WebAG Automat Release 4.3 - Release Notes (english)

WebAG Automat 4.3

Documentation Overview
Copyright © Enterprise Web AG.

Release Notes
2004 -03-22

Contents

1. WebAG Automat 4.3 - What is new?

1.1 MLC - Multi-Lingual Contents
1.2 Automat Formsystem Enhancements
1.3 Further Improvements

2. Installation

2.1 Installation Requirements
2.2 Upgrade to Release 4.3 – Installation Instructions
2.3 WebAG Automat - New Installation

1. WebAG Automat Release 4.2 - What Is New?

1.1 MLC - Multi-Lingual Contents

The abbreviation MLC stands for "Multi Lingual Contents". You can create multi lingual variants of folder-names, web pages and upload files.

The central webmaster administers the languages list of values.

The webmaster assignes content languages to each web with optionally multilingual contents. The number of languages for this web can be modified at any time.

One of the content languages is the webs main language. This language will appear when the web site visitor requests the first page. The man language nomination can be changed.

Authors are able to create language variants for their web pages. Each language variant is a different automat page. The WebAG Automat administers the language variant relationship between the pages.

Any known Automat features such as formattings, read privileges or validity work on the language variants as well.

In the folder-prpoerties form the author edits the multilingual folder-names.

The search engine displays the content-language of the found pages.

The web-index and -sitemap can be switched between the content<languages.

The default footer-line displays links to the language variants of the current webpage.

The website visitor can choose between the available language-variants on each page.

It is a very easy task to implement an own design for the language switch section (e.g. with flag-symbols). The WebAG Automat offers new Automat-variables for html-triggers and stencils:

$AUTOMAT_URL_SELF_<lang> will be replaced with the language variant url of the current webpage. Please replace "<lang>" with a language country code, e.g. "en" for "english".

Example for a link to the english variant:

   <a href="$AUTOMAT_URL_SELF_en">
      <img src="/images/flag_english.gif" border="0">
   </a>

$MLC_LANG_CODE is the current pages language country code, e.g.. "en" für "english". Use this variable if you want to call a PL/SQL-procedure within a trigger, that requests the content language as an input parameter.

Example for invoking a dynamic navigation-bar:

   <AUTOMAT_INCLUDE TYPE="PL/SQL">
      display_left_navigation (i_language => '$MLC_LANG_CODE')
   <AUTOMAT_INCLUDE>

These variables help building an own footer line, because they offer the urls to all functions of default footer line.

$AUTOMAT_URL_WEB_HOME - link to the web startpage. Modifiy the web parameter HOME_URL to chenge the home-address.

$AUTOMAT_URL_WEB_SEARCH - link to the search-page..

$AUTOMAT_URL_WEB_INDEX - link to the web-index.

$AUTOMAT_URL_WEB_SITEMAP - link to the web-sitemap.

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1.2 Automat Formsystem Enhancements

1.2.1 New Element wt_EXTERNAL

The new form-element wt_EXTERNAL let you create custom input-field types. You have code the HTML-forms for editing and deleting the field value by yourself.

1.2.2 File-Upload

The default function of a wt_EXTERNAL-field is a file-upload popup-form. You can attach any kind of file to a form. These files are saved into the Automat document table WT_BLOB.

Please also note the following documents on the Form System:

Form System - Form Element "wt_EXTERNAL"

1.2.3 New Attributes in wt_LIST

There are two new attributes to the list-element wt_LIST: ON_INSERT starts your PL/SQL-procedure when a new list line is inserted. ON_DELETE fires a PL/SQL-procedure on deleting a line.

Please also note the following documents on the Form System:

Form System - Form Element "wt_LIST"

1.2.4 Author-privileges on Forms

You can grant the privilege to work on forms or form-drivers to any user. Prior to Automat 4.3 form-administration was always the central administrators task.

Form-Editor
Users listed under "Authors" have the right to modify the form.

Form-Driver
Users listed under "Authors" have the right to modify the form-driver.
Additionally you can assign container-administrators to the form-driver. They have the right to administer the users form-input stored in the form-containers.

Please also note the following documents on the Form Privileges:

Form System - Form Privileges

1.2.5 Layout Improvements

The form-output layout has been improved. Long input-fields appear shorter on the screen to prevent horizontal scrolling. The OK-button was replaced by a small OK/Reset/Cancel-bar under the currently edited field.

1.2.6 Login-request

Trying to load an authorized form-container withoun being logged in now redirects to the login-page instead of a simple error message. After entering username and password the user is directed back to the form.

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1.3 Further Improvements

1.3.1 Password encryption

Passwords are now stored encrypted using the Data Encryption Standard (DES) of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). This raises the security of the simple default Automat authorization and reduces the need to implement an LDAP authorization server.

1.3.2 Internal seach engine for the authoring user-interface

The left side of the authoring system user-interface now offers a search form. The search-engine finds all pages having authoring privileges granted to the connected author, including deactiveted pages.

1.3.3 Downloading internal files

The download of an internal file out of the Automat database now comes with the original filename instead of a crypted parameter-url. The website-user can save the download-file on his disk using the original filename and -extension.

1.3.4 Uploading external files

WebAG Automat 4.3 can upload files into the external server filesystem through the Oracle database JAVA-VM instead of using CGI-scripts. This makes the upload-system completely independend from your operating system. Use the parameter "CGI_OFF = 1" in the global settings to activate the new upload option.

1.3.5 Diskussion-forums

Bugfix: The HTML-code of the contibution-input-form has been corrected. Now you can have additional forms beside the forum-forms within your trigger-set HTML-code (i.e. an own search-form).

1.3.6 User-login

The default login-page wt_login.main has a new parameter called p_login_url. This parameter holds an url to redirect to after successful login. Until now the only possibility to define a login-redirect-target was the user-environment-parameter LOGIN_URL.

1.3.7 Miscallenous

Tables with lots of formattings now appear significant faster.

The formatting system now offers internal files to be used as images in your pages.

New pages or folders are now inserted at the bottom instead of the top of the page/folder-list.

Bugfix: Tools (own Automat extensions) for a single web have been offered in any web. Now they only appear in the requested web.

The default footer-line appears without the "Folder-tree"-link, because the Sitemap-page includes the complete requested functionality.

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2. Installation

2.1 Installation Requirements

Server

Database:
- Oracle RDBMS from 9.0

Webserver:
- Oracle 9i Application Server with Apache Webserver or
- Oracle RDBMS from 9.0 with integrated Apache Webserver

Authoring workstation

Netscape from Version 4.0, MS Internet Explorer from Version 4.0 or Mozilla from 1.0 or Opera from 7.0

Javascript activated

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2.2 Upgrade to Release 4.3 – Installation Instructions

1. Log off users
To do so, we would recommend closing down the Apache Web Server for the duration of the installation.

2. Backup
Before conducting the upgrade, back up your Automat database and the Automat Web Server folders. During the migration of the Automat 4.1.1 data model to the new Automat 4.2 data model a number of new tables are created and others are modified.

3. Install software
Double-click on the command file upgrade.bat at the topmost level of the CD. This script starts the Oracle tool SQL *Plus 8.1. Answer the questions about the connect routine to your Automat scheme and about the Oracle RDBMS version you are using. This automatically starts the relevant SQL scripts. Next check the log files in the folder C:\Temp.

The installation-procedure starts with an Automat-schema requirements-check. If the check encounters errors ist will print the SQL-statements necessary to correct each error. Run the correction-statements using SQL*Plus and restart the upgrade-commandfile upgrade.bat then.

4. Update Automat Online Help
The Online Help files need to be replaced by the latest version in the \doc folder on the installation CD. The URL of the virtual web server path to the Help files can be found in the global settings parameters “HELPFILE_…” Copy all the files from the CD folder \doc to this destination.
Example: C:\> COPY R:\doc\*.* D:\InetOracle\html\help

5. modPLSQL-configuration
The modPLSQL-configuration needs two more parameter settings. Add the parameters document_path and document_proc to the modPLSQL-configurationfile $ORACLE_HOME/Apache/modplsql/cfg/wdbsvr.app. Example:

[DAD_automat]
connect_string = db90
password = xxxxxx
username = webag_automat
;default_page =
document_table = wt_blob
document_path = docs
document_proc = wt_show.download
;upload_as_long_raw =
;upload_as_blob =
;name_prefix =
;always_describe =
;after_proc =
;before_proc =
reuse = Yes
;connmax =
;pathalias =
;pathaliasproc =
enablesso = No
;sncookiename =
stateful = STATELESS_RESET
custom_auth = Custom
response_array_size = 128
;exclusion_list =
;cgi_env_list =
;error_style =
;nls_lang =
;

For more information on the DAD-configuration please refer to the Installation Guide.

6. Start Webserver
Now can restart the Apache webserver.

7. Automat-Parameter CGI_OFF
Optionally you may define the parameter CGI_OFF = 1 in the global Automnat-settings, if you want to use the new upload-configuration for external files that is based on the Java-VM within the Oracle database instead of the previosly used CGI-scripts.

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2.3 WebAG Automat - New Installation

The installation of a new WebAG Automat system is described in detail in the Installation Guide.

WebAG Automat Dokumentation
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