Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
Supporting Objects
The application export captures the complete definition of your application, including most shared components,
but it doesn't contain everything you would need to completely reconstitute your application on another server.
However, APEX provides a feature that allows you to bundle the scripts for things such as the underlying database
tables inside the application export. This feature is called Supporting Objects.
The Supporting Objects feature actually gives you a great deal more functionality than that. It provides the ability
to create and control the installation, and upgrade and deinstall anything that can be scripted using SQL.
You reach the Supporting Objects management interface by navigating to the shared components for an
application and selecting the Manage Supporting Objects option from the Tasks menu. Figure
10-13
shows the
Supporting Objects home page.
Figure 10-13.
Supporting Objects management home page
The page is broken down into several regions. The summary region at the top shows what is currently defined in
the supporting objects, and the three regions below (Installation, Upgrade and Deinstallation) allow you to edit the
scripts and define the actions that are available during each phase.
Clicking any of the links takes you to a tabbed definition page, as shown in Figure
10-14
.
