WebFOCUS Installation Overview
This section briefly explains the different WebFOCUS
installation components, as well as how those components interact
and are configured.
xWebFOCUS and Your Network
WebFOCUS seamlessly integrates into your existing network
by connecting web servers and application servers to your data.
End users, developers, and administrators then access WebFOCUS through
a web browser.
The main requirements for installing
WebFOCUS are:
-
Web Browser. To
access WebFOCUS applications, you need a web browser and a TCP/IP
connection to a web server or application server.
-
Web Server and Application Server. WebFOCUS
runs in part through a web server or application server. WebFOCUS
is flexible and offers several configuration options, so you can
choose whether to use both a web server and an application server or
just an application server. Apache Tomcat™ is provided and can be
used as both a web server and application server.
Web servers
handle requests by returning static files to a web browser or by executing
processes that provide additional functionality. Application servers
execute Java servlets or other processes that the web server does
not handle.
WebFOCUS functionality can be implemented
using Java servlets. Connecting with Java servlets is required for
most advanced features. For Java servlets, an application server
is required and you can use WebFOCUS with or without an external
web server.
Note: Either
an application server or a servlet container or engine can be used
to process WebFOCUS Java requests. However, the term application server is
used in this documentation unless referring to a specific third-party product.
-
Data. WebFOCUS
can access data from almost anywhere. To access data, you should
know its location on your network and any necessary sign-in information.
A complete list of requirements is provided in WebFOCUS and ReportCaster Installation Requirements.
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There are two main WebFOCUS
components to install:
-
WebFOCUS Client. The
WebFOCUS Client runs as part of your application server and connects
WebFOCUS to the web. When a user makes a request from a browser,
the WebFOCUS Client receives and processes the request by passing it
to the WebFOCUS Reporting Server. The WebFOCUS Client installation
includes:
- Java-based web connectivity
components.
- User interfaces,
tools, and utilities.
-
WebFOCUS Reporting Server. The
WebFOCUS Reporting Server resides on machines that can access your
data. The WebFOCUS Reporting Server provides data access, number
crunching, and report generation functionality using WebFOCUS integration
technology.
During the WebFOCUS Client and ReportCaster installation, your
license determines the components you install. The following options
are available:
-
Managed Reporting (BI Portal and Dashboard). Managed Reporting
enables your Tools organization to grant authorized users access
to information they need while restricting unauthorized users from
sensitive or confidential data.
-
InfoAssist. WebFOCUS
InfoAssist extends the power of WebFOCUS Managed Reporting. InfoAssist
provides business users with the most advanced, yet simple to use,
ad hoc reporting features needed to create intricate reports and
perform insightful analysis.
-
Mobile Favorites. Mobile
Favorites are reports, graphs, hyperlinks, and any other item type,
except Reporting Objects, that are added to the Favorites list of
a Managed Reporting user. Adding items to Mobile Favorites enables
you to display the items on mobile devices.
-
ReportCaster. ReportCaster
is an independent application that provides advanced scheduling
and distribution capabilities for WebFOCUS reports, procedures,
and alerts, as well as independent files and URLs.
-
Magnify. Magnify
is an enterprise search solution that allows you to search your
structured and unstructured business content across multiple data
sources and systems. The Magnify search page is an easy-to-use,
interactive user interface that dynamically categorizes search results,
allows you to sort results based on several criteria, and includes
an option to present results in a tabular format. It can also offer you
access to real-time data (for instance, by including links to WebFOCUS
reports in the search results).
-
WebFOCUS Web Services. WebFOCUS
Web Services allow you to develop applications in the .NET or Java
environments and perform WebFOCUS functionality from it.
The following WebFOCUS products can be
purchased and installed separately:
-
WebFOCUS Developer Studio. Developer
Studio can be installed on Windows and provides a development environment
for WebFOCUS and Maintain applications. Developer Studio enables
you to create advanced applications using a Windows GUI environment.
For more information, see the Developer Studio installation CD and
documentation.
-
WebFOCUS RStat. WebFOCUS
RStat is a statistical modeling workbench embedded in Developer
Studio. It allows you to perform common statistical, data mining tasks,
and develop models that can be deployed as scoring applications
on every platform. RStat enables data miners and Business Intelligence
developers to collaborate with the same tools used to access, manipulate,
or transform data, develop predictive models, and create and deploy
scoring applications, as well as associated reports, to any worker
within their organization.
-
WebFOCUS Quick Data. WebFOCUS
Quick Data is a Microsoft® Office® add-on that enables you to connect
Microsoft Excel® directly to WebFOCUS reporting tools, where you
can access and analyze all of your enterprise data.
-
WebFOCUS Performance Management Framework (PMF). PMF
is a WebFOCUS application template for tracking, storing, and aggregating
metrics into scorecards to clearly evaluate goals. For more information,
see the WebFOCUS Performance Management Framework manual.
-
WebFOCUS Visual Discovery. Visual
Discovery lets you create advanced data visualizations for executive
level Dashboards. For more information, see the Using WebFOCUS
Visual Discovery to Develop Analytic Dashboards manual.
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The following steps and figure
describe how WebFOCUS processes WebFOCUS report requests:
- A
user requests a report and passes parameters by calling a WebFOCUS servlet
through links and forms on a webpage.
- The request and parameters
come to the WebFOCUS Client on the web
or application server, which processes the parameters and creates
a request for the WebFOCUS Reporting Server.
- The WebFOCUS Reporting
Server receives the request, processes it, and accesses any needed
data.
- Data is retrieved
from data sources to process the request.
- The WebFOCUS Reporting
Server processes the request of the user using the retrieved data.
- The response is returned
to the WebFOCUS Client on the web
or application server.
- The response is returned
to the user in the appropriate format (for example, HTML, XML, PDF,
Excel, and PNG).
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WebFOCUS employs a distributed architecture. This means
that the WebFOCUS Client, the WebFOCUS Reporting Server, and your
data can be located on any platform, anywhere in your network. You
can easily connect an Apache web server running on UNIX to
SQL Server data on Windows or DB2 data on z/OS.
The configuration requirements are:
- The WebFOCUS Client
must reside with the web and application servers.
- The WebFOCUS repository
can reside on the same system or a different system.
- An instance of the
WebFOCUS Reporting Server must be installed on machines with your
data or machines that have access to your data. For example, if
you are accessing Oracle, the WebFOCUS Reporting Server
can be on the Oracle Server machine or on any machine
with Oracle Client.
Note: All WebFOCUS components must be of the same release
to communicate properly.
The following configurations are examples
of how WebFOCUS could be distributed:
-
Stand-alone Configuration. In
a stand-alone configuration, the application server, WebFOCUS Client,
WebFOCUS Reporting Server, and source data are all on the same machine.
-
Distributed Configuration. In
a distributed configuration, the WebFOCUS Client is installed on
your web server, but the WebFOCUS Reporting Server and source data
are on a different machine.
-
Multiple Data Source Configuration. If
you have source data on several different machines, WebFOCUS can
integrate that data into one reporting environment. To allow this,
instances of the WebFOCUS Reporting Server should be installed on machines
with access to your source data. WebFOCUS technology provides the
data access and format conversion functionality. For more information
on integrating data from multiple machines and platforms, refer
to the server documentation.
Note: In
the previous example, the WebFOCUS Client connects to multiple WebFOCUS
Reporting Servers. In other configurations, you can connect the WebFOCUS
Client to a single WebFOCUS Reporting Server and then connect that WebFOCUS
Reporting Server to other WebFOCUS Reporting Servers (hub-sub).
For some data sources, you may need to connect WebFOCUS Reporting
Servers to each other to perform joins.
-
Advanced Configuration Options. WebFOCUS
provides flexible options for more advanced configurations. You
can run multiple instances of components and enable load balancing
functionality. You can use the Cluster Manager to enable fail over and
statistical analysis of the best WebFOCUS Reporting Server to use
in a cluster. You can cluster your application servers, if you wish.
You can use a web server only to forward requests to the application
server through a firewall. For more information on advanced configuration
options, see the WebFOCUS Security and Administration manual.