Using the AquaLogic Data Services Platform Console

This chapter describes how to use the AquaLogic AquaLogic Data Services Platform Console to manage applications on a domain that has been provisioned for AquaLogic Data Services Platform.

Introducing the AquaLogic Data Services Platform Console

The AquaLogic Data Services Console (accessed under the name ldconsole) is a web-based interface specifically designed for managing and using AquaLogic Data Services Platform applications. You can use the AquaLogic Data Services Console to set security and caching policies for data services, and configure AquaLogic Data Services Platform runtime settings such as thread usage and logging levels.

The AquaLogic Data Services Console also provides access to the Data Services Metadata Browser. The Metadata Browser provides information useful to both AquaLogic Data Services Platform administrators and application developers. Developers can see what data services are available, what information they provide, how to call them, and more. Administrators can determine the effects of changes to the data source layer in the console.

Launching the AquaLogic Data Services Platform Console

The AquaLogic Data Services Platform Console is a web-based interface that enables you to administer and manage AquaLogic Data Services Platform applications, access metadata, and configure security and caching policies.

Start the WebLogic Server in the WebLogic domain in which AquaLogic Data Services Platform is deployed.

For more information, see Starting the WebLogic Server.

Using a web browser, open the following URL:

http://hostname:port/ldconsole

Where:

hostname is the machine name or IP address of the host server
port is the address of the port on which the host server is listening for requests (7001 by default)

For example, to start the AquaLogic Data Services Console on a local instance of WebLogic Server (running on your own machine), navigate to the following URL:


http://localhost:7001/ldconsole/

When the login page appears, enter the appropriate user name and password.

The defaults user name and password is weblogic/weblogic, respectively.

Installed a current version of AquaLogic Data Services Platform
Either opened the RTLApp sample application or created a sample application based on the AquaLogic Data Services Platform Samples Tutorial.
Build your application as described in Data Services Platform Projects and Components in the Building Queries and Data Views. Building an application or project automatically deploys it and any data services it contains on your currently running WebLogic Server.

Navigating the AquaLogic Data Services Platform Console

You can navigate to the various pages in the AquaLogic Data Services Platform Console using the tree in the Navigation pane. Pages are organized by application and data service, as shown inFigure 4-2.

Console Access Control. Enables you to configure the access control policies that specifies who can access particular console features. Clicking Administration or Metadata Browser displays the Policy Editor, enabling you to specify Policy Statements defining access. For more information, see Using the WebLogic Policy Editor.

Domain. Expand to display the AquaLogic Data Services Platform-enabled applications in the domain. Alternatively, you can click a domain name to display the list of such applications in the Content pane. Right-click and choose Search in the context-sensitive menu to search metadata in the domain (see Searching Metadata on page 8-13).

Applications. Expand to display the Data Services folder. Alternatively, you can click the application name to display the general application settings in the Content pane. For more information, see General Application Settings. Right-click and choose Search in the context-sensitive menu to search metadata in the application (see Searching Metadata on page 8-13).

Data Services. Expand to display the data service project folders in the application. Alternatively, you can click the Data Services folder to display the list of project folders in the Content pane. Right-click and choose Search in the context-sensitive menu to search metadata in the data services (see Searching Metadata on page 8-13).

Specific Data Service. Expand to display the functions that comprise the data service. Alternatively, you can click a specific data service to display the administration screen for the functions in the Content pane. For more information, see Examining Data Service Functions.

Function. Click to display information about the function in the Content pane, including general information, dependencies, where the function is used, properties, and the return type. For more information, see Displaying Function Details. Right-click and choose Define Security Policy in the context-sensitive menu to create a security policy for the function using the WebLogic Policy Editor (see Understanding Security Policies on page 6-4).

Displaying a Domain's AquaLogic Data Services Platform-Enabled Applications

The AquaLogic Data Services Platform Console lists the applications in your current WebLogic Server domain that are both:

For each application there are several navigation icon options, as shown in Figure 4-3:

Browse. The option allows you to invoke the Data Services Metadata Browser for your application. These are described in detail in Viewing Metadata.
Configure. This is a shortcut to the configuration options available for each application. These are described in detail in Configuring AquaLogic Data Services Platform Applications.
Physical Source. Displays the types of physical sources used in your application.

Displaying a AquaLogic Data Services Platform-enabled Application's Data Sources and Data Services

You can display the data sources and data services available to an application, along with information about each. Details related to inspecting sources and services can be found in Viewing Metadata.

Physical sources are organized by type: relational, Web services, XML, and delimited. Some applications may include only one or several types of data sources.

In the Navigation Pane expand the Physical Sources folder within your application. The data sources used in the application appear in the Navigation pane (see Figure 4-4).
Alternatively, select a specific data source folder in the Navigation pane.

Figure 4-4 Data Sources Available to the RTLApp

Data Sources Available to the RTLApp

Expand a Data Services project folder within an application in the Navigation pane. The data services contained in the project folder appear in the Navigation pane.
Alternatively, select a specific folder in the Navigation pane.

The list of data services contained in the folder appears in the Content pane, as illustrated in Figure 4-5.

Figure 4-5 Data Services Available from the RTLApp

Data Services Available from the RTLApp

Table 4-1 Data Service Information
Column	Description
Name	The name of the data service.
Path	The physical location of the data service.
Description	An optional description of the data service.
Type	Data services can be physical or logical. A physical data service represents an actual data source, such as a database table. The specific data source type, such as Relational, Web Service, and so on, is displayed for physical data services. A logical data service is a manually created data service that aggregates or filters data in some way.

Examining Data Service Functions

You can examine the functions that comprise a data service, and manage the cache and security settings, as required. You can also view metadata associated with a data service.

Expand a specific data service within a project folder in the Navigation pane.

The functions that comprise a data service appear in the Navigation pane.

Alternatively, select a data service within a project folder in the Navigation pane.

An administration screen for the functions in the data service appears in the Content pane, as illustrated in Figure 4-6. For more information about administering data service functions, seeSetting Up Caching, Securing Data Service Functions, and Introspecting Data Service Metadata.

Figure 4-6 Data Service Functions

Data Service Functions

There are two types of functions identified in the Navigation tree, as described in Table 4-2.

Table 4-2 Function Types
Icon	Function Type
	Navigation function, which return data from a related data service.
	Read function, which return data in the form of the data service type.

Displaying Function Details

You can display information about specific functions, including general information, dependencies, where the function is used, properties, and the return type. To display details about a function:

Select the specific function in the Navigation pane.

Metadata associated with the function appears in the Content pane, as illustrated in Figure 4-7. For more information, see Metadata Browser Interface for Data Service Functions.

Figure 4-7 Function Details

Function Details

Controlling Access to the AquaLogic Data Services Platform Console

The AquaLogic Data Services Platform Console is a securable resource from the perspective of WebLogic Security. You can set access control policies that defines who can view and use particular pages in the console. The features are distinguished by two functional categories:

Administration Guide