Authentication function not working in APEX but works in pl/sql

Question

Greetings, Jim here.
I have written a very simple authentication funtion which uses the dbms_ldap package to authenticate using the userid and password from the login page.
I've tested this function thru pl/sql and it returns true and false accordingly.
I've created a custom authentication schema and in the authentication function I have return myfunction;
The problem is, when called thru APEX, it appears to always return true and lets the login proceed, even if the password is correct. I know its using the function due to the fact that if I enter a bogus function as the authentication function, APEX spits up a message saying so.
So, I know the function works, but I don't know why it does not work with APEX. Posting function below.
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION ODBS.CUSTAPEXLOGIN (p_username IN VARCHAR2,p_password IN VARCHAR2)
RETURN BOOLEAN AS
retval PLS_INTEGER;
emp_session DBMS_LDAP.session;
ldap_host VARCHAR2(256);
ldap_port VARCHAR2(256);
ldap_user VARCHAR2(256);
ldap_passwd VARCHAR2(256);
ldap_base VARCHAR2(256);
BEGIN
ldap_host := 'oraldap';
ldap_port := '389';
ldap_user := p_username;
ldap_passwd := p_password;
ldap_base := 'cn=users,dc=company,dc=com';
emp_session := DBMS_LDAP.init(ldap_host,ldap_port);
retval := DBMS_LDAP.simple_bind_s(emp_session,('cn=' || ldap_user || ',' || ldap_base),ldap_passwd);
if retval = 0 then
return true;
else
return false;
end if;
EXCEPTION
WHEN OTHERS THEN
begin
if sqlcode = -31202 then
return false;
end if;
end;
END;
/

Answer 1

Hi Jim,
Can you clarify this -
The problem is, when called thru APEX, it appears to always return true and lets the login >proceed, even if the password is correctThat implies you're saying your authentication function ALWAYS returns true? Is that correct? Also 'even if the password is correct' doesn't read correctly to me, did you mean 'even if the password is incorrect'?
You then say -
now the function works, but I don't know why it does not work with APEX.So by 'does not work' you mean in APEX it is always returning true therefore allowing you to login regardless of the username/password you use? Is that correct?