Rich Text Editor Pro v23.2 - An Introduction

After months of dedicated work and fine-tuning, I’m thrilled to introduce a major release of the United Codes Rich Text Editor Pro 23.2. While we quietly rolled out version 23.1 earlier this year (March) with fixes and groundwork for new features, version 23.2 is about taking your rich text editing experience in Oracle APEX to new heights.

With this release, I've packed a plethora of features and enhancements, each designed to revolutionize how you craft rich text documents in Oracle APEX.

CLOB Support Across Oracle APEX Versions

In November 2022, Oracle introduced a very important enhancement - CLOB handling in the APEX session state. The change was pending for a long time, and finally, CLOB values exceeding VARCHAR2 limitation can be processed using native components starting with APEX 22.2.

Of course, our Rich Text Editor Pro supports CLOB values starting with APEX 19.2 - with a little help from our supporting process plug-in.

Nevertheless, the new plug-in version uses the native CLOB support in APEX 22.2 and above. With that said, the plug-in can now seamlessly handle CLOB values across all APEX versions - with or without supporting plug-ins.

A New Image Upload Mechanism

Our revamped image upload mechanism makes adding and managing images a breeze. The new mechanism uploads all images simultaneously, in parallel requests to the plug-in RESTful service. Independently on the upload result, the end-user can inspect which images were uploaded and which failed. 

Parallel image upload is not the only enhancement! The plug-in upload mechanism is configurable to handle issues automatically or rely on the end-user decision. Also, based on customer requests, the supporting dynamic action plug-in allows you to start uploading images without submitting a page!

Complete Image Management

The plug-in session state already allowed you to handle uploaded images. I need to be frank; it wasn’t perfect. With the latest release, I fixed the gap, and the plug-in tracks images added by the end user better than before.

Processing recently uploaded images is simplified thanks to the new supporting process action iterating over uploaded images - no more iterating over plug-in collection. 

Now, a developer can specify custom PL/SQL code executed for uploaded images, just like when deleting uploaded images from the database. Combining these two processes, you can easily implement image handling on the database table level in the context of a rich text document saved in the database as CLOB value.

Third-Party Integrations

The Froala editor can be integrated with third-party solutions, helping end-users write rich text documents. With this release, your end-users can:

• Write Math and Chemistry formulas using Wirs Math Type.
• Experience live collaboration with CODOX.io
• Correct spelling and grammar mistakes using WProofReader WebSpellChecker
• Control and revise changes in rich text documents.

We are excited about giving your end-users an enhanced experience while preparing educational materials, working with other users on the same document, and controlling how the document changes!

In the following days, I will be covering these topics in detail. Still, I would like you to explore the new possibilities directly in the plug-in live demo sample application without waiting for my next blog post covering the plug-in features. You can read the 23.2 changelog here.

The New Sample Application

Our brand-new sample application showcases the plug-in's capabilities, making exploring and understanding the features easier than ever. Over the last six months, I've dedicated myself to enhancing the plug-in and how we introduce it to you – our valued customers and potential new users.

Because I wasn’t satisfied with the previous design, the complexity, and the lack of clarity, the release 23.2 includes a remastered sample application. The new live demo is designed to be a hub of information about the plug-in features. 

Now, you can easily preview the APEX component configuration used for specific examples, jump directly to documentation, or just go to different examples utilizing the described feature. For your convenience, examples include two main sections: overview and live demo.

In the overview, you can learn more about component configuration, important links, or ideas on how to use the feature.

In the live demo section, you can start the guided tour - the assistance explaining the example -, test various predefined configurations, and test the plug-in!