This blog was originally published on Nov 4, 2021.
Oracle APEX 21.2 is now available!
Oracle APEX is the world’s most popular enterprise low-code platform that enables you to build scalable, secure enterprise apps, with world-class features, that can be deployed anywhere.
This release introduces Smart Filters, Progressive Web Apps, vast improvements to Universal Theme with greater flexibility in page layouts, REST Service Catalogs, Multi-value support for Faceted Search, Geocoding and Map items, refined Alert and Confirm dialogs, several reporting improvements, runtime support for an additional 21 languages, a far more productive developer experience, and a whole lot more!
Here are some of the feature highlights in Oracle APEX 21.2. Please visit the What’s New in APEX 21.2 page to learn more about all of the new and exciting features in this release.
Smart Filters
Smart Filters is a new search component that enables users to quickly narrow data down with filters suggestions or search terms. You can use this component to provide users with a simplified search experience that eliminates clutter and provides a single control to instantly find the information they are looking for.
Progressive Web Applications
Your APEX apps can easily be defined as Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) to take advantage of advanced caching and improved performance. These apps can also be installed on your smartphone of choice with device-specific installation instructions.
Universal Theme & UI Updates
Take greater control over your application’s user interface with additional component positions across page templates, modal dialog drawers, improved accessibility, smoother page loading, and much more! The updated Reference App now provides live Template Option previews, documented CSS variables, and a new Theme Version menu in the header to quickly jump to Reference Apps for previous versions of the Universal Theme.
REST Catalogs and Improvements
Users can now search and browse through a catalog that contains metadata about REST Services and create APEX REST Data Sources based on REST Service metadata within the catalog. In addition, there is built-in pagination support for Simple HTTP REST Data Sources.
Faceted Search Enhancements
Faceted search now has declarative support for multi-value columns, has improved accessibility, and gives you more control over how a facet is displayed. Now, you can easily create facets for multi-value columns stored as a separated string or JSON array. In addition, there are additional UI controls and numerous improvements to make faceted search more usable and accessible.
Geocoding and Map Items
You can now Geocode your addresses and display a map as a page item without an API key. APEX 21.2 introduces a new page item that provides a list of possible matches to choose from when a user starts typing an address and returns the coordinates as well as the normalized address. In addition, the new Display Map item type enables you to quickly visualize a single coordinate on a map, ideal for displaying next to address information.
Alert and Confirm Dynamic Actions
The Alert and Confirm dialogs now have an updated appearance and provide customization options for easily specifying the style, title, icon, and even custom button labels. In addition, the dialog message supports HTML template directives, including client-side substitutions of item references for truly dynamic alerts.
Build APEX Apps in 21 Additional Languages
The Runtime Engine of APEX is now available in a total of 31 languages, including English, Español, suomi, Français, Français (Canada), עברית, Hrvatski, magyar, Italiano, 日本語, 한국어, Nederlands, Norsk, polski, Português (Portugal), Português (Brasil), Română, Русский, Slovenčina, Slovenščina, српски, Svenska, ไทย, Türkçe, 中文（简体）, 中文 (繁體), العربية, čeština, Dansk, Deutsch, Ελληνικά!
Developer Experience
There have been numerous improvements to the APEX developer environment to help developers be more productive than ever before. This release introduces improved editors for static files and breadcrumbs, several enhancements to the code editor, email and email template improvements, environment banners, SAML authentication for the builder, and a whole lot more.
This release also includes numerous bug fixes resulting in even higher quality and stability for APEX environments. For more information about many of the other exciting new features in APEX 21.2, please see the Release Notes or visit the What’s New page. You can also watch our two-part APEX 21.2 New Features office hours series by visiting the Oracle APEX Office Hours page.