How do we export a ms-word (or rtf) document (from a web browser) to generated by pl/sql?

Question

Hello,

I need to generate a ms-word document from a pl/sql query to export a set of reports through a web browser.

I have been searching for a specific way to modify the content headers using owa_util.mime_header etc etc but could not really get a working proof of concept to get the web page to present the user to download/open/save a ms-word document.

I know it's not much but..

   begin
    OWA_UTIL.MIME_HEADER ( 'application/vnd.ms-word', false);
    htp.print('Content-Disposition:attachment;filename="test.doc"');
    OWA_UTIL.HTTP_HEADER_CLOSE;
        for x in (select first_column, second_column from my_table)
            loop
                htp.p(x.first_column||'<br/>'||x.second_column||'<br/><br/>');
            end loop;
    end;

Could someone please shed some light on how can I create a procedure that generates output to html which intercept the browser headers and prints out the query content to a word document?

By the way, the current environment (restriction) I am running this from: Oracle APEX 3.0.1 (not 3.1, which I believe has an export to word doc feature).

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

In Apex you can make a page that is completely generated from a procedure of your making:

1. Create a blank page.
2. Under Processes, click Create, and choose PL/SQL.
3. Give it a name, and leave the default option "On Load - Before Header".

4. For PL/SQL Page Process, enter the following:

   BEGIN
      myprocedure;
      htmldb_application.g_unrecoverable_error := true;
   END;
   

5. Create your procedure (the code you have should work ok) and it should work fine.

EDIT: the code in "myprocedure" should emit HTML code, including the HTML and BODY tags.