Comparison between Oracle Apex VS Oracle VBCS

VBCS

Visual Builder Cloud Service (VBCS) is a tool to create web-based applications. This allows developers to build apps quickly and efficiently without the need for complex coding languages. VBCS is generally a low-code development world where organizations develop their applications for a high customer experience

Features Of VBCS

Oracle Visual Builder cloud service is one of the low-code application development platforms

for all sizes of organizations.

? Custom web and mobile applications

? Integrate with external data sources:

? Building scalable applications:

? Enhancing the customer experience:

? Developing personalized UI:

? VBCS is not a server-side framework. This means the user is not always connected to the server. The connection is established only when needed. This significantly helps in reducing network latency by reducing the number of server requests.

? Oracle JET uses HTML and CSS; hence, UI elements are easier to perform using VBCS.

? There is an auto-refresh functionality in VBCS when you make a change.

? Single Page Application is a streamlined approach that can save codes such as HTML, CSS, etc. with a single page load. By doing this, server requests are reduced, and the UX is enhanced.

? It works for mobile applications and PWAs, where it’s better than using a framework like ADF, which only supports a browser-based application.

? A UI designer can develop an action event without writing complex code.

ORACLE APEX

Oracle APEX is a low-code mobile app development framework used to design and build applications for small/medium-sized businesses and enterprises. These applications are usually developed and deployed on-premises or in the cloud. As it is a low-code framework, APEX makes it easy to develop applications with a dynamic user interface and solve challenging business problems. Another advantage of APEX is that you don’t need to have an expert team of resources to develop user-centric applications.??

1. Pricing - Oracle Apex Pricing details

- Oracle VBCS Pricing details

Please reference URLs to calculate the estimated monthly and hourly cost of Apex Application development and VBCS Application Development

Ref URL for APEX--https://www.oracle.com/cloud/costestimator.html

Ref URL For VBCS-- https://www.oracle.com/cloud/costestimator.html

2. Email Handling

---- Oracle Apex

In Oracle APEX, there are primarily three different methods for handling emails:

1. APEX MAIL PACKAGE:

This is a built-in PL/SQL package provided by Oracle APEX for sending emails. It offers a straightforward way to send emails directly from your APEX application using PL/SQL code. You can specify email recipients, sender information, subject, body, and other email options using the ‘APEX_MAIL.SEND ’ procedure.

2. SMTP CONFIGURATION: APEX allows you to configure SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) settings for outbound email delivery. By configuring SMTP settings in the APEX instance administration interface, you can specify the SMTP server details, authentication credentials, encryption options, and other relevant settings. Once configured, APEX utilizes the configured SMTP server to send emails.

3. CUSTOM EMAIL SENDING SOLUTIONS: If you require more advanced or customized email handling functionality that is not covered by the built-in features of APEX, you can implement custom solutions using external services, APIs, or third-party tools. This might involve integrating with external email services such as SendGrid, and Amazon SES, or using Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Email Delivery service. With custom solutions, you have more flexibility and control over the email-sending process, allowing you to implement complex email workflows, handle large volumes of emails, and integrate with other systems or applications.

In Oracle APEX, you can handle email functionality using the built-in email-sending features and PL/SQL APIs. Here's a basic outline of how you can achieve email handling in APEX.

?

Set Up Email Configuration:

Before sending emails from your APEX application, you need to configure email settings. This typically involves specifying the SMTP server details, authentication credentials (if required), and other relevant settings. You can do this in the APEX instance administration interface.

1. Compose Email Content:

Create the content of your email, including the subject, body, and recipient(s). This can be dynamic content generated based on user input or application data

2. Use PLSQL to send Email:

APEX provides PL/SQL APIs for sending emails. You can use the ‘APEX_MAIL.SEND ’ procedure to send emails programmatically from your APEX application.

Example:

BEGIN

??? APEX_MAIL.SEND(

??????? p_to????????? ??=> '[email protected]',

??????? p_from?????? => '[email protected]',

??????? p_body?????? => 'This is the body of the email.',

??????? p_subj??????? => 'Subject of the email'

??? );

END;

You can also include attachments, CC, BCC, and other options as needed in the APEX_MAIL.SEND procedure.

Trigger Email Sending: You can trigger the sending of emails based on various events in your APEX application, such as user actions, form submissions, database triggers, etc. For example, you might send a confirmation email to users after they submit a form.

Handle Error Cases: Make sure to handle any potential errors that may occur during the email-sending process. This includes checking for invalid email addresses, handling SMTP server errors, and providing appropriate feedback to users if email sending fails

Test Email Functionality: Before deploying your application, thoroughly test the email functionality to ensure that emails are being sent correctly and are delivered to the intended recipients.

---- Oracle VBCS

In Oracle Visual Builder Cloud Service (VBCS), you can handle email functionality by integrating with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Email Delivery or by using custom JavaScript code to interact with external email services or APIs. Here's a general approach to implementing email handling in VBCS:

1. Using Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Email Delivery

OCI Email Delivery is a cloud-based email-sending service provided by Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. It allows you to send emails reliably and securely.

To use OCI Email Delivery in VBCS, you need to set up an OCI account, enable the Email Delivery service, and obtain the necessary credentials and configurations.

Once you have configured OCI Email Delivery, you can use VBCS's REST API support to send HTTP requests to the OCI Email Delivery API endpoints to send emails.

You would typically use custom JavaScript code within VBCS to make HTTP requests to the OCI Email Delivery API, passing the email content, recipient addresses, sender information, etc., as parameters.

Ensure that you handle any necessary authentication and authorization mechanisms required by OCI Email Delivery when making requests from VBCS.

?2. Using External Email Services or APIs:

If you prefer to use external email services or APIs, such as SendGrid, Amazon SES, or others, you can integrate VBCS with these services using custom JavaScript code.

Similar to the OCI Email Delivery approach, you would use VBCS's capabilities to make HTTP requests to the external email service's API endpoints, passing the required parameters to send emails.

You need to obtain the necessary API credentials and configurations from the external email service provider and ensure that you handle authentication and authorization properly in your VBCS application.

3. Implementing Email Sending Logic in Custom JavaScript Code:

In VBCS, you can create custom JavaScript functions or modules to encapsulate the email-sending logic.

These JavaScript functions can be called from VBCS actions, such as button clicks or form submissions, to trigger the email-sending process.

Within the JavaScript code, you would typically construct the email content (e.g., subject, body, recipient addresses), format it appropriately, and make the necessary API requests to send the email using the chosen email service.

4. Handling Errors and Feedback:

Ensure that you handle any errors that may occur during the email-sending process, such as network errors, invalid email addresses, or API request failures.

Provide appropriate feedback to users within your VBCS application to inform them about the status of the email-sending operation and any errors encountered.

By following these steps, you can implement email handling functionality in Oracle Visual Builder Cloud Service (VBCS) using OCI Email Delivery or by integrating with external email services or APIs.

Thanks,

Integrationwings