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Feature Request FR-2685
Product Area Application Builder
Status CLOSED

9 Voters

Option to exclude id values in the YAML/JSON export

mathieumeeuwissen Public · Aug 11 2022

Idea Summary
Since APEX 22.1 you now can export the application as YAML or JSON

It will create a zip file containing the application.sql + YAML/JSON files of the objects within the application.

For instance:

In the YAML/JSON files also the id's of the APEX components are added.

It would be nice to have two extra export options (YAML without IDs, JSON without IDs) which exports the application without the ID fields in the YAML/JSON files.
The application.sql itself should still have the ID fields, because the sql file is used for importing the application in a APEX environment

Use Case
It is useful when comparing two similar applications but with different application ids.
Now it shows changes for every page:

For instance: 
We have installed the UT Reference application with application 100 in a APEX 20.1 
Then upgraded to APEX 22.1
Upgraded UT reference application 100 to version 22.1
Install the new UT Reference application under id 101
Exported both applications as YAML 
Used an external compare program to see what the changes have been between the two applications

Preferred Solution (Optional)
As an option under Export Readable Format: None, YAML, YAML without IDs, JSON, JSON without IDs

We reviewed this idea carefully, and while it was interesting, we concluded that due to all the internal implications we need to take into account, it is unlikely to make its way into APEX.

Comments

Comments

  • martin.dsouza APEX Team OP 3.6 years ago

    This happens a lot for small Proof of Concept updates. Ex want to test a major change so dev copies app-100 and makes app-200. Does a bunch of changes and then needs to manually merge them back into app-100  Devs need to remember what was changed. In most cases something is forgotten and only found during testing / later in the process so the “fix” is expensive as more resources have been used to find the missing code that wasn't manually copied.

  • kamil rybicki OP 3.3 years ago

    I really like the idea! I have even created a similar one almost a year ago but it was closed, unfortunately.

    I think that few improvements added to the ‘export with original IDs’ option could help to resolve issues like you and me encountered. APEX team should definitely take a look at this.

  • vincent morneau Admin OP 2.7 years ago

    I originally voted for this idea, and while it sounds interesting for diffing purposes, it goes against the roadmap for JSON/YAML feature. In the future, APEX should be able to import those files back into a workspace. For that to happen, components ids are necessary.