1.6 About the Oracle Application Express Documentation

Oracle Application Express provides a hosted online documentation library and Field-Level Help.

Topics:

1.6.1 Accessing the Online Documentation Library

You can access the online Oracle Application Express documentation library by clicking the Help icon in the upper right corner of most Oracle Application Express pages.

Description of hlp_ico.gif follows
Description of the illustration hlp_ico.gif

Clicking the Help icon displays the Documentation page. To view the entire library, click the Full Library HTML link, or click a specific HTML or PDF link.

Tip:

You can redirect the Help icon at the instance level in Instances Settings in Oracle Application Express Administration Services. To learn more, see "Configuring Online Help" in Oracle Application Express Administration Guide

Searching the Online Documentation Library

To perform a keyword search of the online documentation library:

  1. Click the Help icon.

    The Documentation page appears.

  2. To search the entire library:

    1. Click the Full Library HTML link.

      The Overview page appears.

    2. Enter keywords in the Search field in the upper right corner and click Search.

      Search results display.

    3. Select a topic to review.

  3. To search a specific book:

    1. Select the book HTML link.

    2. Enter keywords in the Search field in the upper left corner.

    3. To narrow or broaden your search, select either This Book or Entire Library.

      Search results display.

    4. Select a topic to review.

Tip:

Selecting the Hide Navigation link hides the left Navigation pane. To display the Navigation pane again, click the left edge of the browser window or retart your browser.

Using the Master Index in the Online Documentation Library

To search the master index in the online documentation library:

  1. Click the Help icon.

    The Documentation page appears.

  2. Click the Full Library HTML link.

    The Overview page appears.

  3. Under Index, click the Master Index HTML link.

  4. Click a letter to view specific topics.

    Entries are organized by index term and book.

  5. Click an index term.

Tip:

You can also access the Master Index from within a specific book. Click the Master Index link under Quick Lookup.

1.6.2 Downloading the Online Documentation Library

You can download the Oracle Application Express documentation library locally from the Oracle Application Express Documentation page.

To download the online documentation library:

  1. Go to the Oracle Application Express Documentation page:

    http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/apex/application-express/apex-094287.html

  2. Locate the Oracle Application Express library you want to download and click the ZIP link.

  3. Download ZIP file and extract it locally.

  4. Open the extracted folder and click welcome.html.

    The Oracle Application Express Documentation Library welcome page appears.

Searching a Downloaded Documentation Library

You can use the provided Acrobat search index to fast search across PDFs in the downloaded library.

Tip:

You must have access to the Internet to be able to use the global search capability and master index as described in "Searching the Online Documentation Library" and "Using the Master Index in the Online Documentation Library".

To perform a global search on the downloaded documentation:

  1. Go to the location of the downloaded documentation.

  2. Double click index.pdx.

  3. Click Shift+Ctrl+F.

    The Search window appears.

  4. Enter your search criteria and click Search.

    Search results appear.

1.6.3 About Field-Level Help

Most select lists, check boxes, items, and fields within the Oracle Application Express user interface include field-level Help. Items within the user interface that have Field-level Help have a light gray underline. If field-level Help is available, the cursor changes to an arrow and question mark when you pass your cursor over it.

Description of hlp_item.gif follows
Description of the illustration hlp_item.gif

Click the item label to display a description in a separate window.

Description of hlp_sys_link.gif follows
Description of the illustration hlp_sys_link.gif

Clicking the Help link in the upper-right corner links to the online documentation library.