Beginning Oracle® Application Express

2.1. Data Design

In the old days, our field was called "data processing"—a term that has been superseded by more descriptive phrases but that still carries an important message. Although applications and reports may be the visible aspects of our work as developers and business analysts, the entire system rests on a foundation of data.

Given this foundation, you should begin your process of development by creating a design for your data. A good data design is the natural outgrowth of a thorough understanding of the business processes that your application system will be implementing. You will need to understand not only the discrete pieces of data that you will require to store and manipulate but also how to organize this data into logical units, and how to relate those units to each other.

You are probably aware that Oracle is one of the leading enterprise databases in the world — if not the leading one. Based on this heritage, Oracle Application Express is built to leverage good data design. In order to use APEX most effectively, you should fully understand the data requirements of your business scenario before beginning, which is the focus of this chapter.

2.1.1. Application Needs

The application we will be building is an order entry system. The multiple pages that make up this application will have to deal with a number of data areas, including:

• Orders, which will include data identifying the overall order

• Order detail lines, which will indicate the quantity and pricing of ...