Scenario: copying a public MARS app

This scenario includes the context and approach for copying a MARS app that is publicly available on MARS.

Context

On MARS, the public MARS app approvalportaldmf is available. This MARS app was created by Maggie, a support engineer at Future Software. It contains some approval workflows and a customized HTML page for one of her customers, Dunder Mifflin Prepress. In combination with a customized HTML page for Dunder Mifflin Prepress, the workflows can be used as a portal. Since many content and settings of Maggie's MARS app can be reused for other customers as well, it has been published on the public space on MARS (see Scenario: publishing a MARS app).

Rick, Maggie's support engineer colleague at Future Software also wants to use approvalportaldmf for one of his own customers, Wernham Hogg Labels. He can reuse many of the content and settings of the existing MARS app, but some of its content is customized for Maggie's customer, Dunder Mifflin Prepress. However, Rick can use the existing MARS app as a template and customize it for Wernham Hogg Labels. For example, Rick has edited the existing HTML page in approvalportaldmf and customized it with Pagebuilder for Wernham Hogg Labels.

This means that Rick has to copy approvalportaldmf from the public space on MARS to his own system and edit it.

Approach

First, Rick makes sure that the location of the assets, the workflow names and documentation comply to the guidelines regarding MARS apps. Although he is not planning to make the edited MARS app public, he has decided to follow the recommended guidelines. See MARS app design guidelines for more information. He has been proactive and has decided that he will name the MARS app approvalportalwhl. Consequently:
  • He has stored all the assets in a subfolder in the root of PP_FILE_STORE with an identical name as the MARS app, so PP_FILE_STORE/approvalportalwhl/....
  • He has created a Markdown file readme.md that contains clear and extensive documentation on the use and functionality of the MARS app. The path of the documentation file is PP_FILE_STORE/approvalportalwhl/documentation/readme.md.
  • All the workflow names start with the MARS app name, so approvalportalwhl-workflow-xxx .
Next, Rick copies the MARS app:
  1. He logs in to CLOUDFLOW with his username and password.
  2. He opens MARS > Public > Available. This list gives an overview of all the CLOUDFLOW Applications that are publicly available and can be copied.
  3. Next to the MARS app approvalportaldmf, he selects Copy to My Apps.
  4. He enters the new name for the MARS app: approvalportalwhl.
  5. He selects Copy.
The MARS app approvalportalwhl is now copied to Rick's personal space on MARS. From now on, he is the Maintainer of the MARS app, which means that he is responsible for it. See User roles for more information.
Next, Rick needs to edit the MARS app and add the correct content to it so it can be used for Wernham Hogg Labels. Therefore, he first needs to install the MARS app to his local system:
  1. In MARS > My Apps > Available, she selects Install next to the MARS app approvalportalwhl.
The MARS app is now installed on Rick's local system and is in the list in MARS > My Apps > Installed. The MARS app does not contain the correct content yet.
He takes the following steps to edit the content:
  1. In MARS > My Apps > Installed, he selects Edit next to the MARS app approvalportalwhl.
  2. He selects the version number of the MARS app. Since this is the first version of the MARS app, Rick chooses 0.0.1.
  3. He browses to the path where the documentation file is located: PP_FILE_STORE/approvalportalwhl/documentation/.
  4. He adds the correct assets (for example, the HTML file that he has customized using PAGEBUILDER), which are located in PP_FILE_STORE/approvalportalwhl/.
  5. He adds the workflows.
  6. He saves.

The MARS app approvalportalwhl now has the correct and customized content, but it is not yet available on MARS.

Rick takes the following steps to upload the MARS app to MARS:
  1. In MARS > My Apps > Installed, he selects Upload to MARS next to the MARS app approvalportalwhl.
  2. He selects Push to MARS.
The MARS app is now uploaded to Rick's personal space on MARS.