Oracle Forms "Multi-select records"

Collected from: http://fdtool.free.fr/articles/multiselect/multiselect.htm

What is it? It allows the developer to let the end-user select/unselect multiple records in a table-block. It does not require any extra item in the block. It uses an in memory PL/SQL collection to store the table-block record status. In addition, you can set the selected record attributes by using a Visual Attribute.

How it works It is composed of:  A Forms' PLL that hosts a package with procedures and functions required to handle the collections. A (not mandatory) Visual Attribute to colorize the selected records. Some Forms triggers to manage the feature. The Forms PLL (multiselect.pll). It contains a package (pkg_multiselect) to update the collection associated to the data table-block. PACKAGE pkg_multiselect IS   Type TAB_REC is table of pls_integer index by binary_integer;   Type TAB_CHK is table of pls_integer index by binary_integer;   Type REC_REC is record( name Varchar2(61), tab TAB_REC );   Type REC_CHK is record( name Varchar2(61), tab TAB_CHK );   Type TAB_REC_REC is table of REC_REC index by binary_integer;   Type TAB_REC_CHK is table of REC_CHK index by binary_integer;     procedure clear;   procedure clear_all_blocks;   function  get_state( numrec in pls_integer ) return pls_integer ;   procedure set_state( numrec in pls_integer, value in pls_integer ) ;   procedure change_state( numrec in pls_integer ) ;   function  get_checked_list (blockname in varchar2 default null)  return TAB_CHK ;   procedure set_visual_attribute_name ( vaname in varchar2);   procedure set_select_visual_attributes   (      fontname   in varchar2 default null     ,fontsize   in varchar2 default null     ,fontweight in varchar2 default null     ,background in varchar2 default null     ,foreground in varchar2 default null   ); END; Every table-block has its own collection, that is a table of pls_integer, to store the record status; 1 for selected records, and 0 for unselected records. CLEAR() Used to clear (actualy delete) the collection associated to the data-block. It is called at query time, to remove previous record status. CLEAR_ALL_BLOCKS() Used to clear every collection associated to the current form. It is called at exit time, in the POST-FORM trigger. CHANGE_STATE() Used to toggle the double-clicked record state. GET_CHECKED_LIST() Returns a collection with the selected record numbers. This function has to be used to know, at any time, what record is selected, without having to loop through the physical records. SET_VISUAL_ATTRIBUTE_NAME() Used to set the Visual Attribute name used to colorize the selected record. The default Visual Attribute name is VA_SELECTED_RECORD, set in the package body. If your form already contains a Visual Attribute with this exact name, you don't need to call this procedure. If your form usually contains a Visual Attribute with another name, you can change it in the package body: va_name varchar2(40) := 'VA_SELECTED_RECORD' ; SET_SELECT_VISUAL_ATTRIBUTES() Used to set the Visual Attribute properties, as needed. If your form already holds a Visual Attribute with correct settings, you don't need to call this procedure. If you don't need to use both SET_VISUAL_ATTRIBUTE_NAME() and SET_SELECT_VISUAL_ATTRIBUTES() procedures, because your Forms module already contains a correct Visual Attribute, so you don't need to keep the whole PRE-FORM trigger. The Forms triggers PRE-FORM Contains calls to the SET_VISUAL_ATTRIBUTE_NAME() and SET_SELECT_VISUAL_ATTRIBUTES() procedures. It is not required. ------------------------------------------- --  not required if you already have a   -- --  VA_SELECTED_RECORD Visual Attribute  -- --  in your form                         -- ------------------------------------------- pkg_multiselect.set_visual_attribute_name ('VA_SELECTED_RECORD'); pkg_multiselect.set_select_visual_attributes   (     -- fontname   => 'courier'     --,fontsize   => '1200'      fontweight => FONT_BOLD     ,background => 'r173g251b171'     ,foreground => 'r0g0b240'   ); POST-FORM Contains a call to the CLEAR_ALL_BLOCKS() procedure to clear the collections before exiting the module. -- clear the collection before exiting -- pkg_multiselect.clear_all_blocks; KEY-EXEQRY Clears the collection to handle new record status: -- clear the collection -- pkg_multiselect.clear; -- execute the query -- execute_query; WHEN-MOUSE-DOUBLECLICK Used to toggle the double-clicked record status: pkg_multiselect.change_state(:system.cursor_record); To know, at any time, the current record status, use the GET_STATE() function, that returns the current record status: status := pkg_multiselect.get_state(get_block_property(:system.trigger_block, CURRENT_RECORD));

The Forms sample dialog Download the multiselect.zip file. Unzip the file. Open and compile the multiselect.pll. Open an run the selected_records.fmb module (Forms 10.1.2.0).