URGENT - Form with LOV - Query Fails

Question

Hi All,
I've a portal form, with about 10 fields and about 06 of them are combo boxes (attached to dynamic LOVs).
I'm trying to perform a query using the ID and leaving all other fields blank, but no result is displayed. I am sure that the record for that ID exist in the database table.
Can someone please suggest what should I do to be able to perform query in form with LOVs.
Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Hi Jatinder
I'm happy because you are apparently on the right way with 'your duplicate form'!
"adjust the empty values" means to make sure, that the value of the simple empty field (in the duplicate form) is the same as the value of the corresponding LOV based combo box field (in the original form).
Maybe this sounds easy, but in the matter of fact it isn't. Why?
Look carefully at the following sample:
You have a dynamic LOV based on the number column 'category' in your 'table_1'.
So the basic part of the LOVs query looks like this:
select distinct category from table_1;
Now you still have to add the 'empty value' to your LOV to complete your request to find any value of 'category'. But if you add '0' or ' ' (blank) it wouldn't work. So you have to add NULL but this still doesn't work because you have to adjust NULL to the corresponding data type.
Furthermore you have to be sure that the default LOV's value is the 'any value' one.
Your complete LOVs query then looks like this:
select distinct category from table_1
union
select to_number(null) from dual
order by category desc;
/* 'desc' for 'descending' ensures the NULL value to be on the top of the combo box */
Now as you know how it works for number columns simply use the analog logic for character columns with to_char(null) and for date columns with to_date(null).
That's it.
Thanks
Peter