How to Display Dynamic Page Item Values in Oracle APEX Region Headings

 

Introduction

Oracle APEX provides built-in region titles for reports and Interactive Grids. However, in enterprise applications developers often need more control over the appearance of page headings, especially when displaying contextual information such as employee names, vehicle numbers. 

This article demonstrates how to create a custom styled heading with dynamic page item values above a report region while avoiding duplicate titles and unnecessary spacing.

Prerequisites  
· One Interactive Grid region named Service Request Detail 
· Basic familiarity with APEX Page Designer

Objective

We want to display a styled heading such as 'Vehicle Service Request Details : [Vehicle No - Vehicle Description]' above a report region by combining a Static Content region with the substitution string &P398_VEHICLE_NO.

Solution

Step 1: Create Interactive Report Region

 a) Set the Report Region Title

In Page Designer, click your report region (e.g., Service Request Details). Under Identification, set the Title field to match your region name:

 

Figure : 1

 b) Configure Region with SQL Query

Under Source
Location: Local Database
Type:  SQL Query
SQL Query:

SELECT
      ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY req.posted_date DESC) AS SNO,
       req.req_id,
       req.vehicle_id,
       v.vehicle_no,
       req.emp_id,
      req.posted_date,
      v.vehicle_type
FROM veh_servicerequest req,
     veh_vehicle_setup v
WHERE req.vehicle_id = v.vehicle_id
and  req.bill_posted = 'Y'

Figure : 2

Step 2: Create Page Item

·          Create page item: P398_VEHICLE_NO

·          Set type: Hidden

Figure : 3

Under Source

·         From Region Select

·         Type  SQL Query (return single value)

·         SQL Query

SELECT vehicle_no || ' - ' || vehicle_desc
FROM (
SELECT v.vehicle_no,
v.vehicle_desc
FROM veh_servicerequest req,
veh_vehicle_setup v
WHERE req.vehicle_id = v.vehicle_id
AND req.bill_posted = 'Y'
ORDER BY req.posted_date DESC
)
WHERE ROWNUM = 1;

  
    Figure : 4

Step 3: Add a Static Content Region for the Heading

Add a styled heading above your report region:

1   Right-click your page in the Page Designer tree → Create Region

Figure : 5

2  Under Identification, set the Title of this new Static Content region to: Service Request Details

Note: The Title field is mandatory in APEX and cannot be left blank.

3   Set Type to Static Content

Figure : 6

4  Under Source → HTML Content, paste the following:

Figure : 7

<div style="

  width: 100%;

  display: flex;

  align-items: center;

  background: #98AFC7;

  padding: 4px 25px;

  border-radius: 10px;

  box-shadow: 0 4px 10px rgba(0,0,0,0.2);

">

  <h2 style="

  font-family: 'Roboto', 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;

  font-size: 27px;

  color: #f8f9fa;

  font-weight: 500;

  margin: 0;

  letter-spacing: 0.8px;

">

  Vehicle Service Request Details  :  &P398_VEHICLE_NO.

</h2>

</div>

Note: &P398_VEHICLE_NO. is an Oracle APEX substitution string. At runtime, Oracle APEX replaces it with the value of the page item P398_VEHICLE_NO.

5        Set the region sequence so it appears just above your report region

Step 4: Hide the Built-in Title Using Template Options

To prevent the duplicate heading, hide the report region's built-in title:

1.      Click your report region in Page Designer

2.      Go to Appearance → Template Options → Click the button

3.      Find the Header setting and select Hidden but accessible

Figure : 8

4.      Click OK and Save the page

 Step 5: Remove the Gap between Heading and Report

A spacing gap often appears between the Static Content heading region and the report region below it. To fix this:

1. Run the page in Oracle APEX
2. Hover over the Static Content heading region  a pencil (✏️) icon will appear in the top-right corner of the region
3. Click the pencil icon to open Quick Edit
4. In the Quick Edit panel, click Template Options
5. Set Top Margin to None
6. Set Bottom Margin to None

Figure : 9

7. Click OK
8. Save the page and refresh to confirm the gap is removed

Step 6: Save and Run

Save the page and run it to verify that the styled heading displays correctly with the Oracle APEX substitution value of the page item and without spacing gaps.

Figure : 10

Conclusion

In this article using a Static Content region together with dynamic page item provides a flexible way to create professional report headings in Oracle APEX. This approach improves UI clarity and gives developers full control over styling while remaining fully compatible with the Universal Theme.