Product Documentation

Version Check

Start the ExtraView server and check the message at the bottom of the screen, beneath the ExtraView copyright. If there is a message such as Schema Version(mismatched) Release x.x.x Build nn, then the upgrade was not successful and you should contact ExtraView support for further assistance.

End User Action

The JavaScript in this version of ExtraView contains many enhancements. Most users' browsers cache the JavaScript, so please communicate to your users that they should clear their JavaScript browser cache. Failure to do this can lead to unexpected errors.

In Internet Explorer, Tools --> Internet Options --> Delete ... ---> Check Temporary Internet Files --> Delete.

In Firefox, Tools --> Options --> Clear Recent History ---> Check Cache --> Clear Now.

In Safari, Tools (Gear Icon) --> Reset Safari --> Check Empty the cache --> Reset.

In Chrome, Tools (Wrench icon) --> Options --> Clear Browsing Data ---> Check Empty the cache --> Clear browsing data.

Navigation Bar

Some navigation bar themes have been altered in ExtraView 7.0, to accommodate additional buttons. If your navigation bar is partially obscured, or otherwise looks incorrect, go to Admin --> Initial Setup Menu --> User Interface Themes and select the theme of your choice. Please note that vertical style navigation bars are no longer supported.

Business Rules - Part One

You will only have to perform this step if you are upgrading from a release earlier than 4.3.6 and you have been using the ExtraView Business Rules. The rules have been moved from the rules.txt file into the database. Log in to ExtraView as an administrator user and go to Administration --> Workflow --> Setup and Maintain Business and Email Rules. Copy the contents of the file:

evj_old/WEB-INF/configuration/rules.txt

into the rules section on the screen, and then press Update to save your changes.

Business Rules - Part Two

This is an important issue and may require changes to existing business rules. Previously, if a user focused on a field, and then set the focus elsewhere, and there was an ONCHANGE or REFRESH rule on the field, the rule would be triggered. It was not obvious to the user that an Ajax call had been made to execute a rule and there was a small delay while the Ajax call was in progress. During this time, the user had to wait, even though no changes to fields had been made.

The behavior has been altered so that a rule that was something like this:

if (AREA='Engineering Issues' && RELEASE_CHILD_STATUS= 'Fixed') {
  STATUS = 'Fixed';
}

should now be written as:

if (AREA='Engineering Issues' && RELEASE_CHILD_STATUS.{changed to: 'Fixed'}) {
  STATUS = 'Fixed';
}

This will avoid the Ajax call being made, unless there is a change to the value of the field.

"HTML_PRE_xx" and "HTML_POST_xx" Fields

Data dictionary fields that begin with the characters HTML_PRE_ and HTML_POST_ are used to introduce formatting, such as shaded regions, onto add and edit screens. Beginning with ExtraView version 6.2, the syntax of the rules associated with these fields has altered, to accommodate Ajax refreshes and the need for precise HTML syntax within the browser for the advanced features offered with ExtraView 6.2. This provides for much improved performance for users. Wherever possible, the upgrade script rewrites the rule using the new syntax. However, not all such rules can be converted automatically. During the upgrade process, an entry is made into the ExtraView log that shows which rules were converted, and which were not. The consequence of not having valid syntax in the rule will be that the display will look incorrect. Functionality should not be affected.

The intent of the HTML_PRE_ and HTML_POST_ functionality is to recognize that each row in an ExtraView layout is a complete row surrounded by <tr> and </tr> tags. We therefore need to inject a complete and valid row into the middle of an existing table which is the ExtraView layout. The layout rows within the HTML_PRE_ and HTML_POST_ therefore emulate a table with the same number of columns as that in the layout and keeps the HTML syntax complete and accurate.

An example of a PRE_HTML_ rule that might exist in your old site that could not be converted automatically is:

HTML_PRE_COMMENTS = "<!-- generated valid html - don't escape! --><div id=my_div style='display:none; background-color:#F5F5FF'><table><tr>'";

The new format for the HTML_PRE_ rule is:

HTML_PRE_COMMENTS = "<tr><td></td><td colspan=7><div id=my_div style='display:none; background-color:#F5F5FF'><table><tr><td>";

The need for the string <!-- generated valid html - don't escape! --> has been eliminated. The <td></td><td colspan=7> section first emulates an empty column where the field label normally resides and then spans the remainder of the columns of the layout. If you have a layout with 3 columns, the number 7 becomes 5. with 4 columns you use a span of 7, etc.

An example of a HTML_POST_ rule that might exist in your old site that could not be converted automatically is:

HTML_POST_COMMENTS = "<!-- generated valid html - don't escape! --></tr></table></div>

The new format for the HTML_POST_ rule is

HTML_POST_COMMENTS = "</table></div></td></tr>

Again, the string <!-- generated valid html - don't escape! --> is not required, and the rule is simply closing the open table row from the HTML_PRE_ command, then closing the open table, then closing the open div tag.

Disabling the External BatchMail Utility

If you are upgrading from a version of ExtraView previous to version 6.0, you will have previously installed a standalone utility named BatchMail on your server. This utility was used to deliver outbound ExtraView email notifications. Starting in version 6.0 this utility is built into the ExtraView application, so during the upgrade to 6.x, you should turn off and/or uninstall the standalone BatchMail utility.

BatchMail is typically controlled via a cron job on your server. Simply remove the ExtraViewBatchMail job from the crontab entries to disable the old task. We recommend that you wait until you are satisfied with the upgrade before completing this step, so that you can roll back to your previous version of ExtraView if need be.

Configuring the Built-in BatchMail Task

ExtraView will generate outbound email messages when issues are created or updated, when escalation routines are triggered, or when the Ad Hoc Email feature is used. These email message files are saved to a folder on the application server, defined in the EMAIL_DIRECTORY behavior setting. There is only one EMAIL_DIRECTORY location per ExtraView application – regardless of whether you are running a single instance, or if you are clustered or load-balanced across one or more servers.

The BatchMail task is a utility that polls the EMAIL_DIRECTORY location on a timed basis, and if it finds any email messages in the folder, it uses your mail server to deliver the email message to the recipients specified.

When performing an upgrade from a version of ExtraView with an external BatchMail program, it is best to start with a new internal BatchMail task. At this point, check the BatchMail task in the Manage Tasks and Threads utility, and if one exists in your installation, it is recommended that you delete this. The following steps will copy over the BatchMail configuration from your previous version, then allow you to configure BatchMail as an internal ExtraView task.

To configure the BatchMail utility, you must set the SMTP server and mail directory locations. Within the ExtraView administration screens, you will then create and configure a BatchMail Task, and configure the application to write the email messages in the EMAIL_DIRECTORY location.

Now, copy over the old BatchMail.properties configuration file, from the evj.old/WEB-INF/configuration/ directory to the new evj/WEB-INF/configuration/ directory.

In order to activate email notification, the following behavior settings must be configured from the ExtraView web interface. In the ExtraView administration utility Email Settings, set the behavior settings in the following table.

You can get more information about the other email settings in the Administration Guide.

Now set up the BatchMail Task. Go to the ExtraView administration utility Manage the Background Tasks. First, verify that you currently have at least 2 each of SESSION_MONITOR and TASK_CONTROL_TASK tasks in the list, and that at least one of each of these tasks has a current status of STARTED.

Click on the Add a new task button. From the drop down Task name list, select Batch mail. Enter a title for this new task. From the Node ID drop down list, select the node on which you wish to run the BatchMail task.

If you have a standard installation, the current node id will be WS_A (this is the WEB_SERVER_NAME value from the Configuration.properties file for the current instance). If you are running in a clustered or load-balanced environment, and if all of the instances (nodes) are on the same server, you should set up one BatchMail task to be shared by all nodes. If each node is on a separate server, you can either set the MAIL_DIR to a location accessible by all nodes and have a single task on one node, or you can build a location mapping to MAIL_DIR on each node, and have each node running its own BatchMail task.