1. Flow of adding applications to the environment 

2. Adding applications to the environment 

Environments in Zoho Creator serves as an SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle) framework within Creator, providing a structured approach to developing, testing, and deploying application changes efficiently. Before adding the application to the environments, make sure to check out everything you need to know about environments and its limitations.

2.1. See how to add application to the environment

2.2. Steps to add applications to the environment 

Note: When the environment is enabled, existing users with the Developer role will be removed from the application. They can be re-added for development and stage environments as needed. Click here to learn more about adding a developer to the application. 

Applications can be added to the environments in the following instances:

1. During the creation of application
   
2. After creation of the application
   
   

2.2.1. Adding application to environment during application creation   

1. While creating an application, select the Enable Environments checkbox.
   
2. After creating the app, you will be redirected to the Development Edit mode, where you can build the application as required.
   
3. Navigate to Environments under the Deploy section.The application for which environments were enabled upon creation will be listed in the Environment Dashboard page and its status will be shown in each environments (Development, Stage, Production).
   
   Learn about the statuses of the application in the development environment.
   
   

2.2.2. Adding application to environment after application creation

If environments were not enabled during application creation, the application can still be added to environments later through the Solutions or Environments page.

1. Adding from solutions
   
2. Adding from environments
   

1. Go to Solutions, click More on the preferred application card, and select Add App to Environment in the preferred application card.
   
2. Click Add in the confirmation popup.
   

The app will be added to the environments, and app creation will be initiated in the development environment provided all the validations are successful. If validation is unsuccessful, then the specific issues preventing the app from being added to the environment will be listed in a popup. You'll have to resolve all the errors to proceed further and add the application to the environments. Learn more about the limitations on which the errors may occur.

Adding application to environment from the environments page 

1. Navigate to the Environments under the Deploy section and click the Add Application button.
   
2. In the Add applications to environment pane, click the + Select Application button. Choose the required applications that need to be added to the environment.
   
   Note: The selected applications will undergo validation for errors. If any errors occur during validation, please follow these troubleshooting steps.
   
   
3. Click the Add button.
   Learn about various statuses that will be displayed in the environments.

Note:

1. You can select a maximum of 10 applications to add to environment simultaneously.
   

1. In certain instances, the apps will be added to the environment, but the app will not be created in development environment. In such cases, the app creation should be done manually as explained in 

   this section

   .

2.2.3 Adding applications with dependencies to environment

Dependency refers to a relationship where an app either uses a component from another app or has its component used by other apps. Let's say that the Library Management app has a lookup field that references employees from Employee Management app. This creates a dependency relationship for both apps.

Dependency can be either direct(as stated in the above example) or indirect(through a chain of dependent apps). For example,  App A has dependency on App B and App B has dependency on App C. Here, eventhough App A doesn't have dependency directly with App C, it still has the dependency relationship through App B. Thus, both App B and C are considered as dependent apps of App A.

Types of dependencies

Based on these dependency relationships, there are two types of dependencies. (Say, there are four applications A, B, C, and D)

1. Acyclic dependencies - Applications linked in a linear relationship. (A --> B --> C --> D)
   
2. Cyclic dependencies - Applications linked in such a way that they form a loop. ( A --> B --> C --> D --> A, here app D depends on app A, which creates a cycle)
   
         

Adding dependent apps to environment

When an application having dependencies with other apps is added to the environment, its dependent apps will be automatically listed, and they must be added together to the environment. Imagine that in a Library Management application, there is a page Library Dashboard in which a form Add Employee from the Employee Management application has been embedded. Now, both Library Management and Employee Management apps are dependent apps to each other. To add any one of these apps to the environment, both should be added together to the environment.

Acyclic dependent apps can be added to environments, whereas the applications that form cyclic dependencies cannot be added to environment.

To add applications with dependencies

1. Navigate to Environments under DEPLOY and click Add Application.
   
2. In the Add applications to environment slider, click the + Select Application button and choose the application that you want to add. Its dependent apps will be listed automatically.
   To understand how the apps are related, click View dependencies adjacent to Dependent Apps.
   The Application References pop-up will appear, which displays the relationships between the apps. Upon clicking any app, its dependencies will be highlighted. The red color arrow denotes cyclic dependency and the blue color arrow denotes acyclic dependency. Read A ---> B as " A app depends on B app". In this relationship, B is the source app that provides components, and A is the dependent app that uses the components from B.
   
   Choose an Application in the right pane dropdown to view its references in other apps. 
1. Uses tab - The selected application uses the components of the applications listed.(In the above example, the Library Management app uses a component of Employee Management)
   
2. Used by tab - The components of the selected application is used by the the applications listed. (In the above example, the Employee Management app is used by the Library Management app)
   
3. Click OK to go back.
   
3. Click Add. The applications will be added to the environments.

Once apps are added to an environment, they will be created in the development and stage environment. Until all the dependent apps are created successfully in development and stage, all the apps will be locked. Apps can only be edited after successful creation.

2.3 Troubleshooting errors     

2.3.1 Errors while adding application to environment 

To proceed further, you can either resolve all the errors in the apps or deselect the apps that are facing errors.

1. The apps that encountered errors will have the 'Error Details' tag. Click Error Details to view the errors that occurred.
   
    
2. A popup containing the list of the errors will be displayed. Resolve the errors and click the Refresh icon.
   
   Once all errors are resolved, the Error Details tag will be removed from the app. If other apps also have errors, follow the above steps and resolve all the errors.
3. Click the Add button. The applications will be added to the environments.
   

2.3.2 Errors after adding application to environment 

After adding apps to the environment, the apps will be created in the development and stage environments. If this creation is unsuccessful in any one of the environments, the status will be shown in the respective app as shown below.

To resolve:

1. Click the error status of the app to view the detailed summary. A slider will appear.
   
2. You can perform any of the below options to resolve this:
   
1. Create the app again in the respective environment: Click Retry to create the app again in the respective environment.
   
2. Remove app from environment and add again: Click the Remove from Environment button, resolve the error shown in Error Summary, and add the app to the environment again.
   

2.4 Create app in development environment     

When an application is added to the environments, the app is automatically created in the development environment. However, it can be created simultaneously for a maximum of three applications. Due to this, the applications will be added to the environments, but the app creation in the development environment will not be initiated. This will occur in the following circumstances:

1. When you try to add more than three apps to the environments at once.
   
2. When you try to add three apps to environments but development creation is already in progress for other applications. In other words, the number of apps being added should be equal to the number of vacant slots in queue for the Development environment's app creation. Otherwise, the Development environment creation will not be initiated.
   
3. When you try to add more than three sets of dependent or independent apps. In other words, an app with its dependent apps are considered one app for this count.
   

In the above scenarios, the applications will be added to the environments, but the app will not be created in the Development environment. You will need to manually create the app in the Development environment by following the steps below.

1. Navigate to the Environments module, click the horizontal ellipsis next to the preferred application without development environment, and choose the Create & Edit option.
   

The app creation in the development environment will be initiated, and the status will be Creating development app. Once the app is created in the Development environment, it will be created in stage environment. After completion, the status will be changed to Development app creation complete and v1.0 in development and stage environments respectively. Apps can be edited after the successful completion.

Refer to the environment status page to learn more about additional statuses.
     

3. Points to note      

1. The application can be edited in the development environment only after the successful app creation in development and stage environment. Application will be locked till then.
   
2. Cyclic dependent apps cannot be added to the environment.
   

 
4. Related links    

1. Understanding environments