Release Notes for
iPlanet Process Manager 6.0
These release notes contain information about iPlanet Process Manager
6.0. This document describes what's new in Process Manager, as well as
known problems.
Contents
What's New and Different in Process Manager 6.0
API for Accessing Process Manager Engine 6.0
The significant changes in Process Manager 6.0 from PAE 4.0 are in the
area of programmatic interaction with the Process Manager Engine. These
changes will be of interest to developers who want to write Java applications
that embed the Process Manager Engine functionality, that integrate with
external applications or data sources, or that present customized front
ends to the Process Manager Engine.
Process Manager 6.0 provides the following public API:
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Cluster manager API for accessing clusters
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Application API for interacting with applications
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Finder API for searching for applications, process instances and work items
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Process Instance API for working with process instances
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Work Item API for working with work items
These API are described in the "Process Manager 6.0 Programmer's Guide"
which you can find in the Process Builder installation at /builder_root/manual/pg/contents.htm.
New Features in Process Builder
The Process Builder allows you to save the process map as a JPEG, PNG or
BMP image. Previously you could only save it as a JPEG.
To save the process map as an image, open the Application menu and choose
?Save Process Map Image.? The ?Save Process Map Image? dialog box appears.
To choose where to save the image, select the Browse button, and navigate
to the desired folder.
To choose what kind of image file to save the process map as, click
the Image Type field, and choose an image type from the menu. The choices
are:
-
JPEG Image -- This encodes and compresses the file and saves it with some
lossage (that is, it drops some pixels). This format is great for portability
and inclusion in web pages but occasionally you will see color bleeding.
This format usually gives the smallest file size. This option lets you
select the quality of the image as a percentage (0 is lowest quality, 100
is highest quality).
-
BMP Windows Bitmap -- This saves the image as a straight RGB image with
no encoding, compression, or lossage. Use this format if you want an exact
replica of your process map. This option allows you to select the color
depth of the image.
-
PNG Image-- This saves the image in the portable network graphics format,
which is a compressed, possibly color indexed image, with no lossage. PNG
format was designed as a replacement for GIF due to copyright issues with
GIF. It generally results in good compression. This option allows you to
select amount of compression and the color depth of the image.
After the process map is saved, a dialog box appears. You can click OK
to close this dialog box, or you can click the image link (for example,
?JPEG image?) to display the new image file that was created.
Changes to Completion Scripts and Introduction
of Verification Scripts
Process Manager 6.0 introduces a new type of script within the process
– the verification script. A verification script is executed after the
work item’s action is complete. This action could be the user submitting
a form in User Activities, or the execution of an automation script within
Automated Activities. This script can be used to verify that the work that
was to be completed by the work item’s action was, in fact, successfully
completed. If it was not successfully completed, the verification script
can return ‘false’. In this event, the work item is flagged in an exception
start and moved to it’s corresponding exception node. The assignee of this
node can then retry the activity, which will actually retry the action
of the originally work item, followed by the verification script again
to ensure that the work was done properly, followed by the completion script.
With the introduction of verification scripts, completion scripts within
Process Manager 6.0 now are truly completion scripts meant to perform completion
activities. If the completion script returns false, the work item is moved
to the exception node where the assignee can try to ‘retry’ the activity,
but at this point only the completion script is retried (not the activity
or verification script).
If no verification script is present, Process Manager assumes the activity
was successful and returns true.
Changes to Assignment Scripts
In Process Manager 6.0, assignment scripts return an array of user IDs
and/or group names instead of an array of distinguished names. If your
applications use the built-in assignment scripts, you do not need to make
any changes to your applications. However, if you wrote your own assignment
scripts, you must rewrite them to return an array of user IDs and/or group
names.
The following JavaScript functions changes have been implemented:
Process Instance Methods:
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getCreatorDN() has been removed. Use getCreatorUser() instead.
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getRoleDN() has been removed. Use getRoleUser() instead.
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RoleByDN() has been removed. Use setRoleById()() instead.
WorkItem Methods
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getAssigneesDN() has been removed. Use assignees() instead.
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assignTo() has been removed. Use removeAssignees() to remove assignees,
and use addUserAssignee() and addRoleAssignee() to add users and roles
as assignees.
User Methods
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getDN() has been removed. You can get the user's DN using user.dn.
Global Functions
-
checkUserDNs() has been removed, it is no longer needed.
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emailByDN() has been removed. Use emailById() instead.
System Requirements
Process Manager 6.0 Engine runs on the following platforms:
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Sun Solaris 2.6 and 2.8
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Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 and SP5
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256 MB of RAM required to run Process Manager
Process Manager 6.0 Builder runs on the following platform:
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Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 and SP5
Database Support
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Server: Oracle 8.0.5, 8i; Sybase 11.9.2, 12
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Client: Oracle 8.1.5; Sybase 11.1.1
Known Bugs
Last updated: 11 May 2000
Browser Issues
Browser Support. Process Manager 6.0 has been tested with
Netscape Communicator 4.72, and Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0. Other
versions of Netscape Communicator and Microsoft Explorer along with other
browsers should work, but have not been fully tested.
Multiple Logins Required. Under certain conditions, log in may
be requested multiple times when accessing one of Process Manager’s interfaces.
This occurs primarily after a restart of the Application Server. The initial
login may respond make with an authentication failure. Ignore this
message and login will proceed after the second attempt.
Installation Issues
Error Updating Obj.conf. Under certain conditions, toward the end
of Process Manager installation on Windows NT, the error ‘Error updating
OBJ.CONF’ may be received. This is a harmless message and the installation
was installed properly.
Minimum System Requirements. Process Manager 6.0 requires 256MB
of memory.
Run db_setup.sh for Typical Install. When installing on Solaris,
if the typical installation is chosen, the db_setup.sh
script found in <ipm
installation directory>/ias/bin must be run after the installation
is complete. It configures the database to work with the Application Server.
Restart the machine after db_setup.sh
is complete.
Process Administrator Issues
Cluster Creation and Modification Process Has Been Changed. The
cluster creation process includes setting up the registry entry for the
NAS timer thread that is used to kick off deferred automated activities
. Container managed security for PM servlets makes it necessary for any
servlet user (including the timer thread) to first authenticate itself
to the servlet container. The timer thread authenticates itself by going
in a Corp Dir user . This user id and password are stored in the iAS registry.
Process Business Manager Issues
Process Builder Issues
Blank Area at Top of Builder Window. There is a bug with some graphic
cards that prevents the Process Builder from displaying it’s tool bar at
the top of it’s window. This is a known issue with Java running under Windows
NT with some graphic cards. Try setting display colors to 256 or less to
resolve the issue.
Message Error for Help. Selecting Help by right clicking on Application
name in the Tree View results in error message "Unable to find file." If
help is needed, go to : D:\iplanet\ipm6\builder\manual\bg\help, or: d:\iplanet\ipm6\bpm\resource\manual\pae\dev\help.
Process Express Issues
Digital Signatures Not Supported for Sybase. Due to a bug within
Sybase, Process Manager 6.0 does not support the use of Digital Signatures
with a Sybase database.
GX Error Within Process Express. Under high load situations,
Process Express may report a GX Err. If received, the application server
must be restarted. This occurs when an application is deployed for the
first time to a server under high load.
API Issues
Authentication Required for Servlets Calling iPM 6.0 Java API.
In order for the Process Manager engine to determine the corporate directory
user permitted to perform operations using the Process Manager 6.0 JAVA
API such as creating process instances, the servlets that make calls to
the Process Manager API must be registered with servlet security turned
on. Refer to Process Manager 6.0 servlet registration file pae.ear and
iAS documentation for further details and examples.
JavaScript API getCreatorUser( ) Returns iParticipant Object.
The documentation is not clear on what is returned from the JavaScript
call to getCreatorUser(). The returned value is a user object for retrieving
values from the user by specifying the value through standard object oriented
techniques. Foe example, user.cn would return the ‘cn’ of the user object
‘user.' All values of the user within the Corporate Directory are available
from this object.
RMI/ IIOP Not Supported. Process Manager 6.0 does not support
access to APIs through RMI/ IIOP.
Database Issues
Data Field Names Starting With An Underscore Are Illegal in Oracle.
Field names that begin with an underscore "_" are illegal in the builder.
Digital Signatures Not Supported for Sybase. Due to a bug within
Sybase, Process Manager 6.0 does not support the use of Digital Signatures
with a Sybase database.
iPlanet Application Server Issues
Breakpoint Occurs on Windows NT Platform. Under high load
situations, iPlanet Application Server may display a dialog box stating
that a ‘Hardcoded Breakpoint has Occurred’. The Server continues to run
without any apparent negative affects; clicking OK will stop the server
and require a restart.
JAVA JIT (HotSpot) Must Be Turned Off. Under high load situations,
Process Manager may encounter problems due to a bug with the JAVA Just
in Time Compiler (HotSpot). Because of this issue, the JAVA JIT (HotSpot)
that comes with the iPlanet Application Server 6.0 is turned off by Process
Manager at installation time.
Need to Restart Application Server. Under certain conditions
the application server (KJS) may need to be restarted after an application
has been deployed for the first time to a server under load.
Sample Application Issues
Process Manager 6.0 Documentation
A new book, the Process Manager 6.0 Programmer's Guide has been added to
the Process Manager 6.0 documentation set. This book contains information
for Java programmers. It has chapters about creating custom activities
and custom data fields, as well as chapters about using the new API.
The Developer's Guide has been renamed to the Builder's Guide. The Builder's
Guide contains information about using Process Builder. All Java-related
information has been moved to the Programmer's Guide. The "Building Custom
Data Fields" chapter in the Programmer's Guide has been substantially improved.
The Administrator's Guide and Business Manager's Guide have been combined
into one book.
All other books remain the same in scope and topic.
The following Process Manager 6.0 documents are available in PDF and
HTML format to help you install and use Process Manager. The documentation
is in the Process Builder installation at builder_root/manual/index.htm.
It is available on the iPlanet Web Site at http://docs.iplanet.com/docs/manuals/index.html.
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Installation Guide
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Process Builder's Guide
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Process Administrator's and Business Manager's Guide
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Process Express User's Guide
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Process Manager 6.0 Programmer's Guide
Note that there is also online help in the product. In Process Builder,
you can click a Help button or right-click an item to view online documentation.
In Process Administrator, Process Business Manager, and Process Express,
you can click a Help link on the interface to view online documentation.
Newsgroup
Process Manager now has its own newsgroup. Please post questions to: snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.server.processmanager
Copyright © 2000, Sun Microsystems Inc. All rights reserved.