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Upgrading to Actuate e.Reporting Suite Release 4


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Information in this document is subject to change without notice. Examplesprovided are fictitious. No part of this document may be reproduced ortransmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for anypurpose, in whole or in part, without the express written permission ofActuate Corporation.

1995 - 2000 by Actuate Corporation. All rights reserved. Printed in the

United States of America.

Contains information proprietary to:

Actuate Corporation701 Gateway BoulevardSouth San Francisco, CA 94080http://www.actuate.com

The software described in this manual is provided by Actuate Corporationunder an Actuate License agreement. The software may be used only inaccordance with the terms of the agreement.

Actuate Corporation trademarks and registered trademarks:Actuate, e.Report, e.Reporting, Live Report Document, Live Report Extension,ReportBlast, ReportCast, Report Encyclopedia, SmartSearch, Transporter,Virtual Report Distribution, and XML Reports.

Third party trademarks:

ActiveX, Microsoft, MSN, The Microsoft Network, Windows, Windows NT,Windows 95/98 and/or other Microsoft products are either trademarks or registeredtrademarks of Microsoft. CT-Library is a trademark of Sybase, Inc. Digital Creationsand DCLC, are trademarks of Digital Creations, LC. Graphics Server is a trademarkof Bits Per Second, Ltd. and Pinnacle Publishing, Inc. HDK is a registered trademarkof Virtual Media Technology Pty Ltd. INFORMIX-ESQL/C is a trademark ofInformix Software, Inc. InstallShield is a registered trademark of InstallShield

Corporation. LEADTOOLS is a registered trademark of LEAD Technologies, Inc.Netscape, Netscape Communications, Netscape Communicator, Netscape EnterpriseServer, Netscape FastTrack Server, and Netscape Navigator are either trademarks orregistered trademarks of Netscape Communications Corporation. NobleNet andWinRPC are trademarks of NobleNet, Inc. ONC, Solaris, SPARC, Sun, and SunMicrosystems are trademarks of Sun Microsystems. Oracle Call Interface is atrademark of Oracle Corporation. Progress is a registered trademark of ProgressSoftware Corporation. Sheridan Calendar Widgets is a trademark of SheridanSoftware Systems, Inc. SmartHeap is a trademark of MicroQuill Software Publishing,Inc. Tools.h++ is a trademark of Rogue Wave Software, Inc. UNIX is a registeredtrademark of X/Open Company, Ltd. XPrinter is a trademark of Bristol Technology,Inc. XPAT, created by James Clark, is licenced under the Mozilla licence agreement.WinWidgets is a trademark of Simple Software, Inc.

All other brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks oftheir respective companies or organizations.

Document No. 000501-2-430349 April 17, 2000


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i

ContentsChapter 1Upgrading to Actuate e.Reporting Suite 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Release information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Late-breaking information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Supported products changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Upgrade strategy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Setting up a test environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting up a production staging area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting up a production environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Installing Actuate Suite 4 with earlier Actuate releases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Actuate 4 report file compatibility and migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Report file compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Upgrading reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .AFC changes in Actuate 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AFC class hidden properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Report Encyclopedia compatibility and migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Report Encyclopedia compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Upgrading the Report Encyclopedia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Upgrading by copying Release 3.x files to Actuate 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Upgrading in place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Application compatibility and migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Application compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Upgrading applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

ReportCast compatibility and migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ReportCast compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Upgrading ReportCast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Viewing and searching DHTML reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Home folder URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . User Preferences page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Adding a View Report button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Supporting e.Reporting Server levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adding a logout link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting a custom folder path separator character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Supporting automatic archiving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Supporting secure read privilege . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Supporting open server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Changes to template variable availability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

General compatibility and migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Considerations for Windows systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


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Upgrading from Actuate 4 to Actuate 4.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Informix database connection changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Concurrent Support of Native and ODBC Informix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Considerations for release 4.1 for Windows systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Appendix A

Installing Actuate desktop products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Installing the End User Desktop, LRX, and Viewer on Windows 95, 98, and NT . . . . . . . . 28

Installing the Actuate LRX from the Actuate ReportCast download page . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Distributing the Actuate Report Viewer over a network. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Appendix BInstalling ODBC drivers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31About ODBC drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Finding the ODBC driver version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Updating ODBC drivers used with data sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34


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C h a p t e r 1 , U p g r a d i n g t o A c t u a t e e . R e p o r t i n g S u i t e

C h a p t e

1Chapter 1Upgrading to Actuat

e.Reporting Suite

This chapter describes how to upgrade to Actuate e.Reporting Suite 4 fromprevious Actuate releases.


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2 U p g r a d i n g t o A c t u a t e e . R e p o r t i n g S u i t e 4

Release informationThis section contains general information about the Actuate 4 release.

Late-breaking informationTo view late-breaking information, available prior to shipping, about Actuatee.Reporting Suite 4, see the Readme file. If updates are necessary aftershipping, the latest information is available in updated release notes and otherdocuments posted on Actuate web sites Customer Support pages. See thefollowing URL:

http://www.actuate.com/customer_zone/release_notes.htm

Supported products changes

There have been changes to the list of products that Actuate supports. Be sure

to check the Supported products matrix for detailed information aboutsupported databases, development environments, e-mail, operating systems,web browsers, and web servers. The Supported products matrix is on theActuate web site at the following URL:

http://www.actuate.com/customer_zone/spm/spm.htm

Earlier versions refers to Releases 2.x and 3.x. Actuate desktop products refersto Administrator Desktop, Developer Workbench, End User Desktop, LRXs,APIs, Viewer, and ActiveX controls.

Changes to supported products include:

s Web server support

s Web browser support

s Operating system support

s Compiler support

Upgrade strategyRelease 3 and Actuate 4 can coexist on the same machine. You can leave yourRelease 3 installation up and running while simultaneously testing the

Actuate 4 products.

How and when you upgrade to Actuate 4 depends on your site configurationand requirements. Follow your site policies when developing an upgrade


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strategy. The following is a general guideline to use when determining howupgrade your site to Actuate 4.

s Create a test environment for Actuate 4. Install the software and upgraRelease 3 SDK programs, report designs, and report executables. Verify the application works properly in the test environment.

s

Create a production staging area for Actuate 4. Install the software andupgraded Release 3.x SDK, report designs, and report executables. Ifrequired, install a limited number of Actuate 4 desktop products for tesin a production environment in conjunction with existing Release 3desktop products. Verify that the production staging environmentfunctions properly using Actuate 4.

s Install the remaining Actuate 4 desktop products, if required, in producenvironments on users workstations. Verify that the desktop productsfunction properly.

s At this point, you have verified that the Actuate 4 production stagingenvironment functions properly. On a suitable day, schedule time to ma

the switch from Release 3 to Actuate 4.

Setting up a test environment

Set up a test environment to test migrating Release 3.x files to Actuate 4, anconfirm that your applications perform as expected with Actuate 4.Applications developers and a limited number of users use the testenvironment during the testing process.

1 Create the Actuate 4 test environment. The test environment can be on same machine that hosts the Release 3.x installation, or on a separatemachine. For information about compatibility between Release 3.x and

Actuate 4 products, see Installing Actuate Suite 4 with earlier Actuatereleases, later in this document.

If you have 3.x Web Agent with Microsoft Internet Information Server oyour local machine, install a web server on a separate NT machine andinstall Actuate 4 ReportCast on that machine to test Actuate 4 ReportCaon NT with IIS.

2 Upgrade your Release 3.x report designs, report executables, SDKprograms, etc. Details about upgrading your Release 3.x files to Actuatare later in this document.

3 Verify that your reports and applications work correctly in the testenvironment.


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Setting up a production staging area

Set up a production staging area to use for final testing. A production stagingarea is one that can be used for testing, and can also be easily configured as thelive production system. The production staging area can be a separateconfiguration on the live production machine, or a separate machine. You can

install all the Actuate 4 products, or install the Actuate 4 server products and asubset of the desktop products. If you plan to test Actuate 4 desktop products,identify the users to participate in the final testing.

Developers and users use the production staging area to confirm thatapplications perform as expected in the Actuate 4 environment.

1 Install the Actuate 4 server software in a production staging area.

2 Install the Actuate 4 desktop software on the test users machines. Installthe Actuate 4 desktop software in conjunction with the Release 3.x desktopsoftware. The users can continue to use the Release 3.x software inproduction while testing the Actuate 4 desktop software.

3 Verify that the Actuate 4 production staging environment works correctly.4 Install the remaining Actuate 4 desktop products if you installed a subset

earlier. Verify that the Actuate 4 desktop products work correctly.

You have now verified that the Actuate 4 production staging environmentworks correctly.

Setting up a production environment

Now that testing is complete and you have confirmed that your applicationswork as expected in the Actuate 4 environment, set up the productionenvironment.

Schedule a date and time to switch from Release 3 to Actuate 4. When youswitch to Actuate 4:

1 Shut down the Release 3 and Actuate 4 servers

2 Back up the Release 3 Report Encyclopedia

3 Restore the Release 3 Report Encyclopedia into the Release 4 productionarea

4 Install upgraded designs and report executables.

5 Start the Release 4 server

6 Inform users that they can start using Actuate 4 desktop products.


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Installing Actuate Suite 4 with earlier Actuatereleases

This section describes issues around installing Actuate Suite 4 products wi

existing Release 3.x installations. In general, Actuate 4 products can coexiswith earlier releases of Actuate products. The following list describes prodcoexistence issues for Actuate 4 and Release 3.x installations.

s One copy of Actuate Release 3.x and one copy of Actuate 4 can reside othe same machine. They must be installed in separate directory structuRelease 3.x and Actuate 4 report servers can run at the same time on thsame machine.

s If an Actuate Release 3.x and Actuate 4 report server coexist on the sammachine, Release 3.x desktop products automatically connect with Rele3.x servers, and Actuate 4 desktop products automatically connect withActuate 4 servers.

s Release 3.x desktop products cannot connect to Actuate 4 report serverReportCast. Actuate 4 desktop products cannot connect to Release 3.xreport servers or Web Agent.

s If an Actuate Release 3.x and Actuate 4 report server coexist on the sammachine, you must start the Release 3.x report server before you start thActuate 4 report server.

s You can install Release 3.x and Actuate 4 LRXs on the same machine.Release 3.x and Actuate 4 LRXs automatically connect with the approprActuate releases.

s Release 3.x Web Agent and Actuate 4 ReportCast can coexist on the sam

Unix machine. They must be installed with different instances of the wserver.

s Release 3.x Web Agent and Actuate 4 ReportCast cannot coexist on NTrunning the Microsoft Internet Information Server web server. On NT wthe IIS web server, you must install either the Release 3.x Web Agent, oActuate 4 ReportCast, but not both.

s Release 3.x Web Agent and Actuate 4 ReportCast can coexist on NTrunning Netscape web servers. They must be installed with separateinstances of the web server, in separate web document root folders.

s If you create another instance of the Netscape web server on NT, create

different document root directory for the new instance. Netscapes defabehavior on Windows is to use the same document root directory that texisting web server instance uses.


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s For optimal performance, all Actuate e.Reporting Suite 4 products must beat the same release level.

Actuate 4 report file compatibility and migrationThis section describes:

s Compatibility issues between Actuate e.Reporting Suite 4 report fileformats and the report file formats for earlier Actuate releases.

s Upgrading Release 3.x reports to Actuate 4.

s Changes to the Actuate Foundation Classes that affect existing reportdesigns.

Report file compatibility

s

Report design files (.RODs and .ROLs), report executable files (.ROXs), andreport parameter files (.ROVs) have a new format in Actuate 4. Actuate 4products read Release 3.x report files and automatically save them inActuate 4 format.

s Report document files (.ROIs) have a new format in Actuate 4. Actuate 4products generate report documents in Actuate 4 format.

s Release 3.x report documents (.ROIs) are viewable using Actuate 4 ViewerLRX, Administrator Desktop, Developer Workbench, and End UserDesktop. You cannot view Release 3.x report documents as DHTMLreports, or as XML or PDF format documents.

s Release 3.x report executables (.ROXs) can be run using Actuate 4 and theresulting report documents (.ROIs) can be viewed using the Actuate 4 LRXor Viewer in the native Actuate format. Report documents cannot beviewed in DHTML format or as XML or PDF format documents. Theseformats are supported only for report documents generated from Actuate 4report executables.

s Release 3.x products cannot read Actuate 4 report files. You cannot useActuate 4 report documents, report designs, or report executables withRelease 3.x.

s Releases 3.2.3 and later display a warning message if you attempt to open areport design file that was created or edited with a newer release of theActuate Reporting System. Opening a Release 3.2.3 or later report designfile using a release earlier than 3.2.3 is not supported and has unpredictableresults.


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s The Actuate 4 default connection for Oracle is Oracle8. The Release 3.xdefault connection for Oracle is Oracle 7. To use Actuate 4 desktopproducts with Oracle databases, you must either install the Oracle 8 clieor configure Actuate to use the Oracle 7 client.

Upgrading reports

To take advantage of the new features, performance enhancements, and fixin Actuate 4, you must upgrade your reports. You can upgrade reportsindividually or in batches.

To upgrade an individual report:

s Start Actuate 4 Developer Workbench.

s Open the Release 3.x or earlier report design in Actuate 4 DeveloperWorkbench.

s Rebuild, run, and view the report design. Viewing the report documenverifies that it works correctly in Actuate 4.

s Save the report design.

s Add the new report executable to the Actuate 4 Report Encyclopedia.

The report is now upgraded to Actuate 4.

To upgrade reports in batches, use the Developer Workbench executable,DESIGNER.EXE, to convert multiple report designs and executables. Wheyou use DESIGNER.EXE from a command line, a Developer Workbenchwindow is visible during the conversion process.

Following is the syntax for using DESIGNER.EXE from a command promp

designer [ [-b] [file1 file2 ... filen] ] [-f filename.log]

b (optional)Specifies that the Developer Workbench rebuild the report design file and eIf the -b option is not used, the Developer Workbench starts and opens thespecified report design.

file1, file2, filen (optional)Specifies Actuate report design files. The option assumes an .ROD fileextension .ROD. You can specify multiple report design files to be rebuilt.When you specify multiple files, you must use the b option.The designerassumes the files are in the current directory unless you add the path to thename. Enclose file names that include spaces within quotes.


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f filename.log (optional)Specifies a log file that contains processing information for the reports beingrebuilt. If you do not specify a log file, any error messages are sent to thecommand line window.

Examples

The following command starts the Developer Workbench DESIGNER.EXE andopens the forecast report design for editing. In this example, FORECAST.RODis in the current directory:

c:\Actuate4\dwb\bin> Designer forecast.rod

This command rebuilds FORECAST.ROD and creates the filesFORECAST.BAS and FORECAST.ROX. If there were errors in either the code-generation phase or compilation phase, they are displayed in the commandprompt window.

The following example uses the -b option:

c:\Actuate4\dwb\bin > designer b detail

In this example, the Developer Workbench DESIGNER.EXE rebuilds threedesign files, DETAIL.ROD, FORECAST.ROD and BYFR.ROD. The first tworeport designs are in subdirectories. The third is in the current directory.

The following examples uses the -f option:

c:\Actuate4\dwb\bin> designer b detail\detail.rod forecast\forecast byfr fbuild.log

The f option specifies that a log file named BUILD.LOG be created. The logfile contains processing information and any errors encountered whenrebuilding the report designs.

AFC changes in Actuate 4

This section lists specific changes to the Actuate Foundation Classes in Actuate4 that may affect existing report designs.Changes include certain propertiesremoved and certain properties changed to hidden properties.

s Actuate 4 requires that you completely qualify subclasses. Previousreleases allowed calling a subclass without qualifying it if the subclassname was unique.

s Certain properties have been removed. If your reports set values for

properties that have been removed, generating code will result in warningsin the output window. The warnings are similar to:

There is no property member for this property value.


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To resolve the warnings:

1 Choose ReportValidate DesignFull Check.

2 Choose Build/Run/View to recompile and run the report.

3 When the first warning appears, choose Yes All.

The removed properties are:s AcLine no longer includes the size property. The size property has n

meaning for line controls.

s AcFlow and AcBaseFrame no longer include the BackgroundIsCleavariable and property.

s Actuate now hides properties that do not apply to a component.

s The DefineInputParameter, DefineOutputParameter, andDefineReturnParameter methods previously returned True on success, False on failure. Now Actuate raises a database error if it cannot defineparameter.

AFC class hidden properties

The following table lists the hidden properties for specific Actuate FoundaClasses.

Class Hidden property

AcReport TocAddContents

TocAddComponent

TocValueExp

AcBasePage XMLAddContentsXMLAttributes

XMLTag

XMLType

TocAddContents

TocAddComponent

TocValueExp

SearchAlias

Searchable

AcPage Position

ObjectVariable

AcFlow XMLAddContents


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10 U p g r a d i ng t o A c t u a t e e . R e p or t i n g S u i t e 4

Report Encyclopedia compatibility and migrationThis section describes compatibility issues between Actuate 4 and Release 3.x

Report Encyclopedias. This section also describes the upgrade procedure forRelease 3.x Report Encyclopedias.

XMLAttributes

XMLTag

XMLType

TocAddContentsTocAddComponent

TocValueExp

SearchAlias

Searchable

AcPageList XMLAddContents

XMLAttributes

XMLTag

XMLType

TocAddContents

TocAddComponent

TocValueExp

AcLineControl Size

Searchable

SearchAlias

SearchAttributeName

AcRectangleControl Searchable

SearchAlias

SearchAttributeName

AcEllipseControl Searchable

SearchAlias

SearchAttributeName

Class Hidden property


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C h a p t e r 1 , U p g r a d i n g t o A c t u a t e e . R e p o r t i n g S u i t e 4

Report Encyclopedia compatibility

s Actuate 4 report servers read Release 3 Report Encyclopedias andautomatically upgrade them to Actuate 4.

s Release 3.x report servers cannot read Actuate 4 Report Encyclopedias.

s

Actuate 4 supports assigning privileges on the root folder. To ensurecompatibility for existing applications, upgrading a Release 3.x ReportEncyclopedia to Actuate 4 grants Write privilege to the All role on the rfolder of the Report Encyclopedia.

Upgrading the Report Encyclopedia

Upgrade the Report Encyclopedia by either upgrading in place, or copyingRelease 3.x files into the Actuate 4 Report Encyclopedia.

Upgrading by copying Release 3.x files to Actuate 4

To upgrade the Report Encyclopedia to Actuate 4 using the copy in placemethod:

s Do a full backup of the 3.x Report Encyclopedia

s Stop the 3.x and Actuate 4 report servers

s Delete the Actuate 4 admin, object, and request folders

s Copy the 3.x Report Encyclopedias admin, object, and request folders the Actuate 4 Report Encyclopedia

s Restart the Actuate 4 report server

s As Report Encyclopedia administrator, grant the All role write privileg

the root folder of the Report Encyclopedia.

s Set the default web viewer for the Report Encyclopedia to LRX in theReport Encyclopedia Server Properties dialog box. The default web viefor the Actuate 4 Report Encyclopedia is Dynamic HTML.

Upgrading in place

Upgrade a Release 3.x Report Encyclopedia to Actuate 4 in place meansinstalling Actuate 4 over the Release 3.x Report Encyclopedia.

s Do a full backup of the 3.x Report Encyclopedia.

s

Install the Actuate 4 report server according to the instructions in thee.Reporting Server installation guide.


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The Actuate 4 installation retains the 3.x Report Encyclopedia. Actuate 4e.Reporting Server automatically upgrades the Report Encyclopedia ate.Reporting Server start-up.

Application compatibility and migrationThis section describes compatibility issues between Actuate 4 and Release 3.xapplications. This section also describes the upgrade procedure for Release 3.xapplications.

Application compatibility

s Programs built with Release 3.x Request and report server APIs, or that usethe Viewer or Desktop ActiveX controls, will not work with Actuate 4servers. You must rebuild your programs using the Actuate 4 APIsSoftware Development Kit (SDK), and/or with the Actuate 4 ActiveX

controls.

s The name of the RSAPI DLL is ACRQ4060.DLL.

s The names of the Viewer and Desktop ActiveX controls have been changed.This allows Release 3.x and Actuate 4 programs to co-exist on the samemachine.

s Release 3.x Viewer and ActiveX controls cannot work with Actuate 4 fileformats. Rebuild programs that use these controls with Actuate 4 to usethem with other Actuate 4 products.

s The Actuate 4 factory server changes the object ID of .ROIs it replaces. Theprevious .ROI object ID and any AcPersistentObject objects created using

the previous .ROI name and version are no longer valid once the Actuate 4factory server replaces them. Earlier Actuate releases did not change the.ROI object ID. This may affect report server API applications that dependon the object ID.

Upgrading applications

To upgrade Release 3.x applications, rebuild them using the Actuate 4 APIsSoftware Development Kit (SDK).

To upgrade applications that use Release 3.x Viewer and ActiveX controls,rebuild them using Actuate 4.


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ReportCast compatibility and migrationThis section describes compatibility issues between Actuate 4 ReportCast aRelease 3.x Web Agent. This section also describes the upgrade consideratifor Release 3.x Web Agent.

ReportCast compatibility

Actuate 4 ReportCast and 3.x Web Agent both refer to Actuates reporting wsite functionality.

s Release 3.x Web Agent and Actuate 4 ReportCast cannot interoperate.Actuate 4 ReportCast cannot connect with a Release 3.x report server.

s Actuate 4 desktop products cannot interoperate with Release 3.x serverand Web Agent. Release 3.x desktop products cannot interoperate withActuate 4 servers and ReportCast.

s The default Actuate 4 ReportCast configuration has been changed fromdirectory named enu to a new directory named default.

s Actuate 4 template images reside with each configuration. For exampleinstead of one images directory, each ReportCast configuration containsimages directory. This provides support for localizing template images,such as buttons and banners.

s Actuate 4 ReportCast can read Release 3.x Web Agent templates. Nochanges are necessary to Release 3.x Web Agent templates to have themwork with Actuate 4. However, Release 3.x templates generated web pado not provide support for the Actuate 4 login/logout or user preferenfeatures, or for the following Actuate 4 features:

s Actuate 4 does not support the 16-bit LRX.

Product Area Actuate 4 feature

Open server Scheduling and Adhoc request

Viewing

Icons

Auto-archive Setting properties

Submitting requests

View process DHTML report viewing


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Upgrading ReportCast

Release 3.x templates can be used as-is with Actuate 4. However, somechanges are necessary to use the new features available in Actuate 4.

As part of providing support for Actuate 4 features, copy the following filesfrom your Actuate 4 ReportCast installations default/standard configuration

directory to your Release 3.x default configurations standard directory:

File Description

acstyle.css Cascading style sheet for the Actuate 4 templates

array.js Javascript for processing DHTML search results

browsererror.html Displays error message if users browser does notsupport Actuate 4 ReportCast features

browsertest.achtml Tests whether or not users browser supportsActuate 4 ReportCast features

cookie.js Provides web cookie handling for the DHTMLreport viewing and searching features

converter.js Used by the dynamically generated DHTMLpages produced by the DHTML converter

external.js Used by the dynamically generated DHTMLpages produced by the DHTML converter

headerscript.achtml

layer.js Used by the dynamically generated DHTMLpages produced by the DHTML converter

pageheaderx.achtml Provides default Actuate 4 headers and tabs

report.js Used by the dynamically generated DHTMLpages produced by the DHTML converter

resize.js

saveas.achtml

search.js Used by the dynamically generated DHTMLpages produced by the DHTML converter

searchrequest.achtml Submits the DHTML search request

searchresults.achtml Provides support for navigating through DHTMLsearch results

searchtoolbar.html Displays the DHTML Search toolbar

toctree.js Draws the DHTML reports Table of Contents

userpreferences.achtml Provides the User Preferences page

viewframeset.achtml Sets up the report viewing framework


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Viewing and searching DHTML reports

To add support for viewing and searching DHTML reports to your Releasetemplates, change template directive references from ?View to ?ViewDefau

For example, edit your Release 3.x FOLDERLIST.ACHTML template andreplace lines such as:

$(ItemBaseName)

with

$(ItemBaseName)

When the user clicks the ROI link on the reporting web page, ReportCastdisplays the report document using the users default viewing choice. If threport document is a DHTML report, the ViewDefault command ensures tReportCast displays the DHTML report with the navigation bar and searchfield.

Customize the DHTML navigation and search toolbar by modifying the

following files:s SEARCH.JS, the Javascript file that provides navigation and search

functionality

s SEARCHTOOLBAR.HTML, the HTML file that provides the structufor the navigation and search toolbar

Home folder URL

Actuate 4 ReportCast features a new home folder URL:$(RootFolderURL)_ _home. To add support for the new home folder URL your Release 3.x templates, change template references from$(HomeFolderURL) to $(RootFolderURL)_ _home.

For example, edit the FOLDERLIST.ACHTML template and replace lines sas:

viewnav.achtml Sets up the report viewing navigation toolbar

viewnav.js Javascript to generate and display the navigatiotoolbar

viewtoc.achtml Displays the report viewing Table of Contents

File Description


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with

User Preferences page

A new User Preferences page is available. To access it, add code similar to thefollowing to your Release 3.x FOLDERLIST.ACHTML:

User Preferences

Customize the User Preferences page by modifying theUSERPREFERENCES.ACHTML template.

Adding a View Report button

Add a View Report button by including code similar to the following in

REQUEST.ACHTML or REQUESTDETAILS.ACHTML:

Supporting e.Reporting Server levels

Add support for the Advanced e.Reporting Server by adding the following tothe header.achtml template file:

Adding a logout link

If you do not use Basic Authentication, you can add a Logout link to yourreporting web site pages. Include code similar to the following inFOLDERLIST.ACHTML:


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Setting a custom folder path separator character

You can set a custom folder path separator character. ReportCast uses theseparator character when constructing folder path names. To set a customfolder path separator, include code similar to the following inFOLDERLIST.ACHTML:

where character is the character to use as a separator. For example, to u> as the separator character:

Supporting automatic archiving

The Actuate 4 e.Reporting Server supports automatic archiving. To addsupport for automatic archiving to your Release 3.x templates, include codsimilar to the following in REQUEST.ACHTMLs Version section:

Keep only the latestversion(s)

Add a new Archive Policy section to REQUEST.ACHTML after the NoChannel section. After the line:

add code similar to the following:

Archive Policy


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Use the archive policy for thedistribution folder(s)

Delete objects older than

dayshours

Delete objects on

(mm/dd/yyyy) at

(hh:mm:ss)


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Archive Optionstd>

(Only takes effect if overriding archive polfor distribution folder)

Archive objects before deletionfont>Permanently delete objects without archivingtd>


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Supporting secure read privilege

The advanced e.Reporting Server supports a new secure read privilegefeature. To add support for the secure read privilege feature, include codesimilar to the following in FILEDETAIL.ACHTML:

Privilege for Request Results

Automatically grant Read access tochannel subscribers

Automatically grant Secure Read access tochannel subscribers


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Supporting open server

If you have the advanced e.Reporting Server, you can provide open serversupport in your 3.x ReportCast templates. To provide support for open serfunctionality in your 3.x ReportCast templates, use the editor of your choicmodify your configurations folderlist.achtml template file. Openfolderlist.achtml and make the following changes:

1 The following code determines whether or not the current folder has ite

Find the folder has items code, and replace it with the following code:


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Save folderlist.achtml, but do not close it yet. Reload your templates, thennavigate to your 3.x configurations reporting web site. Verify that theexpected folders and items display in your reporting web site pages.

2 The following code determines the folder objects file type, and sets up therequest URL:

$(ItemBaseName)$(ItemBaseName)$(ItemBaseName)$(ItemBaseName)$(ItemBaseName)$(ItemBaseName)$(ItemBaseName)$(ItemBaseName)

Find the request or view URL setup code, and replace it with the followingcode:


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$(ItemBaseName)

Save folderlist.achtml, but do not close it yet. Reload your templates, thnavigate to your 3.x configurations reporting web site. Verify that the

expected folders and items display in your reporting web site pages.3 The following code sets up a request or view URL for a specified file

version name:

$(FileVersionName)

$(FileVersionName)

$(FileVersionName)

Find the file version name URL setup code, and replace it with thefollowing code:


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$(FileVersionName)

Save folderlist.achtml, but do not close it yet. Reload your templates, thennavigate to your 3.x configurations reporting web site. Verify that theexpected folders and items display in your reporting web site pages.

4 Close folderlist.achtml.

Your 3.x reporting web pages display your Report Encyclopedia folders andobjects as before, and they now support open server functionality. This meansthat you can now open non-Actuate objects, and these objects have theappropriate file types and icons as set up in the Administrator Desktop. SeeAdministering the Report Encyclopedia for more information.

Changes to template variable availability

The following lists changes to template variables availability:

s $(LinkedFolderPath) is now available on request.achtml

s $(LinkedFolderPath) is now available on confirm.achtml

General compatibility and migrations The SFDATA sample database shipped with Actuate 4 has changed.

Reports developed using 3.x or earlier versions of SFDATA may displaydifferent data when run against the Actuate 4 SFDATA. To ensure that thecorrect data displays, rebuild reports that use SFDATA using Actuate 4.

s

Actuate 4 does not support Sybase DBLib connections.s If you are upgrading a report server on Windows NT from release 3.2.1 or

earlier, you must uninstall the older release of the report server beforeinstalling the release 4 report server.
http://xref.pdf/http://xref.pdf/


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Considerations for Windows systems

s The name of the program group is Actuate e.Reporting Suite 4

s The default installation folder is C:\Actuate4

s The report server registry key is Actuate\Report Server\4.0

Upgrading from Actuate 4 to Actuate 4.1

Informix database connection changes

Actuate e.Reporting Suite 4.1 does not support Informix Connect 7.2. All p4.1 .ROXs that previously used Informix Connect 7.2 default to InformixConnect 2.01. If you are running Informix Connect 7.2, upgrade to InformiConnect 2.0.x or Informix Connect 2.4.

New e.reports default to using Informix Connect 2.4, supplied with InformDynamic Server 2000. If you use a different Informix client version, specifyversion as part of AcInformixConnections DllPath connection property.

Use DLLPath to set the version of Informix Connect that the connectionshould use.

For pre-4.1 .ROXs, the default DllPath is acinfx720. If you run a pre-4.1 .ROin 4.1 Actuate products, Actuate automatically maps the DllPath to acinfx2

Concurrent Support of Native and ODBC Informix

Actuate 4.1 does not support using both native Informix and ODBC Informconnections from the same e.Reporting Server.

Considerations for release 4.1 for Windowssystems

s

The report server registry key is Actuate\Report Server\4.1s The ReportCast registry key is Actuate\Actuate Web Agent\4.1

Informix Connect version AcInformixConnection::DllPath

2.01 acinfx201

2.4 acinfx240


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I n s t a l l i n g A c t u a t e d e s k t o p p r o d u c t s

A p p e n d i

AAppendixAInstalling Actuat

desktop product

This appendix describes how to install the Actuate desktop products. Youmust have local system administrator privileges to install the desktopproducts.


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Installing the End User Desktop, LRX, and Viewer onWindows 95, 98, and NT

This section describes installation for the End User Desktop, LRX, and Viewer

products.1 Insert the CD in your drive.

2 In the Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs.

3 Choose Install to start the Install Wizard. The Wizard takes you through theinstallation process.

4 Choose Finish. Follow the instructions provided by the Wizard to completethe installation.

After installation is complete, restart your computer to activate the helpsystem.

Installing the Actuate LRX from the ActuateReportCast download page

This installation is available if you have installed Actuate ReportCast and havea reporting web site.

1 Open a web browser and navigate to your reporting web site.

2 When you log in to your reporting web site, the main reporting web pageappears in the browser window.

3 Choose the My Profile tab.

4 Under Download LRX Viewer, right-click the appropriate LRX executablelink.

5 Save the LRX executable:

1 Choose Save Link As (in Netscape) or Save Target As (in MicrosoftInternet Explorer).

The Save As dialog box appears.

2 Choose a location for the LRX executable.

6 In Windows Explorer, double-click the LRX executable to start the InstallWizard. Follow the instructions provided by the Install Wizard to completethe installation.


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A p p e n d i x A , I n s t a l l i n g A c t u a t e d e s k t o p p r o d u c t s

Distributing the Actuate Report Viewer over anetwork

The Actuate Report Viewer is a royalty-free product. You may distribute it

end users within your organization with no further permission or fees toActuate.

To distribute the Actuate Report Viewer over a network:

1 Create a folder on the network machines drive from which users canaccess the Actuate Report Viewer.

For example, if your network drive is mapped to drive G on your usermachines, create the folder G:\Actuate\Distribution.

2 Copy the Actuate Report Viewer directory from the CD to the folder yojust created on the network machine.

In our example, users now see this directory as G:\Actuate\Distributio

Viewer.

3 On each user machine that accesses the Actuate Report Viewer over thenetwork:

1 Go to the network drive's Viewer distribution folder.

For example, G:\Actuate\Distribution\Viewer.

2 Double-click SETUP.EXE.

3 Follow the screen prompts to complete the installation.

4 To verify that the Actuate Report Viewer works from the user machine,the user machine, choose StartProgramsActuate e.Reporting Suite4Actuate Report Viewer.


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I n s t a l l i n g O D B C d r i v e r s

A p p e n d i

BAppendix B

Installing ODBC driverThis appendix describes how to install ODBC drivers.


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About ODBC driversActuate desktop products that use the sample reports that ship with ourproducts require ODBC 2.0 or later to run Actuate reports. Actuate shipsODBC 3.0 drivers with the Actuate Developer Workbench. These drivers are

supplied to enable you to run the Actuate sample reports.

To ensure that you are using a supported level of the ODBC drivers, seeFinding the ODBC driver version later in this document.

Contact your vendor for the appropriate version ODBC driver to use withyour data source. To update the ODBC driver used with your data source, seeUpdating ODBC drivers used with data sources later in this appendix.

Finding the ODBC driver version

To find the version of ODBC drivers on your system:

1 Choose StartSettingsControl Panel.

2 Choose one of the following options to start the ODBC Data SourceAdministrator application:

s On Windows 95 and Windows 98 systems, choose 32bit ODBC.

s On Windows NT systems, choose ODBC.

The ODBC Data Source Administrator window appears.


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A p p e n d i x B , I n s t a l l i n g O D B C d r i v e r s

The Actuate Developer Workbench installs ODBC software that uses thversion of the Data Source Administrator. If the ODBC Data SourceAdministrator window does not look like the previous one, you arerunning an older version of ODBC.

3 Choose the ODBC Drivers tab.

The ODBC Drivers window appears.


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Updating ODBC drivers used with data sourcesTo update the ODBC drivers used with your data sources:

1 Start the ODBC Data Source Administrator.

2 Choose the User DSN or System DSN tab as appropriate.

3 Remove the data source.4 Add the data source using the updated ODBC drivers.

5 Choose OK.

After you have installed the product, verify that your reports work by runningthem with the updated drivers.

Documents

Actuate Upgrade 4 1