ping page

The ping page tests whether a specific component of the reporting environment is operational, and optionally retrieves other diagnostic information about the component. You can test the following components of the reporting environment:

n	Information Console itself

n	The Caching service

n	The Encyclopedia service

n	The Factory service

n	The Integration service

n	The Message Distribution Service (MDS)

n	The View service

n	An Actuate open server driver

If a component is not operational, Actuate BIRT iServer returns an error message. If a component is operational, the response depends on the ping page parameters. For example, you can request a simple time stamp that shows the time elapsed between the time that a component receives the request and the time that it returns a reply, as shown with the following URI:

http://seamore:8700/iportal/ping.do?destination=EE&mode=trace

generates the following response:

18:03:23.100: MDS(seamore) received Ping message

18:03:23.100: MDS(seamore) forwarding Ping request to node seamore

18:03:23.100: EncycEngine(seamore) received Ping message

EncycEngine(seamore): Echoing 0 bytes of payload data

18:03:23.100: EncycEngine(seamore) replying to Ping message. Elapsed=0 ms

18:03:23.100: MDS(seamore) received Ping reply from node seamore. Roundtrip= 0 ms

18:03:23.100: MDS(seamore) replying to Ping message. Elapsed=0 ms

You also can request more detailed information. A ping request to the MDS has no security restrictions. For all other components, the request is subject to Encyclopedia volume authentication. The user must be an Encyclopedia volume administrator or a user with the Operator security role.

Name

<context root>\ping.do

Parameters

Table 5-29 lists and describes the parameters for the ping page. The ping page also uses the common URI parameters.

Table 5-29  Parameters for ping URI

URI parameter	Description
action	Specifies the action to take at the destination. Valid values are: n   Echo—Echoes data specified by the payloadSize parameter. Echo is the default action. n   ReadFile—Opens a specified Encyclopedia volume file, reads its content, and closes the file. Destination must be EE, FS, or VS. n   WriteFile—Creates a temporary file in a partition, writes a specified number of bytes, closes the file, and deletes it. Destination must be EE or FS. n   Connect—Connects to a data source. If you do not specify a value, the destination component responds to the request without taking any other actions.
destination	The reporting environment component to test. Valid values are: n   AP (Information Console) n   MDS (Message Distribution Service) n   EE (Encyclopedia Engine) n   FS (Factory Service) n   VS (View Service) n   AIS (Actuate Integration Service) n   ACS (Actuate Caching Service) AIS and ACS only support the Echo action. Except when AP is specified as destination, Actuate Information Console sends a Ping request to the Actuate BIRT iServer and passes on the destination as the Ping request’s destination parameter. The default value is AP.
filename	When action=ReadFile, this parameter is required to indicate the Encyclopedia volume file to read. If you ping an open server driver, filename specifies the executable file to prepare for execution.
mode	Specifies the level of detail in the Ping response. Valid values are: n   Concise—Returns the elapsed time between a component’s receipt of the request and the time the component sends a reply. n   Normal—Returns the names of components in the test path and the timestamps of the request entering and leaving each component. This is the default mode. n   Trace—Returns a time stamp at times when the request enters and leaves major subcomponents of the component being tested. For example, a request to a node running the Encyclopedia service can provide a timestamp for times when the request enters and leaves the process queue. A Ping request at the Trace level also can return diagnostic information other than timing. For example, a request to test writing a temporary file to a partition can return the amount of free disk space on the partition.
partitionName	Specifies the name of the Encyclopedia partition on which to create the temporary file. Used only if the value of action is WriteFile.
payloadSize	Length of payload string in number of characters that Actuate Information Console should generate. Used only if the value of action is Echo.
processID	Specifies the process ID of the Factory or View service to test. Used with the server parameter.
server	Specifies which instance of a Factory service or View service to test. Works with the processID parameter. To test all available instance of the Factory or View service, use an asterisk (*). If you do not specify server, the Actuate BIRT iServer load balancing mechanism allocates an available instance of the requested service to respond to the Ping request.

Used by

Not applicable.

(c) Copyright Actuate Corporation 2011