In most cases the file(s) will come from a SQL query, which should look like this:

select file_name    as file_name
     , mime_type    as file_mime_type
     , blob_content as file_content_blob
  from some_table

select 'sample_image.png' as file_name
     , mime_type          as file_mime_type
     , file_content       as file_content_blob
  from apex_application_static_files
 where application_id = :APP_ID
   and file_name = 'images/avatar2.png'

select file_name    as file_name
     , mime_type    as file_mime_type
     , file_content as file_content_blob
  from apex_application_static_files
 where application_id = :APP_ID

Sometimes you have files stored as VARCHAR2 or CLOB, and not as binary data. This plug-in can handle both. Instead of providing a file_content_blob column, provide a file_content_clob column. In such cases you can simply define the mime_type as text/plain.

select 'test.txt'     as file_name
     , 'text/plain'   as file_mime_type
     , 'Hello World!' as file_content_clob
  from dual

select 'sample_image.png' as file_name
     , mime_type          as file_mime_type
     , file_content       as file_content_blob
     , null               as file_content_clob
  from apex_application_static_files
 where application_id = :APP_ID
   and file_name = 'images/avatar2.png'

 union all

select 'test.txt'
     , 'text/plain'
     , null
     , 'Hello World!'
  from dual

The files can also be compiled procedurally by adding them to a collection in a PL/SQL code block.

Simply add all files to the UC_DOWNLOAD_FILES collection. This special collection will be created and removed accordingly by the plug-in. Just make sure to provide parameters p_c001 for the file name, p_c002 for the mime type, and p_blob001 or p_clob001 for the content.

apex_collection.add_member
    ( p_collection_name => 'UC_DOWNLOAD_FILES'
    , p_c001            => 'README.md'
    , p_c002            => 'text/plain'
    , p_clob001         => 'This zip contains *all* application files!'
    );

for f in (
    select *
      from apex_application_static_files
     where application_id = :APP_ID
) loop
    apex_collection.add_member
        ( p_collection_name => 'UC_DOWNLOAD_FILES'
        , p_c001            => f.file_name
        , p_c002            => f.mime_type
        , p_blob001         => f.file_content
        );
end loop;

-- pro tip: you can override the zip file name by assigning it to the apex_application.g_x01 global variable
apex_application.g_x01 := 'all_files.zip';

To create subdirectories in your zip structure, prepend them to the file name as follows:

apex_collection.add_member
    ( p_collection_name => 'UC_DOWNLOAD_FILES'
    , p_c001            => 'file1.txt'
    , p_c002            => 'text/plain'
    , p_clob001         => 'I''m in the root.'
    );

apex_collection.add_member
    ( p_collection_name => 'UC_DOWNLOAD_FILES'
    , p_c001            => 'hello/world/file2.txt'
    , p_c002            => 'text/plain'
    , p_clob001         => 'I''m two levels down.'
    );

apex_collection.add_member
    ( p_collection_name => 'UC_DOWNLOAD_FILES'
    , p_c001            => '1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/file3.txt'
    , p_c002            => 'text/plain'
    , p_clob001         => 'Hello? Anybody there?'
    );

This plug-in works great in combination with the apex_export API. In the following example we create on export of all the plug-ins included in this application.

declare
    l_files      apex_t_export_files;
    l_components apex_t_varchar2;
    
    l_set_env varchar2(32767);
    l_end_env varchar2(32767);
    
    CRLF constant varchar2(4) := chr(13) || chr(10);
begin
    select 'PLUGIN:' || id
      bulk collect into l_components
      from apex_appl_export_comps
     where application_id = :APP_ID
       and type_name = 'PLUGIN'
       and name like 'UC - %';

    -- export application
    -- we can speed things up by only exporting the needed components
    l_files := apex_export.get_application
        ( p_application_id => :APP_ID
        , p_split          => true
        , p_components     => l_components
        );
    
    -- individual component files do not contain the necessary start and end environment scripts
    -- so in this case we must fetch, prepend and append them ourselves
    select contents
      into l_set_env
      from table(l_files)
     where name like '%set_environment.sql';

    select contents
      into l_end_env
      from table(l_files)
     where name like '%end_environment.sql';
    
    for idx in 1 .. l_files.count
    loop
        if l_files(idx).name like '%/plugins/%'
        then
            -- file names are in the form application/shared_components/plugins/dynamic_action/...
            -- performing a substr to only use the actual plug-in name. i.e everything after the last slash
            apex_collection.add_member
                ( p_collection_name => 'UC_DOWNLOAD_FILES'
                , p_c001            => substr(l_files(idx).name, instr(l_files(idx).name, '/', -1) + 1)
                , p_c002            => 'text/plain'
                , p_clob001         => l_set_env || CRLF || l_files(idx).contents || CRLF || l_end_env
                );
        end if;
    end loop;
end;