4 Oracle Collaboration Suite 10g WebMail Client

This chapter discusses the Oracle Collaboration Suite 10g WebMail (Oracle WebMail) client and how it is managed.

This chapter includes the following topics:

• Oracle WebMail Client Overview

• Oracle WebMail Tool Kit Default Settings

• Oracle WebMail Client Properties

• Oracle WebMail Client Log Files Location

• Oracle Mail Portlet API

Oracle WebMail Client Overview

The Oracle WebMail client is a thin client that gives users a simple and fast means to access messages and other self-service features through a Web browser. A user points his browser to a predetermined URL to log in to his e-mail account and sees the inbox rendered dynamically.

All programs execute in the Oracle Application Server, including the logic to render a user's folders, messages, public directory, and personal address book. There is no processing or data storage on the desktop. The browser acts merely as a keyboard and screen.

Oracle WebMail provides a standard Web mail solution, along with a tool kit that can extend and modify this standard solution.

The Oracle WebMail client runs on the Oracle Collaboration Suite Applications tier. The user does not have to download any information or software, as they do when using fat clients, such as Microsoft Outlook or Netscape Messenger. Other than entering a URL in a browser (which can be bookmarked), no configuration of the user's local computer is necessary.

Note: Initially, default Oracle WebMail settings are such that attachments are not cached on the client's disk, for security and privacy reasons. Additionally, due to an issue in Microsoft Internet Explorer, this prevents users from opening attachments inline using that browser. For example, clicking a text attachment and selecting Open from the subsequent attachment dialog will fail. The default text editor application for the user will start and complain that the file could not be found. Caching settings are all defined and configurable in the $ORACLE_HOME/um/client/config/um_sso.conf file. Adminstrators can alter caching behavior (although they may sacrifice security for the functionality described in the preceding paragraph) by adjusting values in that file (the file contains informative instructions indicating which lines to comment or uncomment to achieve different behavior). Note, however, that if administrators enable Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), they must relax caching settings in this configuration file or attachments will not be downloadable at all using Internet Explorer.

See Also: Chapter 2, "Oracle Collaboration Suite Applications Security" in Oracle Collaboration Suite Security Guide for more information about security issues related to, and enabling, downloads from Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Oracle WebMail Tool Kit Default Settings

Oracle WebMail is designed to provide a number of ways to customize the application to fit specific needs, from changing the look-and-feel using modifications to the UIX pages, to changing application page flow.

State File

The state file contains XML defining the navigation behavior of the Oracle WebMail client. This file facilitates defining state transitions in the client (when the user moves from one state to another) and managing the end state to present to the user.

The location of the state file for the Oracle WebMail client is determined by the toolkit.statefile property:

toolkit.statefile=%ORACLE_HOME%/um/client/config/statefile.xml

Note: Percent symbols (%) in the oc4j.properties file are substituted to reflect the real directory path during installation.

The toolkit.statefile property is set in the $ORACLE_HOME/j2ee/OC4J_OCSClient/config/oc4j.properties file.

Oracle WebMail Client Properties

This section includes the following topics:

• Oracle WebMail oc4j.properties File Properties

• Service Registry Dependency

• Configuring SSL Between Oracle WebMail and Oracle Internet Directory

Oracle WebMail oc4j.properties File Properties

Table 4-1 describes the Oracle WebMail client properties in alphabetical order. Values given for the properties indicated for database and LDAP connection pooling while using OJMA, and for database connection pool parameters, are just examples and should actually be determined based on the number of users, and system load.

To edit these properties, change their values in the $ORACLE_HOME/j2ee/OC4J_OCSClient/config/oc4j.properties file.

Note: Oracle WebMail client properties can also be edited in the $ORACLE_HOME/opmn/config/opmn.xml file.

Table 4-1 Oracle WebMail Client Properties

Property	Description	Acceptable Values	Default Value
client.corporate.url	Link to the corporate logo that is displayed in the application.	Any URL that points to a corporate logo	http://otn.oracle.com/products/cs/index.html
client.faxsubtab	Configure to show a subtab for fax messages on the message list page.	Show or Hide	Show
client.image.corporate	Path to image to customize Oracle WebMail with corporate logo.	Any URL that points to an image	/um/images/ocs_brand_header.gif
client.image.product	Path to location of the product logo in Oracle WebMail.	Any URL that points to an image	/um/images/mail_subbrand.gif
client.ldapsearch.maxresult	Maximum number of results returned from a search of Oracle Internet Directory from Oracle WebMail. End users whose searches return more matches than this are notified that additional results exist, but that only this maximum number are shown.	Any integer	500
client.mail.attachment.defaultname	File name to be used when attachment has no associated file name.	A file name using the 27.3 naming convention	UnnamedAttachment.txt
client.mail.attachment.downloadlongfilename client.mail.attachment.downloadmaxencodedlen	These parameters are used in the ViewAttachment.java file and should not be modified without first contacting Oracle Support.	NA	NA
client.mail.enforcenestedHTMLfonts	If true, original fonts are to be used for HTML.	true or false	true
client.mail.messagetransport	If SMTP, messages are sent through the SMTP server; database uses direct database interaction.	SMTP or database	SMTP
client.mail.sharedfoldercacherefresh	Configure to refresh the shared folder cache. Enter -1 to never refresh; 0 to always refresh; and a number n to refresh no more than once every n seconds.	-1, 0, or n	600
client.mail.showsharedfoldersinlists	Configure to show shared folders in lists. Enter -1 to never show shared folders; 0 to show folders immediately; and a number n to wait for the nth time before showing the list.	-1, 0, or n	0
client.mail.translate.INBOX	If true, the INBOX folder is automatically translated to the user's locale. If false, the INBOX is displayed in English.	true or false	true
client.message.charset.default	Default character set to use for outgoing messages.	Any valid character set	UTF-8
client.message.charset.default.iana	Default character set to use when sending a message. For backward compatibility, the non-IANA property client.message.charset.default can be defined, and it will take precedence.		NA
client.message.view.charset.default.iana	Default character set to use when viewing a message if Oracle WebMail is unable to determine the character set. For backward compatibility, the non-IANA property client.message.view.charset.default can be defined, and it will take precedence.		NA
client.privacystatement.url	Link to the privacy statement.	Any valid URL	http://www.oracle.com
client.voicesubtab	Configure to show a subtab for voice messages on the message list page.	Show or Hide	Show
jdbc.connection.debug	If true, enables debugging JDBC connections.	true or false	false
jvm.command.line.option	Set the JVM heap size. See Also: Sun Java System Application Server Enterprise Edition 8.1 2005Q1 Performance Tuning Guide for more information about setting JVM heap size		-Xmx512m
mail.debug	If true, enables debugging OJMA API for Oracle Mail.	true or false	false
MaxTelephonePinDigits	Maximum number of digits in voice-mail PINs.	Any integer	12
MinTelephonePinDigits	Minimum number of digits in voice-mail PINs.	Any integer	7
oracle.mail.admin.ldapDebug	Enables debugging for the administration ESDS API.	true or false	false
oracle.mail.admin.policy.indexoldmessages	This parameter controls whether existing user messages are indexed or not. If true, text indexing of existing messages is enabled. Use this parameter in conjunction with the Text Indexing user parameter set in Oracle WebMail. See Also: "Modifying E-mail User Attributes" for more information about the Text Indexing parameter	true or false	false
oracle.mail.admin.ui.ojmaDebug	Enables debugging for the administration OJMA API.	true or false	false
oracle.mail.charset.jis.default	Specifies the default variant of the ISO-2022-JP character set when Japanese users log in to Oracle WebMail. This property optimizes compatibility with Japanese mail exchange and helps prevent characters from showing in Oracle WebMail as garbled. A valid value is one of the following: ISO2022-JP-OUTLOOK: ISO-2022-JP compatible with Microsoft Outlook. Half-width Kana letters are encoded using full-width equivalents. This is the default setting. Oracle recommends this option if a majority of users or their associates use Microsoft Outlook. ISO2022-JP-OUTLOOK-HWKANA: ISO-2022-JP compatible with Microsoft Outlook. Half-width Kana letters are encoded as is. This option allows the recipient to view half-width Kana letters in the original message if their client supports them. ISO2022-JP: ISO-2022-JP in standard use. This option is designed to provide an optimal compatibility with the ISO-2022-JP character set. Note: This property must be added to the oc4j.properties file manually.	ISO2022-JP-OUTLOOK ISO2022-JP-OUTLOOK-HWKANA ISO2022-JP	ISO2022-JP-OUTLOOK
oracle.mail.client.prefs.autoreply	Enables access to automatic reply features and options. If true, enables automatic reply functions for end users.	true or false	true
oracle.mail.client.prefs.autoreply.echo	Every incoming message receives an automatic reply with the original message copied. Requires oracle.mail.client.prefs.autoreply to be enabled.	true or false	true
oracle.mail.client.prefs.autoreply.reject	Enables the user to select the reject option in Oracle WebMail. With this option enabled, the server rejects all incoming messages. Requires oracle.mail.client.prefs.autoreply to be enabled.	true or false	true
oracle.mail.client.prefs.autoreply.reply	Enables the reply option in Oracle WebMail. With this option enabled, every sender receives one automatic reply regardless of the amount of messages sent by that sender. Requires oracle.mail.client.prefs.autoreply to be enabled.	true or false	true
oracle.mail.client.prefs.autoreply.vacation	Enables the vacation option in Oracle WebMail. With this option enabled, every incoming message receives an automatic reply with the original message copied. Requires oracle.mail.client.prefs.autoreply to be enabled.	true or false	true
oracle.mail.client.prefs.autoreplymimesizelimit	Limits the size of automatic reply MIME messages.	Any integer -1 signifies no limit	-1
oracle.mail.client.prefs.maxattachmentsize	Set the maximum size limit in bytes of an e-mail attachment.	Any integer	5000000
oracle.mail.client.prefs.maxMessagesShown	Sets the maximum number of messages shown in Oracle WebMail.	Any integer	1000
oracle.mail.client.prefs.readreceipt.response	Sets the read-receipt options when a user receives a message that requests a read-receipt notification. disable: Users are not alerted to read-receipt requests, and no responses are generated. prompt: Users are alerted to read-receipt requests, and can opt to send or not send the notification. automatic: Read receipt responses are automatically sent for messages requesting read-receipt.	disable prompt automatic	prompt
oracle.mail.sdk.esmail.cache_inactivity_timeout	Number of seconds to wait for a connection before the ESDS client connection pool times out.	Any integer values OJMA connection pool settings	300
oracle.mail.sdk.esmail.connpool_max_limit	Maximum number of connections in the Oracle mail sdk es_mail connection pool.	Any integer values OJMA connection pool settings	10
oracle.mail.sdk.esmail.connpool_min_limit	Determines the initial or minimum number of connections created in the connection pool. Oracle recommends keeping this limit as low as possible to avoid holding on to unused database connections.	Depends on factors, such as the number of users and system load	1
oracle.mail.sdk.esmail.db_timing	Set to true to get database timing information. By enabling this property, you can view the Active count (total number of active connections) and Cache count (total number of connections) in the database connection pool.	true or false	false
oracle.mail.sdk.esmail.driver_type	Determines the type of JDBC driver to be used for the database connection pool.	oci8, thin (recommended in non-Oracle Real Application Clusters environment)	oci8
oracle.mail.sdk.esmail.encryption	Disables password encryption, which is mandatory in Oracle Collaboration Suite. Can be disabled for better performance.	true or false	true
oracle.mail.sdk.esmail.ldap_debug	If true, enables debugging OJMA API for Oracle Internet Directory.	true or false	false
oracle.mail.sdk.esmail.ojma_debug	Controls the debug output from the OJMA layer.	true or false	false
oracle.mail.sdk.esmail.timing	Set to true to get timing information for various e-mail operations, such as listing folders, opening a folder, and copying messages.	true or false	false
oracle.ocsclient.smtp.host	Note: This property overwrites the value in the service registry.
oracle.ocsclient.smtp.port	Note: This property overwrites the value in the service registry.
toolkit.clientdir	Directory under $ORACLE_HOME/j2ee/OC4J_OCSClient/applications/UMClientApp/um_client where the UIX pages reside. Default value should not be changed.	Any valid path under $ORACLE_HOME/j2ee /OC4J_OCSClient /applications/UMClientApp/um_client where the UIX pages reside	/templates/
toolkit.controller.type	Parameter used by the application controller. Default value should not be changed.		uix
toolkit.controller.URL	URL for accessing the client framework controller.	A valid URL that accesses the client framework controller	/um/traffic_cop
toolkit.debugmode	Whether to debug the OESContext.	TRUE or FALSE	FALSE
toolkit.helpdir	Relative URL path to the online Help files.	Any valid path to directories containing the associated files	/um/help/
toolkit.imagedir	Relative URL path to the images files.	Any valid path to directories containing the associated files	/um/images/
toolkit.jslibdir	Relative URL path to the javascript files.	Any valid path to directories containing the associated files	/um/scripts/
toolkit.logdirectory	Path to the directory containing the Oracle WebMail client log files.	A valid file path containing the log files	%ORACLE_HOME%/um/log
toolkit.logfilecount	Number of log files to rotate.		20
toolkit.logfilename	Name of the Oracle WebMail client log file.		WebMail_Client
toolkit.logfilesize	Maximum size of the log file in bytes before rotation.		1000000
toolkit.loghostclient	Name for the Oracle WebMail Client host.		%machinehost%
toolkit.loglevel	Logging level of the Oracle WebMail client, from the five choices shown.	internalerror warning notification trace error	notification
toolkit.mail.listsubscribedfoldersonly	If true, only subscribed folders are displayed. Otherwise, all existing folders are displayed.	true or false	false
toolkit.mailstore	Protocol used to connect to the Oracle Collaboration Suite Database.	ESMAIL is the only supported protocol.	ESMAIL
toolkit.pagesuffix	Type of suffix to append when going to targets in statefile_webmail.xml.		.uix
toolkit.servlet.version	Differentiates how the servlet is forwarded to the UIX pages: should be set to 2.1 or higher. If set to <= 2.0 it reverts back to servlet. Default value should not be changed.	Any servlet version	2.2
toolkit.statefile	Location and name of the statefile: $ORACLE_HOME/um/client/config/statefile_webmail.xml is the default. $ORACLE_HOME is translated to the real path in the oc4j.properties file. All values containing the dollar sign ($) are substituted to prevent the oc4j.properties file from containing variables.	Any valid file path to a file that contains the statefile definitions	$ORACLE_HOME/um/client/config/statefile.xml

Service Registry Dependency

Since Oracle Collaboration Suite 10g Release 10.1.1, Oracle WebMail no longer requires administrators to specify SMTP configuration information (specifically, hostname and port) in the oc4j.properties file. Instead, Oracle WebMail retrieves the information from the service registry in Oracle Internet Directory. If overwriting the SMTP host and port is necessary, Table 4-2 lists two properties that can be added to the oc4j.properties file. Otherwise, Oracle recommends that administrators do not add these two properties to the oc4j.properties file (and remove all existing instances of these properties, if any), such that all SMTP configuration can be centrally managed through the service registry.

Table 4-2 Overwriting SMTP Host and Port Properties

Property	Description	Acceptable Values	Default Value
oracle.ocsclient.smtp.host	Host name of the SMTP server. Note: This property overwrites the value in the Oracle Internet Directory service registry.	Any valid host name	NA
oracle.ocsclient.smtp.port	Port number of the SMTP server. Note: This property overwrites the value in the Oracle Internet Directory service registry.	Any integer	NA

Configuring SSL Between Oracle WebMail and Oracle Internet Directory

Oracle WebMail relies on Oracle Internet Directory for authentication, through Oracle Application Server Single Sign-On, to look up users in the directory, and to access the user's address book. The connection between Oracle WebMail and Oracle Internet Directory can be secured by configuring Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).

To configure SSL for the connection between Oracle WebMail and Oracle Internet Directory, add the following properties to the oc4j.properties file:

oracle.mail.ldap.connectssl=true
oracle.mail.ldap.sslport=4031

Oracle WebMail Client Log Files Location

Oracle WebMail log files are located in the $ORACLE_HOME/um/log/Webmail_Client directory, by default. Oracle WebMail logging is configured by properties in the oc4j.properties file for the OC4J_OCSClient application.

In this file:

• toolkit.loghostclient maps to a field in the log files to indicate what computer generated the log file.

• toolkit.logleve indicates the amount of logging to do, and can be set to one of the following values; internalerror, error, warning, notification, or trace.

• toolkit.debugmode controls whether or not debug information is logged for use of the ESDS API by the Oracle WebMail client code.

Oracle Mail Portlet API

Oracle Mail Portlet API is provided for Oracle Application Server Portal (OracleAS Portal) to access e-mail user information. A user can log in to OracleAS Portal and get unread e-mail and voice mail message counts, as well as header information of the most recently received e-mails from the Inbox. A user can also customize the mail portlet to prioritize messages and set up filters. The portlet also provides links to the Oracle WebMail client to view messages in detail.

All programs execute in the Oracle Application Server, including the logic to render a user's Inbox folder and message headers. There is no processing or data storage on the desktop. The portlet acts merely as a screen.

Oracle Mail Portlet API runs on the Oracle Collaboration Suite Applications tier. The user does not have to download any information or software. Oracle Mail Portlet API can be accessed only through OracleAS Portal with server-to-server authentication. No configuration of the user's local computer is necessary.

Table 4-3 describes the Oracle Mail Portlet API properties.

To edit these properties, change their values in the $ORACLE_HOME/j2ee/OC4J_Mail/config/oc4j.properties file.

Note: Values given for the properties indicated for database and LDAP connection pooling while using OJMA, and for database connection pool parameters, are just examples and should actually be determined based on the number of users, and system load.

Table 4-3 Oracle Mail Portlet API Properties

Property	Description	Acceptable Values	Default Value
oracle.cabo.image.laf.browser.lightAccentColorOffset	Renders the color of Oracle WebMail and should not be modified.		362914
oracle.mail.portlet.debug		true or false	false
oracle.mail.portlet.httpsToWebmail	If true, specifies the Oracle WebMail title link as https.	true or false	false
oracle.mail.sdk.esmail.cache_inactivity_timeout	Number of seconds to wait for a connection before the esds client connection pool times out.	Any integer	300
client.mail.spellcheck.dictionaries	Path to the directory containing spell checker dictionaries.	Path to any valid spell checker dictionary	%ORACLE_HOME%/um/client/spellcheck/dictionaries
oracle.mail.ws.debug	If true, enables debugging e-mail display Web services.	true or false	false
oracle.ocsclient.directory.cache.enable	If true, Directory Cache is enabled and periodically updated. If false, Directory Cache remains in pass-through mode.	true or false	true
oracle.ocs.ldappool.incrementsize			1
oracle.ocs.ldappool.initialsize			5
oracle.ocs.ldappool.maxsize			10
oracle.ocs.ldappool.minsize			5
oracle.ocs.ldappool.proxydn			cn=EmailServerContainer,cn=Products,cn=OracleContext
oracle.ocs.ldappool.reconnecttime			30
oracle.ocs.ldappool.shrinkinterval			1800
oracle.ocs.ldappool.timeoutinterval			30
oracle.um.ctf.sesstracker.reportinterval	Set Session Tracker attributes

Note: Changes made to the oc4j.properties file will also affect the Oracle Web Access Client.

Oracle Mail Display Web Services log files are located in the $ORACLE_HOME/opmn/logs directory.