Migrating the XE Database Management Application to a new version of APEX

I must confess to a weakness when it comes to throwing stuff away.
This is particularly true of techie stuff.
Whilst I have occasionally cannibalised an old machine for parts, there is a regrettably large part of the garage reserved for “vintage” hardware that I might just need at some point.

I’ve recently added to this hoard. I’ve finally gone and got a replacement for my ageing netbook.
As part of the configuration of the new machine, I’ve installed Oracle XE again.

I’m now poised to attempt an upgrade to a shiny new version of APEX.

First of all though, if you are similarly keen to upgrade from the venerable APEX 4.0, which XE ships with, to something more modern, your hoarding instincts may kick-in when it comes to the default Database Management Application.

Once you upgrade APEX 4 to any subsequent version, this application “disappears”.
The functionality it offers is readily available through SQLDeveloper (or indeed, any of the major Oracle Database IDE’s).
Alternatively, it’s a fairly simple matter to come up with your own, improved version.

Not convinced ? Oh well, I suppose we’d better save it for re-deployment into your new APEX environment.

What I’m going to cover here is :

• Backing up the default XE ADMIN application
• Tweaking the APEX export file
• Restoring the XE ADMIN application

I’ve tested this process against both APEX4.2 and APEX5.0 running on Oracle XE11g.
In the steps that follow, I’m assuming that you’re upgrading to APEX5.0.
The main difference here is the APEX owning schema.
For APEX4.2, the owner is APEX_040200, in APEX 5.0 it’s APEX_050000.
As the APEX upgrade takes place entirely within the database, the steps that follow are platform independent.

Incidentally, if you’re wondering exactly how you would upgrade XE11g to this APEX version, details will follow in my next post.

NOTE – I’m assuming here that you’re doing this on your own personal playground 11GXE database and have therefore not
worried too much about any security implications for some of the activities detailed below.

Right, let’s get started…