Product Documentation

Linux Platform

The downloadable version of ExtraView for Linux is provided as four separately downloadable and installable components:

• Apache Tomcat application server
• Java JDK
• ExtraView application
• ExtraView database

For detailed instructions on how to install these components, please click here.

Microsoft Windows Platform

The downloadable version of ExtraView for Microsoft Windows is a fully self-contained version that has all the necessary components to operate a complete ExtraView installation on any Microsoft Windows platform. However, it is recommended that you install ExtraView on a server as opposed to a laptop or desktop as you may not be able to configure outgoing email services on a laptop or desktop (depending on your company's network). The following components are installed when you run the installEV.exe program.

• The ExtraView software
• Apache Derby database
• Apache Tomcat application server.

Installation

When you install the software, you will follow this sequence. Note that it is only necessary to change the settings if you have another web-based application on the same server and these settings conflict

• Double-click on the InstallEV.exe icon
• You may select the directory where you want to install the software. The default is C:ExtraView
• You can select the port number to address the Apache Tomcat server. The default is 8080
• You can select the SMTP server address. The default is localhost
• You may start ExtraView on the first occasion by going to the address http://127.0.0.1:8080/evj/ExtraView within a browser. Note that the first time you start the ExtraView application it may take one or two minutes to start the servers and load the ExtraView application.

Note that the installation creates two Windows services, named EvDerby and EvTomcat. These manage the database and the application server respectively. These services are automatically started when you boot the computer on which they are installed. It is not recommended to use the Apache Derby database for significant-sized installations supporting many users or storing a large amount of data. While the license is free of charge for this database, it does not have the same strengths as the other databases supported by ExtraView. Using the instructions in this guide, you can reconfigure ExtraView to communicate with a different database.

Initial Configuration

• Open your browser and enter the address http://127.0.0.1:8080/evj/ExtraView or whatever is appropriate for your installation
• Sign onto ExtraView with the user ID of admin and the case-sensitive password of Welcome
• You will be asked to agree to the ExtraView License
• You must now upload the activation key that was mailed to you when you registered to download ExtraView. There is no need to unzip the file sent to you. Just save it your hard disk from your email program, and browse for it within the Upload Activation Key screen. Upload the file. You will see a summary of the upload, displaying your ExtraView ID and Customer Name
• You are now signed on using the admin user ID. It is important that you do not use this account for operations, as it has special properties and is primarily there to allow you to sign on for the first time, and to perform debugging actions. However, for security purposes, you should alter its password
• To alter the admin password, click on the ADMIN button on the navigation bar, then click on User Account Maintenance option. Now click on the all option in the middle of the screen and then on the Edit button by the ADMIN user. Alter the password, remembering the new one that you select. Enter a new Primary email address. Click the Update User button. You should correct the Company name to your company name
• Now create a user ID for your own usage. Click on the Add button at the top of the screen, and complete the fields. Note that you can select the Company name to be the same as the one you chose for the last operation by looking within the list. Those fields displayed in red on the screen are required. You should click on the User Roles / Security tab and make sure you give yourself the minimum privilege of being an Administrator. Click the Add User button
• Now sign off with the button on the navigation bar and sign on again with the user ID and password you just created
• ExtraView has some basic behavior settings that you should examine, to make sure features such as email notification will work correctly for your company. Navigate to the ADMIN, All Behavior Settings menu. To alter a setting, either double-click on its value, or use the Edit button. The behavior settings you should review / change at this time are:
  • AD_HOC_EMAIL_FROM_ADDRESS
  • AD_HOC_EMAIL_FROM_SENDER
  • COMPANY_NAME
  • DB_TIMEZONE
  • DEFAULT_TIMEZONE
  • EMAIL_ADMINISTRATOR_USER_ID
  • EMAIL_CONTACT_ADMINISTRATOR
  • EMAIL_DIRECTORY
  • EMAIL_FROM_USER_ID
• It is typical to want to give different types of users within your tracking system different roles. Each role may have different permissions to the fields within the screens. Indeed, you might restrict some screens so that only engineers may see them, while customers may not see them. You will have full control over the permissions to each field and each feature of ExtraView. Create the roles you need within the ADMIN function using the User Roles entry. Add or remove any roles you need within this menu
• There are a number of list fields within ExtraView that you should populate with values appropriate to your business. For example, you might want to create a list of product names, create a list of categories within which you will track issues, or you might want to create your own list of status values for workflow. To accomplish this, click on the ADMIN button on the navigation bar, and then click on the Data Dictionary entry. This shows you the area where new fields are created, and you change the properties of existing fields. It is not required to use and of the existing lists, and you can create any of our own list fields. Those you are most likely to consider using at this time are:
  • CUST_LIST
  • EV_MODULE
  • FOUND_IN_RELEASE
  • PRIORITY
  • PRODUCT_NAME
  • TOPIC
  • TYPE
• The last configuration task before using ExtraView is to connect it to your email server. This is not essential, but no notifications will be sent by ExtraView until this is set up. In some organizations, you might not be able to use a desktop or laptop computer installed with ExtraView and use the outgoing email feature. Use the ADMIN navigation button, then the Manage Tasks and Threads option. Click the Add a new task. Choose BatchMail Task (Outgoing email) as the task name. Choose WS_A (Current Node) as the node ID. Choose START_NOW as the start option. You must edit the properties file with the connection information to your email server. At a minimum, you should alter the MAIL_SERVER, unless the mail server is running on the same computer upon which you installed ExtraView.
• Now you are ready to start adding issues and then updating them. Use the ADD navigation button to insert a new issue. Within the screen, use the tab at the top of the screen to add a Bug, Helpdesk issue or a Knowledge Base item
• You can utilize any of the existing reports under the QUERY navigation bar entry or you may create your own reports
• The above is a very brief set of configuration items. You might download another solution; you might use the power of ExtraView to create your own solution; you can create additional fields; you can create new or alter existing layouts; you can modify the rules used to validate your data; you can create your own reports -- and much more. Use the other entries on this online guide to discover the wealth of opportunities to solve real-world business problems with ExtraView

Configuring a Friendly Domain Name for your Installation

It is helpful if you have network administration skills to carry out this step. ExtraView requires a fully qualified domain name in order to run. When first installed, and assuming you have used the defaults in the installation program, you use the address http://127.0.0.1:8080/evj/ExtraView in your browser to point to ExtraView. The 127.0.0.1 implies that ExtraView is installed on the same computer as your browser (this is often called the localhost. The 8080 is the port number on which your browser talks to the application server (Apache Tomcat). The remainder of the address is used to point to the ExtraView installation. In order to make your ExtraView application available to other users, you will want to associate a friendly URL to the IP address of the server computer where you installed ExtraView. Follow these steps:

1. Identify the IP address of the server where you installed ExtraView.
   • Windows XP operating systems: On the desktop, click on Start --> Run --> and type cmd in the box labeled Open: and then Enter
   • Windows Vista operating systems: On the desktop, click on Start --> click in the Start Search box--> and type cmd and then Enter

   You will now see a command window. At the prompt type ipconfig and Enter and pick out your IP address from the information displayed. This is a number of up to 12 digits with three periods. For example, it might look like 123.234.345.456. Note: if your IP address is internal to your company, then only other computers on the same network will be able to access your ExtraView application. You may need to obtain an external public IP address if you want to share the application with users outside of your company network. Please follow your company's general security standards and protocols before opening your server up to the general public. In this example, the IP address used is 10.0.0.128 (this format usually indicates an internal company network address).

2. Associate the URL with the IP address of the server.

   First you'll need to choose the URL - normally this is the host name of the computer server, plus the domain name of your company. In this example, we will use extraview.yourcompany.com. You can associate your new URL with the IP address by adding it to the DNS for your domain, or if you wish, you can add it to the Windows host file located in C:Windowssystem32driversetc. If you do not add the URL to the DNS for your domain, any user who wishes to use the URL will also need to add it to their host file before they can access the server. In the host file you would add a line: 10.0.0.128   extraview.yourcompany.com

3. Once you have completed the above steps, you will need to stop and restart the Windows service named EV Tomcat before you can use the new URL to access ExtraView.
   • Windows XP operating systems: On the desktop, click on Start --> Settings --> Control Panel --> Administrative Tools and then Services
   • Windows Vista operating systems: On the desktop, click on Start --> Control Panel --> Administrative Tools and then Services

   Locate the service named EV Tomcat and stop and restart the service. Now you can log in to ExtraView using the following URL:

   http://extraview.yourcompany.com:8080/evj/ExtraView

Your specific company network configuration might make some of these steps a little different, but a skilled network administrator should be able to identify and cope with differences within your network. Lastly, you probably noticed the 8080 within the URL of your installation. Why is there? Can it be removed? This number is the port number on which your browser communicated to the Apache Tomcat application server. This greatly simplifies the installation of ExtraView and minimizes the download time of the installation program. If you were to install the Apache web server, then it would take on the task of communicating to the Apache Tomcat application server, and your users would not need this portion of the URL. We suggest that you ask your network administrator to install and configure the Apache web server if you would like to simplify the URL. Of course, it is quite likely that you are already using the Apache web server for your web site. Your network administrator can configure ExtraView to use this.

Backing Up your Database

Like all computer applications, you will accumulate valuable data within your ExtraView installation, and there is no escaping the fact that you must safeguard your investment by backing up your database on a periodic, routine basis. With this version of ExtraView, you should backup the entire directory within which you installed ExtraView (the default is C:\ExtraView) after installation. On a periodic basis, you should backup the folder C:\ExtraView\derby\bin\ev. This is the default location of where the data for your ExtraView installation is stored.

Upgrading ExtraView

To upgrade the downloadable version of ExtraView, you must purchase an ExtraView support agreement.

Uninstalling ExtraView

If you want to uninstall the ExtraView downloadable version, you do so from the Windows Control Panel, and use the standard uninstall procedure.