| abstract |
Systems and methods for installing and upgrading application packages to an application platform (18). The systems and methods are particularly useful in an on-demand database service (28). Application packages may be uploaded to a directory by developing users (12) (developers) for installation by subscribing users (12) (subscribers). Alternatively, a developer may send identification information to a subscribing user to allow that user to access and install that application package (26) created by the developer. Application packages may also be upgraded. If a developer changes the original source package, a subscriber can choose to pull into their organization the change(s) made by the publisher while preserving any data rows the subscriber had created since first importing the package. One or more flags may be set in the package definition to determine whether and to what extent customizations to a package may be made and upgraded by the subscriber and/or developer. A 'manageable' field is provided to identify whether customizations to a particular object are subject to upgrade; if the package or an object in the package is marked as managed, a user is allowed to customize tbie package or the object, and these customizations will not be altered upon upgrading of the package. A 'control' field is provided to identify whether an object may be modified by the developer and/or the subscriber. An 'immutable' field is provided to identify whether an object can or cannot be altered by anyone. |