Transcript Document

Slide 1
AV-TSS 02
Preparing for Your Upgrade to 5.0.x
And More...
Mike Scholman– Invensys
Kathy Schwartz – Invensys
Maria Dutton - Invensys
© 2012 Invensys. All Rights Reserved. The names, logos, and taglines identifying the products and services of Invensys are proprietary marks of
Invensys or its subsidiaries. All third party trademarks and service marks are the proprietary marks of their respective owners.
AV-TSS 02
Preparing for Your Upgrade to 5.0.x
And More...
Slide 3
1. Preparing for your upgrade to 5.0.x
90 minutes
2. Crystal 2008 Printing Considerations
20 minutes
3. Reporting in Avantis.PRO – RAS to InProc
10 minutes
1. Planning for an Upgrade to
Release 5.0.3
Technical Overview
Mike Scholman
Principal Customer Support Engineer
© 2012 Invensys. All Rights Reserved. The names, logos, and taglines identifying the products and services of Invensys are proprietary marks of
Invensys or its subsidiaries. All third party trademarks and service marks are the proprietary marks of their respective owners.
Agenda
• Architecture
• Web Services
• Supported Configurations
• Database
• Authentication
• Administration
• Upgrade Considerations
• Troubleshooting Tips
Slide 5
Architecture
Slide 6
Architecture
Slide 7
Smart Client = Best of Both Worlds
4.2 Classic
4.2 Web Apps
Slide 8
Smart Client vs. Classic
The full Avantis Client is comprised of both
Classic and Smart Client Applications
Smart Client and Classic applications are seamlessly integrated – users flow back and forth
between applications as needed.
Future releases of Avantis will build upon the number of available Smart Client applications
to cover more functional areas and workflows.
Slide 9
Client Deployment Methods
Standalone
ClickOnce
• Similar to 4.2 installs
• Installed from Deployment
Server
• Files are installed to Program
Files\Avantis
• Both Smart Client and Classic
Applications are installed
• Recommended for Terminal
Services/Citrix environments
Slide 10
• Files are installed to each user’s
AppData folder
• Only Smart Client Applications
are installed
– User workflows limited to objects
where Smart Client applications
are currently available.
Standalone Deployment
Installed from Avantis share on the File Server – SETUP.EXE
Slide 11
Click-Once Deployment
Client types
Deployment
Server URL
in Browser
Slide 12
Deployment
Server
Avantis Runtime
What is it?
• The common third party components required to run Avantis.PRO
– Crystal Runtime, Xceed Grid, Infragistics User Interface Components
What are the benefits?
• Installed separately resulting in a smaller installation package
– The ClickOnce application is only 2.3 MB in size
• Smaller maintenance releases
When is it installed?
• The Avantis Runtime is installed when the Administration Tool or
client are installed the first time
Slide 13
Web Services
Slide 14
Web Services
• Separate the Presentation layer from the Business Logic for the Smart
Client Applications
• Used by all Smart Client Applications, Workspace, Integration Toolkit
and Maintenance Map
• The web services are also the preferred approach for extending
Avantis.PRO
• Avantis.ACL, VB Adapters, PServer usage are still supported, however these will
be phased out in the future
• We are working with our partners to migrate their products to the new web
services
• Older web services still exist to support Condition Manager
Slide 15
Avantis Class Library - The Business
Logic Layer
• The web services now give us a single point of contact to access the
business logic.
• The business logic is removed from the User Interface
• The presentation and data layers are separate. No need to send the
entire schema on each action, only the data that has changed (we will
be building on this in future releases)
• Other applications can use the business logic, for example, ITK,
Approvals, and Condition Manager
Slide 16
Installation Notes
Slide 17
•
If you plan to install the Web Components Server (web services) on
a Windows 2008 server, ensure that you add the Application Server
and Web Server (IIS) roles and the ASP.NET, .NET Extensibility, and
IIS Management Console role services through the Server Manager
utility. For more information on adding roles and role services
through the Windows 2008 Server Manager utility, refer to your
Microsoft documentation.
•
If Windows Server 2003 is detected, a message will notify you of
the Web Service extensions that the install needs to enable. You can
choose to accept the extensions and continue with the install or, if
you do not wish to continue, you can choose to exit.
Logging
WebService.log
• Default Location: C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Avantis\PRO\WebService
• Logging level configured in
C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Avantis\PRO\WebService\Web.config
– Verbose or None: <add key="LoggingLevel" value="None"/>
CommonService.log
C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Avantis\PRO\WebApps\WebServices\logs
Slide 18
IIS Application Pool Advanced Settings
Slide 19
Testing using LoginPlain
Launch Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager
Browse to the Avantis Web Site and select Avantis
Change to the Content View
Right-Click Session.asmx and select Browse
From the list of operations, select LoginPlain
Slide 20
Testing using LoginPlain
Enter your login parameters – then click Invoke
Example:
Slide 21
Parameter
Value
loginName
mcadmin
password
security
envName
demo
siteName
mysite
language
ENG
licenseName
avWebDesktop
Supported Configurations
Slide 22
Avantis Supported Configurations
The 5.0.3 release introduces support for the latest Microsoft Windows
Operating Systems. Differences from prior versions can present
challenges when installing and administering Avantis.
Slide 23
Supported Operating Systems
Servers
Clients
• Microsoft Windows 2003 R2 with
SP2, Standard or Enterprise
• Microsoft Windows 7
Professional or Enterprise
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008
SP2 or R2, Standard or
Enterprise
• Microsoft Windows Vista
Business SP2
• Microsoft Windows XP
Professional SP3
• Microsoft Windows 2003 R2 with
SP2, Standard or Enterprise
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008
SP2 or R2, Standard or
Enterprise
Slide 24
Virtualization
• Avantis.PRO can be deployed in a virtual environment with most
popular virtualization tools. Microsoft and VMware are the preferred
vendors of the Avantis.PRO Quality Assurance and Support teams.
Although Avantis.PRO has not been certified for use on virtualized
machines, virtualization may be beneficial as it allows you to quickly
deploy, backup and maintain test and production environments.
• If you wish to deploy Avantis.PRO in a virtual environment, ensure
you allocate the appropriate level of system resources. Failure to
reserve enough RAM or CPU power will result in performance
degradation.
Slide 25
64-bit vs. 32-bit
• On 64-bit operating systems, 32-bit applications install to
C:\Program Files (x86)
• Registry settings for 32-bit applications are stored under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node
Slide 26
XP Client with 2008 Middle Tier
• We have encountered a few sites where clients had trouble
connecting from Windows XP workstations to a 2008 Middle Tier
• The site and language populated but they could not login successfully
• The zederror.log it listed a connection problem with the message “a
security package specific error occurred.”
• After trying several things we searched Google and found several
hits, including one from Microsoft, related to their ‘Product Studio
middle-tier’ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/969442/en-us
• The Microsoft HotFix for this problem resolved the connection issue
Slide 27
Log File Locations
Windows XP / 2003
Slide 28
Windows 7 /2008
AvInstall.log
C:\Documents and
Settings\All
Users\Application
Data\Avantis
zederr.log
C:\Documents and
Settings\<User>\Loca
l Settings\Application
Data\Avantis
SCPRO.exe.log
SCWorkspace.exe.log
C:\Documents and
C:\Users\<User>\App
Settings\<User>\Appli Data\Roaming\Avantis
cation
\Avantis.PRO\logs
Data\Avantis\Avantis.
PRO\logs
WebService.log
C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Avantis\PRO\WebService
C:\Users\<User>\App
Data\Local\Avantis
Looking at ODBC drivers on a 64bit machine
• In a Windows 2008 (64 bit) box, if you launch ODBC administrator,
either from the administration tools or by typing odbcad32 in the
run/search command, it doesn’t show all the oracle drivers, etc… that
are installed on the box.
• To launch the one that you need to see all the drivers you need to go
to \Windows\syswow64 and double click on the ODBCAD32.exe
located there
• This then launches an ODBC administrator that does show all the
drivers available for DSN’s. Just as an FYI, you have to make sure to
shut down any other ODBC administration tools before you try and
launch the one in the wow64 directory. Because they all use the
same name, for whatever reason, Windows just brings the active one
back into focus.
Slide 29
Windows UAC
When performing administrative tasks on 2008 and Windows 7, it is
often necessary to right click on the application shortcut and select
‘Run As Administrator’
Example:
iisreset from the ‘Run’ prompt vs. Administrative Command Prompt
Slide 30
IIS 7
• On a Windows 2008 server, ensure that you add the Application
Server and Web Server (IIS) roles and the ASP.NET, .NET
Extensibility, and IIS Management Console role services through the
Server Manager utility.
• Windows Authentication (required for Trusted) is also an optional
Role Service which is not installed by default.
Slide 31
COM+ Network Access
If you plan to install the COM+ Applications on a Windows 2008 server,
ensure that you add the Application Server role and the COM+ Network
Access role service through the Server Manager utility. For more
information on adding roles and role services through the Windows
2008 Server Manager utility, refer to your Microsoft documentation.
Slide 32
Database
Slide 33
Supported Database Platforms
• SQL Server 2005 SP2 or higher
• SQL Server 2008 SP1 or higher
• SQL Server 2008 R2
• Oracle Database Server 10g R2 (10.2.0.4 or higher)
• Oracle Database Server 11g R1 (11.1.0.6.0 or higher)
• Oracle Database Server 11g R2 Patch 10 (11.2.0.1.10 only)
• If you are using Oracle 11g R2, you must install patch 10 or Avantis.PRO will not
function as designed.
• If you use a 64-bit operating system to host your database platform,
you must still use the 32-bit driver and client to connect to the 64-bit
server.
Slide 34
Database Platform Notes
• The Database Creation wizard is now strictly for MS SQL Server.
• Avantis.PRO only supports the native 2005 and 2008 dbcomptlvl
levels (9.0 and 10.0 respectively)
• Oracle databases are created from database templates provided on
the File Server
Slide 35
BLOB Data (Attachments and Canvas)
• Migrate Avantis BLOB data to LOB data types. In previous versions of
Avantis, BLOB data was stored in LONG RAW. This data type is being
deprecated by Oracle. BLOBS were offered as a data type as of
Oracle 9i.
• In Avantis.PRO 5.x, blobs will be migrated to the new BLOB data type
for both Oracle 10g and 11g databases.
Support for Oracle 11g 64 bit
• Support for Oracle 11g 64 bit was added in 5.x. The net effect is
improved performance due to greater access to memory and
improved clock cycles. A 32 bit client is still required for database
connectivity.
Slide 36
Database Creation Assistant (DBCA)
• ASM (automatic storage management), automatic scheduling and
flashback database are supported through the Avantis template.
Slide 37
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Sparse
Columns
Sparse columns are supported in SQL Server 2008 to reduce storage
for columns that contains a large amount of NULLs. Due to
inheritance, many of the columns in Avantis tables contain a lot of null
data. For example, there will be very few cancelled or suspended or
held objects.
The following columns will be marked sparse.
• apri_status_dttm, apri_rna_oi, apri_statusemp_oi, susp_oi,
sendinforef_oi, oeuser_oi, Hld_held_date, Hld_heldbyuser_oi,
Hld_hld_oi, Hld_realease_date, ci_cnc_date, ci_cncl_oi, ci_user_oi
(Note: The customer can mark other columns sparse based on the
column usage.)
Slide 38
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Table
Compression
SQL Server 2008 introduces row and page compression for indexes
that is available only in Enterprise and Developer editions.
The following tables in Avantis.PRO, will be compressed:
• MEVALUELK, MEWTVALUELK, MEWTACTGVALUES
• MAINTACTGVALUES, CHARGEINF, WOACTVLNK
• WOTASKAVTVTRN, WORKTASKACTV, WOACTGVAL
• GLTRANS, LABORTRANS, INVTRANS
These tables consume more than 50% of the database size. A
reduction of up to 50% of the size of these tables is possible.
• Sparse columns will not be applied to these tables.
Slide 39
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Named
Instances
Named instances
are supported in
Avantis.PRO 5.0.x
Slide 40
SQL Server Named Instance
Authentication
Slide 41
Authentication Methods – Database
versus Windows
Database
• Login dialog appears, user enters username, password, environment,
site, and language every time
• Database server is checked to see if the username and password are
allowed access to login to the database
• If allowed, then the Avantis login name that matches the username
given is logged in
Windows authentication
• Login appears first time only - user enters username, password,
environment, site, and language. Once set, then at the next login the
user will be logged in automatically, using the windows login name as
credentials. The windows login name must match a valid login name.
Slide 42
Authentication Methods
LDAP
• Login dialog appears, user enters username, password, environment,
site, and language
• LDAP server is checked to see if the username and password are
allowed access
• If found in the LDAP tree, then the login name then the matching
Avantis login field is returned and the user is logged in. e.g.
– Windows Username = John.Smith, Avantis login = JSMITH
– Login to Avantis as John.Smith, the middle tier will know that it is an LDAP
environment, locate John.Smith in the LDAP tree under the Base DN, return
the Avantis login attribute, then login to Avantis.PRO as the employee with
jsmith in the login name of the Employee. When John Smith is no longer
authorized in LDAP then they will no longer be authorized in Avantis.PRO
Slide 43
Authentication Methods
LDAP
• Implicit
– Login appears first time only Once set, then at the next login the user will be
logged in automatically, using the windows login name as credentials. The
windows login name must match a valid LDAP login name.
• Explicit
– Login appears each time, user can enter any login and password (useful for
shared computers)
Slide 44
Authentication Methods – Employee
Object
Employee Number: 1234
Name:
John Smith
Login Name:
JSMITH
Slide 45
Authentication – Login dialog
• The default Avantis.PRO login dialog now uses the Avantis.PRO web
service for session management.
• The login dialog still looks the same:
Slide 46
Authentication Methods - Comparison
Slide 47
Database
Windows
Authentication
LDAP
Easiest to configure
Most complex to setup
for the web services
No additional setup for
web server required
Direct database access
available from all clients
Only super user account
has access
Only super user account
has access
Users must login to
Avantis
Single sign on
Supports single sign on
(implicit) or prompting
(explicit)
Must match Database
login
Must match your
Windows login
Allows logins to be mixed
case and spaces e.g.
Jean Valjéan or Scott
O’Reilly
Authentication Methods - Fields
Slide 48
Data
Database
Windows
Authentication
LDAP
Username
Avantis Login
Name
Value of
%USERNAME%
from the
operating system
Value in LDAP
that matches the
LDAP login name
attribute
Password
Password
specified at the
database
Windows
password
LDAP password
Service accounts?
Must create
database account
for Avantis
services
Must create
database and
domain account
for Avantis
services
Must create
database account
and LDAP account
for Avantis
services
Authorization
Done via Avantis
Security profiles
Done via Avantis
Security profiles
Done via Avantis
Security profiles
Administration
• Configuration / Settings / Administration Tool
• Security Profiles & Desktops
• Logging
Slide 49
Administration Tool
The primary purpose of the Avantis Administration Tool is to
provide you with a visual hierarchy structure of the environments,
the various middle tier components and users associated with them
and manage a variety of plug-ins that allow you to configure and
deploy global client settings.
Slide 50
Administration Tasks
With the Administration Tool you can:
– Create, modify, or delete Avantis.PRO environments
– Change the default middle tier components
– Manage which clients connect to which middle tier components
– Maintain notification settings
– Maintain data extraction settings
– Maintain global and smart client settings.
Slide 51
Modify Configuration Files
The file server stores configuration information in the following files
that can be modified using the Administration Tool:
– Environ.ini - Contains a list of environments and non-environment-specific
information about the Avantis.PRO installation.
– Global.ini - Contains information specific to each environment, such as the
environment name, description editor, connection retry and timeout
information, and available reports.
– AMMT.dsn - Contains ODBC driver information for the middle tier database
connection.
– AMC.dsn - Contains ODBC driver information required for the client
database connection.
– MachineInventory.xml - Stores information on which clients use which
middle tier components, and which middle tier components act as the
default components.
Slide 52
Configure Client Connections
The Administration Tool allows you to configure client connections to
four key middle tier components:
– Cabinet - Manages cabinet queries and data with the client.
– Cache - Contains frequently used information.
– Financial Bridge - Validates G/L information with Protean. For more
information, refer to the Avantis.PRO/Protean Integration Guide.
– Session Server - Facilitates connections during an Avantis.PRO session.
Slide 53
Admin Tool Plugins
The Administration Tool allows you to configure other plug-ins:
– EAM Processor Settings - Retrieves entity hierarchy and open work task
information from the Avantis.PRO database, calculates the health index data
and pushes the data back into the Avantis.PRO database.
– Notification Services - Notifies users when specified criteria is met; for
example, monitor specific values in Avantis.PRO data and trigger a
notification based on a state change.
– Information Manager Settings - Synchronizes linked item and parts list
descriptions based on the interval specified.
– Integration Toolkit - Handles the extraction of data from Avantis.PRO to
third-party systems and the loading of external data to Avantis.PRO.
Slide 54
Administration Tool Benefits
• Simplifies the installation procedure
• One stop shopping for configuration editing (REGEDIT)
• No more need to launch Add/Remove Programs or special utilities to change
user names, passwords in LSA Registry, etc.
• New configuration options can be added easily and will be installed with
individual product features
– For example, install Notifications, and the Notification plug-in will appear in the
Admin Tool
– Uninstall Notifications, the plug-in for Notifications is removed
• Goal is to have all user-configurable options for all Avantis products
accessible from within the Administration Tool
Slide 55
Security Profiles – Default Form Layout
• Custom View Schemas can be
created to change the layout of
the Smart Client forms.
• Within the Security Profile, the
default form layout can be
selected for each Smart Client
object.
Slide 56
Desktops – Use Classic or Smart Client
Within an Avantis Desktop, you
can choose how each application
will launch – Classic or Smart
Client
Slide 57
Desktops – Use Classic or Smart Client
• Classic applications can also be configured as the default user
interface for all or selective objects by manipulating the
UIOBJECT and DTFELEMENT database tables. Please contact
Avantis Support for assistance.
• Note that some applications (ie. Maintenance Map) are only
delivered as Smart Clients.
Slide 58
Logging
• The Classic Client still logs messages to both the zederr.log and the
Windows Application Event Log
• The Web Services log to WebService.log
• Smart Clients log to SCPRO.exe.log, SCWorkspace.exe.log
• You can set the logging level to use in the SCPRO.exe.config,
SCWorkspace.exe.config and web.config files by defining one of the
following values for the LoggingLevel parameter:
– None - do not log
– Verbose - provide extended logging information.
You cannot change the logging level in the web.config file while
users are running the smart client applications. If you do change
the logging level, users will lose their connection to Avantis.PRO
and will need to restart the application.
Slide 59
Log File Locations
Slide 60
Windows XP / 2003
Windows 7 /2008
AvInstall.log
C:\Documents and
Settings\All
Users\Application
Data\Avantis
C:\ProgramData\Avan
tis
zederr.log
C:\Documents and
Settings\<User>\Loca
l Settings\Application
Data\Avantis
C:\Users\<User>\App
Data\Local\Avantis
SCPRO.exe.log
SCWorkspace.exe.log
C:\Documents and
C:\Users\<User>\App
Settings\<User>\Appli Data\Roaming\Avantis
cation
\Avantis.PRO\logs
Data\Avantis\Avantis.
PRO\logs
WebService.log
C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Avantis\PRO\WebService
Reports
• 5.0.3 uses Crystal Reports Server & Designer 2008 SP3
• Existing custom reports will need to be tested for compatibility as
part of your upgrade planning process
Slide 61
Printing
What is required to print from Smart Clients?
• A PDF reader is required to print all reports
• Reports are compiled as PDF files on the web server in a directory,
and then retrieved by the client
• The path is:
\wwwroot\Avantis\PRO\WebService\GeneratedReportFiles
On the Web Services machine, permission must be granted
allowing the Application Pool user read/write access to both the
GeneratedReportFiles and the Windows TEMP folder
Slide 62
Upgrade Considerations
Slide 63
Upgrade Tips
• Review, understand and follow the Administrator's Guide upgrade
instructions. Release to release, these instructions can change.
– Ensure you upgrade all of your middle tiers and install the Web Services
before launching the first client
• Ensure you have a valid license file for the new version (contact
Avantis.PRO Support to obtain)
• If using Windows authentication, consider moving to LDAP implicit
You may want to test the Web Services first using the LoginPlain
method described earlier before working with the Smart Client. If
the Web Services are not working, the Smart Client will also fail.
Slide 64
Upgrade Installation Order
1. Upgrade the File Server
2. Install the web components
3. Upgrade the middle tier
4. Upgrade the license server
5. Upgrade the processors
6. Upgrade the report server
7. Upgrade the clients
8. Install the Deployment Server (if required)
9. Install Click Once clients (if desired)
Slide 65
Troubleshooting Tips
Slide 66
Troubleshooting Tips
Web Services
• http://localhost/Avantis/Session.asmx?op=LoginPlain
• Logging levels for WebServices.log – Verbose or None
License server issues
• Ensure you have a valid license file for the new version
• The Maintenance Map and Contractor Services Management modules
are new, and require a separate license suite.
• iavantis.log – verify license usage
Slide 67
Troubleshooting Tips
Help, About
• A way to find out all the information in one place.
New Workspace icon
• Remember, if the new icon is in the tray the workspace is still loaded,
you don’t need to launch again.
New controls, especially in cabinets
• The UI now has object selectors everywhere. In the cabinets clicking
on a value will bring up the value list, not the current record.
Slide 68
Questions?
Slide 69
2. Crystal Reports 2008 with
Avantis.PRO 5.0
Presented by Kathy Schwartz
10/11/12
© 2012 Invensys. All Rights Reserved. The names, logos, and taglines identifying the products and services of Invensys are proprietary marks of
Invensys or its subsidiaries. All third party trademarks and service marks are the proprietary marks of their respective owners.
Overview
• Avantis 5.0.3 Report Architecture
• Installation
• Report Migration
• Smart Client Issues
• New in 2008
• Database Changes
Slide 71
Avantis 5.0 Report Architecture
• Pre Avantis 4.2 depended on CRPE32.dll API for report functionality
• CRP32.dll deprecated, no longer supported or shipped
• Avantis framework updated to accommodate Business Objects
client/server architecture in the form of Embedded RAS server with
client side SDK solution or InProc to be used when you don’t want to
use RAS.
• With Smart Clients, reports now also need to be viewed through the
web server.
Slide 72
Installation
• At Installation you have 2 options:
• Install the RAS Server
• Choose to use InProc (do not install
RAS Server)
• In the environment properties
• For RAS specify the server
• For InProc, this should say InProc
(must be typed as shown)
Slide 73
Report Migration
• Converting reports requires opening and saving the report in Crystal
2008 Professional designer which ships with Avantis 5.0.3
• Open report in Crystal XI and save in new environment’s custom reports folder
(objrpt directory).
• Re-map tables using Database | Set Location. Still requires reset on individual
tables.
• Verify Database (ensure all database schema changes get updated in the report).
• Examine parameters. Defaults may need minor modifications.
• Once saved some reports are ready to run, some may still require
some minor updates or modifications
Slide 74
Smart Clients
To run reports with the Smart Clients, if your web server is not on your
file server, you need to copy all the custom reports over to the Web
Server.
They need to be placed in the following folder:
<drive):\inetpub\wwwroot\Avantis\PRO\Environ
It becomes just as easy to copy the whole environ directory over.
Slide 75
New in Crystal 2008
Flexible pagination
New pagination features allow report designers to customize page size
and easily control page breaking after N records/groups. A single
report can combine portrait- and landscape-oriented pages, and the
white space at the end of groups can be removed by compressing the
page footers. These features improve the online report-consumption
experience by making reports easier to read.
Slide 76
New 2008 continued…
Powerful cross-tabs
Insert summary, variance, and any other custom calculation into a
cross-tab row or column. Custom calculations makes cross-tabs
more powerful than before and can be used in reports that benefit
from a table structure—especially financial reports. The cross-tab
table structure makes reports much faster to build and maintain.
This feature also provides powerful benefits to cross-tab-based
charts, because custom formulas in the cross-tab can be visualized
directly in the charts.
Slide 77
New 2008 cont…
Built-in barcode support
Generate barcodes with only a
few clicks of the mouse by using
the new "Turn To Barcode"
function in the context menu.
Easily convert fields to Code39
barcodes without coding and
extra steps. Additional barcode
fonts are available from thirdparty barcode vendors.
Slide 78
New 2008 cont…
Enhanced designer features
Improved report designer productivity is provided with new features
such as global formula search, duplicate formula, duplicate running
total, auto-complete field names, and Find in Field Explorer.
Slide 79
Database Changes
Please refer to the reports in the Avantis Report Cabinet.
For issues with existing reports:
For new fields/reports:
Dropped Columns
New Columns
Dropped Tables
New Tables
Changed Columns
Add-on Schema
Approvals Schema
Base Schema
Slide 80
Questions?
Slide 81
3. Reporting in Avantis.PRO
RAS vs. InProc
Maria Dutton
Senior Customer Engineer
Avantis
© 2012 Invensys. All Rights Reserved. The names, logos, and taglines identifying the products and services of Invensys are proprietary marks of
Invensys or its subsidiaries. All third party trademarks and service marks are the proprietary marks of their respective owners.
Reporting in Avantis.PRO
Agenda
• Supported Printing Options for Avantis
• Difference between RAS and InProc printing
• Avantis Report Load Process for Crystal 11/2008
• Avantis Report Server Component
• Reports settings
• Crystal RAS Server
• Crystal Designer
• Custom Report Migration to Crystal 11/2008
• Avantis Custom Functions
Slide 83
Reporting in Avantis.PRO
Supported Printing Options for Avantis
Avantis 4.0 to 4.1.5
• Crystal 9.0
– Printing from client using crp32.dll
Avantis 4.2.x
• Crystal 11 and InProc (compatible with 4.2.2 and above)
– Centralized Crystal RAS server
− InProc uses local Crystal Report binary
Avantis 5.0.x
• Crystal 11/2008 (5.0.2 onwards)
− Centralized Crystal RAS server
− InProc uses local Crystal Report binary
Slide 84
Reporting in Avantis.PRO
Difference between RAS and InProc printing
• Both RAS and InProc print using .NET
– Both encounter short delay on the initial load of the .NET library
– Disable IE setting “Check for publishers’ certificate revocation”
– Performance issues related to printing in 4.2 have been reported by many
customer using Crystal RAS.
• InProc printing does not require installation of a Central
Report Server
– Processing of reports is preformed locally by the client Crystal Reports
printing binary
– InProc printing is not as affected by network traffic/speed
– From 5.0.2 onwards InProc is supported with Smart Clients as well as
Classic.
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Reporting in Avantis.PRO
Avantis Report Load Process from Crystal 11/2008
1. Load .Net Run Time Environment (Client)
2. Run Through Managed Code to get to .NET Crystal Reports API (Client)
3. Travel over network pipeline to communicate with RAS (Server)
4. Setting Connection Information (ODBC, Native …) (Server)
Hire
5. Update Table Connection Info (Server)
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Reporting in Avantis.PRO
Avantis Report Load Process from Crystal 11/2008
6. Saving Updated Report to Disk (Server)
7. Launch .NET viewer (avcrviewer.exe) application & execute report (Client)
8. Retrieve Record Set from database into report (Client/Server)
9. Process and format dataset and present in report (Client)
Hire
10. Examine report in Viewer (can
export, print, drill down etc…)
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Reporting in Avantis.PRO
Avantis Report Server Component
• Must be installed for both InProc
and RAS solutions.
• Installs u2lkern.dll to the
Business Objects directory.
• U2lkern.dll is used for Avantis
Custom Report Functions.
• Report Server component needs
to be installed after the Crystal
RAS server is installed.
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Reporting in Avantis.PRO
Reports settings – Environment Settings
• Report Server settings are
configured globally on the
Environment Reports Tab.
– Select Interface Object from dropdown
– In the Central Report Server field, enter
the RAS server name or InProc.
• InProc can also be set on a per
user basis in the Registry.
– HKLM|SOFTWARE | Marcam | Asset
Management Client | Reports |
ReportServer
– string key value = InProc
Slide 89
Reporting in Avantis.PRO
Crystal RAS Server
• RAS server can be installed on
the FS/MTS or on a separate
server.
– Requires Avantis Report Server
Component.
– By default, Central Configuration
Manager installs and runs under
the local system account.
• This needs to be updated to a
domain account.
– Runs as a Service.
Slide 90
Reporting in Avantis.PRO
Crystal RAS Server
Slide 91
Reporting in Avantis.PRO
Crystal Designer
• A single licensed version of
Crystal Designer is supplied by
Avantis.
• For use with InProc, Crystal
Designer XI needs to be
upgraded to at least SP4 for
printing to function from their
Avantis Client.
Slide 92
Reporting in Avantis.PRO
Custom Report Migration to Crystal 11/2008
• To convert custom reports to Crystal 11/2008, opened the report in
Crystal Designer 11 and saved in the new format.
– Reports will then need to be run from Avantis to confirm functionality and compatibility.
• All custom reports are saved to the objrpt folder in the Environ
directory on the File Server.
• All Avantis standard report are installed to the Reports directory in
the Avantis Share and they are replaced during the upgrades.
• Most common issues with report upgrade are found to be related to
database schema changes.
– Schema change reports are included with Avantis, on the Administrators desktop.
Slide 93
Reporting in Avantis.PRO
Avantis Custom Functions
When upgrade your custom reports, it may be necessary to update the
format of your Avantis Custom Functions.
Print Blob
• PrintBlob (‘tablename’, ToText({fieldname}))
– The Print Blob does not preview, it will only print out and if there is no OLE
canvas object will print a message stating that.
To Convert UTC Date and Time to Local Date and Time
• DateTimeValue(CF(“NullDateAndTime”,ToText(<field>,””,””)))
– These are all customized Avantis functions so you must have an Avantis
client on the machine for these to work.
Slide 94
Questions?
Slide 95