URL String Substitution

Question

I have stored a URL in a varchar2 column in an oracle table, and used the
LINK feature in htmldb to create a link out of the text for the
column. However, when I try to run the page which was gotten from that text in the database, it fails to perform substitution of the session state variables (e.g &APP_ID.) which was part of the text stored in the database.
Is there some way to get the substitution to work, or handle the URL text
differently in the db?
I am trying to get a "list" of urls that I can search on- which is why I
chose a table.. There may be a better way of doing this.
thanks for any help..
larry

Answer 1

Larry,
try to code the url in your table this way (use the pseudo-variables #APP_ID# and #SESSION# and replace them with the actual values in your report):
f?p=#APP_ID#:1:#SESSION#Then use the following select in a report region:
SELECT HTF.anchor (REPLACE (REPLACE (url, '#SESSION#', :app_session)
                          , '#APP_ID#'
                          , :app_id)
                 , 'click me!') AS "myLink"
  FROM mytableSee the following example using dummy values and dual:
SELECT HTF.anchor (REPLACE (REPLACE ('f?p=#APP_ID#:1:#SESSION#', '#SESSION#', :app_session)
                          , '#APP_ID#'
                          , :app_id)
                 , 'click me!') AS "myLink"
  FROM DUAL~Dietmar.