Agile Product Lifecycle Management Administrator Guide Release 9.3.3 E39286-04 |
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This chapter documents utilities for the Agile administrator that are unique to Web Client.
Agile Web Client contains certain Administrator capabilities, accessible only to users who have been assigned the Administrator or User Administrator role, or more specifically the Administrator or User Administrator privilege.
The "user" and "group" and "functional team" administrator capabilities are accessed through Web Client's Tools and Settings > Address Book. Other administrative capabilities are found in Web Client's Tools and Settings > Administration flyout menu.
This section offers brief definitions of all Web Client Admin nodes, and cross-references to the applicable documentation.
Users and Groups
Accessed in Web Client through Tools and Settings > Address Book.
Users – Add new Agile PLM users to the system and modify properties for existing users, such as passwords, usernames, role and user group assignments, and more
User Groups – Define user groups and assign users to them
Functional Teams – Define functional teams, add job functions to the teams, and associate users with the team job functions. Functional teams are used to assign routable object reviewers by workplace job function. See "Administering Approval Matrix."
Supplier Groups – Select suppliers during the RFQ process; the administrator sets up global supplier groups that can be leveraged by users with appropriate roles
Web Client Administration
Accessed in Web Client through Tools and Settings > Administration.
Dashboard Configuration – Configure the PLM Dashboard – see "Configuring the Dashboard."
Tab Display Configuration – Configure specific display orders and requirements for objects types and then assign them to users – see "Tab Display Configuration."
Report Templates – Create and manage report templates – see "Report Templates."
Visual Themes – Configure the display of the Web Client user interface for all users, including the definition of colors, font style and size – see "Visual Themes."
Logging Configuration – View and configure the loggers within Application – see "Logging Configuration."
Cache Health Monitor – Ensure that all changes to Administrator data is properly replicated across the cluster – see "Cache Health Monitor."
Each Dashboard tab contains a set of configurable widgets that display information in tables and charts. You can configure which of these widgets should display in each tab and where they should appear.
To configure each Dashboard tab:
In Agile Web Client Tools and Settings > Administration menu, choose Dashboard Configuration.
In the Configure Tab field, select the tab you want to configure. The widgets available for the selected tab are displayed in the Available Content column.
Move the widgets you want displayed to the Row columns.
Use the direction arrows to reorder the widgets as desired.
When you finish configuring all the tabs, click Save.
To exit the configuration window, click Close.
Refresh the Dashboard to see your changes.
Tab Displays can be customized for users by the Administrator. You can choose to create a configuration based on an object class type, arrange, order, and hide tabs, and then assign it to a specific user(s).
Sub-tab level configuration is not supported. For example, you can choose to enable or disable the Collaboration tab, but not the individual sub-tabs (Discussions, Action Items, News) under it.
To create a tab display configuration in Web Client:
Click Tools and Settings > Administration > Tab Display Configuration.
Click Create. The Configure Tab Display dialog appears.
Enter the required information for Name.
From the Tab Configuration drop-down list, select the object type this configuration will apply to.
Once that is selected, the available tabs will display in the Displayed Tabs column and the currently hidden tabs in the Hidden Tabs column.
If there is a tab you want to mark as a tab that cannot be hidden, select the tab in the Displayed Tabs column and then click the This attribute cannot be hidden button (M).
When finished configuring the order of the tabs click the Search to add palette button.
Type the name of the user(s) you want to assign this configuration to, search for the user(s) and double-click the entries from your Search results.
Click Add to finish the tab display configuration.
Visual Themes lets the administrator define a visual look, or style, that the PLM users will see across the enterprise. This enables the configuration of Web Client to be consistent with other deployed applications or with corporate colors.
Styles are defined and modified by choosing Tools and Settings > Administration > Visual Themes. The Select Theme Options page appears, with three fields.
There are some default Oracle branding logos in the drop-down list. To use your company's branding logo, a graphic file will have to be added to the web.xml file. For instructions on this procedure, see "Replacing the Oracle Logo." Once another logo is added, it appears in this drop-down list.
These are Agile's "Mechanical", "Electrical", and "High Tech" symbols that appear on this page.
On the Select Theme Options page, the Color Palette list box lists all available style schemes. Those with an asterisk (*) are the ready-to-use System Styles, which cannot be modified or deleted.
You can select a visual style theme from the drop-down list and begin modifying it with one of the following actions:
New themes can be developed using Save As. Clicking the Save As button brings up the Specify Palette Colors page.
At first, you must enter a new name in the Name field. If you alter the elements of a System Style without assigning a new name, the system does not save your new scheme; as soon as you enter a distinguishing name (regardless of whether you have altered any of the fields), the system can save it.
This is the way you can "create" a new style scheme from the default System Styles (and the only way to create a new scheme at first, while there are no non-default color-palette Styles). For more details, see "Modifying Style Schemes."
Click the Delete button to delete a selected style scheme.
This button is disabled when a System Style is in the field. You cannot delete a System Style (denoted by the "*" in the name).
Click the Edit button to modify a selected style scheme.
Clicking the Edit button brings up the Specify Palette Colors page.
The button is disabled when a System Style is in the field. As noted, you cannot modify the System Styles, except by working through the Save As feature. For more details, see "Modifying Style Schemes."
If you want your company's logo (or any other co-branding image) to appear in place of Oracle's logo, or to alter its height or width, the easiest way is to alter the file web.xml.
To replace the default company logo with a custom logo:
Log in to server side.
Find web.xml in the Oracle home directory.
These example that follow this task list give some samples of changing specific parameters in the web.xml file:
Restart the application server.
Log into Web Client to verify or evaluate your change(s).
Example 3-1 Enter the file name of your custom logo file
<context-param> <param-name>cobranding.image</param-name> <param-value>logo.gif</param-value> </context-param>
Change the file name (including extension) where "logo.gif" appears.
Example 3-2 Change the height of the logo
<context-param> <param-name>cobranding.image.height</param-name> <param-value>25</param-value> </context-param>
Change the parameter value "25" to another value.
Example 3-3 Change the width of the logo
<context-param> <param-name>cobranding.image.width</param-name> <param-value>114</param-value> </context-param>
Change the parameter value "114" to another value.
Once you have modified a style theme, you can use these buttons for further actions:
Click Preview to preview the modified style scheme. This displays the Web Client interface in the selected scheme on your computer only. (All other users still see the user interface in the currently applied scheme.)
The Preview button displays only when the user creates a new theme.
To save the current scheme, click Save. This does nothing more than simply save the settings under the name in the Name field, and add that scheme to the list in the Color Palette field. (Clicking Save does not propagate the scheme to your Web Client users.)
Whether or not you have saved it, to make further modifications to the scheme you are modifying, you may do so. You can save over the scheme you saved, or enter a new name and thereby save a new scheme.
To cancel the preview of the selected scheme, click Cancel. You are returned to the Select Theme Options page.
With a named color-palette scheme selected, when you click the Apply button, the selected scheme becomes current throughout your system. This changed scheme is seen by active users as soon as their screen is refreshed, or when a user next logs in to Web Client.
If you do not want to keep the new style in the Style Theme list, you can simply Delete it.
The following table lists the fields on the Specify Palette Colors page, with descriptions of what each property modifies in the Web Client user interface (UI).
Table 3-1 Fields on the Specify Palette Colors page
Field | Area or Element in UI |
---|---|
Name |
Name of specified style scheme. The name of each scheme that is saved appears in the Color Palette drop-down list. |
Gradient |
"Gradient" or "Flat" applies a filter to certain areas of the UI, so the chosen color has no shading (Flat) or appears to have a light-to-dark quality (Gradient). |
[ Background column ] |
"Hex" value that specifies the main color of the field |
[ Text Color column ] |
"Light" results in white text lettering, or "Dark" results in black text lettering. |
[ Sample column ] |
This color swatch displays how the color you specified in Background and the Text Color value will look together. |
Global Toolbar |
Toolbar along the top of the Web Client UI |
Dialog Bars |
Top and bottom color bars in action dialogs |
Widget Title Bar |
On the Dashboard, background color where the widget's name is displayed |
Selected Controls |
Areas like tabs (in objects) or the drawers (on the Navigation Pane) when selected |
Non-Selected Controls |
Same elements named in "Selected Controls," only when they are not selected |
Control Highlight |
Drawer (in Navigation Pane) & drop-down list item when mouse-over; Table Row when selected |
Message Area |
Shading in the Information line (near top of an object) |
Backgrounds |
Various backgrounds not assigned by above fields |
Slider Separator |
Small band of "outline" to give the slider bars definition |
The PLM application has provided a few default style schemes, but it is likely that your company will prefer that Web Client have a corporate "look and feel." You have probably noted that most of the fields in the Specify Palette Colors page are in Hexadecimal format. Web designers use a variety of tools to specify colors for elements of web documents, such as RGB triplets expressed in hexadecimal (a "hex triplet").
While the Specify Palette Colors page can accept any color in hex format, you will need to access such color tools to generate coordinated color schemes and their corresponding "Hex" format values.
Agile PLM integrates existing Standard Reports with Custom Reports, which are modifiable through Oracle BI Publisher.
There is not a separate installation of Oracle BI Publisher required because Agile PLM includes a BI Publisher in order to:
Run a standard Agile report
Modify a standard Agile report layout, including adding flex fields
Create new reports
Get data through Agile PLM SDK and generate reports using Agile Java PX
The version that is bundled with Oracle Agile PLM is a restricted use version only.
Further information and documentation about the BI Publisher tool is located at the following website: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/bi-foundation/documentation/bi-pub-096318.html
End-user documentation is found in the chapter on Reports in Getting Started with Agile PLM.
This section details how the administrator prepares the layout template for the end-user reports that are available through the BI Publisher interface.
"Manage Report Templates" is a choice in the Administrator-specific AppliedTo property (that is, found in Administrator and Admin Access for User Admin privilege masks).
When it is moved to the Selected table, Manage Report Templates enables you or an assistant administrator to upload templates for reports in the PLM Report Template utility. Choose Web Client > Tools and Settings > Administration > Report Template to display the Manage Report Template page.
Users see these templates, per assigned privileges, when they use the Reports function in Web Client.
There are two template modes: Static Template or Dynamic Template.
Static Template
The only two reports that support Static Template and generate files in RTF are the BOM Explosion Report and the Manufacturer BOM Report. This is accessed when the user selects both "Use BI Publisher" and "Use Template For Layout" options. The Static Template is the only mode that supports XML format.
Dynamic Template
All custom reports and most of the standard reports use the Dynamic Template to define and generate reports in multiple output formats such as PDF, HTML, Excel, and Word.
The administrator can define layouts by creating RTF templates in addition to the ready-to-use layout already provided.
In Java Client, select Admin > Server Settings > Preferences.
Enable BI Publisher for Reports has two values of Yes or No. When preference is set to No, reports are generated using the existing reporting layout. When preference is set to Yes, reports can be generated in multiple output formats using BI Publisher. For information on the system preference Enable BI Publisher for Reports see "Systemwide Preferences."
If the file server is down, templates will not generate reports as they are stored in the file server.
In Web Client, navigate to Tools and Settings > Administration > Report Template.
Click Create and the Create Report Template window appears.
Choose a name and enter a description for the template.
Browse to the location of your template RTF files.
Then click OK and your template is added to the list of options for templates. You can Get the template file and now modify it. You have the option to use Microsoft Office (Word) or Adobe Acrobat to design the layout of the report. There is also the option to use BI Publisher's Template Builder plug-in for Microsoft Word to employ drag-and-drop designing.
The following reports are not supported with the BI Publisher framework template:
Change Package Report
Change Metrics
Change Backlog
Change Cycle Time
Quality Metrics
Quality Backlog
Quality Cycle Time
Failure Trend
RFQ Export
IP Transfer
Project Actual vs Budgeted Cost Report
Baseline Comparison Report
Portfolio Cost Report
Resource Pool Consumption Report
All PCM Reports
- For use by Oracle Support ONLY! -
The Logging Configuration monitor has been added to permit Oracle Support to perform quick changes to the logging configuration without stopping and restarting your company's Agile Application Server (AAS).
Important: Because the Logging Configuration utility is intended for use by Oracle personnel in troubleshooting a customer's system, and is not intended for "self-treatment" of any problem, the various configuration scripts and Level menu choices are not documented herein. |
Caution: You should never change the logging configuration without first receiving a recommendation from Oracle Support. |
Use of the Logging Configuration node:
When you, the PLM customer, encounter a problem and call Oracle Support, you provide a URL for Web Client access to your PLM system. This "window" to your system permits data gathering.
For information about how to contact Oracle Support, see "Preface" in this manual.
If the Oracle Support person can identify the problem and a quick remedy, he will enter the logging change, attempt to reproduce the problem, and turn off Logging Configuration. The monitor enables resetting your "Log4J logging level" dynamically without stopping and restarting your system's AAS.
Use the Quick Search field at the bottom of the page. The debugging information appears in a console window.
After collecting the debugging information, Oracle Support can exit the Logging Configuration page without altering the PLM system being examined.
Click the Refresh button to update the view of logging data at any time.
In the Level column, modify the configuration by selecting from the drop-down list for appropriate classes.
Click the Update Logger button to commit the configuration change without stopping the system's AAS.
If Oracle Support does not find a remedy or workaround, the problem can be escalated to Oracle Development.
Oracle Development may ask Oracle Support to request that the customer turn on certain logs, based on which area of PLM the problem is originating from.
The customer can turn on logs without restarting AAS, the information can be retrieved by Oracle Support, and the logs can be turned off without restarting AAS.
When Oracle Development has debugged the problem, Oracle Support can:
return to the customer's system to put the change into effect; or,
communicate the proposed fix to the customer.
Agile PLM caches in memory all data related to application configuration in each and every clustered server. This is called the Admin Cache. Any change to the Admin Cache data—on any server in the cluster—triggers a message to be delivered to all the cluster servers, to update the Cache for the data item that changed. Agile PLM uses Java Messaging Service (JMS) to broadcast this message.
It has been found that some changes are not propagated across all servers in the cluster. This happens randomly, that is, the occurrence of non-propagation is not possible to predict. Once it occurs, the solution is to restart all the servers in the cluster. An additional solution to this issue is the utility called Cache Health Monitor.
Cache Health Monitor utility is designed as a backup system. The current method of using the JMS server remains as the primary data synchronization mechanism.
The Cache Health Monitor performs the following actions:
Lists all modified Administrator nodes and the current synchronization state;
Commences the synchronization manually or automatically (see "Automatic Synchronization using Java Client Administrator.");
Turns logging of cache synchronization operations on or off;
Views the log file containing cache synchronization operation messages;
Purges old entries.
All Administrator (configuration-related) changes are entered to a new database table. At the server startup time, Cache Health Monitor logs the server time as "last update time" (LUT) and monitors all changes made from LUT onwards. If a manual or automatic triggering is initiated, all changes made from the LUT are synchronized (if not already synchronized) and the LUT is updated to the current time.
To access the servers in the cluster, the administrator must log in to each application server directly, using the application server name and port. For example, suppose there is a cluster with three servers:
app1.abc.com
app2.abc.com
app3.abc.com
To monitor and synchronize manually, the administrator would log in to each server using these URLs:
http://app1.abc.com:7777/Agile/PLMServlet
http://app2.abc.com:7777/Agile/PLMServlet
http://app3.abc.com:7777/Agile/PLMServlet
The default Oracle Application HTTP port-"7777"-is shown in the examples; you are advised to change this as appropriate.
The specific application server name is listed on the Cache Health Monitor page. This helps identify the server that the user is connected to, especially when the user may want to have one browser session for each server in the cluster.
The buttons on the Cache Health Monitor page activate specific events as follows:
Synchronize – Synchronizes the data on that particular application server; use when one or more objects are reported as "Not synchronized" in the Status column. After the Synchronize button is clicked, synchronization is triggered and the status changes to "Synchronized."
Refresh – Refreshes the data on that page.
Purge – Purges old entries in the CACHE_SYNC_LOG table in database; the time interval to select entries to purge is configured through the property cache. syncevent.obsoletetime (in minutes) in the file <Agile_Home>/agileDomain /config/agile.properties. The default value is 144000 minutes, or 100 days. Changing this property requires server restart.
Purge removes all entries in the table that are older than the Purge value. In above case, all entries older than 144000 minutes will be removed.
Turn Log on / Turn Log off – Enables or disables logging, works as a toggle switch.
View Log – Displays current synchronization log; this log contains information about synchronization process, objects that have been synchronized and failures, if any.
To configure automatic cache synchronization, you must enable a background task called "Admin Cache Synchronization Task." This task is configured in Java Client > Admin > Server Settings > Task Configuration; it is documented in "Task Configuration."
When you double-click a task in the Task Configuration page, the Task Configuration General Info window for that task appears. Admin Cache Synchronization Task has the following properties, including the defaults specific to Cache Health Monitor.
Table 3-2 Admin Cache Synchronization Task Properties
Property | Description |
---|---|
Name |
Name of the task being configured. |
Task Interval |
Periodic time interval in minutes after which the server updates the status of the task. Default is 5, meaning all enabled tasks in the node run every 5 minutes. |
Task Delay Time |
How many minutes the event is delayed before it starts to run. Default = 0. |
Task Lookback Window |
How far back in minutes the task manager is to look to retrieve the events that can be run now. Default = 0. |
Task Max Event Number |
How many events can be running at the same time on one server. Default = 1. |
Task Restart Upon Failure |
Indicates whether the event should be restarted after it failed. Yes or No. Default = No. |
Task Load Across Server |
Indicates whether the event can be executed at the same time in different servers of a cluster. Yes or No. Default = No. |
Task Disabled |
Indicates whether the task is disabled (Yes) or enabled (No). You may want to set this property to Yes while you are configuring and testing it; when you are ready to enable the task, you must reset this property to No. Default = No. |
If you do not make frequent changes in Administrator, or if Admin changes are updated on a specific or scheduled time, manual synchronization of the cluster will likely meet your needs. If, however, you frequently change settings in Administrator, and these are entered at many intervals throughout the day, this automatic Admin Cache Synchronization Task is a more structured backup should synchronization fail. In the event of synchronization failure, use Cache Health Monitor (either manual or automatic) until you are able to restart the cluster's servers.
To provide a mechanism to track the events related to Admin Cache synchronization, logging can be enabled to log all debugging messages. When logging is turned off, only errors and synchronization issues seen by the Cache Health Monitor are logged.
When an Administrator object or a business object is modified on any server in the cluster, a JMS server receives the event details and is triggered to broadcast the message to the other servers.
While the Cache Health Monitor monitors and synchronizes Administrator objects exclusively (for example, Changes Base Class or Change Orders Class), the logging mechanism logs events related both to Administrator objects and to user-modified business objects (for example, a modified change order). This is helpful for tracking the propagation of changes to business objects across the servers.
The following two messages (each message starts with a time stamp) will be recorded in the log file (when log is turned on).
2006-09-20 18:14:08,881 HttpRequestHandler-3096409 <Messenger:DEBUG> Sending message <class:com.agile.pc.cmserver.event.CMBatchEvent, content:Batch events: event class: com.agile.pc.cmserver.event.CMObjectEvent, content: object: class: 10000 subclass:10141 id:6010147 version:1 action: 4 event class: com.agile.pc.cmserver.event.CMFTSSyncEvent, content: FTS sync object: class: 10000 subclass:10141 id:6010147 version:0 event class: com.agile.pc.cmserver.event.CMObjectEvent, content: object: class: 10000 subclass:10141 id:6010147 version:1 action: 1 > to <topic:sync_topic> with property <name=APP_SRV_ID, value=6010141> 2006-09-20 18:14:10,222 HttpRequestHandler-3096409 <Messenger:DEBUG> Message was delivered to JMS topic:sync_topic
The first message captures the details of the object modified; the second message indicates that the JMS server received the message. JMS then propagates this message and the following three messages are recorded on all servers other than the originating server.
2006-09-20 18:14:27,257 ApplicationServerThread-2 <SyncMDBean:DEBUG> Received message from JMS server. 2006-09-20 18:14:27,257 ApplicationServerThread-2 <SyncMDBean:DEBUG> Message was sent by server with ID: 6010141, current server id is: 6010121 2006-09-20 18:14:27,257 ApplicationServerThread-2 <SyncMDBean:DEBUG> Process event: class name --> com.agile.pc.cmserver.event.CMBatchEvent, type --> 1, content --> Batch events: event class: com.agile.pc.cmserver.event.CMObjectEvent, content: object: class: 10000 subclass:10141 id:6010147 version:1 action: 4 event class: com.agile.pc.cmserver.event.CMFTSSyncEvent, content: FTS sync object: class: 10000 subclass:10141 id:6010147 version:0 event class: com.agile.pc.cmserver.event.CMObjectEvent, content: object: class: 10000 subclass:10141 id:6010147 version:1 action: 1
Using the above log messages, any unsynchronized data could be traced out.
When manual / automatic (background thread) triggering occurs, even with logging turned off, the following messages are displayed for all Administrator nodes being synchronized.
Manual Triggering:
2006-09-20 13:17:39,512 HttpRequestHandler-394365 <ADictionary:INFO> Admin cache sync > invalidate node: admin objid: 7000 class id: -1version: -1
Automatic Triggering:
2006-09-20 13:17:39,512 ApplicationServerThread-149 <ADictionary:INFO> Admin cache sync > invalidate node: admin objid: 7000 class id: -1 version: -1
The difference in the two messages is the source of triggering, in the manual case since we are sending a HTTP request the source is displayed as HttpRequestHandler, in the second case, the source is application itself (background thread) therefore the source is displayed as ApplicationServerThread.
Logging is configured through the log.xml file in <Agile_Home>/agileDomain/config directory.
The following element configures the log for Cache Synchronization.
<appender name="CacheSyncLog" class="org.apache.log4j.RollingFile Appender"> <param name="File" value="${agile.log.dir}/cachesync.log" /> <param name="Append" value="true" /> <param name="MaxFileSize" value="1MB"/> <param name="MaxBackupIndex" value="10"/> <layout class="org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout"> <param name="ConversionPattern" value="%d\t%t\t< %c{1}:%p>\t%m\n"/> </layout> </appender>
Table 3-3 Cache Synchronization Properties
Parameter | Description |
---|---|
File |
Name and path of the log file |
Append |
Append or overwrite to existing file at server startup |
MaxFileSize |
Maximum file size after the current file is archived and new file is created |
MaxBackupIndex |
Maximum number of files that would be archived |
Java Client and Web Client support "soft" and "hard" deletes. When you soft-delete an object in the database, it is not permanently deleted. A soft-deleted object is marked "Deleted" in the database, and its object number or name is reserved. You cannot create another object with the same type and number or name as a soft-deleted object.
Note: You can undelete a soft-deleted object, if you have the appropriate privileges set by the Agile administrator. |
When you run a search, soft-deleted objects do not appear in the search results table. To locate soft-deleted objects, you must run the predefined deleted object searches in the Recycle Bin Searches folder.
Note: You have access to the Recycle Bin Searches folder if Recycle Bin Searches is included in the Searches field of your user profile. If you have the appropriate privileges, you can edit your user profile and add Recycle Bin Searches to the list of searches in the Searches field. |
A hard-deleted object is permanently removed from the database.
Caution: You cannot undelete a hard-deleted object. |
To soft-delete, hard-delete, or undelete an Agile object:
You must have the appropriate Delete or Undelete privileges for that object.
The object must meet the conditions that allow it to be deleted or undeleted.
In general, if deleting or undeleting an object would cause the compromise of data integrity, the delete or undelete action is disabled.
You cannot delete an object unless all of its relationships and subscriptions are removed.
For detailed information about deleting specific object types see the Deleting Agile Objects section of Getting Started with Agile PLM.
To soft-delete an object in Web Client:
Select and open the object you want to delete.
Choose Actions > Delete, and respond OK to the confirmation prompt.
The object is soft-deleted.
To hard-delete a soft-delete object (if you have the appropriate privileges) in Web Client:
Run the appropriate Deleted objects search from the Recycle Bin Searches folder.
Select the one or more object rows in the search results table.
Click the Delete button.
In response to the warning prompt, choose Continue and then click Finish.
Or, you can hard-delete one object at a time:
Open the object.
Choose Actions > Delete, and respond OK to the confirmation prompt.
You can click the Navigator button in the search results table to display the search results object links in the left pane NAVIGATOR drawer.
To undelete an object in Web Client:
Run the appropriate Deleted objects search from the Recycle Bin Searches folder.
Open the deleted object you want to restore.
Choose Actions > Undelete.
You can click the Navigator button in the search results table to display the search result object links in the left pane NAVIGATOR drawer.