Oracle Free image bumps aren't upgrades; how to patch the data dictionary anyway
Changing the Oracle Free image tag keeps your data but leaves the data dictionary behind. Learn how to check, and how to patch it.
Philipp Hartenfeller Blog RSS Feed
Blog and Portfolio of software developer Philipp Hartenfeller
Latest posts
Programmatic Tool Calling in the Oracle Database with MLE JavaScript
Letting an LLM write one small program that calls your tools in a loop beats round-tripping every call through the model. Here is how I built that for UC AI with Oracle MLE, and why the sandbox was the hard part.
Letting Coding Agents Lint Their Own PL/SQL with dbLinter
Coding agents write plenty of PL/SQL, but they need a feedback loop to write it well. Here's how to hand dbLinter to Coding Agents and teach it to check its own work.
Run Oracle APEX 26.1 Locally
APEX 26.1 was finally released yesterday. Learn how to quickly set it up locally and test the new features with uc-local-apex-dev.
UC AI Chat Plug-In Beta
Build APEX AI agents with UC AI thanks to the new chat plug-in
Best Practices for LLM Tools or Function Calling for Oracle Developers
APEX 26.1 brings native LLM function calling to PL/SQL. Here's how to design tools that the model actually uses correctly: scope, validation, and security.
Mixing APEX Universal Theme Colors with the mix-color function
Lighten or darken APEX Universal Theme colors with the mix-color function to create custom colors for your APEX applications.
UC AI v26.1: Multi-Agent Systems, Prompt Profiles & Responses API for PL/SQL
UC AI v26.1 brings multi-agent systems, prompt profiles for reusable LLM configurations, and support for OpenAI's new Responses API.
Teaching AI coding assistants Oracle APEX
How to utilize SKILL.md files to teach AI coding assistants like Claude Code about how to use Oracle APEX-specific concepts.
Upgrading uc-local-apex-dev from 23ai to 26ai without data loss
uc-local-apex-dev lets you run Oracle APEX and Database 26ai locally with minimal setup. Upgrade from 23ai without data loss.
UC AI v25.7: Embeddings, xAI, OpenRouter and Toon
The current UC AI release adds support for xAI (Grok) and OpenRouter (almost all models). Additionally, embedding is supported for all providers, you can use Toon, and override URLs for all providers.
This blog is now on Astro thanks to Antigravity!
How I migrated my blog from a custom React setup to Astro, improving performance and maintainability.
Toon for Oracle: A Token-Efficient Data Format for LLMs
Toon is a data representation format that is optimized for usage for LLMs. With UC AI's PL/SQL package, you can convert any JSON data to the Toon format.
Oracle APEX Reactive Markdown Plug-in #JoelKallmanDay
Display rich Markdown in Oracle APEX that reacts to changes of referenced page items.
Build Real AI Solutions with Oracle PL/SQL (No 23ai Required)
Learn how data engineers can leverage AI for Oracle automation using PL/SQL. Discover structured output, file analysis, reasoning, and tool calling with the open-source UC AI SDK.
How to Run Open GPT Models Locally and Integrate Them with Oracle APEX
How to integrate OpenAI's new open GPT models locally with Ollama and UC AI into an Oracle APEX app.
You should try having a local database with APEX
A local Oracle APEX environment eliminates friction through safe experimentation, administrative access, and instant performance.
Demystifying the SQLcl MCP Server
A deep dive into Oracle's SQLcl MCP Server: understanding its capabilities, testing its tools, and examining the security implications for database access through AI.
Easily query testdata with Oracle APEX and the power of SQL Macros
How to use the Oracle APEX Data Generator/Blueprints feature purely from SQL and how to make it convenient with SQL Macros.
Why I create presentations in HTML
Since a year, I don't use PowerPoint anymore. I instead enjoy using HTML and CSS to create my slides with reveal.js.
Putting Claude Code to the Test
Unwanted changes, bugs, but a jump-start. My first experience with Claude Code.
SQLcl with JavaScript on macOS using GraalVM
Getting JavaScript working in SQLcl in 2025 is not straightforward. Here is how I did it on macOS using GraalVM.
Year in review: 2024
From changing jobs to international conferences to discovering 3D printing and more. My 2024 in review.
How to fix containerized Oracle 23ai Database not starting on Mac
When trying out the Free Oracle 23ai Database Docker Image I always encountered the same issue. The database wouldn't start. Here is how I fixed it.
Alfred workflow to supercharge Oracle APEX development #JoelKallmanDay
Quickly access the APEX documentation, icons, CSS, and more from your spotlight search.
Oracle APEX 24.1 Template Component Improvements
Find out what's behind the region-only type, Slots and selection support. Read about my first impression of APEX 24.1 in the end.
Minimize all windows on Mac OS
AppleScript to quickly minimize every window on my macOS. This is not hiding the windows, but minimizing them on the dock.
Upgrading from Oracle 23c FREE to 23ai
My upgrade journey from dockerized Oracle 23c FREE to 23ai
How to add global application search to your APEX app
Learn how to add a global search to your Oracle APEX app that searches through all your data and navigation entries.
How to contribute to an open-source Oracle APEX Plug-in
Give back to the community by contributing to open-source Oracle APEX Plug-ins with Git and GitHub.
Advent of Code 2023 in Oracle - Day 7: Camel Cards
Advent of Code 2023 in Oracle SQL and PL/SQL. Day 7: Camel Cards.
Advent of Code 2023 in Oracle - Day 1 and 2
Advent of Code 2023 in Oracle SQL and PL/SQL. Day 1 and 2.
Oracle APEX 23.2 Workflows: A First Look
A preview version of Oracle APEX 23.2 just got released on apex.oracle.com. Let's take a look at the new workflow feature.
Oracle APEX Template Components with Web Components #JoelKallmanDay
Web Components make it easy to create custom JavaScript-heavy components and integrate well into Oracle APEX.
View Transitions in Oracle APEX
View Transitions allow you to animate page transitions. This makes the UI more polished and engaging.
Mastering Web Components: A Comprehensive Step-by-Step Guide
Learn step-by-step how Web Components work and how to use them. Including HTML templates, custom elements, shadow DOM, attributes, properties, and slots.
APEX Template Component Competition is live now
Share your Template Components with the community and win great prizes.
Reusable, and Translatable: Oracle APEX Text Messages
APEX Text Messages is a powerful feature to organize reusable and translatable text fragments. You can use them in PL/SQL, JavaScript, and Substitution Strings.
Oracle APEX AG-Grid Plug-In 0.3 (beta)
I released the third beta release of the AG-Grid plug-in for Oracle APEX. Find out what's new and how to get it.
Creating an Offline-Ready SvelteKit Application Using SQLite (Part 2): Messaging and Client Tables
In this series, we develop an offline-capable SvelteKit application utilizing SQLite as a client-side storage solution. In this part, we optimize the communication between the main thread and the Web Worker and create the client data tables.
Introduction to Template Components in Oracle APEX 23.1
The most exciting feature in APEX 23.1 for me is Template Components. Find out what they are and how to use them.
Creating an Offline-Ready SvelteKit Application Using SQLite (Part 1): Setting up the Database
In this series, we develop an offline-capable SvelteKit application utilizing SQLite as a client-side storage solution. In this part, we explore how to set up the database effectively.
SvelteKit with SQLite: Uploading, Storing and Retrieving Images
In this post, we will learn how to upload, store and retrieve images in a SvelteKit application with SQLite.
DIY Authentication and Authorization in SvelteKit 1 with SQLite
In this post, we look into how we can build our own Authentication and Authorization solution for SvelteKit. We will store and hash user credentials, create sessions with Cookies, and make the session info available to the app through hooks and locals.
SvelteKit 1 with SQLite: Displaying, Changing and Searching Data
SvelteKit and SQLite are a great combo as they are both lightweight and easy to use, making it simple to build high-performance, data-driven web applications.
Advent of Code 2022 in Oracle - Day 10
My solution for the tenth day of the Advent of Code 2022 challenge "Cathode-Ray Tube" with Oracle. We simulate a CPU and a Pixel-Screen in pure SQL!
Advent of Code 2022 in Oracle - Day 7
My solution for the seventh day of the Advent of Code 2022 challenge "No Space Left On Device" with Oracle. Today with a tree (not for christmas)...
Advent of Code 2022 in Oracle - Day 5
My solution for the fifth day of the Advent of Code 2022 challenge "Supply Stacks" with Oracle. Its starting to get complex...
Advent of Code 2022 in Oracle - Day 3
My solution for the third day of the Advent of Code 2022 challenge "Rucksack Reorganization" with Oracle. Its starting to get complex...
Advent of Code 2022 in Oracle - Day 2
My solution for the second day of the Advent of Code 2022 challenge "Rock Paper Scissors" with Oracle. This time in pure SQL.