Migration Path for WebFOCUS Components

In this section:

The following tables describe the components that can be migrated from WebFOCUS 7 to WebFOCUS 8 and components that are currently under consideration for migration. Because most of the architectural changes have occurred in the WebFOCUS Client, this document centers around WebFOCUS Client migration.


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Components That Can Be Migrated

The following table describes the components that can be migrated from WebFOCUS 7 to WebFOCUS 8.

Note: The migration utilities are designed to migrate all content (users, groups, reports, authorization information, and so on) from the environment where WebFOCUS 7 is currently installed.

Components

Migration Path

Reporting Server

Application content and configuration settings will need to be migrated from the WebFOCUS 7 Reporting Server to the WebFOCUS 8 Reporting Server.

Application content located in the folder specified by approot can be copied to the WebFOCUS 8 Reporting Server.

Configuration settings, such as Data Adapter connections, can be migrated using the built-in migration utility on the WebFOCUS 8 Reporting Server.

Developer Studio

Developer Studio 8 can be installed on the same machine as Developer Studio 7. Developers will be able to switch between the two releases using thisfoci.bat located in the Developer Studio home/bin directory.

RESTful web services

As a part of the migration planning process, it is recommended to also examine your existing web services. Although SOAP-based (legacy) web services are still available and supported, WebFOCUS 8 can now be called using RESTful web services.

Moving forward, all new functionality will be exposed through RESTful web services.

For more information, see the WebFOCUS RESTful Web Services Developer’s Guide.

Legacy Tools

Effective with WebFOCUS 8, the legacy interfaces, tools, and product components have been replaced with web-based Rich Internet Application (RIA) facilities that will also eliminate the requirement to have a specific release of the Java Virtual Machine present on each end-user machine. For more information, see the Consolidation Statement in the WebFOCUS New Features documentation.

WebFOCUS Client

Managed Reporting

Managed Reporting content and security rules will be migrated and stored in the WebFOCUS 8 repository. The WebFOCUS 7 domain tree structure will be preserved.

Reports should continue to run as they did in WebFOCUS 7.

Business Intelligence Dashboard

Business Intelligence Dashboard (BID) content will be migrated and will be stored on the file system in the WebFOCUS80/worp directory structure.

Migrated BID Favorites and Mobile Favorites will be stored in the WebFOCUS 8 repository.

BI Dashboards can be used "as is" with some caveats. Certain WebFOCUS 7 BI Dashboard functionality has been removed from WebFOCUS 8.

ReportCaster

ReportCaster is fully integrated with new WebFOCUS 8 architecture and security.

All ReportCaster and Report Library content will be migrated and stored in the WebFOCUS repository.

The following table describes the components that are not being migrated currently from WebFOCUS 7 to WebFOCUS 8. These components are currently under consideration for migration.

Components

Migration Path

Configuration Settings

WebFOCUS 7 Client configurations are not migrated to WebFOCUS 8.

Configurations will have to be reapplied to WebFOCUS 8.

WebFOCUS System Variables

Most WebFOCUS 7 system variables are available in WebFOCUS 8, but some of them have been removed as a result of the new architecture. For example, the WebFOCUS variable MR_BASE_DIR has been removed.

Custom Settings (site.wfs)

All custom settings in site.wfs will need to be evaluated to determine if they are still needed in WebFOCUS 8 or if they need to be implemented differently.

Customizations

All customizations will need to be evaluated to determine if they are still needed in WebFOCUS 8 or if they need to be implemented differently.

Information Builders is currently working on a WebFOCUS 8 Migration Quick Reference Guide to provide additional details on what happens to the specific content that is not handled by the current migration utilities.


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