Exporting a deployable application

When you export a deployable application, all objects and data necessary for the application to correctly install and execute on the target server are automatically written into a single definition file, sorted by type and object name. The resulting .def file serves as a server-independent archive of the application because it contains everything needed to install the application on a different AR System server.

Related topic

Exporting-and-importing-a-deployable-application

The definition file for a deployable application includes the following definitions:

  • The application itself and its properties, including permissions.
  • The forms and workflow objects that are included in the application. For information about including shared workflow, see Exporting-and-importing-shared-workflow-and-integrated-applications.
  • All menus that are referenced by the application. A menu is referenced by the application if a form in the application has a field that references the menu or if an active link in the application includes a Change Fields reference to the menu.
  • All roles associated with the application. The group mappings for each role are not included, because these must be redefined for the groups that exist on the destination server.
  • Any packing lists included in the application. Objects in the packing list are included only if they are also in the application.
  • Data stored in AR System forms that are defined as data forms for the application. For more information, see To include form data when exporting definitions.

The application state is a server-specific setting. The application is automatically set to a Maintenance state when you import it to the destination server. Therefore, custom application state definitions are not exported or deployed with the application.

Warning

If the AR System server has Record Object Relationships enabled, the relationships are recorded as the application objects are created during import. If you import a large application or many object definitions, the server might become highly loaded and unresponsive for a period of time.

To export a deployable application

  1. In the AR System Navigator area, right-click the application name in the Applications list.
  2. Select Export Application.
  3. In the Application Selection dialog box, enter a path and file name for the definition file, for example, C:\AppExports\AppA.def.
  4. Export with default settings or configure additional settings:

To include form data when exporting definitions

You can include configuration data to deploy with the application. This data can include backend data that users might need to enable or disable workflow. 

You can bundle data with an application using either a form included in the application or from an external form, such as the Group form. You can define a qualification to select only certain records from the form. If you select a form and do not define an export qualification, all data from the form is exported. You can also configure the import options to define how duplicate data is handled at import time. 

  1. In Developer Studio AR System Navigator, right-click the application name in the Applications list.
  2. Select Edit Application from the pop-up menu.
  3. Click the Data tab to open the panel.
  4. Use the Add button to add forms containing the data to export to the list in the Form Selector dialog box.
  5. In the Export Qualification field, specify a query to narrow the amount of data included when you export the application.
    If you do not specify a query, all data in the form is included. Using an unqualified query can result in a very large .def file.
  6. In the Fields to Match on Import table, select which fields to map against the form in the target server when you import data. Use the Add button and the Field Selector dialog box to add fields to the list. 

    export-fieldsmatchimp.gif
  7. From the Handle Duplicate Request IDs By list, select how to resolve duplicate request IDs when data conflicts are found:
    • Reject Duplicate Records—Entries are imported using their existing IDs. If an ID is already in use, an error is generated. (Default)
    • Generate New ID for Duplicate Records—Entries are imported using their existing IDs. If a record with the same ID already exists in the database, a new ID is generated for the imported record with the duplicate ID.
    • Replace Old Record with New Record—Entries are imported using their existing IDs. If a duplicate ID exists, the entire database record is overwritten with the record being imported. If you use this option, you must map the required core fields. If required core fields are not mapped, the server rejects the records.
    • Update Old Record with New Record—Entries are imported using their existing IDs. If a duplicate ID exists, only the fields being imported are replaced, merging the record.
      This setting also makes all required fields that are not core fields optional.
    • Generate New ID for All Records—New request IDs are assigned to all requests in the data file, regardless of whether any IDs are duplicates.
  8. Save the changes.
  9. To export the application to a definition file, use the previous procedure above.
    The form data is exported along with the object definition files.

 

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