A preview application must be set up as a Web application module on each preview-enabled server. You use a versioned instance of an application that runs on the production server, and deploy this module on a server where the Business Control Center is running. Additionally, you can also deploy this module on a remote server, that is, one that does not have the Business Control Center installed. In both cases, you set up versioned instances of the application modules as described in the ATG Content Administration Programming Guide.

For example, if an online store in the module MyCommerceStore runs on the production server, a preview-enabled server might have a versioned instance of that module called MyCommerceStoreVer. You should configure the preview application for startup so when you enter the application’s context root as a URL in a browser, the application home page is rendered.

A preview application does not always need to be fully functional. For example, the checkout process might not need to be fully operational. Only the pages required for preview must be accessible and rendered correctly. However, make sure that all resources referenced by preview pages are available on the server.

Note: A Web application must be enabled for preview by its web.xml file. By default, all Web applications are enabled for preview. You can disable a Web application for preview as follows:

<context-param>
<param-name>atg.preview</param-name>
<param-value>false</param-value>
</context-param>