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Kuali Build: Duplicating, Cloning, and Migrating Apps

Want to accelerate the app building process? Clone another Davidson user's Kuali Build app and get a jump start on your own creation by using the Duplicate App option or the Clone App Tool. The Duplicate App option allows you to duplicate an app within the same environment. The Clone App Tool can help you migrate your creations between Kuali environments. Read on to learn more.

What is the Duplicate App option?

The Duplicate App option allows you to copy any Kuali Build app within the same environment you are working in. The duplication includes the form and workflow components of the original. 

Why would I use the Duplicate App option?

  1. To save time! The Duplicate App option allows you to take advantage of forms and workflows created by other Davidson developers, so you don't have to reinvent the wheel.
  2. For backup purposes! Kuali Build has really great drafting tools that protect the published version of your apps, but what happens if you get a wild hair and want to go a completely different direction? You can duplicate your own app as a backup and freeze it in time while you explore a different vision for your app. If it doesn't work out, no worries - you can delete one version and keep the other.

How do I use the Duplicate App Tool?

  • Navigate to the Kuali Dashboard
  • Identify the app you would like to duplicate and select the white circle with the pencil icon while hovering on the app tile

mceclip0.png

  • Then select "Duplicate" in the bottom right-hand corner of the pop-up screen

mceclip1.png

 

What is the Clone App Tool?

The Clone App Tool is a Kuali Build app that allows you to copy any Kuali Build app to any Kuali environment. It combines a simple form with powerful custom T&I integrations to make Kuali Build apps reusable and portable.

Why would I use the Clone App Tool?

  1. To save time! The Clone App Tool allows you to take advantage of forms and workflows created by other Davidson developers, so you don't have to reinvent the wheel.
  2. For backup purposes! Kuali Build has really great drafting tools that protect the published version of your apps, but what happens if you get a wild hair and want to go a completely different direction? You can clone your own app as a backup and freeze it in time while you explore a different vision for your app. If it doesn't work out, no worries - you can delete one version and keep the other.
  3. To migrate between environments! While we encourage all users to develop exclusively in the production environment using draft mode, it is certainly possible to become over invested in a sandbox app if you happened to start there instead. Instead of recreating your work in production from scratch, use the Clone App Tool to copy the form and workflow components to prod.

Screenshot of the Clone App Tool.

How do I use the Clone App Tool?

  1. Navigate to the Kuali Dashboard.
  2. Open the Clone App Tool app.
  3. Click New to start a new Clone App Tool request (alternatively, skip steps 1 - 3 by clicking this link.)
  4. In the App to Clone field, select the app you want to clone.
  5. In the Environment field, select the Kuali environment where the new app should be cloned.
  6. Click Submit.

You should know...

The Clone App Tool form spells out several caveats that you should know about before using it. For reasons both technical and procedural, not everything will be copied, and some things will break when migrating between environments.

Will be copied: Won't be copied:
  • Form
  • Workflow
  • Documents
  • Permissions

Cloning an app to a different environment will break the following:

  • Workflow approvals, acknowledgements, and notifications
  • Workflow integrations
  • Form integrations

This happens because:

Different environments have different ID numbers for users, groups, and integrations. After cloning your app, all you need to do is fix any references to these identifiers in the new environment. Kuali Build's error checking tools will alert you to any outstanding broken references before publishing your cloned app.

I clicked submit. What happens next?

Screenshot of cloned app tile with identical name, icon, and color.
  1. A T&I integration creates a new app with the same icon, color, and name (plus timestamp) as the source app in the environment you specified.
  2. The integration copies the form from the source app to the new app.
  3. The integration copies the workflow from the source app to the new app.
  4. The integration makes you the one and only administrator of the new app, and removes its own permissions to the app.
  5. The Clone App Tool workflow sends you an email notification letting you know the process succeeded, along with a link to the app dashboard of the environment you selected in the Clone App Tool form.

Screenshot of email notification from Clone App Tool.And that's it! We hope this novel tool saves you time and makes the creative process a little easier as you explore all of the potential Kuali Build holds for your own apps and ideas.

Learn more at Kuali Build: An Introduction

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