You can preform a test run of the application deployment process by using this article as a guide to deploy the OpenEdge sample application, Sports2020, with WebClient and IntelliStream.

Note: These procedures assume that you are installing as an Administrator.

Overview

In most business cases, application service providers need to make their application available to their clients for download. To do so, an ASP can use WebClient and IntelliStream to host an application on an application server so that it is available to their clients.

Use this guide as a template for deploying your own application with WebClient and IntelliStream. Keep in mind that there are a few steps that you do not need to complete during your own setup process, such as downloading can configuring the sample application from OpenEdge.

The process to deploy a sample application with WebClient and IntelliStream consists of:
  1. Downloading the sample application.
  2. Preparing the Web server
  3. Setting MIME types for the application configuration file
  4. Configuring the application on the application server machine
  5. Setting up the application to launch from the Web server
  6. Install and run the application on the client machine

1. Download the sample application

To get started, download the WebClient files that support the Sports2020 sample application with IntelliStream from the Progress Software Download Center. After they are downloaded, you can find them in the Documentation and Samples file located in the doc_samples directory. Instructions for using these files are located in the following file:

Doc_and_Samples_Install\src\samples\webclient\dynappdel\instructions.txt

When you run the sample application with IntelliStream, only a portion of the application downloads initially, while the rest downloads only as needed.

The instructions in this appendix use the following symbols, some of which might be defined as environment variables on your system:

  • %DLC% (sometimes also indicated as OpenEdge_install_dir) refers to the OpenEdge installation directory on a particular machine. For example, the instructions might mention %DLC% on the end user-machine.
  • %DOCS% (sometimes also indicated as Doc_and_Samples_Install) refers to the Documentation and Samples located in the doc_samples directory.
  • %ASWORKDIR% refers to the work directory of an application server.
  • %APPROOTDIR% refers to the root directory of a WebClient application.
  • %OUTDIR% refers to the directory in which the WebClient application assembler places the files it generates.
  • %MYWEBSERVER% represents your Web server's domain name or IP address.

2. Prepare the Web server

Preparing the Web server involves:

  • Setting up MIME types for the application configuration file
  • Setting up the WebClient install and bootstrap mechanism
Note: The application configuration file always has a file extension of .prowcapp and always resides in a Microsoft Cabinet file with a file extension of .prowcapc. This is true whether the application is signed or unsigned.

3. Set MIME types for the application configuration file

On the Web server, set up MIME types for the application configuration file. The technique for doing so depends on your particular Web server. For information on setting up MIME types for a particular Web server, see the Configuring MIME types for your Web server. Also, see the documentation for your Web server.

4. Configure the application on the application server machine

This example assumes that the application server machine is the same as the development machine on which you prepared the front-end and back-end application code. For this reason, this machine must be a Windows machine.

To set up the application on the application server machine:

  1. Verify that an OpenEdgedevelopment product is installed on the application server machine. The person doing the installation, when presented with the Setup Type window, must choose the complete installation, as opposed to the typical installation or the custom installation.
  2. Verify that an application server was installed and configured on the application server machine.
  3. Create the WebClient application root directory, the symbol for which is %APPROOTDIR%. The application root directory can reside anywhere, but note its path.
  4. Recursively copy the source-code files of the Sports2020 application from the %DOCS%\src\sports2020\gui directory to %ASWORKDIR%.
    Note: The gui directory contains both back-end and front-end application files. %ASWORKDIR%is where the entire application is compiled, though only the back-end r-code (.r) files are run from this directory.
  5. Create a copy of the Sports2020 database on the application server machine. The copy can reside anywhere, but be sure to note its path.
  6. Start an OpenEdge session and do the following:
    1. Connect to the Sports2020 database, entering its path
    2. Use the PROPATH Editor to add the application server work directory to the PROPATH.
    3. In the Application Compiler, go to Options > Compiler, change Minimize R-code size to YES and click OK. In the main window, click Modify. In the File Specification window, enter the application server's working directory, click OK, and compile the application.
  7. Recursively copy the directories in the following table as specified, creating the destination subdirectory as necessary:
    Recursively copy directory . . . To location . . .
    %ASWORKDIR%\gui %APPROOTDIR%\appl
    %DLC%\gui\adm2 %APPROOTDIR%\gui\adm2
    %DLC%\jms %APPROOTDIR%\jms
    %DOCS%\src\sports2020\images %APPROOTDIR%\appl\images
  8. Copy the files in the following table as specified, creating the destination subdirectory as necessary:
    Copy file . . . To location . . .
    %DOCS%\src\samples\webclient\​dynappdel\sportspro.ini %APPROOTDIR%
    %DOCS%\src\samples\webclient\​dynappdel\appsrvtt.d %APPROOTDIR%
    %DOCS%\src\samples\webclient\​dynappdel\sportspro.wcp %APPROOTDIR%
    %DLC%\gui\​adecomm.pl %APPROOTDIR%\gui
    %DLC%\gui\​adeicon.pl %APPROOTDIR%\gui
    %DLC%\gui\​adexml.pl %APPROOTDIR%\gui
    %DLC%\gui\adeicon\progress.ico %APPROOTDIR%
    %DLC%\bin\system\csspin32.ocx %APPROOTDIR%
  9. Use a text editor to modify the appsrvtt.d file, which you copied in the previous step, as follows:
    1. In appsrvtt.d, search for the following string:
      http://yourservername/adapterName/adaptername?AppService=sports2020partition
    2. In the string, change yourservername to the domain name of the Web server. For example, if the domain name of the Web server is http://testhost, modify the string to appear as follows:
      http://testhost/adapterName/adaptername?AppService=sports2020partition
    3. Save appsrvtt.d.
  10. Use the WebClient Application Assembler as follows:
    1. From the main menu, select File > Open , and open %APPROOTDIR%\sportspro.wcp.
    2. On the General tab, change the path of the application root directory to its actual path on the application server machine. The default value is d:\demo91c\sportspro.
    3. On the same tab, click on the Locator button. The Configuration File Locator Definition window appears. In this window, change the URL to the host name of the server hosting the configuration file, which defaults to http://yourhostname.
    4. In the Codebase Locator Definition window (main menu Deployment > Locators > Codebase), change the URL to the host name of the server hosting the codebase, which defaults to http://yourhostname.
    5. On the Options tab, check the System Tasks toggle box and click System Tasks Definition. The System Tasks Definition window appears.

      On the Shortcut tab, check the Application Shortcut toggle box and click the ellipsis (...) button next to the Icon field. The Open window appears.

      Manipulate the Open window to select the progress.ico file, which you copied to %APPROOTDIR% in the previous step.

      On the Files tab, select the file d:\demo91c\sportspro\csspin32.ocx and click Remove. Then, add the file %APPROOTDIR\csspin32.ocx. Finally, confirm the Application Specific toggle box is checked.

    6. In the Generate window (main menu Deployment > Generate), then choose Regenerate Latest Version. In the Output Directory field, enter the name of the directory where you want the generated files to be placed; that is, the value of %OUTDIR%. Finally, click OK.

      The WebClient Application Assembler creates the application configuration file and the cabinet files and places them into the output directory you specified.

  11. Use OpenEdge Management or OpenEdge Explorer, or the proserve command to start a database server for the sports2020 database running on the application server machine. For example, if the sportspro2020 database resides at %APPROOTDIR%\databases, use a command like the following:
    %DLC%\bin\proserve %APPROOTDIR%\databases\sports2020.db
  12. Use OpenEdge Management or OpenEdge Explorer to configure the default asbroker1 application server instance as follows:
    1. In the General Options for Broker tab, change the broker working directory to the application server work directory (%ASWORKDIR%), and add the service name sports2020partition to the Appservice Name list.
    2. In the General Options for Server tab, add the database connection parameter to Server Startup Parameters. For example if the sports2020 database resides at %ASWORKDIR%\databases, enter the following string:
      -db %ASWORKDIR%\databases\sports2020
  13. Use OpenEdge Management or OpenEdge Explorer, or the asbman command to start the asbroker1 application server instance. For example (using the asbman command):
    %DLC%\bin\asbman -name asbroker1 -start

5. Set up the application to launch from the Web server

To set up the application to launch from your Web server machine:

  1. Copy sportspro.prowcapc (the cabinet file containing the configuration file to be downloaded) and the cabinet (.cab) files (containing the application files to be downloaded) from %OUTDIR% on the application server machine to the Web server root directory as follows:
    1. Create a directory called 2.0 off the Web server document root directory.
    2. Copy the cabinet files to the 2.0 directory.
    3. Copy sportspro.prowcapc to the Web server document root directory.

6. Install and run the application on the client machine

To install and launch the application on the client machine:

  1. Users must first install OpenEdge WebClient on the client machine. Users can download the installer files from the Progress Software Download Center.
  2. Users download the WebClient application (sportspro.prowcapc) from the location specified by the application provider.
  3. Users install the Sportspro application by responding to the prompts. The application is installed.
    Note: The sample application's SmartB2B and SonicMQ buttons invoke options not yet implemented.