System Utilities

The System utilities functionality contains the following tools:

• A Java logging tool to filter and view Java logging messages.
• A File browser to browse through files on the web server as well as upload/download files

In This Topic

Filter and Viewer for Java Logging

The Java logging tool enables you to view Java logging messages for debugging purposes. By means of a filter mechanism you can adjust which messages you want to view. The tool can be used by system administrators for problem diagnosis and by software developers for detailed tracing. Java logging messages are produced by the standard ‘java.util.logging’ facility.

See also: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/guide/logging/overview.html

Java logging messages appear in the Tomcat console as well. However, this Java logging tool has the following advantages:

• Usually the Tomcat console only shows warnings and errors. Lower level messages are not shown for performance reasons. With this Java logging tool you can easily view lower level logging messages as well.
• In the case of remote access, usually you cannot access the Tomcat console. This Java logging tool just can be accessed through the edit environment of the XperienCentral.

The filter mechanism is based on loggers and severity levels.

Loggers

Applications make logging calls on loggers. Typically, a logger is associated with a Java class or a Java package. In general, a logger has the same name as the class or package in which it is used. The name includes the path in the package tree, for example: nl.gx.product.systemwcb.log.panel.AvailableTabController.

With this tool you can connect loggers to filter on logging messages of specific Java classes or packages. Logger selection works in a hierarchical way. By only giving the upper part of a path, you select all loggers that are lower in the hierarchy. For instance, by giving:

nl.gx.product.onlinehelp.helplistener.impl

You can select the following loggers:

nl.gx.product.onlinehelp.helplistener.impl.OnlineHelpFileUpdater
nl.gx.product.onlinehelp.helplistener.impl.OnlineHelpListenerImpl
nl.gx.product.onlinehelp.helplistener.impl.OnlineHelpNodeCreator

Severity levels

For each logger you can select one of seven levels ranging from the highest level ‘SEVERE’ to the lowest level ‘FINEST’. By selecting a given severity level you also enable logging at all higher levels. For instance, if you select level ‘INFO’, you will get logging messages of levels ‘INFO’, ‘WARNING’ and ‘SEVERE’. The logging levels in descending order are:

• SEVERE (highest)
• WARNING
• INFO
• CONFIG
• FINE
• FINER
• FINEST (lowest)

In addition, you can select a level ‘ALL’ to enable logging of all messages (which has the same result as FINEST).

Other Handlers

The standard Java logging facility provides different logging handlers. Basically, this tool uses the MemoryHandler. So, for this handler you can connect loggers and for each logger you can set a severity level. In addition, this tool affects two other handlers, for which you can only set a severity level:

• ConsoleHandler: In XperienCentral, this handler is used by the Tomcat console.
• FileHandler: In XperienCentral, this handler is used by a number of logging files. These files are located in an apache-tomcat directory, for example in: C:\GX\XperienCentral9\apache-tomcat\logs.

With this Java logging tool, you can choose up to which lowest severity level the handlers should pass through logging messages. You can separately set the level for the ConsoleHandler and the FileHandler.

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Setting Loggers and Severity Levels for Filtering

1. Select menu Configure -> Java logging tool. A ‘Java logging tool’ window appears.
2. On the tab [Available loggers], check the loggers you want to connect.
3. Press [Connect logger]. The tool will select the tab [Connected loggers] and list the connected loggers. The list may also show other loggers that were connected earlier.
4. For each logger, select the desired lowest severity level and click [Apply].

Tip: Do not select too many loggers with low severity levels since this may reduce performance considerably.

To disconnect loggers, do the following:

1. Check the loggers you want to disconnect (delete).
2. Click [Apply]. The selected loggers are removed from the list.

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Viewing, Refreshing and Clearing Logging Messages

1. After setting the loggers and severity levels, select the tab [Show log entries]. The tab shows the available Java logging messages. The list is not refreshed automatically.
2. To refresh the list, click [Update].
3. To delete the list, click [Clear].

Note: The buffer size is 1000 log messages. When the buffer gets full, the oldest log messages are deleted.

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Disconnecting Loggers Before Closing

After closing the Java logging tool, active loggers remain connected for 30 minutes. So, for performance reasons, it may be desirable to disconnect all loggers, before closing the logging tool.

To disconnect loggers, follow these steps:

1. On the tab [Connected loggers], select the loggers you want to disconnect (delete).
2. Click [Apply]. The checked loggers are removed from the list.

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Setting Lowest Severity Levels of Other Handlers

See also: Other handlers

1. Select the tab [Handlers]. The tab shows the lowest severity levels that currently have been set for the FileHandler and the ConsoleHandler.
2. Select the desired lowest levels from the pull-down menus.
3. Press [Set logger levels]. From now on, the handlers will only pass through logging messages with severity levels up to the lowest set level.

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Managing Web Server Files

The file browser allows you to browse through files at the web server. You can choose from one or more web server directories to browse through. Directories and files are shown in a tree view in which you can expand or collapse sub trees. You can move, copy, delete and rename directories and files. In addition you can create directories (folders) and upload files from your client computer to the web server. When uploading a zip file you can choose to automatically extract the file on the web server.

The directory structure is according to the J2EE platform, see http://java.sun.com/j2ee

Note to system administrators: The directory or directories that users can browse to are defined by the file_browser_directories setting in the "website settings" section of the General tab in the XperienCentral Setup Tool.

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To use the file browser, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Configuration > System Utilities and then click the [File Browser] tab. A ‘File browser’ window appears.
2. From the combo box, select the web server directory you want to browse through.
3. Browse through the tree by expanding or collapsing directory sub-trees. To expand click ‘+’ (plus) and to collapse click ‘–’ (minus).
4. To select a directory or file, just click on its icon or name.

Copying a Directory or File

1. Select the directory or file to be copied.
2. Click the [Copy] button.
3. Select the destination directory.
4. Click the [Paste] button. The directory or file is copied to the destination.

Deleting a directory or file

1. Select the directory or file to be deleted.
2. Click the [Delete] button. You are prompted to confirm.
3. Click [OK]. The directory or file is deleted.

Renaming a Directory or File

1. Select the directory or file to be renamed.
2. In the Name field, change the name.
3. Click the [Rename] button. The name is changed.

Creating a Directory

1. Select the directory in which the new (sub) directory is to be created.
2. Click the [New folder] button. A directory named New folder is created.
3. Rename the directory.

Uploading a File From Your Client Computer

1. Click the [Browse] button. A browser window for your client computer appears.
2. Browse and select the file to be uploaded. The selected path and file name appear in the input field.
3. In the case of a zip file, choose whether or not to automatically extract the file at the web server.
4. Select the destination directory at the web server.
5. Press the [Upload] button. The file is transferred from your client computer to the web server. If requested so, a zip file is automatically extracted.

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Plugin Overview Tab

After opening the Plugin Management Console, the Plugins Overview tab shows a list of installed plugins. These plugins are either part of the XperienCentral platform, or are extensions to it. For each plugin the following properties are listed:

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Managing a Plugin

When you click a plugin to select it, the title and description for it appear. The values for these two properties are defined in the pom.xml of the plugin:

For plugins with level 25 and higher, the buttons [Start], [Stop], and [Uninstall] appear (see the figure above).

Starting a Plugin

To start a plugin that is not running, click [Start]. The [Start] button is disabled when the bundle is running.

Stopping a Plugin

To stop a plugin, click [Stop]. When a plugin is stopped, it goes into the Resolved state. This button is only enabled when the state of the bundle is Active.

Uninstalling a Plugin

To uninstall a plugin, click [Uninstall]. You have the option of preserving or purging the content related to the plugin. If other plugins are dependent on the one you are uninstalling, you must first uninstall those plugins before you can uninstall the plugin on which other plugins depend.

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Plugin Details

By clicking the [More...] button, fully detailed information about the plugin appears:

Headers Tab

This tab shows all the headers of the plugin. Most of them are derived from the pom.xml of the plugin. For example:

Services Tab

A plugin is installed within an OSGi services framework. This tab shows the details on each service that is present in this plugin. After installing a plugin with an element and panel component, there will be three services: one for the element, one for the panel and one for the plugin itself. For example:

Packages Tab

This tab shows the Java packages that the plugin uses from the framework. For example:

Extensions Tab

For plugins that expose extendable components, this tab shows the Java packages that make use of the extensions. For example:

Extension Points Tab

For plugins that make use of the extension(s) of another plugin, this tab shows the components Java packages that make use of the extensions. Components that appear in bold are used by one or more consumers and those appearing in italics are exposed but not used by any consumers:

Resolve Button

The [Resolve] button is only useful when the Plugin is in the Installed state. After pressing this button the framework checks whether the Java packages that are present on the Package tab are present within the framework. This action is also performed when the plugin tries to go from Installed state to Resolved state.

Refresh Button

Plugins may have dependencies on classes from other plugins. After a successful installation all external dependencies are cached locally. This ensures that a plugin can run properly when another plugin that delivered a class is temporarily unavailable. After hitting the Refresh button all dependencies are checked and updated.

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Error Log Tab

The Error log tab helps you debug a plugin that you installed which does not start up properly. The tab shows the messages from the log file that have been triggered by actions from this plugin. For example:

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