Oracle visual builder cloud service documentation

Here’s an overview of new features and enhancements added recently to improve your Oracle Visual Builder experience.

• Release 24.10 - August 2024
• Release 24.04 - February 2024
• Release 23.10 - September 2023
• Release 23.04 - February 2023

As soon as new and changed features become available, Oracle Visual Builder instances are upgraded in the data centers where Oracle Cloud services are hosted. You don’t need to request an upgrade to be able to use the new features—they come to you automatically.

Classic applications created in earlier versions of Visual Builder use a structure that isn't compatible with the visual application structure now used in Visual Builder. No further feature development work is planned for Classic applications, and only critical bug fixes will be addressed. Oracle recommends that you update your Classic applications to use the visual applications approach, which provides a much more robust functionality for creating sophisticated apps.

For the moment, you can use your Visual Builder instance to manage Classic applications, but this option will be disabled by default in new instances starting soon. You can use your existing instance to export Classic applications and then import them as visual applications to migrate the business objects, but be aware that there are no migration capabilities for the web or mobile UIs. See About Classic Applications.

Release 24.10 - August 2024

Core Pack components, available under the Early Access category in the Components palette since 24.04, now require an opt-in if you want to use them in your application's pages. If you use these Core Pack components in your app, take note that Core Pack does not support theming at this time. The only way to theme your app is to roll back Core Pack usages in your app to Legacy components and re-implement your application.

If you don't ever plan to theme your app, you can choose to enable Core Pack components in the Components palette for use in your app's pages. See Opt In to JET Core Pack Components.

With this update, the ability to create a custom type that defines a list of enumeration values is deprecated. See Deprecated Features.

• Actions within custom code You can now drop an action between single line and block statements in custom code, functionality that can improve productivity. Additionally, you can also take advantage of code completion in a Code action's Properties pane. See Add a Code Action.
• Shorthand syntax for variables, constants, functions in current scope When you create a new JavaScript action chain or add actions to an existing chain, the underlying code now uses shorthand syntax, by default, to retrieve the value of variables, constants, and functions defined in the current scope. So for a page, where previously the syntax was $page.variables.myvar or $page.functions.myfunc , you'll now see $variables.myvar or $functions.myfunc instead in your action chain.
• Duplicate option in JS action chains You can now duplicate an action, or a code block within an If, Switch, or Run in Parallel action. See Create Action Chains in Design Mode as well as Add an If Action, Add a Switch Action, and Add a Run In Parallel Action.

The option to toggle between JSON and JavaScript action chains in the Action Chains tab is no longer available. This change does not impact existing JSON action chains, which you can continue to edit—but all new action chains default to JavaScript. Further, you can no longer create new tests for JSON action chains, though existing tests will continue to run.

Many-to-many relationships continue to use the existing editor, now without the ability to change cardinality. A new + Many to Many Relationship option is also added to a business object diagram's context menu.

24.10 Runtime Version

This release of Visual Builder uses Oracle JET 16.1. x libraries and components. We recommend that you upgrade your Visual Builder applications to this latest JET version, as well as to the 24.10 Visual Builder Runtime, to take advantage of the full spectrum of 24.10 features. JET 16.1. x is primarily a bug fix release, but it does include some visual and behavior changes. To see a list of what's new in JET 16.1. x , go to the JET Release Notes and select v16.1.0 .

You can upgrade to the latest JET and Visual Builder Runtime versions from your visual application's Settings editor. See Manage Runtime Dependencies for Visual Applications.

Release 24.04 - February 2024

With support for a dark theme, favicons can now be set independently for light and dark themes for each of your applications. You can set the favicon to any image in the image gallery by simply changing the favicon in the application's Settings editor. See Manage App Settings.

Pages created with previous versions will not be affected. These pages will maintain their original structure even after your app is upgraded to 24.04.

• Fragments as sections for dynamic containers It's now possible to add fragments as sections in a dynamic container. By default, all fragments tagged as pageContent become available for selection when you add a section to a dynamic container. You also have the option of indicating a particular fragment as preferred content for all sections in the container. See Add Fragments as Sections in a Dynamic Container.
• InstanceFactory types for fragments Types from code, known as InstanceFactory types, can now be defined in fragments, making these types accessible to fragments. As with all fragment artifacts, these types are local to the fragment. See Create a Type From Code.
• New properties for fragment slots The Fragment Slot component now provides several new properties to help you configure a named slot, including a Preferred Content option that indicates the type of content the slot can contain. See Add Slots to a Fragment.
• Drag and drop for fragment slots Fragment consumers can now drag and drop their component of choice onto a fragment slot in the fragment's Properties pane, in addition to the Insert Component option. See Add Slots to a Fragment.

• If your fragment variable uses an array of primitives (for example, string[] ), you can now edit the fragment's JSON to display a drop-down menu showing all values for each item in the array. See Subtypes and valueOptions for arrays in Customize How a Fragment Variable is Displayed in the Properties Pane.
• When an object-type input parameter in a fragment is customized to display an endpoint picker, fragment users can use the Configure Endpoint quick start to select a suitable endpoint and choose its URI parameters. See Customize How a Fragment Variable is Displayed in the Properties Pane.
• When sectioning fragment properties, you can now use a Label field to provide a user-friendly name for the fragment variable. This is particularly useful for dynamic components with data that might take a while to display in the Page Designer. See Section Fragment Properties for Display in the Properties Pane.

• Navigator badge to indicate audit error Audit errors are now badged in the Navigator to indicate that action must be taken to resolve the issue. The badge persists until the error is fixed or until the session ends.
• New Copy to Clipboard option A new Copy to Clipboard option in the right-click menu allows you to copy one or all audit issues to your clipboard for further processing.

• Core Pack in Components palette The next generation of Oracle JET components, known as Core Pack components, are now available in the Components palette as part of the Early Access category. These components, written entirely using the VComponent API and the JET Virtual DOM architecture, are available as a completely new set of components, so you can use Core Pack and legacy components side by side in your application. Core Pack components provide improved rendering performance over legacy components. See Add Components to Pages.
• Page input parameters from parent flows When input parameters for a page are defined beyond its current scope (say, at the app or flow level), those parameters are now listed in the Page Input Parameters dialog, allowing you to readily pass the input parameter from parent flows and pages. See Enable Variables as Input Parameters.
• Live/Design toggle change To switch between Live and Design modes using the Ctrl key (Cmd on Mac), the cursor must now be on the canvas. This way, the mode won't switch when the canvas is not in focus. Releasing the key to switch the toggle back works anywhere. See Use the Page Designer.

• Event editor updates to improve developer productivity We've reworked how new action chains are generated when you create a listener for an event. Previously, you would use several clicks to create a new action chain at the desired scope with a particular name in the Create Event Listener wizard. Now you simply click the Create Action Chain option to generate an action chain with a name in the format ChangeListener . See Create Event Listeners for Events.
• New behavior type for custom events The transform behavior type for custom events is deprecated and replaced by the new tranformPayload behavior type for new event listeners. The change does not impact existing apps with events configured to use the transform type, but the new tranformPayload type addresses issues with invoking event listeners in the correct order. You are, therefore, encouraged to switch to the new behavior type for your existing apps. See Choose How Custom Events Call Event Listeners.

• The Assign Variable action can now be used to create a local variable, by adding the action and using the Properties pane to define it.
• Consecutive Assign Variable actions are now consolidated into a single action.

• UI changes for business objects based on your own schema When working with business objects that use your own schema, you'll notice some UI changes, primarily when adding or editing a business object's fields. See Create a Business Object Based on a DB Table or View and Add Fields to a Business Object Based on a DB Table or View.
• Improved error handling for business object diagrams When business objects and their relationships don't display on the Diagram canvas because of syntax errors, the editor now displays an error message and allows you to edit the JSON source file ( diagram.json ) to fix the error.

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Process Automation, a service that quickly automates business approval workflows, can now be integrated in Visual Builder . To leverage this functionality in your application, create an OCI Process Automation backend, then create service connections for the REST APIs you want to use. See Connect to Oracle Process Automation APIs.

• Register deployed processes
• Use of Process actions in action chains
• Support for Process code snippets
• Process-related quick starts

24.04 Runtime Version

This release of Visual Builder uses Oracle JET 15.1. x libraries and components. We recommend that you upgrade your Visual Builder applications to this latest JET version, as well as to the 24.04 Visual Builder Runtime, to take advantage of the full spectrum of 24.04 features. To see a list of what's new in JET 15.1. x , go to the JET Release Notes and select v15.1.0 .

You can upgrade to the latest JET and Visual Builder Runtime versions from your visual application's Settings editor. See Manage Runtime Dependencies for Visual Applications.

Release 23.10 - September 2023

You can now create action chains in JavaScript. JS action chains allow you to debug them using the browser's developer tools; they are also easier to manage through Git actions. A Design view that reflects code structure helps you build functionality by dragging and dropping actions; you can also choose to work entirely in Code view.

With this update, all new action chains (including those created by Quick Starts) will default to JavaScript—though you can still create JSON action chains. Existing JSON action chains will continue to work as before.

• List view for Actions palette The Actions palette in the Action Chains editor now has a new List view, in addition to the default Grid view, allowing you to view available actions alphabetically in each category. Customizing the view saves your palette preferences separately for each action chain.
• "Surround With" options When working with an action in Diagram mode, you can now use the Surround With options in an action's right-click menu to wrap the action in an If or Try-Catch action.
• Code insights When working with an action in Code mode, you can now use Code Insight to quickly reference scoped artifacts and local variables. Simply enter $ to bring up the insights pop-up menu, then make your auto-fill selection.

Mobile apps have been deprecated in favor of Progressive Web Apps (PWAs)—although mobile functionality won't be entirely removed from the product until July 2024. Starting with 23.10, you can no longer create a new mobile app, but you can import an existing mobile app and deploy it as a PWA for use on mobile devices. See Run Mobile Applications as PWAs.

Functionality relating to hybrid mobile applications (deprecated since April 2021) has also been removed from the product. This means that the use of build configurations to build native .ipa and .apk files for distribution to iOS and Android devices—as well as the Cordova custom plug-in option—are no longer available. You can no longer create new hybrid mobile apps or new build profiles for existing apps; build configurations for existing apps will be ignored. For apps that target mobile devices, enabling PWA support is the recommended approach for distribution.

You can continue to use your existing mobile apps until July 2024 when mobile apps (including PWA-enabled ones) reach End of Life (EOL). To be able to use your mobile PWAs beyond July 2024, we strongly urge you to transition your mobile app as a web app and deploy it as a PWA.

• Variable tracking to detect unsaved changes You can now track a variable's state to detect unsaved changes in your app. Tracking a variable marks it as "dirty" any time its value changes. You can then query for dirty variables using a new JavaScript-based Get Dirty Data Status action. If you don't want a change to be considered dirty, you can reset variable state using the Reset Dirty Data Status action (also based on JavaScript). See Track Variables to Detect Unsaved Changes.
• Filter for input parameters A new Show Input Parameters only option on the Variables editor now allows you to filter variables used as input parameters. See Enable Variables as Input Parameters.

• Slots in fragments A new Fragment Slot component, available in the Components palette, now allows you to add slots to a fragment where users can drop in their own content. A fragment with slots, when used on a page, reveals its slots on the canvas, the page structure, and as part of the fragment's properties. Fragment slots are similar to component slots and users work with them in much the same way. See Add Slots to a Fragment.
• Autowiring of fragment variables To simplify the process of creating pages with fragments, we've added a new property for fragment variables enabled as input parameters to be automatically created on the page where the fragment is used and wired back to the fragment variable's value. See Automatically Create and Wire a Fragment Variable on Its Container.
• Design Time support to display an enhanced UI for fragment input parameters A new Design Time tab in a fragment variable or constant's Properties pane now allows you to customize the UI component shown in the Properties pane when the fragment is selected on a page or container. Previously, you had to do this by editing the JSON metadata. See Customize How a Fragment Variable is Displayed in the Properties Pane.
• Support to display fragment input parameters in sections You can now group a fragment's input parameters and dynamic components by sections using a new Design Time editor that appears in the fragment's toolbar. Use this option to display a fragment's most important properties in the Properties pane when the fragment is selected on a page or container. See Section Fragment Properties for Display in the Properties Pane. If the fragment is used as a page template to create a page, the sectioned view also shows on the page's Properties pane and the Structure view, with the fragment considered the root element instead of the page. See Create Pages From Fragments.

• Backends mandatory for new service connections If you're looking to create a new service connection by providing a specification document or an endpoint URL, you now need an existing backend to be able to create the service connection. If a backend doesn't exist, you'll be prompted to create one as part of the Create Service Connection workflow. With this update, all new service connections will require a backend. Making backends mandatory simplifies the task of managing server connection attributes, especially credentials, across environments. Service connections created previously without a backend will continue to work and their configuration settings can be changed as well. See Create a Service Connection from a Service Specification and Create a Service Connection from an Endpoint.
• Default service name change New service connections no longer include a default name. You can now specify your own service name for easier identification. See Create a Service Connection from the Catalog, Create a Service Connection from a Service Specification, and Create a Service Connection from an Endpoint.

• Multiple undo and redo options in the Designer When working in the Designer, you can now undo and redo multiple actions at one shot; previously, you could undo and redo only your most recent change. See Tour the Designer.
• Audit improvements As a part of performance improvements to enhance application auditing, a new Opened Artifacts setting only audits artifacts that are currently open. To audit the entire application, change this setting to All Artifacts . Further, results in the Audits pane now show in a tree view, instead of a column view. With this change, issues are grouped by artifact, helping you view all issues in a particular artifact. See Audit Application Code.

23.10 Runtime Version

This release of Visual Builder uses Oracle JET 14.1. x libraries and components. We recommend that you upgrade your Visual Builder applications to this latest JET version, as well as to the 23.10 Visual Builder Runtime, to take advantage of the full spectrum of 23.10 features. JET 14.1. x includes design updates for Timeline, Gantt, and Gauge components as well as a new Ghost chroming option for buttons. To see a list of what's new in JET 14.1. x , go to the JET Release Notes and select v14.1.0 .

You can upgrade to the latest JET and Visual Builder Runtime versions from your visual application's Settings editor. See Manage Runtime Dependencies for Visual Applications.

Release 23.04 - February 2023

Deleted applications are moved to a Soft Deleted status and can be restored within 30 days if they've not been permanently deleted. See Restore a Deleted Application.

It's also possible to change the page's content at the click of a new Select Page Template button. This option allows you to remove everything from the page, including associated files, but keep the same page name. See Change Page Templates.

To work with template patterns, the Redwood components associated with your application must be on 2301 or later. Template patterns are not available in version 2210 or earlier.

23.04 Runtime Version

This release of Visual Builder uses Oracle JET 13.1. x libraries and components. We recommend that you upgrade your Visual Builder applications to this latest JET version, as well as to the 23.04 Visual Builder Runtime, to take advantage of the full spectrum of 23.04 features. JET 13.1. x is primarily a bug fix release, so you may want to refer to the JET 13.0.0 release notes for the major updates that are still relevant to JET 13.1. x . Among JET 13.0. x 's new features are updates made to the oj-list-view component's treatment of smart suggestion items and the oj-data-grid component's support for cut, copy, paste, and autofill operations on grid data. To see a list of what's new in JET 13.0. x , go to the JET Release Notes and select v13.0.0 . To see a list of what's new in JET 13.1. x , select v13.1.0 .

You can upgrade to the latest JET and Visual Builder Runtime versions from your visual application's Settings editor. See Manage Runtime Dependencies for Visual Applications.

New Features in Oracle Visual Builder Add-in for Excel

The version of Oracle Visual Builder Add-in for Excel bundled in Visual Builder 24.10 is 4.0. To see what's new in this release, go to the add-in's documentation page and click 4.0.0 .

Supported Browsers

Oracle Visual Builder supports the latest version of the Chrome browser running on Mac OS X and Windows. Other browsers and platforms are not supported.

Applications created using Visual Builder can run on any browser supported by Oracle JET. For details, see What platforms are supported by Oracle JET?

JavaScript must be enabled for all browsers.

Deprecated Features

Take note of features that have been deprecated and are no longer supported in Visual Builder:

Apps created on Visual Builder version 20.07 or earlier were created with Oracle JET's Alta theme as the base theme. The Alta theme was deprecated in JET 10 and will not be supported beyond JET 13. To be able to publish new versions of an Alta-based app beyond January 2024 (when JET 13 reaches End of Life), we strongly urge you to transition your app to use the Redwood theme. Starting with JET 14, only best-effort support will be available for Alta; no bug fixes or new features will be provided for Alta-only issues.

To check the theme used by your web or mobile application, navigate to the application's Settings editor and look for the Theme field. If Theme is set to Alta, take time to redesign your app using the Redwood theme before support for the Alta theme ends.

24.10 - July 2024

24.10 - July 2024

The Enable implicit grant for Service Connections option used for backends and service connections in a web app has been deprecated. The change does not impact existing apps that enable this option—though it won't be available for new web apps starting from June 2024. If your existing web apps use the Enable implicit grant for Service Connections option, we recommend updating them.

1. Update the backend or service connection's server configuration in your visual application:
   1. Change any backends or service connections that use Delegate Authentication to Oracle Cloud Account authentication.
   2. If the REST API doesn't support CORS, change the Connection Type to Always use proxy, irrespective of CORS support ; otherwise, leave the configuration as is.

   No action is needed if your web apps don't have Enable implicit grant for Service Connections enabled and if none of your backends/service connections are set to Delegate Authentication .

   Planned for November 2024

   The Oracle Visual Builder Classic service offering has reached End of Life (EOL) and End of Support Life (EOSL), and is now no longer available. Oracle will migrate all current Oracle Visual Builder Classic instances to the service's replacement: Oracle Visual Builder Generation 2. This does not affect instances already on Oracle Visual Builder Generation 2.

   Instance administrators will receive email notifications with details about when their instances will be migrated, and how to prepare for the migration. For more details, see Migrate Your Instance to Generation 2 in Administering Oracle Visual Builder .

   You can still use these features in Oracle Integration Generation 2, but as you plan the transition to Oracle Integration 3, you should leverage service connections instead to interact with Process.

   To leverage OCI Process Automation (Oracle Integration 3) in your application, create an OCI Process Automation backend based on your instance, then create service connections for the REST APIs you want to use in your visual application. See Connect to Oracle Process Automation APIs for more information.

   Upgrade Policy

   When you create a new visual app, Visual Builder automatically sets your runtime dependencies to the latest Visual Builder Runtime and JET versions. If you’ve already staged or published an app, however, it’s up to you to decide when to upgrade, as long as you do so within a certain time period. As a general rule, Visual Builder supports applications built on the current Runtime Version, as well as the three previous versions. So for 24.10, for example, Visual Builder supports not only the 24.10 Runtime Version, but also apps built with 24.07, 24.04, and 24.01. Once 25.01 comes out, however, support for the 24.01 Runtime Version will drop off, so we'll ask you to upgrade those apps before you can work on them in the Designer. If you choose not to upgrade at that time, you run the risk that newer browser versions will break your app. You also won’t be able to take advantage of any important security and performance improvements. For all of these reasons, we encourage you to build time into your development cycle to keep abreast of current changes, and to make sure you upgrade your app (you should version it first) before support for your current runtime version expires.

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   Access to Oracle Support

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   Oracle Cloud What's New in Oracle Visual Builder, 24.10.0

   Oracle and/or its affiliates.

   Primary Author: Oracle Corporation