4 Performing Basic Configuration and Administration

4.1.1 Using the OracleAS Portal Administer Tab

The OracleAS Portal framework provides administrative services, such as access to monitoring and configuration tools, single sign-on, directory integration, caching, and security. A lot of the features needed to manage users and groups, to set up security and search features, and to administer the portal and database are incorporated into a series of dialog boxes accessed through portlets on a portal page.

After you have installed OracleAS Portal, you need to log in as an administrator, to perform various administrative functions.

After you have logged in to OracleAS Portal, the Portal Builder page is displayed to you, as shown in Figure 4-1:

Figure 4-1 The Portal Builder Page

Description of "Figure 4-1 The Portal Builder Page"

Click the Administer tab to view all the subtabs and portlets that help you administer the portal. The Administer tab is shown in Figure 4-2.

Figure 4-2 The Administer Tab on the Portal Builder Page

Description of "Figure 4-2 The Administer Tab on the Portal Builder Page"

You will see the following subtabs in the Administer tab screen:

• Portal - This subtab enables you to create users and groups, administer the OracleAS Single Sign-On (SSO) server, and administer other services including Oracle Internet Directory, Oracle Ultra Search, Oracle Application Server Web Cache, proxy settings, and so on.

• Portlets - This subtab enables you to view the Portlet Repository and its refresh log, and register remote providers and provider groups.

• Database - This subtab enables you to create and edit database schemas, create and edit database roles, and monitor database information like database parameters, memory consumption, and database storage details.

Portal

This subtab under the Administer tab in the Portal Builder page contains the portlets shown in Table 4-1. This subtab is displayed by default when you click the Administer tab.

Portlets

This subtab under the Administer tab in the Portal Builder page contains the portlets shown in Table 4-2.

Database

This subtab under the Administer tab in the Portal Builder page contains the portlets shown in Table 4-3.

4.1.2 Using Additional Administrative Tools

For some administrative tasks that cannot be performed through the OracleAS Portal Administer tab, you may need to use one of the following tools:

• Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Application Server Control Console

• Portal Dependency Settings File and Tool

• Portal Installation and Configuration Scripts

4.2.1 Accessing OracleAS Portal in Your Browser

After OracleAS Portal is installed, access it by entering the following URL in your browser:

http://<host>:<port>/portal/pls/<dad>

See Table 3-1, "Portal URL Descriptions" for an explanation of the URL components.

For backward compatibility, the old URL syntax is supported in this release. For example, http://<host>:<port>/pls/<dad>.

4.2.2 Finding Your OracleAS Portal Version Number

To find your portal version number:

1. Log in as a portal administrator.

2. In the Portal Builder, click the Administer tab.

3. Click the Portal subtab.

4. In the Services portlet, click the Global Settings link.

   The version number for your OracleAS Portal is shown at the bottom of the page.

4.3.1 Setting a Default Home Page

The home page is the first page that is displayed to a user after logging in to OracleAS Portal. Here's how the logic works:

• If the user has specified a personal home page, that page is displayed when the user logs on.

• If the user has not selected a personal home page, but the portal administrator has set one for him or her, the default home page specified for that user is displayed.

• If the user has not selected a personal home page, but belongs to a default group, the default home page specified for that group is displayed.

• If there is no default home page for the user's default group, or if the user has no default group, then the system default home page is displayed.

If mobile support is enabled, you can specify a default mobile home page to display when a user accesses the portal from a mobile device.

4.3.2 Setting the System Default Style

If you are the portal administrator, you are responsible for selecting a style to serve as the system default.

When a style is deleted, all pages and item regions that used the style revert to the page group default style. If the page group default style is <None>, all pages and regions revert to the system default style.

To set the system default style:

1. In the Portal Builder, click the Administer tab.

2. Click the Portal subtab.

3. In the Services portlet, click the Global Settings link.

   By default, the Services portlet is on the Portal subtab of the Administer tab on the Portal Builder page.

4. In the Default Style section, choose a style from the Display Name list.

   
   

   Note: The list includes all public styles in the Shared Objects page group.

   
   

5. Click OK to return to the Portal Builder.

4.3.3 Creating Personal Pages

A personal page provides an area within OracleAS Portal where authorized users can store and share their own content. Personal pages are located under the Shared Objects page group, and are organized alphabetically by user name.

This section covers the following topics:

• Automatically Creating a Personal Page for New Users

• Creating a Personal Page for an Existing User

4.3.4 Setting the Total Space Allocated for Uploaded Files

You can limit the amount of space provided in your database to store documents uploaded to page groups. See Section 4.3.6, "Changing the Page Group Quota" if you want to limit the amount of space provided for a single page group.

You can also limit the size of individual files that content contributors can upload to page groups. See Section 4.3.5, "Setting the Maximum File Size for Uploaded Files" for more information.

When a user uploads a file to the portal, the upload is monitored in the middle tier to detect whether the total space or maximum file size is exceeded. If either of these limits is exceeded, the upload is terminated and an error message is displayed.

To set the total space allocated for uploaded files:

1. In the Services portlet, click Global Settings.

   By default, the Services portlet is on the Portal subtab of the Administer tab on the Portal Builder page.

2. Make sure you are on the Main tab.

3. In the Total Space Allocated radio group, select Limit To to limit the amount of space provided to store files uploaded to the page groups in this portal.

4. In the field, enter the maximum amount of megabytes provided for uploaded files across the whole portal. When this limit is reached, users will no longer be able to upload files to page groups in the portal.

   
   

   Notes: Select No Limit if you do not want to impose a limit for uploaded files. The Used Space field displays the amount of space currently used by documents uploaded to page groups in this portal.

   
   

5. Click OK.

4.3.5 Setting the Maximum File Size for Uploaded Files

You can limit the size of individual files that users can upload to the page groups in your portal.

You can also limit the total amount of space provided in your database to store documents uploaded to page groups. See Section 4.3.4, "Setting the Total Space Allocated for Uploaded Files" for more information.

When a user uploads a file to the portal, the upload is monitored in the middle tier to detect if the maximum file size or portal file quota is exceeded. If either of these limits is exceeded, the upload is terminated and an error message is displayed.

To set the maximum file size for uploaded files:

1. In the Services portlet, click Global Settings.

   By default, the Services portlet is on the Portal subtab of the Administer tab on the Portal Builder page.

2. Make sure you are on the Main tab.

3. In the Maximum File Size radio group, select Limit To to specify the maximum size allowed for individual files uploaded to the portal.

4. In the field, enter the maximum size (in MB) for each individual file uploaded to the portal. If a content contributor attempts to upload a file larger than this size, an error is displayed.

   
   

   Note: Select No Limit if you do not want to impose a maximum file size.

   
   

5. Click OK.

4.3.6 Changing the Page Group Quota

You can limit the amount of space provided in your page group to store uploaded documents.

To change the page group quota:

1. In the Portal Navigator page, click the Page Groups tab.

2. Click Properties next to the page group with which you want to work.

3. In the Page Group Quota section, select Limit to to limit the amount of space provided to store uploaded documents.

4. In the field provided, enter the size limit (in MB) for uploaded documents in the page group. When this limit is reached, users will no longer be able to upload documents to the page group.

   
   

   Note: Select No limit if you do not want to impose a limit for uploaded documents.

   
   

5. Click OK.

4.3.7 Specifying an Error Message Page

OracleAS Portal enables you to choose the error message page that you want to display to users. You can choose the default system error page, or you can specify your own customized error page.

OracleAS Portal includes an error message page (called Sample Error Page) that you can edit to match the look and feel of the other pages in your portal. The Sample Error Page is available under the Portal Design-Time page group and includes a portlet that displays all the diagnostic information. Alternatively, you can create your own error message page in any of your page groups. To do this, you must include the Error Message Portlet on the page and turn caching off.

To specify an error message page:

1. In the Services portlet, click Global Settings.

   By default, the Services portlet is on the Portal subtab of the Administer tab on the Portal Builder page.

2. In the Error Page section, select one of the following:

   • System Error Page to use the system error page to display full-page error messages to users. The system error page automatically includes all the diagnostic information.

   • Error Page to use your own page to display full-page error messages to users. Click the Browse Pages icon to select the error message page that you want to use.

3. Click OK.

4.3.8 Setting the Default Page for Non-Authenticated Users

You can specify the default page that is displayed to users after they have logged out, or when they initially access the portal site, by setting the default home page for the PUBLIC (that is, non-authenticated) user.

To set the default page users see when they log out, or when they initially access the site, perform the following steps:

1. In the Portal User Profile portlet, in the Name field, enter PUBLIC.

   By default, the Portal User Profile portlet is on the Administer tab of the Portal Builder page.

2. Click Edit.

3. Next to the Default Home Page field, click the Browse Pages icon to see a list of pages from which to choose.

   
   

   Note: You cannot enter a value in this field; you must select one from the list.

   
   

4. Click Return Object next to the page you want to be displayed when users log out.

5. Click OK.

   
   

   Note: Click Reset to remove this setting.

   
   

4.3.9 Removing the Context-Sensitive Help Link

If you have access to SQL*Plus, you can suppress the Context-sensitive Help link that appears in the banner in OracleAS Portal wizards, dialog boxes, alerts, and so on. Note that you cannot suppress the "?" icon that appears in the blue bar of wizards, dialog boxes, and alerts.

You cannot perform this task through the user interface; it must be done programmatically through SQL*Plus.

To remove the context-sensitive help link:

1. Access SQL*Plus.

2. Enter:

   exec wwui_api_body.set_display_help (wwui_api_body.DISPLAY_HELP_OFF);
   commit;
   
   

To reinstate the context-sensitive help link:

1. Access SQL*Plus.

2. Enter:

   exec wwui_api_body.set_display_help (wwui_api_body.DISPLAY_HELP_ON);
   commit;
   
   

4.5.1 Simplifying the Full URL of an OracleAS Portal Instance

You can simplify the full URL created by the OracleAS Portal installation to a more memorable or meaningful URL using the Redirect directive. In this way, end users can access OracleAS Portal by entering a simple URL.

By default, the URL for a new OracleAS Portal installation requires you to enter:

http://<host>:<port>/portal/pls/<dad>

You can simplify this URL to:

http://<host>/<redirectpath>

1. Open the Oracle HTTP Server configuration file, httpd.conf, which is located in the following directory:

   ORACLE_HOME/Apache/Apache/conf/
   
   

2. Enter the redirect path as follows:

   Redirect /<redirectpath> http://<host>:<port>/portal/pls/<dad>
   
   

   For example:

   Redirect /portalhome http://mysite.oracle.com/portal/pls/portal
   
   

   In this example, end users can enter:

   http://mysite.oracle.com/portalhome
   
   

   to access the full URL, which is:

   http://mysite.oracle.com/portal/pls/portal
   
   

   
   

   Notes: The example http://mysite.oracle.com/portalhome assumes that the default port 80 is being used. If the default port is not being used, then the user would have to enter the URL with the port number, http://mysite.oracle.com:<port>/portalhome. You can also edit the httpd.conf file using the Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Application Server Control Console. If the httpd.conf file is updated manually, you must synchronize the manual configuration changes done on the middle tier by running ORACLE_HOME/dcm/bin/dcmctl as follows: dcmctl updateConfig -ct ohs Finally, restart Oracle HTTP Server, by running the following command from ORACLE_HOME/opmn/bin: opmnctl restartproc type=ohs

   
   

4.5.2 Configuring Oracle HTTP Server to Use the OracleAS Portal Home Page

To set the OracleAS Portal home page as the Oracle HTTP Server's default home page:

1. In the directory ORACLE_HOME/Apache/Apache/htdocs/, make a backup copy of the files index.html and index.html.<lang>, where <lang> is the language code. For example, index.html.en is the index HTML file for English.

2. Edit index.html.<lang> by replacing the entire contents of the file with the following HTML redirection code:

   <HTML>
   <SCRIPT LANGUAGE=JavaScript>
   document.location="http://<host>.<domain>:<port>/portal/pls/<dad>"
   </SCRIPT>
   </HTML>
   
   

   
   

   Notes: Do not specify a port number if you are running OracleAS Portal on port 80. If you plan to support other languages, you need to have the language-specific index HTML files with the redirection code, for these languages.

   
   

4.5.3 Configuring a Portal DAD

A Database Access Descriptor (DAD) is a set of values that specify how an application connects to an Oracle Database to fulfill an HTTP request. The information in the DAD includes the user name (which also specifies the schema and the privileges), password, connect-string, and Globalization Support language of the database.

There are two types of DADs: general DADs and portal DADs. An OracleAS Portal middle tier uses a portal DAD to access the OracleAS Metadata Repository, and this section describes how you can configure portal DAD information. For information on general DADs, refer to the Oracle HTTP Server Administrator's Guide.

You can configure the portal DAD for a particular OracleAS Portal instance from the Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Application Server Control Console:

1. Navigate to the Application Server Control Console.

   See Section 7.2.1, "Accessing the Application Server Control Console" for more information.

2. Navigate to the home page for your OracleAS Portal instance.

   See Section 7.3, "Using Application Server Control Console to Monitor and Administer OracleAS Portal" for more information.

3. Click Portal DAD Settings.

4. Edit the DAD for this OracleAS Portal instance as required. Table 7-3, "DAD Settings" has a description of all the options on this page.

5. Click Apply.

6. Restart Oracle HTTP Server and OC4J_Portal.

   Navigate to the Oracle Application Server home page. In the System Components table, select HTTP_Server and OC4J_Portal, and then click the Restart button.

4.5.4 Configuring the Portal Cache

Portal cache is a file system-based cache for OracleAS Portal pages and portlets. See Section 1.3.2, "Understanding Portal Cache" for more information.

You can configure the Portal cache in the Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Application Server Control Console:

1. Navigate to the Application Server Control Console.

   See Section 7.2.1, "Accessing the Application Server Control Console" for more information.

2. Navigate to the home page for your OracleAS Portal instance.

   See Section 7.3, "Using Application Server Control Console to Monitor and Administer OracleAS Portal" for more information.

3. Click Portal Cache Settings.

4. Ensure that the Caching option is set to On.

5. Edit the cache settings for the OracleAS Portal instance as required. Table 7-2, "Portal Cache Settings" has a description of all the options on this page.

6. Click Apply.

7. Restart Oracle HTTP Server and OC4J_Portal.

   Navigate to the Oracle Application Server home page. In the System Components table, select HTTP_Server and OC4J_Portal, and then click the Restart button.

4.5.5 Clearing the Portal Cache

Sometimes you must clear the entire portal cache (the OracleAS Portal file system-based cache). For example, when you change the character set of the OracleAS Metadata Repository, you will need to clear the entire portal cache as the existing content will use the older character set.

To clear the portal cache:

1. Navigate to the portal cache directory. The default path is ORACLE_HOME/Apache/modplsql/cache.

2. Perform a recursive delete of all the files under this directory. For example, on UNIX platforms, issue the following command:

   rm -rf * 
   
   

   
   

   Notes: Whenever you clear the portal cache, you may need to clear the OracleAS Web Cache content as well. Refer to Section 5.8.3, "Managing Portal Content Cached in OracleAS Web Cache" for information about clearing the OracleAS Web Cache content. You must clear the portal cache on all middle tiers.

   
   
   
   

   WARNING: Ensure that you are in the correct directory before issuing this command. Do not delete the cache directory.

   
   

4.5.6 Using a Custom Image Directory

To avoid losing custom images stored in the OracleAS Portal images directory (which is ORACLE_HOME/portal/images by default) during a future upgrade, it is recommended that you create your own images directory and set up an appropriate Oracle HTTP Server alias for this directory.

For example, add an entry, similar to the one shown next, to the file ORACLE_HOME/portal/conf/portal.conf. It is recommended that you use the local Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Application Server Control Console instance to make this change. For more information, refer to the Oracle HTTP Server Administrator's Guide or the Oracle Application Server Web Cache Administrator's Guide.

Alias /mycompany/images/ "/opt/app/myportal/images/"
<Directory "/opt/app/myportal/images/">
     AllowOverride None
     Order allow,deny
     Allow from all
     ExpiresActive on
     ExpiresDefault A2592000
  <Files *>
     Header set Surrogate-Control 'max-age=2592000'
  </Files>
</Directory>

You do not need to perform any specific OracleAS Web Cache configuration as OracleAS Web Cache is already configured to globally cache .bmp, .gif, .png, .jpg, and .jpeg files.

4.6.1 What Is Installed By Default?

Performing a standard Oracle Application Server installation of OracleAS Portal and Oracle Application Server Wireless configures mobile support in OracleAS Portal as follows:

• A service is created that provides mobile device access to the installed portal and this service refers to the portal home page URL. As mobile access to the portal is mediated by OracleAS Wireless, a mobile device must communicate with OracleAS Wireless to access content on OracleAS Portal.

• The OracleAS Wireless service's URL refers to OracleAS Portal. Users that access this OracleAS Wireless service are directed to the public home page of the portal. When a mobile browser contacts OracleAS Portal through the home page URL, the request is redirected to the OracleAS Wireless service.

4.6.2 Configuring Mobile Settings in OracleAS Portal

To configure mobile settings in OracleAS Portal:

1. In the Services portlet, click Global Settings.

   By default, the Services portlet is on the Portal subtab of the Administer tab on the Portal Builder page.

2. Click the Mobile tab.

Most mobile-related settings for OracleAS Portal are found here. For more detail, see:

• Enabling Mobile Access

• Configuring Mobile Home Pages

• Displaying Page Titles in Mobile Banner Links

• Displaying Enhanced Page Layouts on PDAs

• Logging Mobile Responses

• Updating the OracleAS Wireless Portal Service URL Reference

4.6.2.4 Displaying Enhanced Page Layouts on PDAs

The Enhance Display for PDAs option allows enhanced page layouts to be displayed on PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants). PDAs have better display capabilities than other, more simple mobile devices; therefore it is possible to enhance portal page display for PDAs.

If you select this option, default font and color settings on the PDA are used for the text, link text, the page list background, the banner background, and so on. By setting additional PDA Display Options you can override the default PDA display settings and include an image in the PDA page banner if you wish. See Figure 4-3, "Sample PDA Page Layout".

Figure 4-3 Sample PDA Page Layout

Description of "Figure 4-3 Sample PDA Page Layout"

If you do not select this option, the same page layout is used for all mobile devices.

To display enhanced page layouts on PDAs and (optionally) customize PDA display options:

1. In the Services portlet, click Global Settings.

2. Click the Mobile tab.

3. Select the Enhance Display for PDAs option.

4. Click Apply.

   When you click Apply, a new section called PDA Display Options is displayed at the bottom of the page.

5. (Optional) Set PDA Display Options to control how portal pages are displayed on PDAs. Ensure that you use valid markup when specifying your font and color preferences.

   For more detail, see Table 4-4, "PDA Display Options".

6. Click OK.

Table 4-4 PDA Display Options

Option	Description
General Options	Override the default font and color for: Background Color - Specify a background color for portal pages; for example, enter #FF0000 or red. Font Name - Specify the font used to display text on portal pages; for example, enter arial. Font Size - Specify the font size used to display text on portal pages; for example, enter -1. Font Color - Specify the font color used to display text on portal pages; for example, enter #0000FF or blue. To use the default font or color selected by the PDA, leave the appropriate field blank.
Basic Link Options	Override the default colors: Unvisited Link Color - Specify a color for unvisited links on portal pages; for example, enter #00FFFF or lightblue. Selected Link Color - Specify a color for selected links on portal pages; for example, enter #FFFFFF or white. Visited Link Color - Specify a color for visited links on portal pages; for example, enter #FF00FF or magenta. To use the default link color selected by the PDA, leave the appropriate field blank.
Banner Image Options	Use these options to specify an image (.GIF) for the PDA banner: Banner Image (File name or URL) - If the image is located in the portal's default image directory, enter the name of the .GIF file only; for example, enter mylogo. Alternatively, enter the full URL to the image; for example, enter http://www.mycompany/images/mylogo. In Default Image Directory? - Select this check box if the banner image you want to use is located in the portal's default image directory. Clear this check box if the image is accessible from a URL. Banner Background Color - Specify a background banner color for portal pages; for example, enter #00FFFF or lightblue. Leave the field blank to use the default color selected by the PDA.
Page List (Breadcrumbs) Options	Override the default colors: Foreground Color - Specify a foreground color for portal page breadcrumbs; for example, enter #00FFFF or lightblue. Background Color - Specify a background color for portal page breadcrumbs; for example, enter #0000FF or blue. Link Color - Specify a color for link text in portal page breadcrumbs; for example, enter #000000 or black. To use the default color selected by the PDA, leave the appropriate field blank.
Login / Logout Link	Specify a color for the Login/Logout link displayed on portal pages; for example, enter #000000 or black.

4.6.2.5 Logging Mobile Responses

The Log Mobile Responses option enables you to control whether portlet responses to mobile requests are logged. This feature is useful during development for portlet debugging purposes. When you select this option, the portal logs the content that mobile portlets generate when displayed on a page in response to a mobile device request.

For mobile devices, portal content is rendered in an Oracle specific markup language called MobileXML. This markup is transformed by OracleAS Wireless to the appropriate device markup that generated the request.

Portlet responses are logged when all the following conditions are met:

• The Log Mobile Responses option is selected.

• The user making the request is logged on.

• The request is either from a mobile device, or it is for a mobile page.

Notes: This option is intended for development purposes only. We do not recommend that you set this option in a production portal as mobile response logging will impact your portal performance. Whenever you enable or disable the Log Mobile Responses option, all currently cached page data is invalidated. Therefore, we recommended that you do not change this option frequently after your OracleAS Portal has been deployed for general access.

To log portlet responses to mobile requests:

1. In the Services portlet, click Global Settings.

2. Click the Mobile tab.

3. Select the Log Mobile Responses option.

4. Click OK.

OracleAS Portal comes with two built-in portlets for viewing the content that is logged:

• Most recent mobile log entry - Shows only the most recent record for a particular user, irrespective of the portlet from which the data was recorded.

• Mobile log portlet - Shows a list of all the portlets for which a user has content recorded, the user can select which portlet's content they wish to review

You will find additional information in the article Provider Debugging Techniques: Using the Mobile Log Viewers, on the Oracle Technology Network (OTN), http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/ias/portal/html/mobile_10g_debugging.with.logs.html.

4.6.3 Manually Reconfiguring the Mobile Setup

An Oracle Application Server reconfiguration that results in a change to the Oracle Application Server Wireless service URL or OracleAS Portal home page URL, requires the changes to be reflected in the stored information in OracleAS Portal, and the OracleAS Wireless service definition that refers to OracleAS Portal. You should reconfigure OracleAS Wireless and OracleAS Portal to ensure that the communication between them is not affected.

You have to manually reconfigure OracleAS Wireless and OracleAS Portal to update the values of the following referenced URLs. For more information, see:

• Updating the OracleAS Portal Home Page URL References

• Updating the OracleAS Wireless Portal Service URL Reference

ORACLE_HOME/assistants/opca/

perl cfgiasw.pl -s portal -c portal_db -h "http://my_portal_server.com/portal/pls/portal/portal.home"

ORACLE_HOME/assistants/opca/

perl cfgiasw.pl -s portal -c portal_db -w "http://my_iasw_server.com/ptg/rm?PAoid=12345"

4.6.4 Changing the Mobile Device Component of the Cache Key

OracleAS Wireless is integrated with OracleAS Web Cache to improve page rendering performance and scalability. The cache is used as a repository for post-transformed content; the wireless runtime determines what content needs to be inserted into the cache and when to expire content in the cache. The cache key used by OracleAS Portal is composed of numerous components. One of these components is based on the OracleAS Wireless header, X-Oracle-Device.Class. This component allows portlet content to be cached based on the class of the mobile device used.

You can enable portlet content to be cached based on the name of a specific device rather than the device class. Refer to Section C.9, "Using the cfgxodnc.pl Script to Change the Mobile Device Component of the Cache Key" for more information.

4.9.1 Installing Languages After Installation

To install languages after you have installed OracleAS Portal, run ptllang. You must run ptllang for each language that you want OracleAS Portal to support.

Environment

The language installation must be run from the Oracle Application Server Portal Upgrade CD–ROM.

• Mount the Oracle Application Server Portal Upgrade CD–ROM.

• Set the ORACLE_HOME environment variable to the Oracle home that contains the OracleAS Portal schema.

ptllang must be run from the Oracle Application Server Portal Upgrade CD–ROM in which OracleAS Portal is installed. ptllang is located in the CD_ROOT/assistants/opca directory.

Assumptions

The OracleAS Metadata Repository is already installed, and the respective databases are up.

Usage

On Windows:

ptllang.bat  -lang lang_code [ -s portal_schema] [-sp portal_schema_password] [-c portal_db_connect_string] [-log log_file_directory] 

On UNIX:

ptllang.sh  -lang lang_code [ -s portal_schema] [-sp portal_schema_password] [-c portal_db_connect_string] [-log log_file_directory] 

Table 4-6 lists and describes the parameters supported by ptllang.

Usage example

The following examples pass in the input provided on the command line. The examples load the Dutch language strings into the portal schema in the OracleAS Metadata Repository.

On Windows:

ptllang.bat -s portal -sp portal -c  myDBhost.domain.com:1521:dbServiceName  -lang nl -log c:\temp 

On UNIX:

ptllang.sh -s portal -sp portal -c  myDBhost.domain.com:1521:dbServiceName  -lang nl  -log /oracle/log

4.9.2 Enabling the Use of Territories

Once a language is installed into OracleAS Portal, the end user can select the language to be used from the languages displayed in the Set Language portlet. For a given language, portal users may also select their geographic location (territory) so that localization settings such as date, currency, and decimal formats are displayed correctly. For example, if the portal language is set to English, portal users may select from territories such as, America, Australia, Canada, Ireland, United Kingdom, and so on.

Territory selection is not available on the Set Language portlet by default. If you want portal users to be able to specify their geographical location (territory), you must edit the Set Language portlet.

The Set Language portlet is not displayed by default. However, you can add it to the Portal Builder page or any other OracleAS Portal page.

Adding the Set Language Portlet to a Portal Page

To add the Set Language portlet to a portal page:

1. Log in to OracleAS Portal as the portal schema owner.

2. Display the page where you want to display the Set Language portlet. For example, you might want to add the Set Language portlet to the Administrator tab on the Portal Builder Page.

3. Click Edit on top of the page.

4. Click the Add Portlet icon in the region where you want to add the portlet.

5. In the Portlet Repository, click Portal Content Tools.

6. Click Set Language in the Available Portlets area, and click OK.

   The Set Language portlet is now available on the portal page.

   
   

   Note: If you add the Set Language portlet to a page and subsequently install another language, the new language is not displayed when you view the page. As a workaround, remove the portlet and add it to the page again.

   
   

Enabling the Use of Territories and Locales

To enable the use of territories and locales:

1. Log in to OracleAS Portal as the portal schema owner.

2. Click the Edit Defaults icon for the Set Language portlet.

3. In the Edit Set Language Portlet Settings screen shown, select the Enable Territory Selection option.

4. Click OK.

By selecting the Enable Territory Selection option, the appropriate locales for each registered language are displayed. The locales are listed after the languages in the Set Language portlet, as shown in Figure 4-4.

Figure 4-4 The Set Language Portlet

Description of "Figure 4-4 The Set Language Portlet"

4.10.1 Performing Basic WebDAV Configuration

After OracleAS Portal has been installed as part of the Oracle Application Server installation, the oradav.conf file should be populated with a <Location> directive that points to the portal schema. In Example 4-1, the location /dav_portal/portal will be OraDAV-enabled and will (once populated with the correct values) connect to the portal schema so that users can use WebDAV clients to access portal data.

<Location /dav_portal/portal>
   DAV Oracle
   DAVParam ORACONNECT dbhost:dbport:dbsid
   DAVParam ORAUSER portal_schema
   DAVParam ORAPASSWORD portal_schema_password
   DAVParam ORAPACKAGENAME portal_schema.wwdav_api_driver
</Location>

http://<host>:<port>/dav_portal/portal/

http://mysite.oracle.com:7777/dav_portal/portal

The dav_portal part of the URL is the default name of a virtual directory used to differentiate between portal access through a WebDAV client and portal access that uses the pls virtual directory. portal is the DAD of the portal installation. You can also configure virtual hosts to provide a different, simpler, or easier to remember URL for WebDAV access, if need be.

Users connect to a portal in WebDAV clients using the same user name and password that they use to log in to the portal itself. If the portal is in a hosted environment, users also need to add their company information to their user name, as follows:

<username>@<company>

Authentication

Due to the way some WebDAV clients behave, users might experience authentication requests multiple times. To avoid this, the portal administrator can enable the cookie option by adding the following line to the oradav.conf file:

DAVParam ORACookieMaxAge <seconds>

where seconds is the amount of time in seconds before the cookie expires.

For example a value of 28800 is 8 hours and means that once a user has logged on through a WebDAV client, he or she will not be prompted for a user name and password again until 8 hours has passed.

If you are using the SQL*Net Advanced Security Option (ASO), the ORACONNECT parameter in the oradav.conf file must be replaced with ORASERVICE dbhost as shown next:

<Location /dav_portal/portal>
  DAV Oracle
  DAVParam ORASERVICE dbhost
  DAVParam ORAUSER portal_schema
  DAVParam ORAPASSWORD portal_schema_password
  DAVParam ORAPACKAGENAME portal_schema.wwdav_api_driver
  Options Indexes
</Location>

This allows the database alias to be resolved by the tnsnames.ora file.

Default Time Limit for File Locks

The new DEFAULTLOCKTIMEOUT parameter provides information about the amount of time for which any single lock created by a DAV client will endure if the client does not actively maintain the lock. This is an optional parameter. By modifying this value, you can define the default amount of time beyond which the locks will expire.

The DEFAULTLOCKTIMEOUT parameter is available in the following format in the oradav.conf file:

DAVParam DEFAULTLOCKTIMEOUT 86400

The unit of measurement for this parameter is seconds. If the parameter is not specified in the configuration file, then OracleAS Portal will create locks that will expire in one day, that is, 86400 seconds.

If the time specified for a lock expires, then any temporary document related to that lock is removed. This is expected behavior, for example:

• If Microsoft Word crashes while you are updating a document, you will lose changes to the document if the lock time has expired.

• If you perform operations such as LOCK, PUT, PUT and then close a client without specifying UNLOCK, all data that was PUT will be lost if the lock time has expired.

4.10.2 Setting Up a WebDAV Client

The steps required to set up a WebDAV client to connect to OracleAS Portal varies depending on the client. All clients will eventually request a URL. The Portal DAV URL is very similar to the URL you use to access the portal itself in your Web browser, and uses the following format:

http://<host>:<port>/<dav_location>

If you experience problems while connecting to OracleAS Portal from a WebDAV client, refer to the WebDAV troubleshooting section in the Oracle Application Server Portal Error Messages Guide.

4.10.3 WebDAV Clients and SSL

Although OraDAV does support Secure Socket Layer (SSL), some WebDAV clients do not. Refer to the WebDAV client's documentation for details.

4.10.4 Checking the Version of OraDAV Drivers

You can check the version of the OraDAV drivers from any Web browser, as shown in the following example:

http://<computer>:<port>/<dav location>/~OraDAV-Version

The output will be like the following example:

Version 1.0.3.2.3-0030 
Using Container Version 1.5

4.10.5 Checking the Version of mod_oradav.so

You can check the version of mod_oradav.so by running the oversioncheck binary and specifying mod_oradav.so as its argument, as shown subsequently:

ORACLE_HOME/Apache/Apache/bin/oversioncheck ORACLE_HOME/Apache/oradav/lib/mod_oradav.so

4.10.6 Viewing Errors

Any errors that occur when a user performs actions on a portal using a WebDAV client are recorded in an error log that is created in that user's personal page (as an item titled My Error Log) the first time an OracleAS Portal-related WebDAV error occurs. This can be very helpful for interpreting the error messages reported in WebDAV clients, such as the message 'An error has occurred while trying to complete this operation' that is often displayed in Web Folders, or HTTP error numbers reported in Cadaver.

All errors are also recorded in the Apache error log file (ORACLE_HOME/Apache/Apache/logs), so if the user does not have a personal page, or is a public user, the errors can still be examined.

The OraTraceEvents parameter in the oradav.conf file ensures that certain information about an error, such as Agent, User, ECID, URL, and Method, is logged in the Apache error log file. This information is helpful to portal administrators and Oracle Support Services in resolving the error. The OraTraceEvents parameter is available in the following format in the oradav.conf file:

DAVParam OraTraceEvents agent

The information logged in the Apache error log file will be in a format similar to the following example:

[Wed Sep 22 10:38:46 2004] [notice] OraDAV: Agent [Secret-Agent-Man] User
[Hanckel] ECID [Viscous] URI [/orddav_var2/images/var2] Method [MKCOL].

For more verbose error reporting in the Apache error log file, add the following parameter to the oradav.conf file:

DAVParam ORATraceLevel 1