oracle AI Database 26ai Free, APEX, ORDS, SQLcl and VS Code.

Vinish Kapoor

Oracle ACE Pro · Oracle APEX developer and architect

  • Oracle ACE every year since 2020
  • More than twenty years with Oracle
  • Founder of vinish.dev
vinish.dev@vinish_kapooru/vinishkapoor
About the author

From Oracle Forms to APEX 26.1

Two decades of database applications

Vinish wrote his first programs in 2001 and moved to Oracle Forms, SQL and PL/SQL soon after. He has built database applications for healthcare, education, hospitality, logistics, legal services, finance and retail.

An APEX developer and architect

Today most of his work is done in Oracle APEX: from migrating large Oracle Forms systems to modern web applications, to products of his own such as the Rounds hospital management system and VinAura PDF, a visual report designer for APEX.

Known for practical tutorials

His blog, vinish.dev (formerly foxinfotech), is read by developers around the world for its Oracle APEX, SQL and PL/SQL tutorials. His articles have also appeared in AI News, Developer Tech, HackerNoon and DEV Community.

One book. One real application. Every part of Oracle APEX 26.1, from installation to production.

Get the book
  • Paperback, 828 pages
  • Kindle edition in color
  • Free code on GitHub
FAQ

Frequently asked

Anything else? Ask on vinish.dev.

Who is this book for?

Developers new to APEX who know some SQL, Oracle Forms developers moving to the web, experienced APEX developers catching up with release 26.1, and DBAs who install and administer APEX.

Do I need to know APEX already?

No. The book starts with installation and explains every idea before you use it. You should know basic SQL; PL/SQL helps, and the book explains the code it uses.

Which versions does it cover?

Oracle APEX 26.1, Oracle REST Data Services 26 and Oracle AI Database 26ai Free. New and changed features of 26.1 are marked in New in 26.1 boxes, and chapter 47 has a checklist for upgrading older applications.

Do I need a paid license or Oracle Cloud?

No. Everything in the book runs on free software: Oracle AI Database 26ai Free with APEX and ORDS, in Docker or installed natively on Windows, Linux or macOS. Chapter 8 also shows the free workspaces at oracleapex.com and on Oracle Cloud.

Where is the code?

On GitHub, free: github.com/devvinish/apex-book-code-examples. It has the scripts that create the sample schema, every code example by chapter, and an export of the finished Orbit Sales application.

Is the paperback in color?

The paperback is printed in black and white on white paper, 7.5 by 9.25 inches, 828 pages, with a glossy cover. The Kindle edition shows every screenshot in color on color screens and in the Kindle apps.

How does the Kindle edition read?

It is a reflowable eBook: the text adapts to your screen and font size on every Kindle device and app, code listings wrap, the table of contents goes down to every section, and the index links to the chapters.

Does it cover generative AI?

Yes. Chapter 44 configures AI services (with a free local model through Ollama), builds AI agents with tools that read the application's data, adds an assistant to a page, and calls APEX_AI from PL/SQL.

Get the book

Paperback or Kindle, on Amazon

Both editions have the same 48 chapters. Pick the paperback for your desk and the Kindle edition for color screenshots on any screen.

  1. Get the bookFrom Amazon, in the edition you prefer.
  2. Get the codeClone or download the repository on GitHub.
  3. Start buildingChapter 2 prepares your system, chapter 3 installs the stack.

Paperback

$39.99on Amazon.com

  • 828 pages, 7.5 × 9.25 in
  • Black and white on white paper
  • Glossy cover
  • ISBN 9798176708172
Buy the paperback

Kindle edition

$24.99on Amazon.com

  • Every screenshot in color
  • Reflowable on any Kindle
  • Linked contents and index
  • Kindle apps for phone, tablet and PC
Buy for Kindle
github.comdevvinish / apex-book-code-examples
Public

The code of the book, free: the sample schema, every example by chapter, and the finished application.

  • sql/orbit/the Orbit Outfitters schema and data
  • sql/examples/every code example, by chapter
  • apex/f100.sqlthe finished Orbit Sales application
Open on GitHub
Or clone it
git clone https://github.com/devvinish/apex-book-code-examples.git
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