WebFOCUS Environment Properties

In this section:

How to:

As you set up access to WebFOCUS environments, your settings are retained in a file named wfscom.xml. WebFOCUS environment settings are typically stored in the following locations.

Windows 7:

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

where:

user_id

Is your Windows user ID.


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Procedure: How to Add a WebFOCUS Environment

A WebFOCUS environment consists of a web server, a WebFOCUS Client, and a Reporting Server. Adding WebFOCUS environments lets you create and manage multiple environments, such as development, test, and production instances.

The following procedure provides the information you need to add a WebFOCUS Environment.

  1. On the Home tab, in the Utilities group, click Environments.

    The Environments List dialog box opens, as shown in the following image. This dialog box lists all WebFOCUS environments that are defined for App Studio.

    Environments List dialog box

  2. Click Add.

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

    WebFOCUS Environments Properties dialog box

    You can also access the WebFOCUS Environment Properties dialog box using by right-clicking on the Configured Environments node and using the shortcut menu to click Add.

    At the top of the dialog box is the Description field, followed by the Environments Settings area. The Environments Settings area contains a series of buttons that represent components in a WebFOCUS environment and the required parameter fields to configure that environment. When you configure an environment, the areas below the buttons can change according to the parameters that are required.

  3. In the Description field, type a description for the WebFOCUS environment. This description appears in the Configured Environments tree.

    Note: The description cannot contain special characters, such as., /, \,?, *, and others. A message with characters not allowed appears if one of the restricted characters is detected during validation.

  4. In the Web Component area, specify the web server information.

    For some environments, once you specify the web server, all other settings default. If the WebFOCUS environment you are accessing does not use default settings, or the components require authentication, click the appropriate button in the Environment Settings area to provide the parameters. The parameters available for each component are explained in the following sections.

    Note: WebFOCUS environment properties must be supplied in a specific order. For example, if web server security is enabled, you cannot set the WebFOCUS Client name until you have provided valid web server credentials. Similarly, you cannot retrieve a list of Reporting Servers until you have provided a valid WebFOCUS Client Path.

    As you select a component button in the WebFOCUS Environment Properties dialog box, App Studio ensures that it has the necessary information before it displays the properties of that component in the lower part of the dialog box. If the required information is not available, you cannot proceed to the next component.

  5. Click OK.

    The WebFOCUS Logon dialog box opens and prompts you for a WebFOCUS ID and password, as shown in the following image.

    WebFOCUS Logon dialog box

    There is a check box option on the Logon dialog box for remembering the ID or password. By default, it is not selected. If you select this box, your credentials are stored and encrypted in the wfscom.xml file, the local configuration file that stores information processed by the App Studio communication layer.

    To clear stored credentials, open the WebFOCUS Environment Properties dialog box and select the environment that users need to make changes. Click WebFOCUS Client. Under WebFOCUS Credentials, delete the User ID and Password information, and then clear the Supply Credentials check box.

    Note: A logon dialog box can also open for connection to the web server, application server, or Reporting server, depending on the security implemented in the WebFOCUS environment that is being accessed.

  6. Type a user name and password, and then click Logon.

    The WebFOCUS Environment Properties dialog box closes.

  7. In the Environments List dialog box, click OK.

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Local Machine Properties

Local Machine properties are optional. Click the Local Machine button to access the WebFOCUS Environment Caching area. Select the options in this area to cache remote directory and file information, and enable file-content caching.

The following image shows the WebFOCUS Environment Caching area of the WebFOCUS Environment Properties dialog box. The file content caching location path, shown in the following image, 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 App Studio machine. App Studio then works with the locally stored files.

Caching increases the App Studio performance speed, because remote machines are not accessed and queried every time you request information. This is especially useful when accessing mainframes or when a network connection is slow.

Note: Caching should not be used when multiple developers are working with the same files because they could overwrite changes made by other developers. By default, caching is not enabled.

Two properties are available:

App Studio retrieves information and files the first time you request them and then caches them locally. App Studio then uses the cached copies until App Studio is restarted, or you click the Clear buttons for each level.

Note:


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Web Component Properties

The Web Components button is typically selected by default. Web Component properties specify how App 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 Properties

The following properties are available:


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WebFOCUS Properties

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

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

WebFOCUS Client area

The following properties are available:

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


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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, App Studio connects to the WebFOCUS Client and retrieves a list of servers from its communication configuration file (odin.cfg).

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

Data Servers section

The following property is available:

Note: Managed Reporting is not enabled in WebFOCUS Version 8.


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Project Development Properties

Note: These properties only apply to self-service application development, and when performing project development.

If you use remote Project-based development and your remote environment has multiple Reporting Servers, click the Project Development button to specify which server to use when processing requests. This server is referred to as the Project Development Server. The Project Development Server and the WebFOCUS Client must be installed on the same machine or use the same Application Root directory (APPROOT directory) as each other.

The following image shows the Project Development Server area of the WebFOCUS Environment Properties dialog box.

The following property is available:


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Procedure: How to Edit an Existing WebFOCUS Environment
  1. On the Home tab, in the Utilities group, click Environments.

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

    Environments List dialog box

  2. Select the environment that you want to edit.
  3. Click Properties.

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

    WebFOCUS Environments Properties dialog box

  4. Edit the WebFOCUS environment accordingly, and then click OK to accept your changes.
  5. In the Environments List dialog box, click OK.

WebFOCUS