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A WebFOCUS environment consists of a Web server, a WebFOCUS Client, and WebFOCUS Reporting Servers. To add a WebFOCUS environment, you specify a Web server containing the WebFOCUS Client and the connection client path uses Developer Studio, then finds all of the WebFOCUS Reporting Servers that the WebFOCUS Client can access.
You can add new WebFOCUS environments and edit existing environments in Developer Studio using the WebFOCUS Environment Properties dialog box. This lets you create and manage multiple environments, such as development, test, and production instances. An environment can be on the same machine as Developer Studio or elsewhere in your enterprise. One environment is set as the development environment and is used in the Projects area of Developer Studio. By default, Project-based development is done on the local machine (localhost). Once a WebFOCUS environment is defined, you can tell Developer Studio to perform Project-based development on a remote machine instead of localhost.
Note: For Managed Reporting development, you must set up access to a WebFOCUS environment where Managed Reporting is installed. If Managed Reporting is installed on the same machine as Developer Studio, then administrators can automatically access the local instance of Managed Reporting. However, Managed Reporting is not installed with Developer Studio.
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When you set up access to WebFOCUS environments, your settings are retained when you restart or even reinstall Developer Studio. WebFOCUS environment settings are normally stored in the following location for XP:
drive:\Documents and Settings\user_id\ Application Data\Information Builders\wfscom.xml
where:
Is your logged on Windows ID.
For Windows 7:
drive:\Users\user_id\ AppData\Roaming\Information Builders\wfscom.xml
where:
Is your logged on Windows ID.
Note:
This dialog box lists all WebFOCUS Environments defined for Developer Studio. If you previously installed Developer Studio, WebFOCUS Environments may already be defined. Otherwise, only the localhost environment appears. To edit an existing environment, click Properties.
Note: The Set Development Environment button does not apply to Managed Reporting.
Tip: You can also add a WebFOCUS Environment by right-clicking WebFOCUS Environments on the Developer Studio Explorer and selecting Add.
The WebFOCUS Environment Properties dialog box opens, as shown in the following image. At the top part of the dialog box is the Description text box followed by the Environment Settings section, which contains a series of buttons that each represents a component in a WebFOCUS environment. At the bottom part of the dialog box are fields to set up a connection to the Web server (Host Name, Protocol, Port, and options to set if Web Authentication is used).
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.
The following image shows the top area of this screen. This area contains a series of buttons that each represents a component in a WebFOCUS environment. The Web Components button is selected by default. The Project Development button is only available in the full edition of Developer Studio.
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 components require authentication, click the appropriate button in the top pane to provide parameters. The sections that follow explain the parameters available for each component.
Note: WebFOCUS environment properties must be entered in a specific order. For example, if Web server security is enabled, you cannot set the WebFOCUS Client Path until you have provided valid Web server credentials. Similarly, you cannot retrieve a list of WebFOCUS Reporting Servers until you have provided a valid WebFOCUS 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 properties of that component 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.
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 section of the WebFOCUS Environment Properties dialog box.
In caching, copies of files or information stored on a remote machine are temporarily stored on your local Developer Studio machine. Developer Studio then works with the locally stored files. Caching speeds Developer Studio performance 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. However, caching should not be used when multiple developers are working with the same files because the possibility exists that you may overwrite each others changes. 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 Developer Studio is restarted or 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:
The Web Components button is normally 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 Server section of the WebFOCUS Environment Properties dialog box.
The following properties are available:
For more information, see the WebFOCUS Security and Administration manual.
When you click the WebFOCUS Client 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 Client section of the WebFOCUS Environment Properties dialog box.
Note: If the Client Path field is empty and the Use Default option is selected, there is a problem connecting to the WebFOCUS Client. Ensure your Web server is started and that you typed the correct properties on the Web Components page. If you cannot connect, contact your WebFOCUS administrator.
The following properties are available:
/ibi_apps/WFServlet
If the WebFOCUS environment does not use servlet or uses a non-default context path, uncheck Use Default and provide the correct Client Path. Common default settings appear in the Client Path drop-down list.
If the Client Path is incorrect for the environment, you receive an error that the WebFOCUS Client cannot get accessed using the provided Client Path. If you do not know your path, ask your WebFOCUS administrator or check the WebFOCUS Administration Console of the environment to which you want to connect. The Client Path settings for the environment are located under Utilities and Client Selection.
WebFOCUS Client user IDs are the same IDs used to access the WebFOCUS Administrative Console in Developer mode. If authentication is enabled for the Console and these fields are empty, you are prompted to log on to the WebFOCUS Client when you access the environment. Your WebFOCUS administrator will let you know if you need to supply WebFOCUS Client credentials.
When the correct WebFOCUS Client Path is provided, you can specify properties for the remaining component.
If you plan to work with Managed Reporting (MR) and/or ReportCaster, you can optionally select the Managed Reporting/ReportCaster button. This allows you to set logon credentials or change the default Managed Reporting repository.
The following image shows the Managed Reporting Repository section of the WebFOCUS Environment Properties dialog box.
The following properties are available:
e:\user_test\basedir01
/usr/user_test/basedir01
You will not see a value in this field when Use Default is checked, because it is not currently possible for WebFOCUS to detect the list of potential repositories on the Web server.
Note: ReportCaster only supports the Managed Reporting Repository as defined in the WebFOCUS Client Configuration file MR_BASE_DIR.
Note: If your WebFOCUS administrator has integrated MR authentication with Web server authentication, do not supply MR credentials here. They will be picked up from the Web server component properties.
You can set authentication and view available WebFOCUS Reporting Servers by clicking the Data Servers button. When you select Data Servers, Developer Studio connects to the WebFOCUS Client and retrieves a list of servers from its communication configuration file (odin.cfg).
The following image shows the WebFOCUS Data Servers section of the WebFOCUS Environment Properties dialog box.
The following property is available:
Note: These properties only apply to self-service application development, not to Managed Reporting.
If you use remote Project-based development and your remote environment has multiple WebFOCUS 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 section of the WebFOCUS Environment Properties dialog box.
The following property is available:
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To use remote Project-based development, you must change the development environment. If you do not plan to use remote Project-based development, you can skip this procedure.
After you set up connections to WebFOCUS environments, you can add, edit, and delete files on remote machines through the WebFOCUS Environments folders. However, you may want to use the organizational tools available in the Projects folders to manage applications on remote machines. This is known as remote Project-based development and it allows developers on different desktops to share files and work on the same application.
Remote Project-based development requires that all WebFOCUS components in the remote environment reside on the same machine as each other or if installed on different PCs, they have the required configuration to allow Project development. For Project development, the remote WebFOCUS environment must have the same Application Root directory (APPROOT directory) for its WebFOCUS Reporting Server and WebFOCUS Client.
You can change the development environment using the Environments List.
Note: If an environment appears as unavailable, click Refresh Status.
The Developer Studio Explorer now shows Projects on the WebFOCUS environment you chose. Resources will be stored on the remote machine. If multiple WebFOCUS Reporting Servers are defined, reports are run using the WebFOCUS Reporting Server that is set for project development in this environment.
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