Technical Reference
How and Why ABT Publisher Manages Data

Moving and displaying data, the reason for ABT Publisher to exist, depends upon properly configured components. This section reveals which components do what—and how/where/when to configure them.

CLIENT TIER

 

WEB TIER

 

REPOSITORY TIER

 

DATABASE TIER

Workstation

 

 

Web Server

 

 

Business Server

 

 

Database Server

WHAT HAPPENS HERE:

Workstation User browses to an ABT Publisher Web site on the Web Tier.

Applet downloads to user's workstation. This tier holds:

  • Web Browser
  • Downloaded Applet

WHAT HAPPENS HERE:

Local Database on Web Server uses snapshots of repository as data sources for Publisher Tree View nodes. This tier holds:

  • Servlet
  • Applet
  • Local Database
  • ABT Publisher Web sites

WHAT HAPPENS HERE:

Business Server requests data from Database Server and sends it to Web Tier local database. This tier holds:

  • Agent(s)
  • Task(s)
  • ABT Publisher

WHAT HAPPENS HERE:

Database Server sends data to Business Server when requested. This tier holds:

  • Third-party RDBMS with live data

Processes described and illustrated on following pages:

Creating and Populating Tree View Nodes

CLIENT TIER

WEB TIER

Workstation

Web Server

To create and populate ABT Publisher Tree View Nodes:

1. IN THE CLIENT TIER, a user with Publisher Editor rights uses ABT Publisher to create a site, then creates Tree View nodes and designates their data sources.

This step works because...

  • A Project Manager used ABT Repository to assign Project Viewer rights to the ABT Publisher user, allowing the user to use data from the applicable projects.
  • The user knew how to start ABT Publisher by reading the instructions.
2. The APPLET passes this node information from the Client Tier to the SERVLET in the Web Tier.

This step works because...

  • The applet knows which Web Server has the data it wants (because the applet resides there).
  • The applet knows the servlet name (because someone specified it during the JRun configuration).
3. IN THE WEB TIER, the SERVLET stores the node information in the Local Database.

This step works because...

  • During JRun configuration, the system installer decided the servlet name, the directories for storing data and log files, and the auto-upload directory.
  • The servlet knows all saved Tree View data & layout, and a Project Manager created or changed a node in an ABT Publisher site.

Moving Data from Repository to Web Server

WEB TIER

REPOSITORY TIER

Web Server

Business Server

To move data from the Data Repository, through the Business Server, to the Web Server Local Database:

1. The BUSINESS SERVER gets its data from the third-party RDBMS (Oracle, Sybase, DB2, etc.) on the DATABASE SERVER.

This step works because...

  • The business server knows how to get data from the RDBMS because installing ABT RMS5 configured it to do so.
2. The AGENT consults its list of configured Tasks & schedules to find out when data must be sent or retrieved (or waits for a data transfer demand to be issued by a user operating the Agent Admin Tool).

This step works because...

  • The agent knows from reading the file pvision.ini which Business Server can provide the data that it must retrieve.
  • Someone used the ABT Agent Administration tool to configure the agent name, the ABT Repository user & password needed to access data, the port number (8090 by default) used to get repository data, whether to log event data, and if Yes, where to log it, and the names of tasks created for it.
3. At the appropriate time, the AGENT tells the appropriate TASK to move data from the BUSINESS SERVER to the WEB SERVER Local Database. (is the WS servlet involved on this side, too?)

This step works because...

  • Someone used the ABT Agent Administration tool to tell each task which Web Server needs the data, the name of the servlet that will accept the data, and the port (80 by default) to use, and the exact time to transmit the data.

Moving Data from Web Server to Workstation

CLIENT TIER

WEB TIER

Workstation

Web Server

To move data from the Web Server local database to a client workstation:

1. The user enters the ABT Publisher Web site URL into the CLIENT workstation, which then logs on to the ABT Publisher site.

This step works because...

  • The user knew the correct URL by reading the instructions, either in the User Guide or from the System Administrator.
2. The Web Server downloads the ABT Publisher applet to the client workstation.

This step works because...

  • The applet knows which Web Server has the data it wants (because the applet resides there).
  • The applet knows the servlet name (because someone specified it during the JRun configuration).
3. The Applet gets node data from the servlet and passes it to ABT Publisher, which displays it on the client Workstation screen.

This step works because...

  • During JRun configuration, the Installer decided the servlet name, the directories for storing data and log files, and the auto-upload directory.
  • The servlet knows all about retrieving and displaying node data.