3
Using Oracle iFS Manager

Oracle iFS Manager is the primary tool used to administer Oracle iFS. This chapter introduces Oracle iFS Manager and describes how to use it. Topics include:

• Oracle iFS Manager: An Overview

• Parts of the Oracle iFS Manager Window

• Using Create and Create Like to Create New Objects

• Working with Property Sheets

• Getting Help

Oracle iFS Manager: An Overview

Oracle iFS Manager is an administration application that manages Oracle iFS-specific system objects and processes. It is an Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) extension, but currently can only be launched as a stand-alone application.

Oracle iFS Manager provides a powerful and easy-to-use graphical interface, and is divided between administrative tasks and developmental tasks. The following administrative tasks can be performed using Oracle iFS Manager:

• Create, review, modify, and delete file system components and Oracle iFS objects such as users, groups, Access Control Lists (ACLs), and mount points.

• Create, review, modify, and delete folders.

• Monitor and manage protocol servers and agents.

The following developmental tasks can be performed using Oracle iFS Manager:

• Create, review, modify, and delete Oracle iFS objects such as class objects, value domains, value defaults, and formats/mimetypes.

• Register parsers, renderers, and JSP lookups.

You Must Have Administrative Permissions

To log into Oracle iFS Manager, you must have administrative permissions. All tasks are performed in administrator mode; they are not restricted by ACL-based security checking.

Parts of the Oracle iFS Manager Window

The main Oracle iFS Manager window has the following parts:

• Menu Bar

• Connection Information

• Toolbar

• Navigator

• Context Menus

• Detail View

• Status Bar

• Browser

Figure 3-1 Oracle iFS Manager

Menu Bar

The menu bar provides access to all commands and to special features not available using the toolbar or context menus. Click each menu to display its commands. Click a command to execute it. There are four menus:

• File Menu

• View Menu

• Object Menu

• Help Menu

File Menu

The File menu controls the connection to an Oracle iFS instance and provides access to the Oracle iFS folder hierarchy. Commands include:

• Connect--Display the current connection to an Oracle iFS instance. Administrative tasks can be performed only on an Oracle iFS instance connected to Oracle iFS Manager.

• Disconnect--Break the connection of an Oracle iFS instance.

• Monitor--Launch a window to manager Server Manager.

• Browse--Launch a window to examine the Oracle iFS file hierarchy.

• Exit--Leave Oracle iFS Manager.

View Menu

From the View menu, you can refresh the information displayed in the Navigator and toggle on and off the display of the toolbar and status bar. Commands include:

• Refresh--Update the items in the Navigator under the selected object to include any changes to the repository during your session of Oracle iFS Manager. The Detail View window is also refreshed based on the object selected.

• Show Toolbar--Display the toolbar. Show is the default setting.

• Show Statusbar--Display the status bar. Show is the default setting.

Object Menu

The Object menu provides access to commands you can perform on Oracle iFS objects:

• Create--Define a new object. Select the type of object to be created, then complete the property sheet to describe it.

• Create Like--Define a new object based on an existing one. Select the object to be copied, and Oracle iFS Manager populates the values in the property sheet for the new object with the values of the object you are copying. Complete the property sheet.

• Delete--Remove the selected object. Oracle iFS Manager deletes the object and refreshes the Navigator.

• Register--Register a JSP lookup, parser, or renderer. Select the object type, then fill in the corresponding property sheet.

• Options--Select User Definitions to edit the default values for user creation.

Help Menu

The Help menu provides links to online help.

• Contents--Launch the Help Navigator window. Use the Contents tab to select from the help topics available. Use the Index tab to perform a keyword search. Use the Search tab to perform a full-text search.

• Search for Help On--Launch the Help Navigator window with the Search tab activated.

• About Oracle Oracle iFS Manager--Display version information for Oracle iFS Manager.

Connection Information

The highest level of the Oracle iFS Manager hierarchy shows the Oracle iFS service it is connected to. On the Detail View, you can see which account is logged in.

Toolbar

The toolbar is made up of icons that represent frequently used commands. To display a caption describing the icon, pause the cursor on the icon. The toolbar can be displayed or hidden using the View menu. The following functions are provided:

Function	Icon	Description
Connect		View or change the current connection to Oracle iFS.
Refresh		Refresh the data displayed in Oracle iFS Manager.
Create		Define a new Oracle iFS object (user, group, ACL).
Create Like		Define a new Oracle iFS object similar to an existing object. This icon is enabled only when an object is selected in the Navigator.
Delete		Remove a selected object. This button is enabled only when an object is selected in the Navigator.
Help		Display the help file.

Navigator

The Navigator displays a hierarchical tree view of all objects used to administer Oracle iFS. The objects are grouped by whether they are administrative or developmental tasks.

Each object type in the Navigator is identified by an icon and name. If there is a '+' or '-' to the left of an object's icon and name, the object is a container that can be expanded to display the objects it contains. A container is represented by a folder icon is a logical grouping of one specific type of object, such as users or groups.

Note: The tree view in the Navigator is often populated as the result of queries executed over a network. Therefore, there may be a delay when expanding a container.

Context Menus

As in other Windows applications, you can right-click an object to pop up a context menu; that is, a shortcut menu relating to the object right-clicked.

Selected Item	Context Menu Options
Object, such as a particular user or group	Create, Create Like, Delete
Instance	Connect, Disconnect
Container object, such as user or group	Create

Detail View

To the right of the Navigator is the Detail View, composed of one or more tabbed property sheets displaying information about the object selected. Often, these property sheets may be edited.

Status Bar

The status bar, below the Navigator, displays the current state of a process. For example, when a creation dialog is opened for creating a user, the status bar displays "Creating a user...". The status bar can be toggled on and off by selecting the Show Status Bar command on the View menu.

Browser

If you select Browse from the File menu, Oracle iFS Manager displays a window showing the folder hierarchy of the connected Oracle iFS instance. The browser consists of a Navigator and a toolbar that lets you create a new directory, delete a directory, and go to a specific directory. To the right of the Navigator, Oracle iFS Manager displays the attributes of folders as you select them in the Navigator. The Browser provides:

• A quick view of the contents of the folder hierarchy.

• An easy way to create new directories.

• A quick view of the attributes of the folders in the folder hierarchy.

Figure 3-2 Browser

Using Create and Create Like to Create New Objects

Oracle iFS Manager offers two ways to create new objects. To create a new object, you can:

• Use Create to create an object from scratch.
  1. Select Create from the toolbar, context menu, or the Object menu.

  2. Select the object type to be created from the Select Object Type dialog and click Create.

The empty Property Sheet displays.

• Complete the property sheet and click Create.

• Use Create Like to copy some attributes from the selected object. For example, if you want to create a new ACL with almost identical Access Control Entries (ACEs) as DocumentACL, select the DocumentACL, and click Create Like on the toolbar. The Create ACL dialog would be initialized with the ACEs from DocumentACL.
  1. Select an existing object.

  2. Select Create Like from the toolbar, context menu, or the Object option on the menu bar. The Property Sheet for the object selected displays.

  3. Complete the property sheet and click Create.

Working with Property Sheets

When an object in the Navigator is selected, one or more property sheets display in the Detail View. Use the property sheet to view details about objects or to modify them. See Figure 3-3 for an illustration of a property sheet.

Figure 3-3 Property Sheets

Modifying Objects Using Property Sheets

The following buttons are used when modifying objects using property sheets:

• Apply--Process the modifications made to the object.

• Revert--Cancel the modifications made to the object and reset the property sheet back to the original data.

• Help--Display context-sensitive help about the current property sheet.

Getting Help

When using Oracle iFS Manager, online help is available for windows and dialog boxes. The Help system is context-sensitive, meaning the topic displayed when you click Help pertains to the window or dialog box open. You can also find topics through a table of contents, use the index to perform a keyword search, or the Search tab to perform a full-text search.

There are several ways of accessing Help:

1. From the main window:
   • Press F1.

   • On the menu bar, select Contents from the Help menu.

   • On the toolbar, click the Help icon.

2. In a dialog box or on a property sheet:
   • Click the Help button or press F1.