How to reference SQL column value for page item text field

Question

greetings,
I created a simple report based on sql query. the query is select employeeid,salary from emp_tbl. under the report column i see employeeid and salary. I created a page item text field with the source type pl/sql function body. inside this source is simple block.
begin
if salary < 10000 then
return (1);
else
return (2);
end if;
end;
from the error i take it that it doesn't understand salary. I have tried bind variable (:salary) , hash marks (#salary#), ampersand (&salary.) but nothing works. Is this even possible?
thank you,
mon

Answer 1

Hi Mon,
I think you will find that anything you do in Forms, you can achieve in Apex, but you may have to think a little differently. Finding direct equivalents in both environments may not be easy or even possible in some circumstances, but with a little knowledge and thought an equivalent overall business flow can be achieved that is just as efficient.
For example, in Forms where you have a multi row block based on a table, if you need to add any derived fields then you will add these at the block level. I can see that this is what you are trying to achieve in Apex.
In Apex this will be more easily achieved by specifying the derived fields as part of the query for the region, and if the derivation of the fields is complex you can use user defined functions. If you require page type items to be displayed such as text boxes, LOV's, radiogroups, datepickers etc then these can be embedded in the query with the use of the Apex API, see the APEX_ITEM supplied package.
I know this is still very high level, but I hope it helps you on your way in your journey with Apex.
Regards
Andre