APEXcl by Insum bridges the gap to the most popular version control systems, giving developers unprecedented versioning capability for APEX source code
Montreal, Quebec, June 25, 2019 – Oracle APEX experts Insum today announced the launch of APEXcl, their latest utility that makes an APEX application compatible with the most popular version control systems. Until now, a practical and efficient path to version control simply did not exist in the APEX/Oracle environment. APEXcl lets users efficiently carry out a variety of source code and team management functions that are a critical part of the software development process, replacing cumbersome, time-consuming workarounds, many of which had been improvised out of necessity.
“To continuously help businesses with Oracle technology stacks become more productive, quickly and economically, we need to come up with the most innovative and inventive solutions possible, and we need to stay ahead of the curve in APEX development and functionalities,” says Michel St-Amour, co-founder and President at Insum. “APEXcl is the direct result of this, the only difference this time is that we are helping all APEX developers boost their productivity by facilitating version control.”
The problem
Unlike traditional file-based development environments, Oracle APEX technology is based on a centralized repository, with processing executed directly within the database. An APEX application is deployed using a single, massive export file typically containing over 50K lines of code. This APEX Export file was not designed to be interpreted by version control systems. This limits the use of change management best practices that have become a critical part of the development cycle.
“We had been dealing with the disconnect between APEX and version control systems ourselves for years. We experienced firsthand how time consuming the issue could be. We were convinced developers could save a couple hours a week, even more in a team situation. And so we focused our R&D efforts at Insum Labs on coming up with an efficient solution as quickly as we could,” says Francis Mignault, Insum co-founder and Vice-President, Technologies.
The APEXcl solution
APEXcl is a command line utility that allows developers to extract an APEX application and lay it on their file system repository in a clear, logical and hierarchical way, in the corresponding programming language. The result is a selection of separate, manageable and unambiguous views of an APEX application’s underlying source code, which lets users discern changes made by one or multiple contributors to that source code over time. In this way, APEXcl quickly and efficiently puts the power of version control into an APEX developer’s hands.
“Most developers will agree that you cannot possibly do your best work without making version control a systematic part of the development process, especially in a team situation,” says Vincent Morneau, Lead Front-End at Insum, who was also behind the creation of APEX Nitro, an open-source, front-end development tool that makes changes clearly evident in real time. “Developers in the APEX community are resourceful people. They were finding ways around the problem, none of which were very satisfactory. We’re looking to APEXcl to change all that.”
28-Day free trial now available
For a 28-day free trial, visit www.apexcl.dev. APEXcl is available on a subscription basis for USD $59.00 per user per month.
About Insum
Insum develops highly specialized innovative application solutions using Oracle Application Express (APEX), a Rapid Application Development tool included with the Oracle database. With offices in Canada, the United States and Peru, Insum is currently the largest consulting firm specializing in Oracle APEX. Its internationally recognized team of experts develops custom application solutions to answer the needs of its broad client base of public and private sector organizations, including financial, government, and higher learning institutions as well as numerous Fortune 500 companies.
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For more information, contact:
Media Contact:
Michelle Skamene, Vice President
Insum
mskamene@insum.ca
514-979-6975
