Testing JSP Changes In IBM WebSphere Without ReStarting The Service

This is a follow-up to my previous post “Restricting The EnterpriseOne Evironment On The JAS Server”.

While coming up with my solution to how to restrict users to an environment when logging on to a JAS server that hosted a path code with multiple environments attached to it, I wanted to be able to test my changes “on-the-fly”.  I didn’t want to restart the service every time.

So, that’s when I found the “temp” directory.

• This is the “production” directory:
  C:\WebSphere\AppServer\profiles\default\installedApps\Node01Cell\JPD811_HTML.ear\webclient.war\share
• This is the “temp” directory:
  C:\WebSphere\AppServer\profiles\default\temp\Node01\JPD811_84\JPD811_HTML\webclient.war\share

A file named “_html4env.class” will be placed in there when a user logs in.  It is a compiled version of the “html4env.jsp” file.  So, if you delete that file and make a change to the “html4env.jsp” file or the “_EnvRestriction.htm” file, when a user tries to login WebSphere will compile the “html4env.jsp” file and create a new “_html4env.class” file with your changes.

Restricting The EnterpriseOne Evironment On The JAS Server

The organization has a requirement to have a user only login to a certain environment from a certain JAS server instance.

With a basic install of EnterpriseOne, this would be very easy. However, the 2 environments that are required to be separated are build on top of the same pathcode. Within the JAS settings there is a "Path Codes" parameter that allows you to specify which Path Code will be allowed to be accessed from that particular HTML Server instance.

As you can see from the image, there is also a setting for the "Default Environment". However, there is not a setting to specify which environments are allowed to be accessed.

So, I did a little JSP hacking and came up with a way to restrict the EnterpriseOne environments that can be accessed from a particular HTML Server instance on JAS:

The solution involves creating a file that gets "included" into another.

The first file is the one that we created. We called it "_EnvRestriction.htm":

<%
String redirectTargetURL = "erp.mdu.com";       
String mustHaveEnv = "JPDSS811";
if (!(environments.contains(mustHaveEnv))) {
%>
        <tr>
                <td colspan="3" style="font-size:larger;">
                        <strong>YOU DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THIS ENVIRONMENT!</strong>
                        <br /><br />
                        You will be redirected to <a href="http://&lt;%=redirectTargetURL%&gt;"><%=redirectTargetURL%></a> in <span style="color:red" id="redirectSpan">10</span> seconds.
                </td>
        </tr>
        <script type="text/javascript">
                function redirect(url, msg)
                {
                   var TARG_ID = "redirectSpan";
                   var e = document.getElementById(TARG_ID);
                   var cTicks = parseInt(e.innerHTML);
                   var timer = setInterval(function()
                   {
                          if( cTicks )
                          {
                                 e.innerHTML = --cTicks;
                          }
                          else
                          {
                                 clearInterval(timer);
                                 document.body.innerHTML = msg;
                                 location = url;          
                          }
                   }, 1000);
                }
                redirect("http://<%=redirectTargetURL%>","")
        </script>
        <style>input{display:none;}label{display:none;}</style>
<%
}
%>

Next we edit the file "html4env.jsp" to include our new file (_EnvRestriction.htm). At about line 172, we include the following right before the <tr> tag:

Please Note: this may not be the best way to restrict environments but it is what we are using. Also, this solution has been successfully used for EnterpriseOne Tools Release 8.97.2.0 & 8.97.2.6. If you are using a Tools Release other than those listed you may need to make adjustments for this solution to work or it may not work at all.

Is there another way to restrict the environment that a user is able to login to when accessing a JAS server if there are multiple environments built on top of the same path code?

Presentations from Oracle OpenWorld 2009

JD Edwards and Oracle Application Integration Architecture: One Powerful Combination

Red Stack Technology and JD Edwards EnterpriseOne 8.12: Future Is Bright for Orlando Utilities Commission

Maximize your JD Edwards EnterpriseOne investment with Tools and Technologies

The Benefits of Running JD Edwards EnterpriseOne on the Oracle Technology Stack

Choosing the Right Technology Stack for JD Edwards EnterpriseOne

EnterpriseOne Minimum Technical Requirements

Recently, I found that the Minimum Technical Requirements for Oracle EnterpriseOne to be a little difficult to track down. 

So I thought I should create a post about it here so that I don�t have to waste a bunch of time looking for it. 

If I remember I did this, anyway.

JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Current MTR Index (Doc ID 747323.1)

EnterpriseOne Javascript Error Causing Errors In Internet Explorer

We recently went live with Employee Self-Service.  In doing so, we no longer send employees their direct deposit pay stub.  Over the last few days we were notified that some employees were unable to view the paycheck details. 

We began troubleshooting the issue with looking at the usually culprits:

• Browser used (Firefox doesn�t work with EnterpriseOne Tools Release 8.97)
• Browser security settings (EnterpriseOne & IE7)
• Browser add-ons/plug-ins/extensions

However, nothing seemed suspect.

So, I put on the Web Developer Hat (don�t tell Charlie) and started troubleshooting.  I found that there was a Javascript error in Internet Explorer.  I tracked down the offending file an commented out the code.

The Javascript file that I changed was /js/JDEDTA.js.

The specific line that was causing the problem was line 344.  I commented out the whole thing because who needs �typeahead� functionality in Employee Self-Service?

340:    this.saveAutoCompleteData = function(){

341:        //Hack to make typeahead work in IE

342:        /*if(document.all){

343:            var formToPost = document.forms[this.formName];

344:                  window.external.AutoCompleteSaveForm(formToPost);

345:        }else if (!this.isSafari){

346:            var formToPost = document.forms[this.formName];

347:              if (formToPost)

348:              {

349:                  var action = formToPost.action;

350:                  formToPost.action = "javascript:void(0)";

351:                  formToPost.submit();

352:                  formToPost.action = action;

353:              }

354:        }*/

355:    }

EnterpriseOne Tools Release Upgrade From 8.96 to 8.97 Rough Outline

1. IBM iSeries/AS400/System i
1. Backup libraries and IFS directories
2. Register Pristine Environment in Server Manager
3. Create Server Manager Server Group for Pristine
4. Upgrade Pristine
2. Web Server
1. Create IBM WebSphere Application Server in Server Manager
2. Create IBM HTTP Server in Server Manager
3. General
1. HTML landing page: update links and info
2. Change DNS entries
3. Copy the code used to restrict access to specified environment
4. Copy images and code for custom backgrounds
5. Modify the JAS.INI file to specify the correct logon logo
6. Set web server to restart nightly and cleanup logs
7. Verify that the server is being backed up and replicated to DR hot site

Simple E1 URLs

Jeff Stevenson has a very good post on his blog about simplifying how users access EnterpriseOne using Apache virtual hosts, DNS mappings, host aliases and redirects.

Make a URL that looks like this:

http://server.company.com:82/jde/owhtml

Look like this:

http://e1.company.com or http://e1

Thanks, Jeff!