Developer 10g Capture All CHANGED Item Values

Question

Still learning this application one module at a time so be kind :)
What is the most efficient way to capture all the data block item values that have changed on the form at say the pre-update trigger?
I'm thinking of testing for:
RECORD_STATUS = 'CHANGED'
and if true then assign the first item to v_item using:
v_item := 'block_name' || '.' || get_block_property('block_name',first_item)
Then loop through each item in the block and test the DATABASE_VALUE against the form value and if they are not equal the assign the DB value to a variable and the form value to a variable and build a string of text to be displayed to the user by using:
IF GET_ITEM_PROPERTY(v_item,DATABASE_VALUE) <> :BLOCK_NAME.ITEM_NAME THEN
v_dbvalue := GET_ITEM_PROPERTY(v_item,DATABASE_VALUE);
v_frmvalue := :BLOCK_NAME.GET_ITEM_PROPERTY(v_item,ITEM_NAME);
v_string := v_string || 'Old value was ' || v_dbvalue || ' and new value is ' || v_form value;
Then advance to the next item by resetting the v_item variable to the next item using:
v_item := 'BLOCK_NAME' || '.' || GET_ITEM_PROPERTY(v_item,NEXTITEM);
And repeat the process until there are no more items in the block:
EXIT WHEN 'BLOCK_NAME' || '.' || NULL;
So what would be the most efficient way to do this?

Answer 1

The form holds information that is inserted by a technician then the manager of the technician has to approve the info and submit it to the director for final approval.
So what I do is capture any of the changes that the technician makes and put that sting into an email and send it to the manager so they know that changes were made to the record and they can approve or decline the changes before submitting it on to the director.
My successful POST-UPDATE trigger at the form level ended up like:
<<
p_html := 'Catalog item ' || :ITEMS.MANUFACTURER || ' - ' || :ITEMS.MODEL_DESC || ' ' || :ITEMS.MODEL || ' has been modified and the results are as follows: <br> ';
v_item := 'ITEMS' || '.' || get_block_property('ITEMS',first_item);
<<item_loop>>
loop
exit when v_item = 'ITEMS' || '.' || null;
v_dbvalue := GET_ITEM_PROPERTY(v_item,DATABASE_VALUE);
v_itemname := GET_ITEM_PROPERTY(v_item,ITEM_NAME);
v_block := 'ITEMS';
v_name := v_block || '.' || v_itemname;
v_frmvalue := NAME_IN(v_name);
IF v_dbvalue <> v_frmvalue THEN
p_html := p_html || 'OLD VALUE WAS: ' || v_dbvalue || '<br>AND NEW VALUE IS: ' || v_frmvalue || '<br>';
END IF;
v_item := 'ITEMS' || '.' || get_item_property(v_item,nextitem );
>>
The p_html variable is the string that I send to the email package to send out via our mail service.
Maybe this will help someone with a similar need.
Cheers,
Max