APEX_UTIL.PREPARE_URL does not work across workspaces?

Question

We are running ApEx 4.1.1 on Oracle 11g.
I am trying to call an application in another workspace and am using APEX_UTIL.PREPARE_URL in a hidden item and then a button with REDIRECT TO URL using javascript:popUp2 which uses the hidden item (the returned value of the PREPARE_URL. The code works fine if I am in the same workspace and a checksum is returned:
APEX_UTIL.PREPARE_URL('f?p=9002:2:&SESSION.::NO::P2_CALLING_APP_ID,P2_CALLING_APP_NAME:&APP_ID.,&G_APP_NAME.&c=STU_WS','SESSION');
returns:
f?p=9002:2:1400894538262901::NO::P2_CALLING_APP_ID,P2_CALLING_APP_NAME:9001,FRD_MASTER_BANSECR&c=STU_WS&cs=3190FB9A8CC967E5B3CED03460DF6F291
I can press the button and app 9002 opens in a new window.
When I try the same code in an application in another workspace, no checksum is returned:
APEX_UTIL.PREPARE_URL('f?p=9002:2:&SESSION.::NO::P2_CALLING_APP_ID,P2_CALLING_APP_NAME:&APP_ID.,&G_APP_NAME.&c=STU_WS','SESSION');
returns:
f?p=9002:2:8288147979401::NO::P2_CALLING_APP_ID,P2_CALLING_APP_NAME:112,Testing_Template&c=STU_WS
and I get the error:
Error     Session state protection violation: This may be caused by manual alteration of a URL containing a checksum or by using a link with an incorrect or missing checksum.
I have also tried it without the workspace '&c=STU_WS' and explicitly passing the parameters, but no checksum is returned.
APEX_UTIL.PREPARE_URL(p_url => 'f?p=9002:2:&SESSION.::NO::P2_CALLING_APP_ID,P2_CALLING_APP_NAME:&APP_ID.,&G_APP_NAME.',p_checksum_type => 'SESSION')
If I do not try to pass any parameters, no checksum is produced, but the button successfully opens app 9002 in a new window:
APEX_UTIL.PREPARE_URL('f?p=9002:4:&SESSION.::NO::&c=STU_WS','SESSION');
returns:
f?p=9002:4:8288147979401::NO:::&c=STU_WS
Again, the above code successfully opens app 9002 in a new window. In fact, when not passing parameters to app 9002, I would not seem to need to use PREPARE_URL.
BUT. I do need to pass the calling app id and the calling app name to app 9002, because 9002 looks up information about the calling app. Since, I must pass parameters, I must use PREPARE_URL, and it does not seem to work when you call it for an app in a different workspace.
Given all of the above, I have found a kludge. I call PREPARE_URL using the APP_ID of the current app and then replace that APP_ID with 9002.
replace(APEX_UTIL.PREPARE_URL('f?p=&APP_ID.:2:&SESSION.::NO::P2_CALLING_APP_ID,P2_CALLING_APP_NAME:&APP_ID.,&G_APP_NAME.&c=STU_WS','SESSION'),
'f?p=&APP_ID.:2','f?p=9002:2')
returns:
f?p=9002:2:8288147979401::NO::P2_CALLING_APP_ID,P2_CALLING_APP_NAME:112,Testing_Template&c=STU_WS&cs=33B2BB2ECFE3555198CE3325CCF9F67B8
And the button opens app 9002 just fine.
Is there anyway to get PREPARE_URL to work with apps in another workspace? What am I missing? Is there a better way than the kludge I came up with?
A little more information: my app 9002 is a help & info for ApEx DBAs and Developers. It is my attempt at code reuse. Calls to 9002 are in a master template. I can continually update and change the help in 9002 without having to update the apps that call it.
Thanks for your help,
Chris

Answer 1

lewisc3 wrote:
We are running ApEx 4.1.1 on Oracle 11g.
I am trying to call an application in another workspace and am using APEX_UTIL.PREPARE_URL in a hidden item and then a button with REDIRECT TO URL using javascript:popUp2 which uses the hidden item (the returned value of the PREPARE_URL. The code works fine if I am in the same workspace and a checksum is returned:
APEX_UTIL.PREPARE_URL('f?p=9002:2:&SESSION.::NO::P2_CALLING_APP_ID,P2_CALLING_APP_NAME:&APP_ID.,&G_APP_NAME.&c=STU_WS','SESSION');
returns:
f?p=9002:2:1400894538262901::NO::P2_CALLING_APP_ID,P2_CALLING_APP_NAME:9001,FRD_MASTER_BANSECR&c=STU_WS&cs=3190FB9A8CC967E5B3CED03460DF6F291
I can press the button and app 9002 opens in a new window.
When I try the same code in an application in another workspace, no checksum is returned:
APEX_UTIL.PREPARE_URL('f?p=9002:2:&SESSION.::NO::P2_CALLING_APP_ID,P2_CALLING_APP_NAME:&APP_ID.,&G_APP_NAME.&c=STU_WS','SESSION');
returns:
f?p=9002:2:8288147979401::NO::P2_CALLING_APP_ID,P2_CALLING_APP_NAME:112,Testing_Template&c=STU_WS
and I get the error:
Error     Session state protection violation: This may be caused by manual alteration of a URL containing a checksum or by using a link with an incorrect or missing checksum.
I have also tried it without the workspace '&c=STU_WS' and explicitly passing the parameters, but no checksum is returned.
APEX_UTIL.PREPARE_URL(p_url => 'f?p=9002:2:&SESSION.::NO::P2_CALLING_APP_ID,P2_CALLING_APP_NAME:&APP_ID.,&G_APP_NAME.',p_checksum_type => 'SESSION')
If I do not try to pass any parameters, no checksum is produced, but the button successfully opens app 9002 in a new window:
APEX_UTIL.PREPARE_URL('f?p=9002:4:&SESSION.::NO::&c=STU_WS','SESSION');This is wrong because you are passing string SESSION for url_charset parameter, that's why id is not adding any checksum
See this http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E23903_01/doc/doc.41/e21676/apex_util.htm#AEAPI160
returns:
f?p=9002:4:8288147979401::NO:::&c=STU_WS
Again, the above code successfully opens app 9002 in a new window. In fact, when not passing parameters to app 9002, I would not seem to need to use PREPARE_URL.
BUT. I do need to pass the calling app id and the calling app name to app 9002, because 9002 looks up information about the calling app. Since, I must pass parameters, I must use PREPARE_URL, and it does not seem to work when you call it for an app in a different workspace.
Given all of the above, I have found a kludge. I call PREPARE_URL using the APP_ID of the current app and then replace that APP_ID with 9002.
replace(APEX_UTIL.PREPARE_URL('f?p=&APP_ID.:2:&SESSION.::NO::P2_CALLING_APP_ID,P2_CALLING_APP_NAME:&APP_ID.,&G_APP_NAME.&c=STU_WS','SESSION'),
'f?p=&APP_ID.:2','f?p=9002:2')
returns:
f?p=9002:2:8288147979401::NO::P2_CALLING_APP_ID,P2_CALLING_APP_NAME:112,Testing_Template&c=STU_WS&cs=33B2BB2ECFE3555198CE3325CCF9F67B8
And the button opens app 9002 just fine.
Is there anyway to get PREPARE_URL to work with apps in another workspace? What am I missing? Is there a better way than the kludge I came up with?
A little more information: my app 9002 is a help & info for ApEx DBAs and Developers. It is my attempt at code reuse. Calls to 9002 are in a master template. I can continually update and change the help in 9002 without having to update the apps that call it.
Review all above API calls and make sure you pass right parameters