🎨 Enhancing Popup LOV in Oracle APEX with Custom Templates

One of the most powerful and user-friendly item types in Oracle APEX is the Popup LOV (List of Values).

Developers love it because it provides a clean UI, and users love it because it supports powerful search capabilities across multiple columns (introduced in APEX 19.2).

Popup LOV supports:

✅ Single value selection

✅ Multiple value selection

✅ Inline popup display

✅ Modal dialog display

✅ Multi-column search capability

By default:

• If the LOV query returns one column, APEX displays the values as a list.
• If the LOV query returns multiple columns, APEX displays the results in a grid layout.

But what if you want more control over how the results appear?

For example:

• Show employee details in multiple lines
• Add avatars
• Create card layouts
• Improve the overall user experience

Let’s explore how to customize Popup LOV using JavaScript templates and CSS.

👨‍💻 Creating a Multi-Column Popup LOV

In this example, we will display Employee details.

First, create a List of Values in Shared Components.

LOV Query

SELECT * 
FROM EMPLOYEES

Next:

1. Create a new Page Item
2. Select Popup LOV as the item type
3. Choose the LOV under List of Values

By default, APEX will display the LOV as a grid layout if multiple columns exist.

But what if we want to display the information in 3 separate lines per record?

⚙️ Defining a Custom Popup LOV Template

To customize how the LOV records appear, use the JavaScript Initialization Code property.

This allows you to modify the options object during Popup LOV initialization.

JavaScript Initialization Code

function(options) {
    options.display = "list";

    options.recordTemplate = (
  '<li data-id="~EMP_NAME.">' +
     '<div class="content">' +
         ' <span class="name">~EMP_NAME.</span>' +  
         ' <span class="number">~PHONE_NO.</span>' +   
         ' <span class="nationality">~NATIONALITY.</span>' + 
     '</div>'+
  '</li>').replace(/~/g, "&");

    return options;
}

This template tells APEX to render each record as a custom list element with employee details.

🎨 Improving Layout Using CSS

To display the data in three lines, apply a simple Flexbox CSS rule.

CSS Code

.content {
      display: flex;
      flex-direction: column;
}

Now the Popup LOV will show:

instead of a single row.

🚀 Advanced Popup LOV Examples

Once you start customizing Popup LOV templates, the possibilities become endless.

Let’s look at two advanced UI examples:

1️⃣ Simple User List with Avatars

2️⃣ Card Layout with Icons and User Details

📊 Data Source

For both examples, we will use the following query.

SELECT 
    EMP_NAME,
    NVL(apex_web_service.blob2clobbase64(EMP_IMAGE), EMPTY_CLOB()) AS EMP_PICTURE_BASE64
FROM EMPLOYEES

This query converts employee images into Base64 format so they can be displayed in the UI.

👤 Simple List with Avatars

This example displays employees with profile pictures and names.

JavaScript Initialization Code

function(options) {
    options.display = "list";

    options.recordTemplate =
        '<li data-id="~EMP_NAME.">' +
            '<div style="display:flex;align-items:center;gap:12px;padding:8px;">' +

                '<img src="data:image/jpeg;base64,~EMP_PICTURE_BASE64!RAW." ' +
                'style="width:50px;height:50px;border-radius:50%;object-fit:cover;" ' +
                'onerror="this.src=\'#APP_FILES#default_avatar.png.webp\';">' + 

                '<div>' +
                    '<span style="font-weight:600;font-size:14px;">~EMP_NAME.</span>' +
                '</div>' +
            '</div>' +
        '</li>';

    options.recordTemplate = options.recordTemplate.replace(/~/g, "&");

    return options;
}

Result:

This layout provides a clean and modern user list.

🃏 Cards Layout with Avatars and Icons

This example creates a card-style interface displaying detailed employee information.

JavaScript Initialization Code

function(options) {

    options.display = "list";

    options.recordTemplate = (
        '<li data-id="~EMP_NAME.">'+
            '<div class="card">' + 
                '<img src="data:image/jpeg;base64,~EMP_PICTURE_BASE64!RAW." ' +
                'style="width:50px;height:50px;border-radius:50%;object-fit:cover;" ' +
                'onerror="this.src=\'#APP_FILES#default_avatar.png.webp\';">' +

                 '<div class="user-infos-card">' +
                     '<span class="user-name-card"><b>~EMP_NAME.</b></span>' +

                     '<span class="user-info-card">' +
                         '<span class="fa fa-globe user-info-card-icon"></span>'+
                         '<span class="user-info-value">~NATIONALITY.</span>'+
                     '</span>' +

                     '<span class="user-info-card">' +
                         '<span class="fa fa-phone user-info-card-icon"></span>'+
                         '<span class="user-info-value">~PHONE_NO.</span>'+
                     '</span>' +

                     '<span class="user-info-card">'+
                         '<span class="fa fa-envelope-o user-info-card-icon"></span>'+
                         '<span class="user-info-value">~PERSONAL_EMAIL.</span>'+
                     '</span>' +

                 '</div>'+
            '</div>'+
        '</li>').replace(/~/g, "&");

    return options;
}

🎨 CSS Styling for Card Layout

.card {
    box-shadow: 0 4px 8px rgba(0,0,0,0.2);
    transition: 0.3s;
    display: flex;
}

.card:hover {
    box-shadow: 0 8px 16px rgba(0,0,0,0.2);
}

.user-infos-card {
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: column;
  margin: 1rem;
}

.user-name-card {
  margin-bottom: 1rem;
}

.user-info-card {
  margin-bottom: 0.5rem;
}

.user-info-card-icon {
  margin-right: 1rem;
}

This creates a modern card-based Popup LOV layout with icons and structured information.

💡 What’s Next?

Once you start customizing Popup LOV templates, you can build:

✔ User pickers with profile photos

✔ Product selectors with images

✔ Card-based customer lists

✔ Rich employee directories

✔ Beautiful UI components inside LOVs

At this point, your imagination is the only limit.

Popup LOV is one of the most flexible components in Oracle APEX UI customization.

🏁 Conclusion

Customizing Popup LOV templates allows you to significantly enhance the user experience of Oracle APEX applications.

By combining:

• JavaScript templates
• CSS styling
• APEX metadata

You can transform a basic LOV into a rich interactive component.