ABCS: Create a lookup

When using reference data, a lot of times you want to use a list of values or a data lookup to specify what values can be selected. Within ABCS you can create lookups to fill in this requirement. When creating a new data field, for example when creating a Business Object under a table as we did in my previous blog entry, you can select the data type to be a reference.

For my application I want the Ace Level to be a lookup value, specified by me, including an image, so I know for sure that all the data in this column is correct. When creating the field for the Business Object, as data type I selected reference.

The wizard will display the options to choose an existing lookup or create a new one, I create a new lookup with the name 'AceLevel' and say that I want to define the lookup values. This opens a new screen to add the Lookup Values.

I add the values that are correct display values for the AceLevel field, Ace Associate, Oracle Ace & Ace Director. I also want this value to include a small image, displaying the correct Ace symbol corresponding to the level.

Clicking the plus '+'  sign behind the value brings up a new screen, in here you can browse your computer and select an image.

The image will be uploaded to the application and you can select it as part of the lookup value. I repeated this steps for all the lookup values.

This results in a value lookup for the AceLevel, including their icons:

ABCS: Creating the Data Model

One of the powers of ABCS is that it generates a Data Model for you on the fly, based on your UI needs. For the developers, do not worry, you can also do this in an expert mode or edit and adjust it afterwards, more on that later in this blog series.
We are going to build a data model to hold all the data about the sessions being held on the Tech Conference.

This is as simple as selecting a table within the collection on the left hand side and dragging and dropping it to the middle section of the Tracks page.

As you can see this creates a default table to show you how it will look, but on the right we can create a new Business Object.

I choose to name the Business Object 'Tracks' because it is dedicated to the Tracks page.

After this I can start adding fields (or columns) to the table, when we do this the table will be automatically updated to show how it would look.

After pressing 'New Field', I create a Field 'Name' with text as Data Type.

This will result in the Tracks page being updated with a table with only one column, name:

After this I have added the fields; Company, Ace Level, co-speaker, Title & Track, if you press the Next icon ('>') in the Table Creation wizard you can turn on and off some of the default actions on the table. I leave the details option on and create the link on Title.

This means that you can click on the Title field within the row to go to a more detailed page. On the last page of the wizard you can select the Filter & Sort options. I decide to turn off the filter, but keep the advanced search on.

To end the wizard, I simple click the green Finish button on the top right in the wizard.

The designer gives me a feeling of how the table will look. To actually run the application you can press the run button on the top right corner within ABCS. This will show how the page would look runtime:

ABCS: The First Adjustments

Now that you are ready to go, let's make a few simple adjustments to the application. We want to brand the app with a logo & title and we will set up the home page, which will basically be the disclaimer of this not being the official OGh Tech Experience website.

When in your application, make sure you are in edit mode and check out the header. You will see it says 'COMPANY.LOGO' where we can have a nice image:

We are going to replace this with a logo of the Dutch User Group on the top left. When you click on the text you will see the property panel on the right appear. In here you can click on 'Upload an image', select an image and you will see it appear both on the right hand side as well as in the design.

After that, we also name the application with a better name as we did in the getting started wizard. I put the full length name 'OGh Tech Experience 2017' in the field Application Title, which will be displayed next to the logo.

Now we are going to add some the text on the Home page to show the visitors this site is a demo site promoting the OGh Tech Experience, but it is not the official site.

It is as simple as to drag & drop an paragraph component from the left hand side menu, select the Lorem Ipsum text and change this in the right hand side menu.

In just a few steps we have edit the text on the home page, branded it with our company logo and changed the name of the application. It is just a start of showing how easy it is to build an application in ABCS.

VBCS: Getting started

Getting started with ABCS is very easy, go to cloud.oracle.com, your starting point for all Oracle Cloud products. For every Oracle Cloud product applies that you can get a free trial through there. This trial is a great starting point for getting to know the product. If you go to the Platform section you will see Application Builder in the list. Once you went to ABCS specific site, you can register for a free trial. 

It will take your email adres, phone number and some other info, after which you get a confirmation screen. 

When you have verified your account, you can start building your app. They offer a quick 10 minutes interactive tour / tutorial, or you can directly start building your web or mobile app.

In this example I choose to create a web application, which launches a wizard form, you name your application and your choose a template.

After that you can start building your menu structure, do not worry, you can modify this again later, but when you have a idea for a structure you can supply it here:

Closing the wizard will take you to the quick tour that explains the basics of ABCS:

 After that you are ready to go!

Build your application with VBCS

After Oracle Open World 2015 I wrote a blog about ABCS, ABCS is Oracle Application Builder Cloud Services, a tool that helps you to rapidly create and host engaging business applications with a visual development environment right from the comfort of your browser. Now it is time to take the next step and actually build an application with ABCS.

In this blog series about ABCS I will build an Conference Application for the OGh, this is an unofficial website, the information might be out-dated. For the up to date information about the OGh Tech Experience, check www.tech17.nl.

This blog entry will serve as an overview about my progress and I will update it to keep links to other blog entries up to date:

• 01: Getting started with VBCS.
• 02: The first adjustments to the Application.
• 03: Creating the Data Model.
• 04: Build a lookup in VBCS. 
• 05: Import data in a Business Object, using the Data Manager.
• 06: Go Live with your application on VBCS.
• 07: Open your Application to public access..
• 08: Calling a REST endpoint!
• 09: See all your Projects
• 10: Integrate VBCS with PCS
• 11: Action Handlers, send an email
• 12: Create your Mobile Application

Resources:

• Oracle Cloud
• ABCS 
• OGh
• OGh Tech Experience 2017