Using Expression Language in
Fusion Applications
An Oracle White Paper
January 2014
Using Expression Language in Fusion Applications
Introduction ....................................................................................................... 3
What is Expression language? ......................................................................... 4
Use Case Examples ........................................................................................... 4
Combination examples ..................................................................................... 8
References .......................................................................................................... 9
Using Expression Language in Fusion Applications
Page 2
Using Expression Language in Fusion Applications
INTRODUCTION
EL is used for adding addition logic to the
runtime customization of page
components.
This document forms a basic guide on using Expression Language (EL) inside
customizations made to Fusion Applications. This feature support comes as part
of the embedded Oracle WebCenter Page Composer, and the underlying ADF
technology.
As per the screenshot below, its primary use is for Page Composer-based run-time
customizations that can be made in both SaaS and On-Premises environments;
however it is also notable that JDeveloper and ADF support EL for design-time
page customization as well.
Figure 1 – Page Component Properties
The material given here is textual (as opposed to graphical) with many fine-grained
code examples that are provided to illustrate EL usage. In addition the content is
organized into common use-cases that hopefully encourages browsing, as opposed
to just use as a reference guide. The material is also complemented by some useful
resources at the end.
Using Expression Language in Fusion Applications
Page 3
WHAT IS EXPRESSION LANGUAGE?
The examples provided in this document serve the following basic customization
needs, and whilst more advanced logic is possible venturing into great complexity
may take your customization beyond the scope that page composer is designed to
support.
•
Dynamically set a field to default a specific value
•
Dynamically set the display properties of a specific field
•
Conditionally hide or disable a field or region
Generally EL statements return either a value such as ‘Richard’, or a Boolean such
as TRUE if the test is a success. These are then used in setting ADF page
component properties, such as Value, Required, or Visible. The examples in this
document include a mixture of return values used for setting various properties.
In ADF a partial page refresh is used to fire the EL logic, and careful testing in a
safe environment is needed to ensure your EL executes at the expected places. An
example might be properly defaulting values for fields upon actions such as create,
edit, and re-edit.
Always test and verify the support for EL in
each page component you wish to
customize.
In addition, please be aware that not every page is intended to be fully
customizable, and even those that are may not always expose the component
properties against which you might wish to add custom expression logic. As such
expectations of what is possible should be set based on careful testing of each case,
and not on any broad assumptions.
USE CASE EXAMPLES
The following table contains EL examples that cover many of the common
requirements for customizing page component properties at runtime. It is not
intended to be exhaustive, but to give a good starting point for developing
effective EL expressions.
Each row is a requirement and they illustrate both syntax and some common utility
functions available. They have also been specifically tested with Fusion
Applications, as opposed to generic examples or those that use functions that may
not be available.
If you have any other examples that could be useful for our community please
provide feedback to the Developer Relations team at
http://blogs.oracle.com/fadevrel.
Title
Short
Description
Basic
Operators
Simple operators
available in EL,
•
Examples
#{4>3}
Using Expression Language in Fusion Applications
Page 4
returning TRUE
or a result value.
#{100.0 == 100}
#{(10*10) ne 200}
#{‘a’ < ‘b’}
#{‘hip’ gt ‘hit’}
#{bindings.MinReleaseAmt.inputValue * 10}
Conditional
Logic
If-Then-Else
syntax is: #{
[test] ? [then1] :
[else2] }
Also the
extended logical
operators are
“&&” (and),
“||” (or) and “!”
(is not)
Using with
Add
Content
Include EL
inside the Value
property of an
added HTML
region.
Uses the
webCenterProfile
API for returning
user information.
#{customer.balance < 0 ? ‘red’: ‘black’)
#{row.FlowTemplateName == ‘New Hire’ ?
‘color:#0000FF’ : ‘color:#000000’}
#{row.FlowTemplateName ==’New Hire’ ||
row.FlowTemplateName==’Retire’ ? ‘color:#0000FF’ :
‘color:#000000’}
<html> <body> <h1>Benefits URL</h1><script>
var x=””;
if
(“#{webCenterProfile[securityContext.userName].busin
essState}” == “California”) {
x=”<a href=’http://www.uhc.com’
target=’_blank’>United Health Care</a>";
} else
{ x="<a href='http://www.bcbs.com'
target='_blank'>Blue Cross Blue Shield</a>";
}
document.write(x);
</script> </body> </html>
Create
Dynamic
Content
Links
Set the value for
a URL to include
an EL
expression.
http://www.yourcompany.com/#{webCenterProfile[se
curityContext.userName].businessState}.pdf
Access Skin
Details
Adjust your
content
properties based
on the underlying
custom CSS skin.
#{applCorePrefs.skinFamily}
Get the value of
the current user
#{applCorePrefs.displayNameLanguage}
#{securityContext.userName}
User
/personImage?personId=#{pageFlowScope.personId}
#{requestContext.skinFamily}
#{adfFacesContext.skinFamily}
#{changeModeBean.inEditMode ? 'medium' : 'light'}
Using Expression Language in Fusion Applications
Page 5
Information
properties from
the session.
#{generalSettings.userTimeZone}
#{generalSettings.preferredDateStyle}
#{generalSettings.preferredAccessibilityMode}
#{generalSettings.formattedCurrentDate}
#{facesContext.viewRoot.locale.language}
#{WebCenterProfile[securityContext.userName].Manag
erDisplayName}
Dates and
Times
Return the
current date,
time, or both.
Useful in writing
conditions such
as preventing
post-dated
entries.
#{generalSettings.formattedCurrentDate}
#{generalSettings.formattedCurrentTime}
#{generalSettings.formattedCurrentDateTime}
#{applCorePrefs.locale}
Resource
Bundles
Return the
proper translated
text strings.
Useful for
defaulting values
and labels.
#{HcmPerformanceTopGenBundle['Header.Performan
ceWorkerOverview']}
Examples
illustrate various
bundles in use
for different
pages.
#{prcpoeditdocumentpublicuiBundle['Header.General.
GeneralInformation']}
#{prcpoeditdocumentpublicuiBundle['AltTxt.Search.Sea
rchanLOV']}: #{bindings.VendorSiteCode1.hints.label}
#{var.index == 0 ?
hcmgoalcorepublicuiBundle['OLabel.IncludeinGoalPlan'
] : null}
#{applcoreBundle.NONE}
#{ResourcesGenBundle['AltTxt.Add.Addanobject']}
ADF
Bindings
The ‘bindings’
object is
essentially the
link between the
UI and the
backend data
model.
#{bindings.Comments.inputValue}
#{bindings.ChangeOrderFlag.inputValue == 'Y' ||
pageFlowScope.poRole != 'BUYER' ||
bindings.IsRateDateReadOnly.inputValue}
#{ bindings.StatusCode.inputValue == 'CANCEL' ||
bindings.StatusCode.inputValue == 'OVERDUE'}
#{node.bindings.GoalIncludedInPlan.attributeValue}
#{bindings.GoalUrl.inputValue != null}
ADF Tables
Table rows are
referred using
row.[columnNa
me].
#{row.Weighting != null ? row.Weighting : '0'}
#{row.bindings.IsEmpRatingGiven.inputValue == "Y"
? true : false}
Using Expression Language in Fusion Applications
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Page
Structure
Properties
Page Flow
Scope
Security
Context
Some pages
support the use
of native
Webcenter
object
components.
Test yourself to
verify.
#{node.GoalPlanAssignmentId != null}
The
pageFlowScope
object is a
commonly
available JSF
bean for
accessing context
variables. More
here.
#{pageFlowScope.poRole != 'BUYER'}
The
securityContext
object provides
access to
functions for
checking the
users security
access at
runtime.
This does not
replace properly
customizing the
security roles to
control security.
Accessing
View
In some cases it
is possible to
access the
#{node.EnableWeightingFlag == 'Y'}
#{attrs.view eq 'imageLink'}
#{pageFlowScope.pTaskName == 'Manager Approval'
? true : false}
#{pageFlowScope.pGoalProfiles['HRG_ENABLE_GO
AL_LIBRARY'] == 'Y'}
#{pageFlowScope.accessCode eq 'FULL_ACCESS' ?
false : true}
#{pageFlowScope.searchDocumentManagedBean.navig
ateToDocumentHistoryPageFromHeader} (in
documentCommandLink for redirect)
#{securityContext.userGrantedPermission['permissionC
lass=oracle.adf.share.security.authorization.MethodPerm
ission;target=oracle.apps.prc.pon.permission.createSupp
lierNeg; action=invoke']}
#{securityContext.userGrantedPermission['permissionC
lass=oracle.adf.share.security.authorization.MethodPerm
ission;target=oracle.apps.prc.po.permission.changeSuppl
ierSite;action=invoke']}
#{securityContext.taskflowViewable['/WEBINF/audit-expense-report.xml#audit-expense-report']}
#{securityContext.authenticated}
#{securityContext.userName}
#{securityContext.userInRole['roleList']}
#{securityContext.userInAllRoles['roleList']}
#{securityContext.taskflowViewable['target']}
#{securityContext.regionViewable['target']}
#{securityContext.userGrantedResource['permission']}
#{securityContext.userGrantedPermission['permission']
}
#{bindings.GoalPlanAssignmentVO.hints.PriorityCode.
mandatory}
Using Expression Language in Fusion Applications
Page 7
Objects
ADFbc View
Objects to
interrogate
additional data
that may not be
displayed on the
page (via the
backing bean).
#{!GlobalAreaBackingBean.anonymousUser}
#{finUiUtil:containsMoreThanOneRow(bindings.Enter
PurchasingDocumentBUAccessUiVO.viewObject)}
#{finUiUtil:containsNoRows(bindings.CompensationIt
em1Iterator.viewObject)}
#{backingBeanScope.GoalOverviewBean.keyAttrRead
Only}
#{backingBeanScope.PerfDocGoalBean.keyAttrReadO
nly}
#{bindings.ComponentPropertiesVO.viewable ?
applcoreBundle.TABLE_EMPTY_TEXT_NO_ROWS
_YET :
applcoreBundle.TABLE_EMPTY_TEXT_ACCESS_D
ENIED}
#{backingBeanScope.PersonSearchParams.professional
QueryMode ?
adfBundleForPersonSearch['Header.AdvancedSearch']:
adfBundleForPersonSearch['Header.Search']} (text for
search region)
Firing
Methods
On some pages it
may be possible
to call methods
from the backing
bean through
EL, such as a
buttons
actionListener.
Note: This is
predominantly a
design-time
customization.
#{backingBean.<Bean Name>.<bean method>}
#{myBean.addNewOrder('orderName')}
#{backingBeanScope.GoalInformationBean.handleDele
teGoalURL} (from commandImageLink actionListener
property)
#{backingBeanScope.GoalBean.launchWorkerRemove
GoalWarningPopup} (also actionListener)
COMBINATION EXAMPLES
The following few examples illustrate some more examples of EL usage in
determining the correct property for a component based on the runtime
environment.
These are intended to illustrate how you can combine some of the items from the
table above.
Using Expression Language in Fusion Applications
Page 8
#{ pageFlowScope.pShowPageReadOnly == 'Y' ||
bindings.StatusCode.inputValue == 'CANCEL' ||
bindings.StatusCode.inputValue == 'OVERDUE' ||
pageFlowScope.pGoalEditMode == 'PENDING_GOAL' ||
bindings.StatusCode.inputValue == 'COMPLETED'}
#{pageFlowScope.pGoalEditMode != 'CREATE_GOAL' &&
(pageFlowScope.pShowPageReadOnly == 'Y' ||
backingBeanScope.GoalInformationBean.keyAttrReadOnly ||
bindings.StatusCode.inputValue == 'CANCEL' ||
bindings.StatusCode.inputValue == 'OVERDUE' )}
#{pageFlowScope.pParentFlow != 'MANAGER_HOME' &&
pageFlowScope.pGoalUIContext !='ProfileUI' &&
pageFlowScope.pGoalEditMode == 'CREATE_GOAL' &&
pageFlowScope.pGoalUIContext != 'MassRequestUI'}
#{(pageFlowScope.pGoalProfiles['HRG_GOAL_COMPLN_REQ_APPR'] ==
'Y' || pageFlowScope.pGoalProfiles['HRG_KEY_ATTR_CHG_REQ_APPR']
== 'Y') ? HcmGoalTopGenBundle['OLabel.SubmitandAddAnother']:
HcmGoalTopGenBundle['Action.SaveandAddAnother']}
#{pageFlowScope.pReadOnlyDetails || (bindings.MandatoryFlag.inputValue ==
"Y" ? true : false)}
#{(pageFlowScope.pPerfDocTab4Name != null and
pageFlowScope.pPerfDocTab4Name != '') ?
(pageFlowScope.pPerfDocTab4SectionTypeCode == 'WFF' ?
pageFlowScope.pShowEmpFeedbackSection :
(pageFlowScope.pPerfDocTab4SectionTypeCode == 'MFF' ?
pageFlowScope.pShowMgrFeedbackSection :
(pageFlowScope.pPerfDocTab4SectionTypeCode == 'OS' ?
pageFlowScope.pShowOverallSummarySection :
(pageFlowScope.pPerfDocTab4SectionTypeCode == 'QUESTIONNAIRE' ?
pageFlowScope.pShowQstnrSection :
(pageFlowScope.pPerfDocTab4SectionTypeCode == 'GOAL' ?
pageFlowScope.pShowGoalSection :
(pageFlowScope.pPerfDocTab4SectionTypeCode == 'REG' ?
pageFlowScope.pShowCompetencySection : true)))))) : false}
REFERENCES
The following are three EL resources where further information can be found to
support specific requirements or provide a general background.
•
JavaEE Expression Language Tutorial
Using Expression Language in Fusion Applications
Page 9
•
Webcenter Expression Language Reference Guide
•
Developer Relations YouTube channel for demonstrations and examples
Using Expression Language in Fusion Applications
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Using Expression Lanaugage in Fusion Applications
January 2014
Author: Richard Bingham, Developer Relations
Oracle Corporation
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