How do I Change a Report’s Column Display Name

 

Introduction
When building applications in Oracle APEX, it's important to present data in a way that's clear and user-friendly. One common adjustment developers make is changing the display name of a report column to something more meaningful than a database column name like "EMP_ID" or "CUST_CODE." APEX makes it easy to customize these headings without altering the underlying data structure. In this guide, you’ll learn how to update the column display name in your reports to better reflect business language and improve the overall user experience.

 To change a report’s column display name in Oracle APEX, you can update the column heading in the report attributes. This allows you to show a user-friendly name instead of the default column name derived from the SQL query or table definition. You can change the heading for Interactive Reports, Classic Reports, or Interactive Grids, and it does not affect the underlying data structure—only how it's displayed to the user.

Here’s how to change the display name step-by-step:

1. Navigate to the Page Designer

• Open your APEX application in the development environment.

• Click the page that contains the report you want to modify.

• The page will open in Page Designer view.

2. Select the Report Region

• In the Layout or Rendering pane, find your report under the “Regions” node.

• Click the name of the report (e.g., "Employees Report" or "Sales Grid").

3. Locate the Columns Section

• Under the selected report region, expand the Columns node.

• You’ll see a list of all report columns defined for that region.

4. Change the Column Heading

• Click on the column whose display name you want to change.

• On the right-hand side (the Property Editor), look for the Heading section.

• In the Heading field, enter the new display name you want the user to see.

  • For example, change EMPLOYEE_ID to Employee ID

  • Or change TOTAL_SALES to Total Sales (USD)

5. Save and Run

• Click the Save button (or press Ctrl+S).

• Click Run (the green arrow icon) to preview the report.

• You’ll now see the updated column heading in the report output.

Optional Notes:

• You can use substitution strings or dynamic translations for multilingual applications.

• If you're using PL/SQL Function Returning SQL Query, column aliases must be provided in the query itself to enable display name editing.
  Example

   

 the column's header in the report.

Additional Tips:

• Custom Headings: If you want to define custom headings for your report columns, you can set the Heading attribute to your preferred text.

From:

To: 

• Dynamic Column Names: For dynamic assignment of column names based on certain conditions, consider using a PL/SQL function in the report's SQL query. This approach allows for flexible column naming based on session state or other variables.

Lets make a change to David Martinez’s record and update the state.

You can see here that the change has been applied

The form also allows us to “Create” a new  user

Notice that the fields are empty and that you have a “Create” button instead of an “Update” button.

Lets add “John Doe” to the list:

John Doe is now in our list:

Lets Delete John Doe by Clicking on the “Pencil” Icon on the left.

Notice that there is a “Delete” and a “Apply Changes” button.

Lets “Delete” John Doe. When we press the “Delete” button we get a confirmation message:

Press “ Delete” and “John Doe” disappears from the list.

Conclusion
Customizing column display names in Oracle APEX is a simple yet powerful way to enhance the clarity of your reports. By renaming headings, you help users understand the data at a glance, making the application more intuitive and professional. Whether you're adjusting a Classic Report, Interactive Report, or Interactive Grid, taking the time to align column labels with user expectations improves both usability and readability.