Exporting an Application

25.3.2.4 Exporting an Application

Move or copy an application by exporting and then importing it into the target instance.

Exporting an application in Oracle APEX generates a readable script file with a .SQL extension. An application export includes the application definition, including templates, pages, regions, items, buttons, and so on.

As a best practice, Oracle recommends you export complete applications rather than individual components. If you wish to export an application and there are components such as pages that are not yet ready for testing, Oracle recommends you use Build Options to include or exclude various application components.

Tip:

In addition to exporting the actual application, you may also need to export other related static files such as cascading style sheets, images, and script files. See Managing Static Application Files.

To export an application:

Navigate to the Export page:
1. On the Workspace home page, click the App Builder icon.
2. On the App Builder home page, click Workspace Utilities.
3. Click Export.
  
  The Export page appears.
  
  Tip:
  You can also access the Export page by selecting the application, Export/Import, and then Export.
Click the Application tab.
Under Export Application:
1. Application - Select the the application to export.
2. Readable Format - Specify whether the export file should contain a human-readable version of the application metadata. Use it to identify and review differences between version A and version B of an application when checked-in into a Version Control System. Options include:
  - None
  - YAML
  - JSON
3. Build Status Override - Select the build status of the exported application. Options include:
  - Run Application Only - Users can only run an application. Selecting this option is an effective way to protect an application from modifications from other developers.
    
    If you select Run Application Only, you cannot set the argument p_trace to Yes. The only way to change this setting after you import the application is to log in to APEX Administration Services
  - Run and Build Application - Developers and users can both run and edit an application.
  Tip:
  
  Build Status Override setting can be changed when importing using the Web interface in App Builder but not when using the command line interface.
4. Supporting Object Definitions - Specify whether to export supporting object definitions with your application. Supporting object definitions include all configuration options and scripts and enable an application export to include database object definitions, image definitions, and seed data SQL statements encapsulated in a single file.
  Options include:
  - Yes - Includes supporting object definitions in the application export. Does not automatically load supporting objects when invoked from a command line.
  - No - Does not include the supporting object definitions in the export.
  - Yes and Install on Import Automatically - Includes supporting object definitions and a call to install supporting objects in the application export. This option is valid only for command line installs. When application imports from the command line, it automatically installs or upgrades the supporting objects.
5. Split into Multiple Files - Options include:
  Options include:
  - On - Exports the application as a ZIP archive containing separate files for each page, shared component, and so on.
  - Off - Exports as a single SQL file containing the entire application.
  Tip:
  
  To learn more about the Zip archive, see Splitting Export Files into Separate Scripts.
6. Owner Override - By default, the application is owned by the owner identified in the application attribute owner. Use this attribute if you wish to import this application as a different schema owner then you are exporting.
7. Public Reports - Specify whether to include public reports with your application. Public reports are the public shared report settings saved by users from an interactive report or interactive grid.
  Options include:
  - On - Include public reports in the application export.
  - Off - Do not include public reports in the application export.
8. Private Reports - Specify whether to include Private reports with your application. Private reports are the private customized settings saved by users from an interactive report or interactive grid.
  Options include:
  - On - Include public reports in the application export.
  - Off - Do not include public reports in the application export.
9. Report Subscriptions - Specify whether to include interactive report or interactive grid subscription settings with your application. This will be limited to the unexpired subscription settings of all users for all interactive reports or interactive grids in the application.
  Options include:
  - On - Include report subscriptions for the reports you are exporting in the application export.
  - Off - Do not include report subscriptions for the reports in the application export.
10. Developer Comments - Specify whether to include Developer Comments in your application export. Options include:
  - On - Include Developer Comments in the application export.
  - Off - Do not include Developer Comments in the export.
11. Translations - Specify whether to include translations with your application export. Translation Text Messages and Dynamic Translations are always included in the application export. Options include:
  - On - Include the translation mappings and all text from the translation repository.
  - Off - Do not include translation mappings or the translation repository.
12. Debugging - Specify if debugging is enabled or disabled. Options include:
  - Yes - Exports the application with debugging enabled.
  - No - Exports the application with debugging disabled.
  Enabling debugging is useful for applications under development. As a best practice, Oracle recommends turn off debugging for production applications to prevent users from viewing application logic.
13. Original IDs - Specify whether the export file should contain the application component IDs as of now or as of the last import of this application.
  - On - Include the IDs as of the last import.
  - Off - Include only the current IDs of the components.
14. Owner Override - By default, the application is owned by the owner identified in the application attribute owner. Use this attribute to import this application as a different schema owner then you are exporting.
15. As of - Specify a time in minutes to go to back to for your export. This option enables you to go back in time in your application, perhaps to get back a deleted object.
  
  This utility uses the DBMS_FLASHBACK package. Because the timestamp to System Change Number (SCN) mapping is refreshed approximately every five minutes, you may have to wait that amount of time to locate the version for which you are looking. The time undo information is retained and influenced by the startup parameter UNDO_RETENTION (the default is three hours). However, this only influences the size of the undo tablespace. While two databases can have the same UNDO_RETENTION parameter, you are able to go back further in time on a database with fewer transactions because it is not filling the undo tablespace, forcing older data to be archived.
16. File Character Set - Indicates the character set in which the export file will be encoded. When importing this file you will need to specify the same character set.
Under Recent Exports to Export Repository, review any recent exports.
Click Export.
Import the Application Export into the target instance.