Network Installation Steps

This section explains a network installation of WebFOCUS App Studio. In a network installation, WebFOCUS App Studio is installed on a single shared machine, rather than each developer desktop. Developers then launch WebFOCUS App Studio on their desktops by executing files that have been installed on the shared machine. This simplifies administration, installation, and upgrading, and allows all developers to use a common preconfigured environment.

A network installation of WebFOCUS App Studio does not include full WebFOCUS Client connectivity. After installing WebFOCUS App Studio, you must configure it to access a WebFOCUS environment somewhere on your network. WebFOCUS App Studio then uses the web server configuration, application server configuration, WebFOCUS Client connectivity, and WebFOCUS Reporting Server of that WebFOCUS environment.

The WebFOCUS App Studio network installation involves the following steps:

Ensuring Network Requirements Are Met.
Installing ibi WebFOCUS App Studio.
Configuring ibi WebFOCUS App Studio.
Setting Up Access to the Network Installation .
Installing ibi WebFOCUS App Studio Network Shortcuts.
Launching ibi WebFOCUS App Studio.

Ensuring Network Requirements Are Met

A network installation of WebFOCUS App Studio can consist of three types of machines. Each machine has its own requirements.

WebFOCUS Machine Requirements
WebFOCUS requirements and installation steps are provided in the ibi™ WebFOCUS® and ReportCaster Installation and Configuration manual for your platform.

Note: The release of WebFOCUS must be the same release number as WebFOCUS App Studio.
WebFOCUS App Studio (Shared) Machine Requirements
WebFOCUS App Studio can be installed on the same machine as WebFOCUS or on a separate machine. The requirements for a network installation of WebFOCUS App Studio are the same as those of a non-networked installation. For more information on requirements, see Installing ibi WebFOCUS App Studio.

Since multiple users can access this machine over the network, you must use a machine that supports multiple connections and frequent network access.
WebFOCUS App Studio End User (Remote) Machine Requirements
Machines from which you run WebFOCUS App Studio off the network must meet the following requirements:
- Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 2022, Windows 2019, and Windows 2016 Server editions.
- Adobe Reader. Adobe Reader XI (11) and Adobe Reader X (10) are certified with WebFOCUS App Studio.
- Administrator Rights. Administrator rights are required during the initial launch of the network version from the client machine to set up required registry entries in the local machine area.
- Enabling Multiple Browser Support in WebFOCUS App Studio. Developers can use Chrome™, Firefox®, or Edge® when running reports.
  To use Chrome, Firefox, or Edge, the product requires components that are delivered with the .NET Framework version 4.0. This version of .NET is preinstalled on most machines. If your machine does not have this .NET version it can be installed by downloading the latest Microsoft .NET Framework 4.x Developer Pack from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=42637
  To verify that the required .NET Framework is installed on the client machine, confirm that the following directory exists:
  %SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\
  where:
  %SystemRoot%
  Is the location of the Windows folder on your machine (for example, C:\Windows).
  Note: This directory must contain the RegAsm.exe file.

WebFOCUS App Studio is built using Visual Studio and requires the Visual C++ Redistributable Package for Visual Studio 2012. The Visual C++ Redistributable Packages install run-time components of Visual C++ libraries that are required to run applications developed using Visual Studio 2012 on a computer that does not have Visual Studio 2012 installed. Most machines have the required libraries. However, when running the product, if your system does not have the required updates to allow this application to run, then you receive the following message:

The program can’t start because mfc110.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem.

This application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect. Reinstalling the application may fix the problem.

To correct this issue, download and install the latest update Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2012 x64 version from https://www.microsoft.com.

Installing ibi WebFOCUS App Studio

Install WebFOCUS App Studio as explained in Installing ibi WebFOCUS App Studio. Be aware that for a network installation, you do not have the option to install or configure Tomcat, or other supported configurations.

Configuring ibi WebFOCUS App Studio

To configure a network installation of WebFOCUS App Studio, you must set up access to instances of WebFOCUS that are installed on your network. You do this by defining WebFOCUS environments.

Define ibi WebFOCUS Environment

Procedure

If WebFOCUS and WebFOCUS App Studio are on the same machine, start the WebFOCUS Reporting Server and ensure that the web and/or application servers are started.
Click the Start button on the taskbar.
In the list of installed applications, expand the ibi app.
Select the WebFOCUS 93 App Studio folder.

This opens a new File Explorer window, with all of the product shortcuts.
Launch WebFOCUS App Studio.
On the Home tab, in the Utilities group, click Environments to open the Environments List dialog box, as shown in the following image.

The Environments List dialog lets you define connections to WebFOCUS environments.

The Environments List dialog shows all WebFOCUS environments that have been defined for WebFOCUS App Studio. If you have previously defined a WebFOCUS environment, it will be shown here. Otherwise, only the localhost environment displays.
Click the localhost environment and then click Properties to edit the default settings.

The WebFOCUS Environment Properties window opens.
Change the Description field to a name end users must see when they launch WebFOCUS App Studio from remote machines. The name localhost could be misleading, since they are on their local machines.
Change the Host Name and Port to access the web server where WebFOCUS is configured. Do not use localhost for the Host Name, even if WebFOCUS is installed on the same machine as WebFOCUS App Studio. When end users launch WebFOCUS App Studio, localhost resolves to the end user machine, and not the WebFOCUS App Studio machine.
Select Allow Host Aliases if you want to configure multiple WebFOCUS instances that have been installed on the same host machine.
Optionally, you can specify the connection timeout, in seconds. You can specify a connection timeout between 120 seconds and 240 seconds if you are experiencing a connection failure because of timeouts. The default connection timeout is 60 seconds.
Optionally, you can specify the Login Timeout to indicate how long WebFOCUS App Studio should wait for the login credentials to be validated. The default time is 15 seconds. You can set this to a higher value, if necessary. You can configure this setting for each environment.
Click through the panes of the WebFOCUS Environment Properties dialog box to change any default options that are customized in your environment.
Click OK when you have set up the default environment.

If you wish to define additional WebFOCUS environments, click Add on the Environments List.
Click OK on the Environments List when you have defined all your environments.
If prompted, sign in to the WebFOCUS Reporting Server.
Ensure that your WebFOCUS environments are accessible through the Environments Tree panel.
Stop and start the product again to ensure that you can reconnect to the environment and to confirm operability.

Setting Up Access to the Network Installation

For developers to run WebFOCUS App Studio off the network, you must complete the following on the WebFOCUS App Studio machine:

Set Up Network Shares.
Copy the ibi WebFOCUS Enviroments File (wfscom.xml).
Configure the Network Settings.

Set Up Network Shares

You must set up a network share before launching WebFOCUS App Studio from another machine. If this is not practical for security reasons, then turn the AppStudio93 directory into a network share.

Note: If the share name is different from ibi, ensure that the new share name is used in the runfocshell.dat configuration file, as described in Configure the Network Settings.

To turn the ibi directory into a network share:

Procedure

In Windows, open File Explorer.
Navigate to and right-click the ibi directory.
Choose Properties.
Select the Sharing tab.
Click Advanced Sharing.
Select Share this folder and type a Share name.
Click Permissions and assign permissions for the ibi share directory to Read & Execute and set permissions for the WebFOCUS App Studio temp folder to Write access. The WebFOCUS App Studio temp folder is
```
drive:\ibi\AppStudionn\temp
```
where:

drive

Is the directory in which WebFOCUS App Studio is installed.

nn

Is the WebFOCUS App Studio release number.
Grant access to the share locations for users accessing the network installation. You can add users individually or you can add users to a group. A group is easier to maintain, and you can grant the required privileges to the group.
Click OK.

Copy the ibi WebFOCUS Enviroments File (wfscom.xml)

Copy the WebFOCUS environment settings (wfscom.xml) into the AppStudio93\bin directory so they are available to remote WebFOCUS App Studio users.

When you define WebFOCUS environments, settings are stored in the following location for Windows:

drive:\Users\user_id\AppData\Roaming\Information Builders\wfscom.xml

where:

user_id

Is your Windows user ID.

Note: This file and directory may not be visible, by default. To see this directory, open File Explorer, click Tools, select Folder Options, and then select the View tab. Select Show hidden files and folders and click OK.

For remote machines to access the wfscom.xml file, you must copy it to a shared directory. The default location to use is:

drive:\ibi\AppStudio93\bin

When running WebFOCUS App Studio off the network, a developer can use settings in this file or settings stored on the developer machine. The first time WebFOCUS App Studio is run off the network, the settings in this file are used. When settings in this file are used, this wfscom.xml file is placed in the end user /Application Data/Information Builders/ directory on the remote machine each time WebFOCUS App Studio is run off the network. If all developers use the settings in this file, they always see the same WebFOCUS environments.

Caution:

If a previous copy of the wfscom.xml file is on the machine of a remote user, it is overwritten.
If a remote user changes WebFOCUS environment settings while accessing WebFOCUS App Studio from the network, those changes are only saved to the end user machine. They are not available to other users. WebFOCUS App Studio overwrites it when launches for the next time, unless the user chooses not to update the environments from the network as explained in Customizing ibi WebFOCUS Environments.
To change WebFOCUS environment settings for all users, you must change them on the shared WebFOCUS App Studio machine and not from a remote machine. Then, you must recopy the wfscom.xml file to the AppStudio93\bin directory so it is available when WebFOCUS App Studio is run from a remote machine.

Configure the Network Settings

Settings for when WebFOCUS App Studio is launched off the network are in the following file:

drive:\ibi\AppStudio93\bin\runfocshell.dat

You must edit this file before launching WebFOCUS App Studio from another machine.

Procedure

Open the runfocshell.dat file in a text editor, such as Notepad.

Find the following line:

REGSTRING:LastUsedServer=Name to be supplied by Administrator

Change this line to specify the name of the default WebFOCUS environment. For example:
```
REGSTRING:LastUsedServer=WFEnvironment
```
You should have set up this environment, as explained in Define ibi WebFOCUS Environment.
Ensure that the correct host name, share name, and UNC directory path appears for accessing the AppStudio93 directory. The host name is set by the installation, but you should confirm it and ensure the share name is correct. Several lines contain this. For example:
```
WFSCOM:\\hostname\Ibi\AppStudio93\bin\wfscom.xml 
SHLPATH:\\hostname\Ibi\AppStudio93\bin
```
If the host name is incorrect or you changed the share name, update all lines where the host name appears.

Be aware that the WFSCOM value specifies where remote machines look for the wfscom.xml file. You can change the name and location of this file if needed, but the file name must end in .xml. The file specified is copied to a remote user's /Application Data/Information Builders/ directory on the remote machine. The file name on the remote machine will always be wfscom.xml regardless of the file specified by the WFSCOM value.
Save and exit the file.

Result

Most of the settings in this file are created by the installation and should not be edited unless directed by Customer Support.

Caution: The DLL and OCX files listed in runfocshell.dat are loaded on remote machines when WebFOCUS App Studio is loaded on those machines.

Installing ibi WebFOCUS App Studio Network Shortcuts

An installation program is provided to create shortcuts to launch WebFOCUS App Studio. Since no disk space is needed on the remote machine, this is referred to as a Zero-Footprint WebFOCUS App Studio deployment.

To install shortcuts, perform the following on machines from which you wish to run WebFOCUS App Studio off the network:

Procedure

Open File Explorer.
In the Address bar, type the host name of the machine where WebFOCUS App Studio is installed using the Universal Naming Convention (UNC). This has the form:
```
\\hostname
```
where:

hostname

Is the host name or IP address of the machine where WebFOCUS App Studio is installed.

You should see a list of shared directories including the ibi shared directory you created.

Navigate the shared directory to:

\\hostname\ibi\AppStudio93\Utilities\Local_setup

Run the setup.exe application to install WebFOCUS App Studio shortcuts.

The installation wizard launches and a Welcome window opens.
Click Next at the Welcome window.

You are prompted to create shortcuts.
Select which shortcuts to create and click Next.

Shortcuts are created.
Click Finish.

Result

Note: To remove the shortcuts from the remote machine, use the Control Panel. The shortcuts appear as Zero-Footprint WebFOCUS App Studio. Be aware that this does not remove the registry settings or files described in Network ibi WebFOCUS App Studio Settings on Remote Machines.

Launching ibi WebFOCUS App Studio

After installing the WebFOCUS App Studio shortcuts, you can start WebFOCUS App Studio from the Start menu by selecting Zero-Footprint WebFOCUS App Studio.

If you receive other errors, review the steps in Network ibi WebFOCUS App Studio Settings on Remote Machines and ensure that WFSCOM is defined correctly in runfocshell.dat.

Note: WebFOCUS App Studio is built using Visual Studio and requires the Visual C++ Redistributable Package for Visual Studio 2012. The Visual C++ Redistributable Packages install run-time components of Visual C++ libraries that are required to run applications developed using Visual Studio 2012 on a computer that does not have Visual Studio 2012 installed. Most machines have the required libraries. However, when running the network version from the client machine, if your system does not have the required updates to allow this application to run; then you receive the following message:

The program can’t start because mfc110.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem.

This application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect. Reinstalling the application may fix the problem.

To correct this issue, download and install the latest update Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2012 x64 version from https://www.microsoft.com.

Network ibi WebFOCUS App Studio Settings on Remote Machines

The first time you launch WebFOCUS App Studio on a remote machine, the wfscom.xml file is copied from the shared networked machine to the remote machine. The file is normally placed in the following location for Windows:

drive:\Users\user_id\AppData\Roaming\Information Builders\wfscom.xml

where:

user_id

Is your Windows user ID.

Other files are also created in this directory. This directory may not be visible, by default. To see this directory, open File Explorer, select the View tab, and then select Hidden items.

When you launch WebFOCUS App Studio on a remote machine, registry settings are created in the following path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Information Builders

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Information Builders

In addition, DLL and OCX files listed in the \\hostname\ibi\AppStudio93\bin\runfocshell.dat file are loaded.

Customizing ibi WebFOCUS Environments

There are two ways to handle WebFOCUS environment settings when running WebFOCUS App Studio off the network. Developers can use the common settings on the network or use settings specific to the developer machine.

Option 1: Use the common WebFOCUS environment settings on the network (default).
With this option, whenever a developer launches WebFOCUS App Studio, the wfscom.xml file on the network installation is copied to the developer machine from the following location.
```
\\hostname\ibi\AppStudio93\bin\wfscom.xml
```
where:
hostname
Is the host name or IP address of the machine where WebFOCUS App Studio is installed.
This means all developers who launch WebFOCUS App Studio from this network location use the same environment settings. It also means that any WebFOCUS environment settings that developers change on their machines appear the next time they launch WebFOCUS App Studio.
Option 2: Use customized WebFOCUS environment settings on the local machine of a developer.
With this option, the first time a developer launches WebFOCUS App Studio, the wfscom.xml file is copied from the network to the developer machine. However, after WebFOCUS App Studio is started on the developer machine, you can allow the developer to prevent the wfscom.xml file from being copied over in the future. By default, developers have the option to choose whether to copy over the wfscom.xml file or not.
On the machine of a developer, after WebFOCUS App Studio has started:
1. Click the Application button.
2. On the Application menu, click Options.
3. On the General tab, under Other Settings, clear Remote Update Server Environment from Network.
This creates a registry setting on that machine that tells WebFOCUS App Studio not to copy over the wfscom.xml file when launched from the network.

You can control whether the Remote Update Server Environment from Network appears and whether the wfscom.xml file is automatically copied by editing the runfocshell.dat file. This file was introduced in Configure the Network Settings. The runfocshell.dat file specifies registry entries that get created on developer machines. The registry entries are created each time a developer launches WebFOCUS App Studio off the network and overwrites any previous entries.

By default, the following lines appear:

REGISTRY:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Information Builders\AppStudio
REGDWORD:IsRemote=1

With these lines, the wfscom.xml file is copied and developers can choose whether or not to continue copying the file in the future.

You can choose not to show the option by changing the lines to:

REGISTRY:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Information Builders\AppStudio REGDWORD:IsRemote=0

With these lines, the wfscom.xml file is always copied and developers do not have the option to change this behavior.

You can add the following line if you want to force the copying of the wfscom.xml file regardless of what a developer has chosen in the past:

REGISTRY:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Information Builders\AppStudio
REGDWORD:IsRemote=0 REGDWORD:BypassWFSUpdate=0

With these lines, the wfscom.xml file is always copied, even if a developer has chosen not to copy it in the past. This is a good way to force all developers to use a new version of the wfscom.xml file if you make a major change in the environment settings.

If you never want the wfscom.xml file to be copied from the network, use the following line:

REGISTRY:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Information Builders\AppStudio
REGDWORD:IsRemote=0 REGDWORD:BypassWFSUpdate=1

With these lines, the wfscom.xml file is never copied and developers do not have the option to change this.

Limiting Access to ibi WebFOCUS App Studio

There are several ways to limit access to WebFOCUS App Studio.

You can restrict access to the file system of the WebFOCUS App Studio machine by setting NTFS permissions on the shared directory.

You can specify which user IDs can run WebFOCUS App Studio by editing the following file on the WebFOCUS App Studio machine:
```
drive:\ibi\AppStudio93\bin\devstdpw.dat
```
By default, this file contains an asterisk (*) indicating that any user ID can run WebFOCUS App Studio. If you wish to restrict which user IDs can run WebFOCUS App Studio, remove the asterisk (*). Then, specify each user ID that is allowed to run WebFOCUS App Studio. Each user ID should be entered on a single line (one line per user ID). These are the user IDs used to sign in to Windows. This file is case sensitive. Do not enter the domain as part of your user ID.

Creating ibi WebFOCUS App Studio Traces From a Client Machine in ibi WebFOCUS App Studio Network Edition

For the network version of WebFOCUS App Studio, the trace utility can be used to trace requests from a client machine. To accomplish this, copy the WebFOCUS App Studio Communications Layer Trace utility, drive:\AppStudio93\bin\wfscomtrace.exe, and the the client machine. Run this utility prior to performing the task that drive:\AppStudio93\bin\wfscomtrace.exe, and the

drive:\AppStudio93\bin\focshell.dat file from the network machine to any location on

the client machine. Run this utility prior to performing the task that drive:\AppStudio93\bin\wfscomtrace.exe, and the

drive:\AppStudio93\bin\focshell.dat file from the network machine to any location on

the client machine. Run this utility prior to performing the task that is having issues and needs to be analyzed by ibi. From the trace utility, enable traces. Save the trace file when done, turn traces off, and close the Communications Layer Trace utility.

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