Setting Up a WebFOCUS Environment in Developer Studio

In this section:

A WebFOCUS environment consists of a web server, a WebFOCUS Client, and WebFOCUS Reporting Servers. To add a WebFOCUS environment, specify a web server containing the WebFOCUS Client and the connection path it uses. Developer Studio then connects to the WebFOCUS Client to obtain information on the WebFOCUS Reporting Servers that the WebFOCUS Client can access.

Add new and edit existing WebFOCUS environments in Developer Studio using the WebFOCUS Environment Properties dialog box or the Explorer tree. Use either of these approaches to create and manage additional environments, for example, test and production environments.

Note: Developer Studio 8 can only be used against WebFOCUS 8 or higher. You cannot connect to previous WebFOCUS releases. If you try to connect to a previous WebFOCUS release, you will be presented with a message.


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Working With Environment Properties in Developer Studio

How to:

When you set up access to WebFOCUS environments, your settings are retained when you restart or reinstall Developer Studio. WebFOCUS environment settings are normally stored in the following files:

For Windows XP and Windows 2003 Server:

drive:\Documents and Settings\user_id\Application Data\
Information Builders\wfscom.xml

For Windows 7:

drive:\Users\user_id\AppData\Roaming
Information Builders\wfscom.xml

where:

user_id

Is your logged on Windows ID.

Note:



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Procedure: How to Add a WebFOCUS Environment
  1. Select the File menu and choose Show Environments.

    The Environments List dialog box opens, as shown in the following image.

    Enviroment List dialog box

    This dialog lists all of the WebFOCUS Environments already defined for Developer Studio, if previously installed. If not installed, only the localhost environment exists. To edit an existing environment, select it and click Properties.

    Note: The Set Development Environment button does not pertain to Managed Reporting and is only used for a self-service deployment application.

  2. Click Add.

    The WebFOCUS Environment Properties dialog box opens, as shown in the following image.

    The WebFOCUS Environment Properties dialog box

    At the top of the dialog box is the Description field, followed by the Environment Settings area, where you will find up to six selectable objects. At the bottom part of the dialog box are two areas, Web Component and Web Component Authentication. In the Web Component area, you can enter the IP Address (Host Name), select the Protocol type, enter the Port number information, supply an HTML Alias, enter the Client Path information, and enter the Connection Timeout information. In the Web Component Authentication area, you can enter user ID and password information when the User ID drop-down list is set to a value other than None.

    Note: To work against a remote WebFOCUS Environment that is configured with IWA security, select IWA as the Web Component Authentication method.

    Use the WebFOCUS Environment Properties dialog box to define which components make up the environment. You can optionally enter authentication information for components that require logon credentials.

  3. At the top of the window, type a description for the environment. This description will appear in the Explorer under WebFOCUS Environments.

    As shown in the following image, the Environment Settings area contains a series of buttons that each represent a component in the environment.

    The Environment Settings Section

    The Web Component button is selected by default. Note that the Project Development Environment Settings are only available in the full edition of Developer Studio.

  4. At the bottom of the Web Environment Properties page, specify the information needed to access the web server.

    For some environments, after you specify the web server, all other options are set by default. If the WebFOCUS environment you are accessing does not use default settings or the components require authentication, click the appropriate button in the top area to provide parameters. The areas that follow explain the parameters available for each component.

    Note: WebFOCUS environment properties must be supplied in a particular order. For example, if web server security is enabled, you cannot set the WebFOCUS Client script name until you have provided valid web server credentials. Similarly, you cannot retrieve a list of Reporting Servers until you have provided a valid Client Path. As you select a component button in the dialog box, Developer Studio ensures that it has the necessary information before it displays the component properties in the lower part of the dialog box. If the required information is not available, you will not be able to proceed to the next component.


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Local Machine Properties in Developer Studio

Local Machine properties are optional. You can select the Local Machine button to indicate whether to cache files when accessing the WebFOCUS environment.

The following image shows the WebFOCUS Environment Caching area of the Environment Properties dialog box. The file content caching location path is for a Windows 7 machine.

WebFOCUS Environment Caching

In caching, copies of files or information stored on a remote machine are temporarily stored on your local Developer Studio machine. Developer Studio works with the locally stored files. Caching increases performance because remote machines are not accessed and queried every time you request information, which is especially useful when accessing mainframes or when a network connection is slow. Note that caching should not be used when multiple developers are working with the same files because the possibility exists that one writer may overwrite the changes of another writer. By default, caching is not enabled.

Two properties are available:

Developer Studio retrieves information and files the first time you request them and then caches them locally. Developer Studio then uses the cached copies until it is restarted or when you click the Clear buttons for each level. You can perform a manual refresh and clear all cache files by clicking View, then Refresh, or by pressing F5. Refresh is performed for the area that is selected in the Explorer when you perform this action.

Note:


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Web Component Properties

The Web Component button is selected by default. Web Component properties specify how Developer Studio accesses the web server. The web server must be identified before any other components. The following image shows the Web Component area of the WebFOCUS Environment Properties dialog box.

Web Component section

The following properties are available:


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WebFOCUS Properties in Developer Studio

When you click the WebFOCUS button, Developer Studio makes a connection to your web server to retrieve information about the WebFOCUS environment. Therefore, you must first specify Web Component properties and your web server must be running. The following image shows the WebFOCUS area of the Environment Properties dialog box.

You are prompted to sign in to WebFOCUS to verify your configuration. You will also be prompted to sign in to WebFOCUS if you click OK to exit the dialog box.

Note: Developer Studio will not display a sign-in dialog box for one minute after a user cancels out of the dialog box to enter WebFOCUS credentials. This is to prevent multiple sign-in prompts for a WebFOCUS environment. If a user needs to reconnect to the WebFOCUS environment for which they canceled the connection, they need to wait one minute.

WebFOCUS Client section

The following properties are available:

When the correct WebFOCUS Client Path is provided, you can specify properties for the remaining component.


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Data Server Properties

You can set authentication and view available Reporting Servers by clicking the Data Servers button. When you select Data Servers, WebFOCUS connects to the WebFOCUS Client and retrieves a list of servers from the communication configuration file (odin.cfg).

The following image shows the Data Servers area of the Environment Properties dialog box.

Data Servers section

You must be signed in to WebFOCUS to access this window.

The following property is available:

Supply Credentials. If selected, you can type a user ID and password for the WebFOCUS server highlighted in the list. Clicking Set stores the credentials with the environment properties, and the user ID you supplied is shown next to the server in the list. The Set button stores your credentials.


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Project Development Properties in Developer Studio

Project development can be optionally configured and used while working in the Projects area. For more information about this feature, see Development Modes with Developer Studio.


WebFOCUS