Building a custom Information Console context root

Creating a custom Information Console web application : Information Console web application structure and contents : Building a custom Information Console context root

Building a custom Information Console context root

Application servers route requests from the user’s browser to the configured Information Console web content in a context root. A JSP engine specifies the path for the Information Console context root in a platform-specific configuration file. For example, the Tomcat engine specifies context roots in the /etc/tomcat/server.xml file on a UNIX-based system or C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 5.5\conf\server.xml file on a Windows system. Other application servers and servlet engines use an analogous file.

You can configure multiple Actuate Information Console context roots on a single server. Each context root can contain a web reporting application that uses a different design. For example, you can create different web reporting applications for particular language groups or departments. The following example is the definition for the default Actuate Information Console context root, iportal, from a Tomcat server.xml file on a Windows system:

<Contextpath="/iportal"docBase="C:\Program Files\Actuate11\iPortal\iportal"debug="0"/>

Actuate Information Console’s embedded servlet engine uses an automatic mechanism to discover new web applications. This server provides a quick and convenient environment in which to test your custom Information Console application before deploying to your main application server. To test a custom Information Console application on the embedded servlet engine, you create the context root directory structure in <Actuate home>\iPortal, then restart the Apache Tomcat for Actuate Information Console 11 service.

How to create a new context root

In the following example, you create a custom web application for MyCorp’s Marketing Communications group. You want your Marketing Communications users to use the following URI prefix to access their custom application:

http://MyCorp:8700/marcom

For example, to access their application’s login page they would choose a web page hyperlink with the following URI:

http://MyCorp:8700/marcom/login.do

1

Install Information Console separately. Information Console installed separately is portable but the Information Console embedded in BIRT iServer is not.

2

Make a copy of the Actuate Information Console directory structure and give the copy a name related to the context root name.

Copy the directory C:\Program Files\Actuate11\iPortal\iportal, paste it into C:\Program Files\Actuate11\iPortal and rename it marcom. You now have a directory C:\Program Files\Actuate11\iPortal\marcom that contains all the files and directories that define an Actuate Information Console reporting web application.

3

If you are using a server other than Information Console’s embedded servlet engine, add your definition to the JSP engine’s configuration file. For example, with a Tomcat server, you add the context root, marcom, to the <Information Console Directory>\conf\server.xml file as follows:

<Contextpath="/marcom"docBase="C:\Program Files\Actuate11\iPortal\marcom"debug="0"/>

4

Restart your application server or JSP engine. For example, to restart Information Console’s embedded servlet engine on a Windows XP system, perform the following steps:

1

From the Windows Start menu, choose All Programs→Administrative Tools→Services.

2

On Services, select Apache Tomcat for Actuate Information Console 11 service.

3

From the menu, choose Action→Restart.

4

Close Services.

After you stop and restart the server, your Marketing Communications users can access the Actuate Information Console web application called marcom. The application looks like the default Actuate Information Console application because you have not customized its appearance.