Core Processing of WebFOCUS Requests

In this section:

Core processing starts with context initialization for all WebFOCUS requests. After context initialization, processing depends on the type of request.


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Overview of How WebFOCUS Processes Requests

The following steps and illustration describe how WebFOCUS processes requests.

Illustration of WebFOCUS processes request

  1. A user requests a report from the browser and passes parameters by calling WebFOCUS through links and forms on a Web page.
  2. The request and parameters are handled by different components depending on the WebFOCUS Client option in effect:
    1. If the WebFOCUS Client option is ISAPI or CGI, the request and parameters are sent to the appropriate program on the Web server, which processes the parameters and creates a request for the WebFOCUS Reporting Server.
    2. If the WebFOCUS Client option is servlet, the request and parameters are sent to the WFServlet in the WebFOCUS Web application on the Java application server.
  3. The WebFOCUS Reporting Server receives the request, processes it, and selects an adapter to access the data.
  4. Data is retrieved from data sources to process the request.
  5. The WebFOCUS Reporting Server processes the request of the user using the retrieved data.
  6. The response is returned to the WebFOCUS Client.
  7. The response is returned to the user.

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Context Initialization for All WebFOCUS Requests

To initialize the environment, WebFOCUS reads its configuration and script files and loads variable-value pairs into the WebFOCUS variable table. WebFOCUS does this initialization process for all WebFOCUS requests.

First, the WebFOCUS Client must locate the configuration and script files. To find the configuration and script files, the WebFOCUS Client locates ibiweb.cfg file. The location of the ibiweb.cfg file is found in the /WEBFOCUS/client/wfc/web/cgi directory.

Variables that control processing options are read from the WebFOCUS Script (WFS) files. For a list of script files and their functions, see WebFOCUS Client Configuration Files for Core Processing. Depending on the type of request, files are processed in a specific order.

Tree diagram

Some of the major WFS processing files are:

For information about setting core processing variables using the WebFOCUS Administration Console, see WebFOCUS Client Administration.


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Core Processing of a Sign-On Request

The WebFOCUS Client recognizes a WebFOCUS Reporting Server sign-on request by the fact that it contains the following parameter

IBIWF_action=WF_SIGNON

Generally, this is a hidden variable set in an HTML page that prompts for WebFOCUS Reporting Server credentials. A sample sign-on page, wfsignon.html, is supplied with WebFOCUS in the /WEBFOCUS/ibi_html directory.

The sign-on command (IBIWF_action=WF_SIGNON) can also be embedded in a jsp page that transparently redirects control to a WebFOCUS application using WebFOCUS Reporting Server credentials obtained from another page. For example, if you have a third-party package that obtains and passes credentials to WebFOCUS, the WebFOCUS logon page is not displayed.

If the WF_SIGNON action is successful, WebFOCUS uses the value of the WF_SIGNON_MESSAGE variable to determine which page to display next in the browser.

If the WF_SIGNON action is not successful, the connection fails and the WebFOCUS Reporting Server provides a return code. This return code is mapped to an error page in the xxwebfocus_strings.lng template file, where xx is the two-letter language prefix. For example, the return codes for invalid password and invalid user ID are both mapped to a page with the message Invalid Credentials. For more information on customizing messages, see Localizing WebFOCUS .

The following diagram illustrates the client files processed during a sign-on request.

client files during sign on request


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Core Processing of a Report Request

WebFOCUS executes a report request when the following variables are present on the query string:

Variable

Description

IBIF_adhocfex

Used to submit an inline WebFOCUS request to the WebFOCUS Reporting Server.

IBIF_ex

Used to execute a report procedure stored on the file system of the WebFOCUS Reporting Server.

Note: IBIF_focexec is a synonym for IBIF_ex.

The following diagram shows the WebFOCUS Client files that are called to execute a report request. The default.wfs file includes ibicommd.wfs in order to get the location of the CGI/Servlet. Then default.wfs continues to prepare the environment for executing the request, depending on which special options are selected, such as server side graphics, Resource Analyzer/Governor, or data filtering with DBA.

WebFOCUS client files tree diagram


WebFOCUS