IBI WebFOCUS - Architecture

Architecture of WebFOCUS:

WebFOCUS unobtrusively integrates into your existing network by connecting your Web server to your data. End users access WebFOCUS applications through a Web browser, so they need only the following elements:
Web browser. To access WebFOCUS applications, users simply need a browser and a TCP/IP connection to a Web server.
Web server. Web servers handle requests by returning files to a browser or by executing processes that provide additional functionality. You can provide WebFOCUS functionality by connecting to the Web server using either the Java servlets, CGI, or ISAPI.
Data. WebFOCUS can access data from almost anywhere. Once data access has been configured and your data is described, reporting on it is simple.

WebFOCUS Components
There are two main WebFOCUS components.
WebFOCUS Client. The WebFOCUS Client resides on the Web server and connects WebFOCUS to the Web through either the Java servlets, CGI, or ISAPI. When a user makes a request from Developer Studio or a browser, the WebFOCUS Client receives and processes the request by passing it to the WebFOCUS Reporting Server.
Note: When you perform a full Developer Studio installation for stand-alone development, you do not have to install the WebFOCUS Client separately because it is packaged with the WebFOCUS Reporting Server.
A stand-alone development environment is typically one in which all software components (the Web server, WebFOCUS Client, and WebFOCUS Reporting Server) are installed on the same local machine. This configuration gives you access to all your application files and data from a single machine. You do not need a physical network connection to access any other machine in order to accomplish your development tasks.
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.

WebFOCUS Processing
The following steps accompany the figure and describe how WebFOCUS processes requests:
 1.      A user requests a report and passes parameters by calling a WebFOCUS Servlet, CGI, or ISAPI through links and forms on a Web page or through Developer Studio.
2.      The request and parameters come to the WebFOCUS Client on the Web server, which processes the parameters and creates a request for the WebFOCUS Reporting Server.
3.      The WebFOCUS Reporting Server receives the request, processes it, and accesses any necessary data.
4.      Data is retrieved from data sources to process the request.
5.      The WebFOCUS Reporting Server processes the user's request using the retrieved data.
6.      The response is returned to the WebFOCUS Client on the Web server.

7.      The response is returned to the user. 
WebFOCUS Configuration
WebFOCUS employs a distributed architecture, so the WebFOCUS Client, 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. There can be any number of WebFOCUS Reporting Servers connected to the WebFOCUS Client. WebFOCUS can report on all of them. The requirements are the following:
The WebFOCUS Client must reside on a machine with a Web server.
An instance of the WebFOCUS Reporting Server must be installed on machines with your data or machines that have access to your data.
For more information on WebFOCUS configuration options, see the WebFOCUS and ReportCaster installation manuals and the server configuration manuals.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

IBI WebFOCUS - Functions available and syntax to use

Using Functions Functions operate on one or more arguments and return a single value. The returned value can be stored in a field, assigned to a Dialogue Manager variable, used in a calculation or other processing, or used in a selection or validation test. Functions provide a convenient way to perform certain calculations and manipulations. There are two types of functions: Internal functions. Built into the WebFOCUS language, requiring no extra work to access or use. The following reporting and Maintain functions are internal functions. You can not replace any of these internal functions with your own functions of the same name. All other functions are external. ABS ASIS DMY, MDY, and YMD DECODE EDIT FIND LAST LOG LOOKUP MAX and MIN SQRT All Maintain-specific functions External functions. Stored in an external library that must be accessed. When invoking these functions, an argument specifying the output fie
Read more

IBI WebFOCUS - Difference (Preference) between Join and Match:

For most of the reports in our WebFOCUS reporting world, we usually pull data from multiple tables and and generate the report. We all know that we can either Join Data Sources(JOIN) or Merge Data Sources(MATCH) to create report from multiple tables. Which one to choose from JOIN and MATCH? Now the question is what is the diffrence between the two and which one to choose from the 2 option. To explain this let's understand how does they process. JOIN: Basically JOIN is temporary, virtual connection between 2 or more physical or logical sources. Data in the first data source (host file) determines which records are retrieved from cross-reference file. When a record from the host file of a one-to-many join has no corresponding record(s) in the cross-reference file, the record is automatically excluded from the report output.  To control this, you can SET ALL to ON, in which case records from the host file, without corresponding records in the cross-reference file, will be disp
Read more

IBI WebFOCUS - Testing and Debugging in WebFOCUS codes

You can debug a Web FOCUS application by querying your environment to display information such as file status, release, server information, and joins, as well as by identifying files you are using. Other debugging methods are available in Web FOCUS, including specialized Dialogue Manager Variables and traces performed from the Web Console. Debugging Your Application with Query Commands You can use query commands to display information about your metadata, data sources, language environment, Developer Studio, and Web FOCUS. This is useful for determining any aspects of your application that may be preventing the proper behavior of your application. You can query your environment with a query command executed in Developer Studio or Web FOCUS. The result of a query command is returned in your browser window or as a comment in the HTML file. Use the applicable Web browser functions to view the HTML comments (for example, View Source in Microsoft Internet Explorer). How to Issue
Read more