1. General information
- Import and export of applications in NET Genium are used to transfer applications between different installations of the system, to deploy new versions of applications, and to create backup copies.
- The functions for importing a new application, updating an existing application, and exporting an application are available only to users with the highest permission level — the Administrator with database ID 1. This permission is required primarily due to the possibility of modifying the structure, permissions, and dependencies of an application.
- Import of a new application is available through the “Import application” icon in the navigation area, or on the main page in administrator mode.
- Updating an existing application is performed in the “Edit application” dialog on the “Administration” tab, which contains a separate “Import application” section intended exclusively for update imports.
- Export of an application is available in the navigation area through the “Export application” icon, and allows generating a file with the “nga” extension. This file contains the complete definition of the application, and optionally also data or file attachments, depending on the selected options in the “Export application” dialog.
- Importing a new application and updating an application represent two distinct processes:
- Importing a new application creates an entirely new instance of the application.
- Updating an application replaces the existing application and modifies its structure and configuration according to the imported file.
2. Import a new application
- The options described in this chapter apply exclusively to the import of a completely new application.
- Importing a new application creates a separate instance of the application in NET Genium and does not perform any update of an existing application. The procedure for updating an existing application is described separately in the chapter Update an existing application.
- Importing a new application is available only to users with the highest permission level, specifically the Administrator with database ID 1.
- Importing a new application is available via the “Import application” icon in the navigation area, or on the main page in Administrator mode.
- The “Import application” dialog allows import from a file with the “nga”, “xlsx”, or “xls” extension, or from a template listed on the “Templates” tab.
2.1. “From file“ tab
2.1.1. Options
- I am the owner of the imported data
- Checking this box determines whether the import overwrites the owner of all database records in all imported database tables.
- A detailed description of ownership and co-ownership of records is provided in a separate Edit form guide.
- Import history of records
- Checking this box determines whether the record history of all imported database tables should be imported.
- Import rights
- Checked – When importing rights, user and user group IDs will be used exactly according to the rights settings in the source (exported) application and in all its child objects. This form of import can cause a data inconsistency between the rights in the source and destination applications. The same IDs can indicate different users or user groups in two different NET Genium. At the same time, some IDs may not exist in the target NET Genium. In the rights settings of the imported application, only ID numbers will be displayed instead of the name of users or user groups.
- Unchecked – The imported application and all its child objects will have the rights to the user group “Users” set.
- Keep bindings to other applications
- Checked – The interconnection of links to other applications will be maintained exactly according to the interconnection of links in the source (exported) application and in all its subordinate objects. Linked applications or child objects may not exist in the target NET Genium. In this case, an error message about data consistency violation is displayed and the import is stopped.
- Unchecked – Links to other applications and their children will not be linked. If there are links to other applications, it is necessary to go through and adjust these links.
2.1.2. Select file
- “Browse…” button to upload the file of the imported application with the extension “nga”, “xlsx” or “xls”.
- The “nga” file format is the standard export and import format for NET Genium applications, which contains the complete definition of the application, including its structure, controls, bindings and possibly data.
- The “xlsx” and “xls” formats are used to automatically create a new application based on data from Microsoft Excel.
- When importing from an Excel file, an application is created containing exactly one database table, which corresponds to the first tab of the imported file.
- For each column in this tab, a Textbox control with the data type String is automatically created.
- All data contained in the first tab of the Excel file is automatically imported into the created database table during import.
2.2. “Templates” tab
- Each NET Genium has a “Store” directory on the disk and sample applications stored in it, which can be imported in this way.
3. Update an existing application
- This chapter describes exclusively the process of updating an already existing application. Importing a new application, which creates an entirely new instance of the application in NET Genium, is described separately in the chapter Import a new application.
- Updating an existing application is available only to users with the highest permission level, specifically the Administrator with database ID 1.
- The update of an existing application is performed in the “Modify application” dialog on the “Administration” tab, where the “Import application” section is available.
- Updating is carried out by importing a file with the “nga” extension, which replaces the structure and configuration of the application according to the contents of the imported file.
- Preservation of existing data is possible only if the database structure of the imported file matches the structure of the application in the target environment — tables or columns that do not exist in the imported version cannot be retained.
3.1. “Modify application” dialog, “Administration” tab
3.1.1. Import application
3.1.1.1. Options
- Update and preserve existing data
- Checking this box displays the "Browse..." button, which is used to update the application while preserving existing data in all database tables of the application.
- Preservation of existing data is based on a comparison of the database structure - the imported version of the application must contain database tables with the same name and the same structure. Tables that do not appear in the same form in the new version will not be preserved. Similarly, table columns that do not exist in the new version of the application will not be preserved.
- Import rights
- Checked – When importing rights, user and user group IDs will be used exactly according to the rights settings in the source (exported) application and in all its child objects. This form of import can cause a data inconsistency between the rights in the source and destination application. The same IDs can indicate different users or user groups in two different NET Genium. At the same time, some IDs may not exist in the target NET Genium. In the rights settings of the imported application, only ID numbers will be displayed instead of the user or user group name.
- Unchecked – The imported application and all its child objects will have the rights to the user group “Users” set.
- Keep bindings to other applications
- Checked – The interconnection of links to other applications will be maintained exactly according to the interconnection of links in the source (exported) application and in all its subordinate objects. Linked applications or subordinates objects may not exist in the target NET Genium. In this case, an error message about data consistency violation is displayed and the import is stopped.
- Unchecked – The interconnection of links to other application and their children will not be maintained. If there are links to other applications, it is necessary to go through and adjust these links.
3.1.1.2. Select file
- “Browse...” button to upload the imported application file with the "nga" extension.
- Displayed after checking the “Update and preserve existing data” option.
4. Export the application
- Exporting an application is available through the “Export application” icon and is intended exclusively for users with the highest permission level — the Administrator with database ID 1.
- After clicking the “Export application” icon, an export file with the “nga” extension is generated. This file contains the complete definition of the application. The export includes the structure of the application, controls, relations, and, depending on the selected options, also data or file attachments.
- Exporting an application serves to transfer it to another NET Genium environment or to create a backup copy. The process is performed as a single step without requiring further user actions. After selecting the export options, the system generates the file and offers it for download.
4.1. Options
- Including data
- Checking this box determines whether the database records of all exported database tables should be included in the resulting export.
- Including attachments (files/images)
- Checking this box determines whether file attachments of all exported database tables should be included in the resulting export.