App Export/Import

Overview

The mechanism to export a zip file of an App and import into another destination.

Definitions

• Deploy: Pushing a specified version of code to the Tulip environment.
• Deploy Version: A numerical representation of the released version of code (i.e. r200)
• Instance: The URL of the Tulip environment (i.e. customer-name.tulip.co)
• Source Instance: The URL of the Tulip environment the app is to be exported from.
• Target Instance: The URL of the Tulip environment the app is to be imported to.

Prerequisites

• Importing apps requires both instances to be on the same deploy version of Tulip. To find this version, navigate to the Account Settings (customer-name.tulip.co/account-settings/account) and the version will be listed in the bottom left corner of the screen.
• If the deploy versions on both instances match, the export/import can proceed. If the deploy versions do not match, please contact support@tulip.co to assist with this process.

Feature Description

By default, importing apps is functionality that is reserved for Tulip employees. However, the appImportExport feature flag can be enabled to extend access to all roles that can build apps. These include:

• Application Engineer
• Tulip Table Supervisor
• Connector Supervisor
• Station Supervisor
• Administrator
• Account Owner

To have this enabled, please contact support@tulip.co or your Account Executive with written approval to enable this feature flag.

Exporting an App or App Group

The first step to importing an app or app group to a target instance is performing the export from the source instance. While selecting the app or app group to export, either right click on the app or press the three dots button in the top right and select “Export”. This will generate a .zip file, most frequently in your Downloads folder.

Additionally, it is possible to export the most recent published version of an app by pressing the three dots button on the latest published version from the Versions tab of the app.

Importing an App or App Group

With the .zip from the export step, navigate to the target instance and identify the appropriate app group location to import the app or app group into. NOTE: Imports are not able to be performed to the root level of an instance. Once the target has been selected, press the three dots button in the top right and select “Import”. This will open a modal allowing you to select the appropriate .zip file and complete the Import.

Import Behavior

Tulip apps can extend to several other areas of the platform, many of which augment the functionality of the app. It’s important to understand what elements of your application will be retained upon import and what will not be.

Refer to the table below, keeping in mind that all considered fields are explicitly linked to the app or app group to be imported (i.e. Table A has a linked placeholder/gets written to from source app). | | Imported? | Notes | |----------------------------------|:----------:|:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Application | | | | App Name(s) | Yes | | | Variables | Yes | | | Logic | Yes | | | Transitions | See Notes | Transitions that include navigating to a separate application will only import successfully if the apps are imported together as an app group. Otherwise, the reference to the external application will show as “Deleted App”.

Transitions internal to the application will import successfully. | | Completion Data | No | | | Version History | No | | | Analytics | Yes | | | User References | See Notes | App logic to send notifications to users will look for a matching user ID (not the plain text name representation). If the user ID does not exist on the target instance, it will not create the user and instead will be highlighted in red in the app showing as “Select a user” (the message is retained). | | Approvals | No | | | Users | | | | User Table | See Notes | Custom columns in the user table will be imported, but referenced users and table data will not import. | | Tables | | | | Table Schema | See Notes | All tables referenced from an application will import via the following rules. Tables are uniquely identified by an underlying table ID.

If a table with the same ID does not exist, or if a table with the same ID exists but is owned by a different Workspace than the one being imported to, a new table with a matching table schema (including matching table and column IDs) will be created.

If a table with the same ID exists but new columns had been added, columns will be added to the table on the target instance with matching IDs.

If a table with the same ID exists and columns were archived, but they exist in the source instance, they will be restored upon import. | | Table Data | No | Table data can be exported to CSV and reimported to target instance via standard tooling. | | Table Analytics | Yes | | | Queries/Aggregations | See Notes | Queries and aggregations will import but will always import as duplicates. Queries will have a number appended to the name to indicate a duplicate. | | Table Record Placeholders | Yes | Save for Analysis is set to True for all table records as default | | Machines | | | | Machines | No | Individual machines in the library are not imported. | | Attributes | See Notes | If an app is imported with a reference to a machine type, any machine attributes added to that machine type will be imported with the application. | | Types | See Notes | If an app is imported with a reference to a machine type, that machine type will be imported with the application. | | States | See Notes | If an app is imported with a reference to a machine type, any machine states added to that machine type will be imported with the application. | | Downtime Reasons | See Notes | If an app is imported with a reference to a machine type, any machine downtime reasons added to that machine type will be imported with the application. | | Activity History | No | | | Machine Analytics | See Notes | If an app is imported with a reference to a machine type, any machine analytics included in the application will be imported. | | Widgets | See Notes | Widget will import but will not be linked to a machine. | | Connectors | | | | Connectors / Connector Functions | See Notes | Connectors will import via the following rules. As a note, all connectors will remove authentication details and require re-authentication in the target instance.

If a connector with the same ID does not exist, a new connector and function will be imported

If the connector with the same ID exists but the function does not exist, the function will be created in the connector with the matching name

If the connector with the same ID exists but the function has been deleted, the function will restored in the connector with the matching name.

If the connector with the same ID exists and the function with the same ID exists, no changes will be made to the connector function, even if the body in the source instance has changed. | | Shop Floor | | | | Devices | No | | | Stations | No | | | Edge devices | No | | | Vision Cameras | See Notes | Vision Camera Configurations (e.g. virtual cameras, obviously physical cameras cannot be export/imported) will be created if a trigger in the app requires the vision camera. Otherwise, the triggers will be improperly imported and be broken.

Note: For Vision Camera Widgets using a virtual Vision Camera Configuration we do not create a new configuration upon import, unlike triggers.

The import will always create new Vision Camera Configurations and name them after the importing app name, regardless if configurations of the same name exist. | | Other | | | | Bots | No | | | Activity History | No | |

Tests

Requirements