eClient and Report Production

[Bloomfield, Martin (CRD)]

I am in the process of converting an existing (fat) OpenROAD application into an eClient.  So far I have managed to convert all the database access to use an application server.  I am now starting to look at all the reports and am in need of some advice.

Currently the application allows reports to be produced in several ways:

·       Saving data to a .csv file.  I think this should be fairly straight forward.  I believe I just need to move the data access code to the AppServer and generate the file there, before returning it to the eClient for saving to the temporary folder.

·       Sending data to Excel.  This is not going to be as simple.  I can generate the intermediate file as above, but currently we use a template to open and process the file.  As the eClient is not going to have access to the excel template this is not going to be possible.

·       Send report directly to printer.  To do this we currently use the OpenROAD Reporter.  This has generated a set of procedures which process data from a session table and sends the report to an intermediate file before calling repprint.exe to print the report.  This is where I have problems.

I understand that repprint is not included as part of the eClient version of OpenROAD so I will not be able to use it for printing my reports.  Can anyone offer any advice / suggestions on how I can use the existing OpenROAD Reporter reports in an eClient application (could I send the output from repprint on the AppServer to a file and then send it to the client’s local printer)?

Thanks in advance,

Martin Bloomfield.
_________________________________________________
Application Developer & Database Administrator
IT Branch
Chemicals Regulation Directorate
Health and Safety Executive
YORK

Email: martin.b...@hse.gsi.gov.uk
Website: www.pesticides.gov.uk

P Save a tree... please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to

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[Neil Warnock]

Hi Martin, 

A few ideas and points infix below:-

Rgds

Neil

On 22 Mar 2010, at 13:03, Bloomfield, Martin (CRD) wrote:

I am in the process of converting an existing (fat) OpenROAD application into an eClient.  So far I have managed to convert all the database access to use an application server.  I am now starting to look at all the reports and am in need of some advice.

Currently the application allows reports to be produced in several ways:

·       Saving data to a .csv file.  I think this should be fairly straight forward.  I believe I just need to move the data access code to the AppServer and generate the file there, before returning it to the eClient for saving to the temporary folder.

<<< Sounds reasonable. Or return the data to the client and generate the CSV file there.

·       Sending data to Excel.  This is not going to be as simple.  I can generate the intermediate file as above, but currently we use a template to open and process the file.  As the eClient is not going to have access to the excel template this is not going to be possible.

<<< Remember you can include resource files in your CAB file so they are accessible by the client. 

·       Send report directly to printer.  To do this we currently use the OpenROAD Reporter.  This has generated a set of procedures which process data from a session table and sends the report to an intermediate file before calling repprint.exe to print the report.  This is where I have problems.

I understand that repprint is not included as part of the eClient version of OpenROAD so I will not be able to use it for printing my reports.  Can anyone offer any advice / suggestions on how I can use the existing OpenROAD Reporter reports in an eClient application (could I send the output from repprint on the AppServer to a file and then send it to the client’s local printer)?

<<< If you go the route of invoking a remote print job, take care that you don't block the AppServer instance for the duration of the print prep.  You could take a look at the JIM community wiki project which should be all you need for kicking off remote jobs, print or otherwise. It's fat client but separating the DB access into an AppServer app should be v. straight forwards especially if you rip out the DB event notifcation malarkey (eClient nor AppServer can respond to DB events directly) see http://community.ingres.com/wiki/JIM_Home

HTH

Neil

Thanks in advance,

Martin Bloomfield.
_________________________________________________
Application Developer & Database Administrator
IT Branch
Chemicals Regulation Directorate
Health and Safety Executive
YORK

Email: martin.b...@hse.gsi.gov.uk
Website: www.pesticides.gov.uk

P Save a tree... please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to

*****************************************************************************************************************

Please note : Incoming and outgoing email messages are routinely monitored for compliance with our policy on the use of electronic communications and may be automatically logged, monitored and / or recorded for lawful purposes by the GSI service provider.

Interested in Occupational Health and Safety information?

Please visit the HSE website at the following address to keep yourself up to date

www.hse.gov.uk

Or contact the HSE Infoline on 0845 345 0055 or email hse.in...@natbrit.com

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[Bloomfield, Martin (CRD)]

Neil,

 

Many thanks for the response.  With regards to the addition of resources to the CAB file, do you know whether it would be possible (and permitted by Ingres) to include the repprint executable from a standard OpenROAD installation?  If it is possible to include it, would I be able to call the executable to print out a file produced on the AppServer and passed back to the eClient (presumably the full path would include the GUID for the application)?

 

I like the idea of including the template as a resource in the CAB file, however, I’m not sure if this will help, as I don’t believe that the eClient installation directory will be a “trusted” location for the running of macros.

 

Thanks,

Martin Bloomfield.

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[Bjorn Stevenson]

Re: Excel
 
Haven't tried it, but assuming you are using OpenROAD to script changes to Excel using ActiveX, would it be possible to create the Excel document on the AppServer, save it to a file, load it into a LongByteObject, return that to the eClient, where it could then be saved to a file and then opened up?
Or does eClient not allow a save to file and/or file-open operation?
 

---

Subject: [openroad-users] eClient and Report Production
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:03:18 +0000
From: martin.b...@hse.gsi.gov.uk
To: openroa...@googlegroups.com

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[Neil Warnock]

Hi Martin, 

I'm not sure of the answer to your question. I'm afraid I'd have to refer you to your account manager, or better, you could open a helpdesk issue.

Rgds

Neil

[Kim Ginnerup]

We have wrapped our background print so it can save the report as a long varchar in the database.

At the same time we update the job status record to reference where the print is.

We then have an OpenROAD Server that we use to request the print output.

This is transferred back to the eClient in a long byte object.

 

The problem with putting excel / word resources in the cab files the maintenance.

We store the word and excel files on the server and have a method in the OpenROAD Server that can send them back to the client.

This way we can update the word and excel files without having to create a new cab file.

 

Talk to Roy Deal Simon (r...@bording.dk) regarding eclients.

He has developed LoadnRun for OpenROAD eclients.

By using this installer OpenROAD eclients are installed in users private space.

This helps a lot when it comes down to restricted users and locked down PC’s.

This should help on having word and excel files with macros because they are stored in the users private part of the file system.

 

Regard,

 

Kim

--

[Bloomfield, Martin (CRD)]

Kim,

 

Thanks for this.  I have been in touch with Ingres, and have been informed that there is no problem with including the repprint executable as a resource in my CAB file.  I have modified my reports so that they generate the file on the app server (saved to II_TEMPORARY) and then return it to the eClient in a LongbyteObject.  This is then saved into the user’s temporary folder, before being printed using repprint.

 

I will probably contact Roy, to find out about his LoadnRun application, as currently it appears that you need to be an administrator to install eClient (due to it going into the windows\system area), which is a problem for us as everyone runs as a user.

 

Martin Bloomfield.

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[Roy Deal Simon]

Hi Martin,

I just saw this out of the blue and thought I'd drop you a little teaser for Loadnrun:

http://community.ingres.com/wiki/LoadnRun_Home

You are of course more than welcome to contact me to discuss the particulars or post your questions on the list - I'll be sure to keep an eye on it.

Have a great weekend!

- Roy Deal Simon

________________________________________
From: openroa...@googlegroups.com [openroa...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Bloomfield, Martin (CRD) [martin.b...@hse.gsi.gov.uk]
Sent: Friday, March 26, 2010 2:39 PM
To: openroa...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: [openroad-users] SV: eClient and Report Production

Kim,

Thanks for this. I have been in touch with Ingres, and have been informed that there is no problem with including the repprint executable as a resource in my CAB file. I have modified my reports so that they generate the file on the app server (saved to II_TEMPORARY) and then return it to the eClient in a LongbyteObject. This is then saved into the user’s temporary folder, before being printed using repprint.

I will probably contact Roy, to find out about his LoadnRun application, as currently it appears that you need to be an administrator to install eClient (due to it going into the windows\system area), which is a problem for us as everyone runs as a user.

Martin Bloomfield.
From: openroa...@googlegroups.com [mailto:openroa...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kim Ginnerup
Sent: Friday, March 26, 2010 12:40 PM
To: openroa...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [openroad-users] SV: eClient and Report Production

We have wrapped our background print so it can save the report as a long varchar in the database.
At the same time we update the job status record to reference where the print is.
We then have an OpenROAD Server that we use to request the print output.
This is transferred back to the eClient in a long byte object.

The problem with putting excel / word resources in the cab files the maintenance.
We store the word and excel files on the server and have a method in the OpenROAD Server that can send them back to the client.
This way we can update the word and excel files without having to create a new cab file.

Talk to Roy Deal Simon (r...@bording.dk<mailto:r...@bording.dk>) regarding eclients.

He has developed LoadnRun for OpenROAD eclients.
By using this installer OpenROAD eclients are installed in users private space.
This helps a lot when it comes down to restricted users and locked down PC’s.
This should help on having word and excel files with macros because they are stored in the users private part of the file system.

Regard,

Kim

Fra: openroa...@googlegroups.com [mailto:openroa...@googlegroups.com] På vegne af Bloomfield, Martin (CRD)
Sendt: 22. marts 2010 14:03
Til: openroa...@googlegroups.com
Emne: [openroad-users] eClient and Report Production

I am in the process of converting an existing (fat) OpenROAD application into an eClient. So far I have managed to convert all the database access to use an application server. I am now starting to look at all the reports and am in need of some advice.

Currently the application allows reports to be produced in several ways:

• Saving data to a .csv file. I think this should be fairly straight forward. I believe I just need to move the data access code to the AppServer and generate the file there, before returning it to the eClient for saving to the temporary folder.

• Sending data to Excel. This is not going to be as simple. I can generate the intermediate file as above, but currently we use a template to open and process the file. As the eClient is not going to have access to the excel template this is not going to be possible.

• Send report directly to printer. To do this we currently use the OpenROAD Reporter. This has generated a set of procedures which process data from a session table and sends the report to an intermediate file before calling repprint.exe to print the report. This is where I have problems.

I understand that repprint is not included as part of the eClient version of OpenROAD so I will not be able to use it for printing my reports. Can anyone offer any advice / suggestions on how I can use the existing OpenROAD Reporter reports in an eClient application (could I send the output from repprint on the AppServer to a file and then send it to the client’s local printer)?

Thanks in advance,

Martin Bloomfield.
_________________________________________________
Application Developer & Database Administrator
IT Branch
Chemicals Regulation Directorate
Health and Safety Executive
YORK

Email: martin.b...@hse.gsi.gov.uk<mailto:martin.b...@hse.gsi.gov.uk>
Website: www.pesticides.gov.uk<http://www.pesticides.gov.uk/>

[Bloomfield, Martin (CRD)]

Roy,

Thank you for this post. I have now completed my eClient and having looked at the information on the WIKI, this LoadnRun "application" looks of interest. I have a few questions / requirements that I am not sure whether the application can handle:

1. I have a couple of support files that my image requires - repprint.exe (for printing OpenROAD reports), an excel template for editable reports. Currently these will be installed to the eClient directory. For the Excel template, I then copy the file to the users profile so excel can see it (and trust the included macros). Would the LoadnRun Application support this? Also, to determine where the repprint executable is, I use the eClient environment variable "II_ECLIENT_APPDIR". Is this still available under LoadnRun?

2. The instructions for LoadnRun refer to the use of the OpenROAD gateway. I've looked at this section (http transport) in the OpenROAD Server manual but am struggling to work out what changes I need to make to my application and what/where the srs.ashx file comes from. Do I need to make another version of my OpenROAD application (.img file) to work with LoadnRun / Gateway?

3. The installation instructions state that the during installation you have to provide the name of the Application to run. Does this have to be a bootstrapper application that allows any other applications to be launched? We tend to have separate icons for each application, is this possible under LoadnRun, or do we need to change how apps are launched?

4. I'm slightly unclear how LoadnRun checks the version of the application it has locally against the server to determine if a new version has been released. Is this dependent on how you launch the application? I notice there are two different commands mentioned, one referring to loadnrun.img and the gateway, the other just referring to the myapp.img. Does this determine how the version is checked?

5. I notice the LoadnRun supports "Suffixes" for allowing "side-by-side" (live and test) application to be run. I currently do this by having a different initiating URL, which I obtain in the application via the "II_ECLIENT_URL" variable. I then use this to determine which AppServer to connect to. Would this still work under LoadnRun, or will I need to rewrite that logic?

Thanks in advance for you assistance.

Martin Bloomfield.
_________________________________________________
Application Developer & Database Administrator
IT Branch
Chemicals Regulation Directorate
Health and Safety Executive
YORK
Email: martin.b...@hse.gsi.gov.uk

Website: www.pesticides.gov.uk
 Save a tree... please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to

-----Original Message-----
From: openroa...@googlegroups.com [mailto:openroa...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Roy Deal Simon
Sent: Friday, March 26, 2010 9:34 PM
To: openroa...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: [openroad-users] SV: eClient and Report Production

Hi Martin,

I just saw this out of the blue and thought I'd drop you a little teaser for Loadnrun:

http://community.ingres.com/wiki/LoadnRun_Home

You are of course more than welcome to contact me to discuss the particulars or post your questions on the list - I'll be sure to keep an eye on it.

Have a great weekend!

- Roy Deal Simon

*****************************************************************************************************************
Please note : Incoming and outgoing email messages are routinely monitored for compliance with our policy on the use of electronic communications and may be automatically logged, monitored and / or recorded for lawful purposes by the GSI service provider.

Interested in Occupational Health and Safety information?
Please visit the HSE website at the following address to keep yourself up to date

www.hse.gov.uk

Or contact the HSE Infoline on 0845 345 0055 or email hse.in...@natbrit.com
*****************************************************************************************************************

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[Roy Deal Simon]

 

Martin,

 

Thank you for giving LoadnRun a spin!

 

See my comments below you questions.

 

Just shout if you need further clarification – it will make it easier for the next guy.

 

 

-- Roy Deal Simon

 

-----Original Message-----
From: openroa...@googlegroups.com [mailto:openroa...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Bloomfield, Martin (CRD)
Sent: 4. maj 2010 14:31
To: openroa...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [openroad-users] eClient distribution - LoadnRun

 

Roy,

 

Thank you for this post.  I have now completed my eClient and having looked at the information on the WIKI, this LoadnRun "application" looks of interest.  I have a few questions / requirements that I am not sure whether the application can handle:

 

1. I have a couple of support files that my image requires - repprint.exe (for printing OpenROAD reports), an excel template for editable reports.  Currently these will be installed to the eClient directory.  For the Excel template, I then copy the file to the users profile so excel can see it (and trust the included macros).  Would the LoadnRun Application support this?  Also, to determine where the repprint executable is, I use the eClient environment variable "II_ECLIENT_APPDIR".  Is this still available under LoadnRun?

 

 

If you put repprint.exe and the templates into the same directory as the application on the server side, they will be copied over to the user's profile automatically.

 

    II_W4GLAPP_DIR/eclient/yourapp/

         yourapp.img

         install4gl.txt

         repprint.exe

         template1

         template2

 

II_ECLIENT_APPDIR is still supported and will be set to “%APPDATA%/ingres/eclientcache/yourapp” for the given user, so you should be able to launch repprint.exe and pass the templates to Excel from the application as needed.

 

I’m a little unclear on how exactly you pass the templates to Excel, but if you sketch out the details I’m sure it’s doable.

 

 

2. The instructions for LoadnRun refer to the use of the OpenROAD gateway.  I've looked at this section (http transport) in the OpenROAD Server manual but am struggling to work out what changes I need to make to my application and what/where the srs.ashx file comes from.  Do I need to make another version of my OpenROAD application (.img file) to work with LoadnRun / Gateway?

 

 

You don’t need to make any changes to the application. LoadnRun itself uses HTTP connections, but your own application can use whatever you prefer.

 

The srs.ashx file comes from the official OpenROAD installation and will be placed in a directory under the web server.

 

Let me know if you need help finding it.

 

 

3. The installation instructions state that the during installation you have to provide the name of the Application to run.  Does this have to be a bootstrapper application that allows any other applications to be launched? We tend to have separate icons for each application, is this possible under LoadnRun, or do we need to change how apps are launched?

 

 

You can easily have icons for each application instead of a menu!

 

The ORRunSetup.msi file will place an icon and install the runtime, so you just tell it the name of one of your apps when it asks for an application.

 

For the rest of the gang, you set up a desktop with a command-line like this:

 

irunner.exe -/appflags loadnrun.img appname=your_second_app gateway=http://remote_server/srs/srs.ashx

 

The “Start In” part has to be set to the directory where you have irunner.exe installed, such as "C:\Program Files\Ingres\bin\".

 

 

4. I'm slightly unclear how LoadnRun checks the version of the application it has locally against the server to determine if a new version has been released.  Is this dependent on how you launch the application?  I notice there are two different commands mentioned, one referring to loadnrun.img and the gateway, the other just referring to the myapp.img.  Does this determine how the version is checked?

 

 

When you run "irunner.exe -/appflags yourapp.img" it just launches the application directly, just like if you had used "w4glrun.exe yourapp.img".

 

The main difference is that the former doesn't peek into the windows registry and therefore can be launched from any directory on any machine with or without an Ingres or OpenROAD installation.

 

"irunner.exe -/appflags loadnrun.img" pulls apps from a central server as needed.

 

When the user clicks the icon to launch an app, loadnrun.img first checks if the app already exists locally, and if so, what the 4GL version number is. It then goes to the server on the gateway machine and checks whether the app exists there. If it does, it checks the 4GL version number in the install4gl.txt file there.

 

If the version on the server is higher, it means that the developer has released a new version and loadnrun.img will copy it to the user's local machine. But we don't want to burden the network more than we have to, so if the version number hasn't been changed since the user’s last launch, loadnrun.img will simply start the application with "irunner.exe -/appflags yourapp.img" from the installation directory.

 

In short - only loadnrun.img checks the version numbers.

 

 

5. I notice the LoadnRun supports "Suffixes" for allowing "side-by-side" (live and test) application to be run.  I currently do this by having a different initiating URL, which I obtain in the application via the "II_ECLIENT_URL" variable.  I then use this to determine which AppServer to connect to.  Would this still work under LoadnRun, or will I need to rewrite that logic?

 

 

The II_ECLIENT_URL will be set to the gateway you specified when you ran the installer.

[Bloomfield, Martin (CRD)]

Roy,

 

Thank you for your reply.  I have tried to download the software from the Wiki page, but cannot find the file.  When I used ftp to try to access the site, the folder ftp://ftp.ingres.com/outgoing/openroad/loadnrun appears to be empty.  Has the zip file been moved?

 

Thanks,

Martin Bloomfield.

From: openroa...@googlegroups.com [mailto:openroa...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Roy Deal Simon

Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2010 12:16 PM
To: openroa...@googlegroups.com

P Save a tree... please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to

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[Roy Deal Simon]

Martin,

I've notified Durwin Wright of the missing file and we're on top of it.

I'll have a new zip file ready for you tomorrow!


- Roy

________________________________________
From: openroa...@googlegroups.com [openroa...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Bloomfield, Martin (CRD) [martin.b...@hse.gsi.gov.uk]
Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 4:52 PM
To: openroa...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: [openroad-users] RE: eClient distribution - LoadnRun

• Save a tree... please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to

[Roy Deal Simon]

Martin,

I have reshipped the missing package for Durwin for uploading.

However, if you can wait until Monday or Tuesday, I think I can have a proper 1.0 release ready for you.

It's battle-tested and can handle Citrix/Terminal Services, 64 bit windows, and OR 2006 SP1.

Just shout if you need further clarification - it will make it easier for the next guy.

* Save a tree... please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to