Remote MCP Server to access an Oracle database in Claude on iOS

Image
Think of MCP ( Model Context Protocol ) as the universal adapter for AI assistants. Just like USB-C promised to connect any device to any port, MCP lets AI models connect to virtually any data source, application, or service through a standardized protocol. Whether it's a company database, a cloud service, or a local file system, MCP bridges the gap between AI and the tools you use. The buzz around MCP isn't just hype—it's solving a real problem. Until recently, getting AI to work with your specific data and workflows meant custom integrations, API wrangling, and a lot of developer headaches. MCP changes that by creating a common 'language' that AI models can use to communicate with external systems securely and efficiently. Although MCP is relatively new (created by Anthropic in November 2024), all major players are backing the protocol.  With developers rapidly building MCP servers for everything from databases to development tools, we're witnessing the birt...

Range Slider Plugin

I've spent a little time updating my online shop demo recently. I've still a long way to go but initially I am trying to get as much core functionality built into the search page, such as trying not to submit the page at all and do as much with Ajax as I can.  From hereonin I think I shall refer to this as 'Ajaxifying' my application.  Ok maybe not.

You can go to the demo here....Online Store Demo

Something to note.  You can drag and drop the product images into the shopping basket and the basket inventory will update, but this doesn't work with pagination.  If you use the range slider this will reset pagination and it will work again.  Also note, that this page only works properly with Firefox, which I think maybe down to APEX 4 EA not yet being supported in IE (it doesn't work with Chrome either).

You will notice that I have created a new plugin which I have based on Patrick Wolf's slider plugin, but this uses 2 markers on the slider to represent a range of high and low.   You can also specify default high and low values for the slider.  You can get the range slider plugin here. (let me know if this link doesn't work).  As plugins only return a single value, then the value returned will be made up of 2 values separated by a comma (ie '100,4500').  You will of course need to extract each value from the item you base on the plugin if you want to refer to them in a report Where clause.

I will post some more in the next day or so as I make other improvements.

(Thanks to Anthony for help with the live binding of the drag and drop/slider dynamic actions)

UPDATE:  One thing I forgot to mention is that I added a plugin parameter for the range slider that allows you to specify a jQuery theme from a select list.  This is not the most efficient way of applying themes to all jQuery based plugins on a page/application, but it gives you a flavour of what can be done.

Comments

Anthony Rayner said…
Hi Paul,

It's really taking shape. Looks great. By the way, 1 point of clarification, the slider item plugin is actually Patrick Wolf's, not mine. I, unfortunately cannot take credit for that one!!

Anthony.
Paul Brookes said…
Thanks Anthony,

Post now updated.

What is great is the minimal amount of coding required, once you start using plugins.

It would be nice to get the PPR working on the Products without having to code but its working so I'm happy. Just need to fix the issue with pagination causing the drag and drop to stop working.

Paul.
Anonymous said…
Looks like none of the online store links work?
Anonymous said…
All tryapexnow.com links are broken.
Anonymous said…
The link doesn't work.

Popular posts from this blog

Visualising AI Embeddings in APEX

Remote MCP Server to access an Oracle database in Claude on iOS

Fun with Bubbles!