Managing environments | Zoho Creator Developer Console Help

Managing environments

1. What does this page cover?

This page provides a comprehensive guide on managing your application across Development and Stage environments using the environments dashboard. You'll learn how to navigate the environments dashboard, manage your applications, and utilize environment-specific settings and features.
2. Availability

Both super admins and developers can access the environments dashboard to utilize environment-specific settings and publish the applications to the Stage environment.

3. Environments dashboard

The environments dashboard is a centralized space where you can manage your applications across the Development and Stage environments. The dashboard groups the applications according to the environments they're present in, and also includes additional information about any changes available for publishing to the Stage environment. Various environment-specific actions can be performed, like editing or accessing the app, configuring settings, and viewing logs. It also lists the version history of apps and allows users to publish apps to the Stage environment.
As illustrated in the above image, clicking on the ellipsis gives the following options:

3.1 Editing an application

The Edit option is available only for the Development environment, as applications can only be edited in the Development environment. Clicking this option takes you to the edit mode of the application to make any required changes.


3.2 Accessing an application

This option is available under both Development and Stage environments. Clicking on this option takes you to the live mode of the respective environment, where you can thoroughly test the application. 

In the live mode of the environment, a label is displayed on the top bar for users to identify the environment, for example, as Development or Stage. 


Note: Data added in one environment is kept isolated from the other environment.

Under the View as field in the top bar, you have the option to test the application as a demo user. You can learn about demo users in the upcoming section.

3.3 Settings

NoteAll settings options will only be applied to the selected environment. For example, if you click Settings under Development, all configurations will only be applied to the Development environment, and vice-versa for the Stage environment.
This section allows you to configure:
  • Demo users - Select predefined test users and assign them with various permissions and roles for testing the app. This refers to mock user profiles, and not actual users.
  • Notifications - Disable or route notifications, since testing the app may not require notifications to be sent to actual users or other developers of the application.
  • Workflow schedules - Disable any schedules that don't need to be executed during the testing phase. By default, the application's schedule settings are considered.

3.3.1 Demo users 
Demo users are mock users that can be selected and assigned with various predefined permissions and roles for testing the app. The assigned permissions will reflect how each demo user interacts with the app.
Note: Permissions here refer to existing app permissions and not separate permissions exclusive to testing. Only the roles and permissions already added to the current app will be listed.

 To add demo users:

  1. Click Settings for the required application and environment.
  2. On the next page, click Add Demo User under the Demo Users tab.
  3. In the Add Demo User pop-up, select the demo user in the Name dropdown. 



    Note: Demo users are predefined mock users, and a maximum of five are provided.

  4. Select the demo user Type as User or Portal User depending on how you want to test your application.

    Note: If the Type is selected as User, we can assign the permissions and roles configured in the app. If the Type is selected as Portal Users, we can assign the portal permissions configured in the app. 
  5. Select a Permission and a Role for the user.

  6. Note: Permissions and roles are app specific. This means only the permissions and roles added in the current app will be listed. The demo user will be able to perform actions in the app depending on these assigned permissions.
  7. Click Add.

Once the demo user has been added, you can access the application and select the added demo user from the dropdown to test the application according to the assigned permissions and roles.

3.3.2 Notifications
As the Development and Stage environments are used for testing purposes, there may not be a need for notifications to be triggered when the app is being tested. This section lets you decide to disable or route the notifications to any particular address.
Note: Notifications here refer to notifications sent using the send mail task and push notification action.

The following options are available for email notifications:

  • Disable emails - Emails will not be triggered.
  • Login User - All emails will be sent to the current logged-in user.
  • Selected User - Emails will be sent to a selected user from the list of developers and super admins.
  • Application Specific - Email notifications will be sent according to the configured workflow. This option is selected by default.

The following options are available for push notifications:

  1. Disable Push Notifications - Push notifications will not be triggered.
  2. Login User - All push notifications will be sent to the current logged-in user.
  3. Selected User - Push notifications will be sent to a selected user (super admin or developer) from the list of developers and super admins.
  4. Application Specific - Push notifications will be sent according to the configured workflow. This option is selected by default.
3.3.3 Workflow schedules
You might have configured schedules in your application. But once you've validated or tested the configured schedules, you may no longer need them to execute continuously during the testing phase. You can suspend the execution of all configured schedules by choosing one of the two options below: 
  1. Suspend All Schedules - Enabling this option will suspend the execution of all schedules, regardless of their individual status (enabled/disabled) in that application.
  1. Application Specific - Enabling this option will allow the scheduled workflows to be executed according to their defined status in that application, meaning only those schedules that are enabled will be executed.
Note: The ability to suspend schedules specific to an environment is a valuable addition, as it aids in efficiently managing schedule limits within that environment.

3.4 Logs

Note: All the logs displayed will be specific to the selected environment. For example, if you click Logs under Development, all logs specific to the Development environment will be visible, and vice-versa for the Stage environment.
Logs are automatically generated and time-stamped records of actions related to formsschedulesemail datapagespaymentsand batch workflows in an application within the respective environment. These logs are crucial for tracking application performance, debugging, and ensuring security.
  1. Success Logs: Display messages, action details, users who configured the actions, execution time, and type of action.
  1. Failure Logs: Include additional error details for troubleshooting.
Developers with environment permission can refer to logs to check an application's performance and keep track of actions executed in the application or in the event of action failure. You can filter the logs based on time and type. Time options include Last one Hour/Day/Week/Month.

3.5 Version history

When you publish apps to the Stage environment, changes published together are called a version. Details of versions are listed in the Version History tab.

The version history lists all the published versions and app changes in each of those versions. This serves as a reference to view all past versions and their changes.

Click on the required version to get an in-depth look—you'll then be shown the list of components present in the application.

For a more comprehensive view of changes made to a component, simply click on the component in the left pane. The changes are displayed along with visual indicators that highlight the nature of the changes. The Version History page makes use of three specific markers: 
  1. Added - Green dot
  1. Modified - Orange dot
  1. Deleted - Red dot
The below screenshot gives you an illustration of a component with an Added marker:
The Version History page provides a quick and visual way to review and understand the changes made to a component, making it easier to track and manage the evolution of an application.

3.6 Publish to Stage

Once you've created an application or made changes to it, you can publish it to the Stage environment to perform thorough testing.

4. Related topics

What's next
Previous step
What's next
After learning how to manage environments, you can learn to distribute and manage your application using Zoho Marketplace.
Previous step
Understanding the need for and use of environments when creating an application is also essential. To deepen your knowledge, start by learning about environments.
 

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