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Migration of Existing Flows for APEX systems to v26.1

Migrate your system depending on whether you have SQLNet access to your database.
- If you have SQLNet access, follow section 1 followed by section 3. - If you do not have SQL*Net access, follow section 2 followed by section 3.

Prerequisites

Database :

  • Note that the minimum database configuration for Flows for APEX is database 19c.
  • If you are running RDBMS 19.3 to 19.10, you must either upgrade to a more current patch release 19.11 or later (probably good idea, anyhow!) or download and apply patch.31843028 from Oracle Support. This fix is included in 19.11.0.0.210420DBRU onwards.

Oracle APEX :

  • Note that the minimum APEX version for Flows for APEX has increased to APEX v24.1 from Flows for APEX v25.1.
  • We support Oracle APEX 24.1 and later. (20.2 is no longer supported it is no longer supported by Oracle).
    • APEX Human Task plugins that previously required manual installation are now installed automatically.
    • Note that it is our intention that the release of Flows for APEX after 26.1 will require APEX 26.1 or higher, so that customers and the Flows for APEX team can make best use of AI development and apexlang.

1. SQL*Net Access Available

We don’t provide the option to migrate your installation with the packaged app, so this process can only be done with SQLcl. (SQL*Net Access)

Before performing any migration of Flows for APEX, we recommend that you make a backup of your database or schema to avoid any data loss.

Each release of Flows for APEX comes with a migration script from the previous version. That means we don’t provide scripts for migrating several versions at one time. For example, if your current installation runs the 5.1 version and you want to migrate to 26.1, you have to migrate first from 5.1 to 5.1.2 and then migrate from 5.1.2 to 21.1, then 21.1 to …, and finally 25.1 to 26.1.

For Windows users, please make sure to set NLS_LANG value correctly by running set NLS_LANG=AMERICAN_AMERICA.UTF8 before using SQLcl.

  1. Get the full distribution content by cloning the repository or downloading the release source code: as a zip or tar.gz file from our release assets at https://github.com/flowsforapex/apex-flowsforapex/releases/latest.
  2. Ensure you have a full backup of your application data and the Flows for APEX data!
  3. Connect to you Oracle schema with SQLcl, make sure you are located into the distribution folder.
  4. Run the migration script. 
    SQL> @src/migrate_all.sql
  5. Provide the Workspace Name, Parsing Schema, Application Alias, Application Name, the current version and the version you want to upgrade to. 
    >> Please enter needed Variables
Enter Workspace Name: [FLOWS4APEX] FLOWS4APEX
Enter Parsing Schema: [FLOWS4APEX] FLOWS4APEX
Enter Application Alias: [FLOWS4APEX] FLOWS4APEX
Enter Application Name: [Flows for APEX] Flows for APEX
Enter current installed release (e.g., 5.1.2): 25.1
Enter next release to upgrade to (e.g., 21.1): 26.1

    If the Pre-migration checks identify any problems, please follow the instructions provided and fix any issues before restarting your migration.

  6. At the end of the migration, you should see the confirmation that the product have been correctly installed. You can connect to your Oracle APEX builder and run the Flows for APEX application. 
    >> Finished Installation of Flows4APEX
>> ====================================
  7. Then perform the Post Installation Tasks in section 3. below.

2. SQL*Net Access NOT Available

Each release of Flows for APEX comes with a migration script for the previous version. That means we don’t provide scripts for migrating several versions at one time. For example, if your current installation runs the 23.1 version and you want to migrate to 26.1, you have to migrate first from 23.1 to 24.1, then from 24.1 to 25.1, and then migrate from 25.1 to 26.1.

You will use the Oracle APEX SQL Workshop to migrate.

  1. Ensure you have a full backup of your application data and the Flows for APEX data.
  2. Download the file no_sqlnet_migration.zip from the release page.
  3. Extract the file.
  4. Upload all included scripts to APEX SQL Workshop.
  5. Disable the DBMS_SCHEDULER job that drives Flows for APEX timers so that they do not fire during upgrade. 
     begin
   flow_timers_pkg.disable_scheduled_job;
 end;
 /
  6. Run the files in sequence.
    1. 01_migrate_engine_251_261.sql
    2. 02_migrate_engine_251_261.sql
    3. 03_migrate_engine_251_261.sql
    4. 04_migrate_engine_251_261.sql
    5. 05_migrate_engine_app_and_data_251_261.sql
    6. 06_migrate_engine_app_and_data_251_261.sql
  7. Install the Flows for APEX application by importing the packaged app (make sure to not run the supporting objects scripts)
  8. Then perform the Post Installation Tasks in section 3. below.

3. Post Installation Tasks

1: Upgrade the APEX Universal Theme

We build Flows for APEX v26.1 on APEX 24.1, so that it can run on APEX versions 24.1 and higher. If you are using APEX v24.2 or higher, you must open the Flows for APEX application in the APEX Application Builder, and Upgrade the Universal Theme to the latest available version.

You MUST upgrade the Universal Theme BEFORE applying any translations.

2: Seed and Publish any Translations Required. 🆕

If you want to deploy Flows for APEX in additional languages other than English (en), in Application Buider, go to Shared Components » Translations. Select any languages that you want to make available then click Seed. When that is complete, re-select those languages and click Publish.

This was previously done for you, but due to an APEX 26.1 issue, this is now a manual post-installation task.

3: Set the Monaco Editor Version

Open the Flows for APEX application.

Select the Engine App configurations. 🆕

Set the Monaco Editor Version. Check that the value in this configuration item matches the version of the Monaco editor shipped with your APEX version. For APEX 24.1, 24.2 and 26.1, you can click on the inline help icon next to the input item - and the pop-up help shows the version shipped with your APEX release. If your APEX version number is not in the inline help, refer to the Oracle APEX documentation for your APEX version - Try searching for JavaScript Library Upgrades in the APEX Release Notes. (We changed our distribution to use the version shipped in APEX by Oracle to reduce distribution size and application size).

Note: If you have the wrong Monaco version set, you will receive a nasty error when trying to open the Flows for APEX Flow Modeler. You will also need to keep this configuration parameter current should you subsequently update your APEX version - see Upgrading your APEX Environment.

4. Re-enable the DBMS_SCHEDULER job that drives Flows for APEX timers.

```sql
begin
  flow_timers_pkg.enable_scheduled_job;
end;
/
```

Your system should now be running Flows for APEX v26.1.

Updated: