The administrator manages applications through the following tasks:
Section 4.2, "Publishing Applications to the Mobile Server Repository"
Section 4.4, "Managing User-Specific Application Parameters (Data Subsetting)"
Section 4.5, "Managing Access Privileges for Users and Groups"
You can view all applications that are currently published on this Mobile Server from the Mobile Server home page. Click Applications. Figure 4-1 displays the Applications page, which lists existing applications and corresponding virtual paths.
To search applications, enter your application name in the Application Name field and click Go. The Applications page displays the search result under the Application Name column.
A developer builds the Mobile application and packages it together with a publication. At this point, the application is ready to be published to the Mobile Server through one of the following options:
An organizer or administrator can publish the application using the packaging wizard.
An administrator can publish the application using the Mobile Manager from the Applications page with the Publish Application button, as shown in Figure 4-1.
To delete any application, select the application and click Delete.
From the Applications page, you can modify application properties for each application. Click on the application name to bring up its Properties page, shown in Figure 4-2.
Table 4-1 describes the application properties that you can modify in this screen.
Table 4-1 Application Properties Page Description
Field | Description |
---|---|
Application Name | Name of your Mobile application. |
Application Description | A brief description of your Mobile application. |
Publication Name | Your application is published with a publication that contains the definition of the snapshot data for the clients. This field displays the publication name of the Mobile application. You cannot modify this field. |
Platform Name | The platform name consists of the platform type and the language of the application. You can modify this platform to another type as displayed in the pull-down list. |
Table 4-2 describes the following data connectivity properties that are available for Web-to-Go applications.
You can limit the number of connections are allowed to the database. To manage the performance and available resources of the database, you may want to set a limit of how many connections each application can have open at any given time.
You can enable a connection pool for your Web-to-Go application to use. Connection pools are set up for performance reasons. As each connection request comes in, a connection from the pool is used for the incoming request. When the request ends, the connection is returned to the pool. This eliminates the time necessary for creating and destroying the connections each time a new request comes in.
Table 4-2 Data Connectivity Properties
Property | Descripton |
---|---|
Maximum Database Connections | Number of maximum database connections used by your Mobile application. |
Connection Sharing | Select Yes if you want to use connection pooling. |
Database User Name | Username for the schema used by the application in the database. |
Database Password | Password of the schema user. |
To retain the modified application properties, click Apply. To remove the application, click Remove. To reset the Application Properties page, click Reset.
In retrieving data for each user, the application often requires that a parameter is set defining the type of data to retrieve. Set this parameter, also known as data subsetting, in one of two places: on the Data Subsetting page off the Applications page or on the Data Subsetting page off the Users page. See Section 5.3, "Managing Application Parameter Input (Data Subsetting)" for directions on how to manage the input parameter values for the application from the User page.
What is Data Subsetting? When you set up your publication item, you may have set up an input parameter that defines what snapshot of data is to be retrieved for this user. For example, if you have an application that retrieves the customer base for each sales manager, the application needs to know the sales manager's identification number to retrieve the data specific to each manager. Thus, if you set up each sales manager as a unique user and set their identification number in the data subsetting screen, then the application is provided that unique information for retrieving data.
Navigate to the Applications page. Click the specific application.
Click Data Subsetting. The Data Subsetting page enables the administrator to add parameter input for each user of this application. This displays all of the users that the application is associated with.
Select the user for which you want to add the parameter value.
Enter the parameter values for the application.
Click Save.
Similar to Data Subsetting, you can set the access privileges for the application either from the Users page or from the Applications page—except for groups. Groups can only be given access to applications from the Applications page. See Section 5.2.1, "Grant or Revoke Application Access to Users" for directions on how to manage the access privileges from the user page.
The Mobile Server Administrator grants access privileges to Mobile applications by designating the users that can access these applications. This section enables an administrator to grant or revoke application access to users and groups. Topics include:
The administrator can grant access to applications for specific users within the Mobile Manager, as follows:
Navigate to the Applications page. Click the specific application that you wish to modify. The Properties page appears.
Click Access. The Access page displays a list of users and groups for this application.
Select the checkbox next to each user or group that you wish to give access to for this particular application.
Click Save.
As Figure 4-3 displays, the Access page displays a list of available users and groups for the Sample3 application. Select the users or groups that you want Sample3 to have access to and click Save. In this example, the administrator granted access for the Sample3 application to the SampleUsers group and to the users: John, Jane, and Jack.
Note: Once you provide access to a group, all users in that group have access to this application. |
To use the Branch Office, you install the Mobile client software on the Branch Office itself. Then, as shown in Figure 4-4, Branch Office maintains its own clients—which are not Mobile clients— by downloading the application onto its clients, which, in turn, communicate directly with the Branch Office. For an overview on what Branch Office is and how to use it, see Chapter 10, "Manage Your Branch Office". For details on setting up a Branch Office and its clients (requiring you to make certain application files public), see Section 10.2, "Branch Office Installation and Configuration".
How do you enable the Branch Office to create its clients? The application that is to be executed on the Branch Office clients is published to the Mobile Server. The application, often an executable, that is to be installed on the client is exposed as a public file. The Branch Office downloads the public application executable and is able to install this application on its clients.
Do the following to make the application installation file public.
Navigate to the Applications page and click the application link. The Applications home page appears.
Click Files. As Figure 4-5 displays, the Files page lists application files that are assigned for public use.
Select the check box against the application file that you want made public and click Make Public
Synchronize the Branch Office, which was previously set up with the appropriate Mobile client software. This brings down the application, the data for this application, and the public application installation file.
On the Branch Office, copy and execute the application public installation file on each Branch Office client. This installs the application on each Branch Office client.
Users can download public files from the Branch Office through the following URL.
http://<client>/public/download
For full instructions and details, see Section 10.2, "Branch Office Installation and Configuration".
Using the Mobile Manager, you can add WAR files to your Mobile applications. In accordance with J2EE specifications, you can add Web components to a J2EE application in a package called a Web Application Archive (WAR). It contains all files that make up a Web application including other resources.
To add a WAR file, navigate to the Applications page and click the required application link. The Application Properties page appears. Click the Add WAR File link. As Figure 4-6 displays, the Add WAR File page appears.
To upload the WAR file, click Browse and locate the WAR file. Click Upload. You are returned to the Add WAR File page.