Chapter 11 The Data Sheet Application

This chapter describes the Data Sheet sample application that is shipped with this product. It includes a general walkthrough of the Data Sheet application, and specific information on the sample application functions.

• Data Sheet Application Overview
• Data Sheet Process Map
• Data Sheet Walkthrough
• Groups and Roles
• Data Dictionary
• Forms
• Script Dictionary
• Content Store
• Finished Data Sheet Example
• Configuring the Data Sheet Application

• uploading text files and graphics
• formatting the data sheet automatically
• approving the data sheet through two levels of management
• publishing on a web site

Entry Point. The process map contains one entry point for creating a new datasheet.

Activities. There are three activities: Add Art, Approve Pricing (Product Mgr) where the Product Manager approves pricing, and Approve Pricing (V.P), where the V.P. approves pricing.

Automated Activity. There is one automated activity, called Build Data Sheet, where the data sheet is built.

Decision Point. There is one decision point, called VP Approval, which depends upon price. If the price is less than $1000 dollars, the release is approved. If the price is $1000 or more, the vice president needs to approve the data sheet before it can be released.

Exit Points. There are two exit points in the Data Sheet application, Data Sheet Cancelled that occurs if the V.P. or Product Manager does not approve the data sheet, and Data Sheet Published that occurs if the data sheet passes all approvals and it is published.

Notification. There is one notification in the data sheet application. It occurs partway through the process at the product manager approval step.

• Product Type (type)
• Model Number (model)
• Product Description (description)
• Base Price (price)
• VAR Discount (discount_code)

1. In the application tree view, right click the application name (DataSheet) and choose Properties, or double-click the name, or highlight it and click Inspect.
2. The application's properties appear. The Title Field property set to the "title" data field.

1. In the application tree view, open the Script Dictionary.
2. Open the Automated Scripts folder.
3. Double-click buildDS, or highlight it and click Inspect. In the Inspector window, you can read and edit the actual text of the script. In addition, you can check the script's syntax to make sure it executes properly.

1. In the application tree view, open the Process Definition folder.
2. In the Process Definition folder, expand the Approve Pricing (Product Mgr.) activity.
3. You see three items, the two transitions (Cancel Data Sheet and Approve Product Data Sheet) and NotifyApproving. Double-click NotifyApproving, or highlight it and click Inspect to see the notification's properties.

1. In the application tree view, in the Process Definition folder, expand the VP Approval ? decision point.
2. You see two transitions, priceOver1000 and priceUnder1000. Right click priceOver1000 and choose Properties.
3. The transition's properties appear, including the Condition property. The condition property is set to price_final >= 1000.00, which means that if the value of the price_final field is greater than or equal to 1000.00, this transition is the one that is used.

• all
• creator
• admin

• newDataSheet.html
• addArt.html
• approvePricing.html
• viewWIP.html
• approvePricingVP.html
• cancelled.html
• published.html

1. In the application tree view, double-click the Form Dictionary to open it.
2. In the Form Dictionary, open the form you want by double-clicking it. You see a portion of the form that you can edit.

• buildDS (automation script)
• lookupCode (toolkit script)
• buildDataSheet (toolkit script)
• computeTitle (completion script)

// Building the datasheet

// 1. LookUp discount information

// 2. Create and publish datasheet

function buildDS()

{

   return lookupCode()&&buildDataSheet();

}

This script calls other scripts in the toolkit. You add scripts to the toolkit if you want to be able to reuse them within the application.

• lookUpCode () -- sets the final price.
• buildDataSheet () -- builds the datasheet as an HTML file.

function lookupCode (){

   // The global function getProcessInstance()

   // returns the process instance.

   var pi = getProcessInstance();

   // The methods getData and setData of the process instance are used

   // to read the data field and set the value of the datafield. When

   // setting a value, you have to provide the right JavaScript type.

   // Retrieve the discount_code (which is set in the creation form).

   var discount_code= pi.getData("discount_code");

   // Note that discount_code is an element of the data dictionary.

   // Construct the discount description using the discount_code.

   var desc = "Preferred VAR discount (code " + discount_code + ")" ;

   // The discount_codeis something like '10 A'.

   // Extract the numerical discount from the discount_code.

   // Note that parseInt('10 A') returns 10.

   var disc = parseInt(discount_code);

   // If the discount is not a number (isNaN)

   // add an entry in the error log and return false.

   if (isNaN(disc)){

      var e = new Object();

      e.inFunction = "lookUpCode";

      e.discountCode = discount_code;

      e.computedDiscount = disc;

      logErrorMsg("ERROR_DISCOUNT_IS_NOT_VALID",e);

      // Return false to ask the engine to rollback the transaction.

      return false;

   }

   // Update the process instance data by adding the

   // discount description, discount rate, and final price.

   pi.setData("discount_desc", desc);

   pi.setData("discount",disc.toString() );

   pi.setData("price_final", Math.round(
            parseFloat(pi.getData("price"))*(100-disc))/100);

   // Return true because the script has been successfully performed.

   return true ;

}

The buildDataSheet Script
This script creates a data sheet as an HTML file. It gets the data from the type, model, price, and discount code values that the user entered in the newDataSheet.html form at the entry point to this process. Additionally, the script opens a file that contains a description of the item in question, and adds the description to the data sheet. The script uses an HTML template file as the template for the datasheet, and ultimately publishes the datasheet as an HTML file.

function buildDataSheet (){

   // Use the global function getProcessInstance to get a reference to

   // the process instance.

   var pi = getProcessInstance();

   // Get the value of the description data field, which is a URL

   // pointing to where the description text file is located.

   var descriptionURL = pi.getData("description");

   // Use the global function getContentStore to get a reference

   // to the content store.

   var cStore = getContentStore();

   // Read the content of the description file.

   var descriptionContent = cStore.getContent(descriptionURL);

   // Get the path name of the application.

   var appPath = getApplicationPath();

   // Create a connection to the file containing the template to be

   // used to format the datasheet. The filename is something like

   // appPath/models/printer.html

   var template =new File (appPath + "models/"+ pi.getData("type")
         + ".html");

   // Get the model.

   var model = pi.getData("model");

   // Construct the URL where the datasheet will be published.

   // The global function getBaseForFileName returns the base URL of the

   // location in the content store reserved for the process instance.

   var dsURL = getBaseForFileName(pi.getInstanceId()) + model
         + ".html";

   // Create the string to hold the content for the datasheet.

   var dsContent = "<!-- Content of the dataSheet -->";

   // Open the template in read-only mode. If the file is not opened

   // successfully, log an error and return false.

   if (!template.open("r")){

      template.close();

      var e = new Object();

      e.model = model;

      e.template = template;

      e.stagingURL= dsURL;

      logErrorMsg("ERROR_COULD_NOT_OPEN_TEMPLATE_FOR_READ",e);

      return false ;

   }

   // Merge the template with data field values and with the content in

   // the description.txt file. Values of data fields are plugged into

   // corresponding placeholders in a template. For example, $$model$$

   // in the template is replaced by the value of the model data field.

   // Paragraphs in the description.txt file are substituted into

   // the template in place of $$n$$ placeholders. For example, $$2$$ in

   // the template is replaced by the second paragraph in

   // description.txt.

   var partArray = descriptionContent.split("----");

      while (!template.eof()){

      // Read a line from the template file and split it into strings

      // using $$ as the separator. Create an array of the strings.

      // param[0] is the first string, param[1] is the second string, etc.   

      // For example:

      //    <TD WIDTH="30%"> <FONT SIZE=+1>$ $$price_final$$</FONT></TD>

      // param[0] = <TD WIDTH="30%"> <FONT SIZE=+1>$

      // param[1]= price_final

      // param[2] = </FONT></TD>

      var line = template.readln();

      var param = line.split("$$");

      // If there are 3 sections, substitute either a description

      // paragraph or a datafield value for the middle string.

      if (param.length == 3){

         var ind = parseInt(param[1]); // Returns 0 if not an integer.

         // If ind is > 0 get a paragraph from description.txt

         // else get a data field value.

         var subthis = ind > 0 ? partArray[ind-1] pi.getData(param[1]);

         // Write the first string into the datasheet.

         dsContent += param[0];

         // Write the substituted string into the datasheet.

         dsContent += subthis;

         // Write the last string into the datasheet.

         dsContent += param[2];

      }

      // If there are not 3 strings, it means the line contains no

      // placeholders, so write the whole line into the datasheet.

      else {

         dsContent += line;

      }

      dsContent+="\n";

   }

   // Close the template.

   template.close();

   // Use the store method of the contentStore object to publish the

   // datasheet to the destination URL that was defined earlier.

   var status = cStore.store(dsContent,dsURL);

   // Keep track of where the datasheet has been published by storing

   // the URL in a data field.

   pi.setData("stageURL",dsURL);

   return true;

}

The computeTitle Script
This script is invoked every time a data sheet is initiated. It is responsible for initializing the title of the process instance. The title of the process instance shows up in the work list when the application is running in production mode.

function computeTitle(){

   // Use the global function getProcessInstance() to get a reference to

   // the process instance.

   var pi = getProcessInstance();

   // Read the value of the field "model" which was set by the

   // participant in the newDataSheet form in the entry point.

   var model = pi.getData("model");

   // Read the value of the field "type" which was set by the

   // participant in the newDataSheet form in the entry point.

   var type = pi.getData("type");

   // Set the value of the field "title" to be an aggregation

   // of the type and the model.

   pi.setData ("title", type + " " + model);

   // The execution has been successful.

   return true;

}

• description.txt
• image.gif

• bar.gif
• Printer.html
• thumb_printer.gif

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The image.gif File
The user also adds artwork to the data sheet in the Add Art activity. Figure 11.5 shows an example of the kind of file a user might add:

<HTML>

<HEAD>

   <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso- 8859-1">

   <META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="Mozilla/4.04[en](X11; U; SunOS 5.5.1 sun4u)[Netscape]">

   <TITLE>$$model$$

         $$type$$ Data Sheet</TITLE>

</HEAD>

<BODY BGCOLOR="white">

<CENTER>

<TABLE BORDER=0 CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=10 WIDTH="650">

<TR ALIGN=LEFT VALIGN=TOP>

<TD COLSPAN=3 VALIGN=CENTER HALGIN=CENTER><IMG SRC="$$art$$"></TD>

</TR>

<TD ALIGN=LEFT VALIGN=TOP>

$$1$$

</TD>

<TD ALIGN=LEFT VALIGN=TOP>

$$2$$

</TD>

<TD ALIGN=LEFT VALIGN=TOP>

$$3$$

</TD> </TR>

</TABLE>

<TABLE BORDER=0 CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=10 WIDTH="650">

<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><IMG SRC="/wfDataSheet_b2/models/bar.gif"></TD></TR>

<TD VALIGN=TOP><IMG SRC="/wfDataSheet_b2/models/thumb_printer.gif" ALIGN=LEFT></TD>

<TD>

$$4$$

</TD> </TR>

</TABLE>

<TABLE BORDER=0 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH="650">

<TR>

   <TD WIDTH="70%" ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=+1>Unit Price:</FONT></TD>

   <TD WIDTH="30%"><FONT SIZE=+1> US $ $$price$$ </FONT> </TD>

</TR>

<TR>

   <TD WIDTH="70%" ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=+1> VAR Discount:</FONT></TD>

   <TD WIDTH="30%" ><FONT SIZE=+1>$$discount_code$$</FONT></TD>

</TR>

<TR>

   <TD WIDTH="70%" ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=+1>Final Price:</FONT></TD>

   <TD WIDTH="30%"> <FONT SIZE=+1>$ $$price_final$$</FONT></TD>

</TR>

<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><IMG SRC="/wfDataSheet_b2/models/bar.gif"></TD></TR>

</TABLE>

</CENTER>

</BODY>

</HTML>

The Finished Data Sheet
When the data sheet is built, all the pieces come together. Figure 11.6 shows a sample data sheet which uses the description.txt file and the image.gif file in earlier examples.

1. Set the corporate directory as described in "Setting Your Corporate Directory" on page 70.
2. Make sure that your admin user has an email address. For details on creating an email address for the admin user, see "Adding an Email Attribute for a User" on page 242.
3. Configure the content store. For details, see "Using File Attachments and Content Stores" on page 243.

• How Users Access the Data Sheet
• Process Express and Netscape Application Server

C:\Netscape\SuiteSpot\docs\CS\DataSheet\58\AS2015-test.html

The URL displayed to end users in Process Express is then:

http://kimba/CS/DataSheet/58/AS2015-test.html

Process Express and Netscape Application Server
If you have Netscape Application Server installed on the same system as Process Express, you will not be able to use Netscape Communicator with file attachments. To avoid this situation, you can install NAS and Process Express on different systems, or you can use Microsoft Internet Explorer to access Process Express.

1. Launch Netscape Console.

On Windows NT, you can do this by using the Start/Programs menu command and looking for the Netscape Server Family menu item.

2. In the authentication dialog box, enter this information:

• administrative user name
• administrative password
• administration URL for the new directory server's Administration Server, including the port number
3. Click the User and Groups tab.
4. Enter "admin" or "adm*" in the user field, then click Search.
5. Select the admin user ID from the list of users displayed. By default, this is the NAS Administrator user.
6. Click Edit.
7. Enter an email account. If you are the administrator yourself, and you are just testing the system, enter your own email address to see what email notifications you can receive.
8. Click OK.
9. Close the Netscape Console.

• Step 1: Administer the Enterprise Server
• Step 2: Edit the Access Control List
• Step 3: Assign the Content Store's Style
• Step 4: Set the Values for the Application's Content Store

1. Go to the Server Administration page for your Enterprise Server.
2. Click the button for your Enterprise Server instance. You'll go to its Server Manager pages.
3. Click the Configuration Styles button.
4. Click the New Style link.
5. Enter ContentStore as the Style Name field and click OK.
6. In the page that appears, click the "Edit this style" button.
7. Click the Restrict Access link. This displays the Access Control List Management page.
8. Make sure that "the style ContentStore" is displayed, then click the "Edit Access Control" button. This displays the Access Control user interface.

1. Click the New Line button twice. This creates two new ACL lines.

• Leave the first line unchanged.
• In the second line, click Deny. A second pane appears in the lower part of the page.
2. Click Allow in the lower pane.
3. Click Update to update the top pane's values.
4. In the second line, click "anyone".
5. In the lower pane, click the "Authenticated people only" radio button.
6. Click the "All in the authentication database" radio button.
7. Make sure that the Default authentication method is selected.
8. Under "Authentication Database" at the bottom of the pane, select your corporate directory from the dropdown list, then click the radio button next to it.
9. Click Update in this frame to update the top pane.
10. In the top frame, click Submit to set the change.
11. Click OK to save your changes.
12. Click Save and Apply to apply your changes to the server.

1. Under Configuration Styles, click the Assign Style link.
2. Enter CS/* as the URL prefix wildcard. This causes the URL to be:
   http://<yourServer>/CS/*
3. Select ContentStore from the drop down list and click OK.
4. Click OK again to save your changes.
5. Click Save and Apply to apply your changes to the server.

1. If necessary, start Process Builder.
2. Locate the ContentStore entry in the application tree view.
3. Open the Inspector window for the ContentStore entry.
4. Enter a URL with the format http://<yourEnterpriseServer>/CS.
5. Enter the administrative user and password for the Enterprise Server. For example, enter admin and admin.