AJAX Bulk Update & Delete in Oracle APEX Grids

Intro

Interactive Grids in Oracle APEX are powerful for editing rows, but what if you need to apply bulk actions — like updating or deleting multiple rows at once?

This post walks through how I built bulk update and bulk delete features for an IG using apex.server.process, JSON payloads, and proper error handling. Along the way, I discovered some important concepts that every APEX developer should understand.

Step 1: Enable Row Selection in IG

Go to your Interactive Grid’s attributes.
Enable Row Selection → this adds the leftmost checkbox column.
Now users can tick multiple rows, Gmail-style.

(Screenshot: IG with row checkboxes)

Step 2: Collecting Selected Rows in JavaScript

Use IG’s API to get the selected records and pull primary keys (e.g., EMPNO):

var ig$   = apex.region("emp").widget(); 
var model = ig$.interactiveGrid("getViews","grid").model;

var sel = ig$.interactiveGrid("getSelectedRecords");
var ids = sel.map(function(rec){
  return model.getValue(rec, "EMPNO");  // primary key
});

(Screenshot: console log of IDs when rows are selected)

Step 3: Sending Data to the Server (JSON Payload)

Instead of old CSV tricks, send structured JSON.

var payload = JSON.stringify({ ids: ids, setTo: 0, reason: "bulk clear" });

apex.server.process(
  "BULK_CLEAR_COMM_JSON",              // Ajax Callback name
  { x01: payload },                    // JSON string → g_x01
  {
    success: function(pData){
      if (pData && pData.ok === false) {
        apex.message.showErrors(pData.errors);
        return;
      }
      var n = (pData && pData.updated) ? pData.updated : 0;
      apex.message.showPageSuccess("Updated COMM for " + n + " row(s).");
      apex.region("emp").refresh();
    },
    error: function(req, status, err){
      apex.message.showErrors([{ type:'error', location:'page', message:'Server error: ' + err }]);
    }
  }
);

Step 4: The PL/SQL Ajax Callback

On the server, parse JSON, loop IDs, perform the update, and return a JSON result:

declare
  j       apex_json.t_values;
  l_count number := 0;
  l_id    number;
  l_size  pls_integer;
  l_setto number;
  l_reason varchar2(4000);

  procedure send_error(p_msg varchar2) is
  begin
    apex_json.open_object;
    apex_json.write('ok', false);
    apex_json.open_array('errors');
      apex_json.open_object;
      apex_json.write('type','error');
      apex_json.write('location','page');
      apex_json.write('message', p_msg);
      apex_json.close_object;
    apex_json.close_array;
    apex_json.close_object;
  end;
begin
  -- Parse JSON {"ids":[..], "setTo":0, "reason":"..."}
  apex_json.parse(j, apex_application.g_x01);

  l_setto  := apex_json.get_number(j,'setTo');
  l_reason := apex_json.get_varchar2(j,'reason');
  l_size   := apex_json.get_count(j,'ids');

  if l_size = 0 then
    send_error('No rows selected.'); return;
  end if;

  for i in 1..l_size loop
    l_id := apex_json.get_number(j,'ids[%d]', i);
    update emp_copy set comm = l_setto where empno = l_id;
    l_count := l_count + sql%rowcount;
  end loop;

  apex_json.open_object;
  apex_json.write('ok', true);
  apex_json.write('updated', l_count);
  apex_json.close_object;
end;

(Screenshot: IG before & after COMM column cleared)

BEFORE

AFTER

Step 5: Bulk Delete Example

Same pattern, but PL/SQL performs a delete:

JavaScript:

apex.message.confirm(
  "Delete " + ids.length + " row(s)?",
  function(ok){
    if(!ok) return;
    apex.server.process("BULK_DELETE_EMP",
      { x01: JSON.stringify({ ids: ids }) },
      { success: function(pData){ ... } }
    );
  }
);

PL/SQL:

for i in 1..l_size loop
  l_id := apex_json.get_number(j, 'ids[%d]', i);
  delete from emp_copy where empno = l_id;
  l_count := l_count + sql%rowcount;
end loop;

apex_json.open_object;
apex_json.write('ok', true);
apex_json.write('deleted', l_count);
apex_json.close_object;

(Screenshot: rows disappearing from IG after delete)

BEFORE

AFTER

Step 6: Error Handling the Right Way

One big lesson: AJAX “success” callback fires even on business errors because HTTP 200 means protocol success.

Business/validation errors → handle inside PL/SQL with ok:false JSON.
Client inspects if (pData.ok===false) → show errors with apex.message.showErrors.
Only network/500 errors trigger the error callback.

(Diagram: HTTP vs App error flow)

Step 7: Real-World Extensions

Audit logging → log who updated/deleted, old/new values, and reason.
Soft deletes → mark is_deleted='Y' instead of hard delete.
UX polish → disable button while Ajax in progress.
Inline errors → tie errors to specific items (pageItem: 'P1_SETTO').

Key Takeaways

Bulk IG actions = row selectors + apex.server.process + JSON payloads.
Always return structured JSON (ok:true/false, errors[]).
Use apex.message.showErrors for clean UX.
Separate HTTP failures (500, network) from business errors.

Closing

Building bulk update/delete in APEX IGs shows how client-side JS and server-side PL/SQL work hand in hand.

👉 Next up, I’ll share a focused post on why apex.server.process success fires even when there’s an error — and how to handle it with proper error JSON.

#OracleAPEX #LowCode #PLSQL #WebDev #SQL

Interactive Grid Bulk Actions with AJAX Callbacks in Oracle APEX (JSON Edition)

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