Chapter 8. PL/SQL
In the previous chapters, you have learned a lot about the powerful default functionality provided by the APEX environment and how to shape that functionality through the use of parameter-driven configuration. You haven't really written any code to implement any of this functionality.
But you are not limited to the capabilities designed into the APEX world. You can add your own specific functionality through the use of code using the PL/SQL language. In this chapter, you will write some PL/SQL code to provide a more subtle validation scheme for the ORDER_TIMESTAMP field, automatically calculate totals for each order, and check to see if a customer's current order would exceed their credit limit.
This chapter will provide you with a few examples of using PL/SQL to extend your application with specific logic. The use of PL/SQL is a vast topic, with many books available describing its use, including Professional Oracle Programming, Rick Greenwald, 2005, from WROX, for an introduction to the language, or the definitive series of books by Steven Feuerstein published by O'Reilly and Associates. This chapter will provide you with some experience using the language and, more importantly, a framework for understanding how PL/SQL can be used to extend your applications.
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