Assigning value of field from JavaScript in Oracle Apex

Question

I am trying to implement JavaScript in header of page of Oracle APEX application. Fields in the form by default are going to be disabled if customer data exists but it can be trigger to edit mode by clicking on button 'Unlock'. By clicking button EnableItems() is run, but form is not resubmitted it is just js function that run.

function DisableItems()
{
$x_disableItem('P31_TITLE',true);
}
function EnableItems()
{
$x_disableItem('P31_TITLE',false);
}

If form is empty then all fields should be available to edit.

In Javascript >> Execute when Page Loads I have

PageStart();

Now I need third piece of code so page would know if I want to load Enable or Disable mode. To do that I have

 function PageStart(){
 if ($x('P31_TEST2').value == "") {
 EnableItems();
 }
 else {
 DisableItems();
  }
 }

The difficulty is in second line of this code where I need to put some flag to assign value to a field or gather value from Apex field which would trigger either first or second function however I am not quite sure what would be the best practice to go around it. Any thoughts highly appreciated.

Answer 1

P31_START_ENABLED: hidden item, value protected = No. Provide the starting value. For example, here the value is either 'Y' or 'N' to indicate enabled Y/N

function PageStart(){
   if($v("P31_START_ENABLED")=='Y') {
      EnableItems();
   } else {
      DisableItems();
   };
};

function DisableItems()
{
   $s("P31_START_ENABLED", 'N');
   $x_disableItem('P31_TITLE',true);
};
function EnableItems()
{
   $s("P31_START_ENABLED", 'Y');
   $x_disableItem('P31_TITLE',false);
};