Visualization Platform client configuration
The Visualization Platform client application is configured using files in the context root’s WEB-INF directory. For example, the web.xml configuration file for your context root is located:
<context root>\WEB-INF\web.xml
Table 2‑5 lists the configuration files discussed in this section.
Table 2‑5 Visualization Platform client configuration files 
File
Features
Description
erni_config.xml
BIRT Studio
Configures BIRT Studio functionality
functionality-level.config
Visualization Platform client
Configures the Visualization Platform client user interface by iHub user groups
iv_config.xml
BIRT Viewer
Configures BIRT Viewer user interface
localemap.xml
All
Configures languages and locales
TimeZones.xml
All
Configures time zones
web.xml
All
Configures features of Visualization Platform client including security, networking, caching, labeling and storage
Configuring Visualization Platform client using web.xml
Web.xml contains parameters that control Visualization Platform client features. Table 2‑6 describes the configuration parameters for the Visualization Platform client application.
Table 2‑6 Visualization Platform client web.xml parameters
Parameter name
Description
BIRT360PLUS_URL
URL for the BIRT 360 Plus web resources required for performance analytics gadgets, available in the gadget gallery.
BIRT_RENDER_FORMAT_EMITTER_ID_MAPPING
Specifies which emitter will be used for a specific BIRT report. Valid entries are of the format "render_format:emitter_ID" separated by a semicolon. The default value is:
html:org.eclipse.birt.report.engine.emitter.html;xhtml:com. actuate.birt.report.engine.emitter.xhtml;pdf:org.eclipse.birt.report.engine.emitter.pdf;postscript:org.eclipse.birt.report.engine.emitter.postscript;xls:com.actuate.birt.report.engine.emitter.xls;ppt:org.eclipse.birt.report.engine.emitter.ppt;pptx:com.actuate.birt.report.engine.emitter.pptx;doc:org.eclipse.birt.report.engine.emitter.word;docx:com.actuate.birt.report.engine.emitter.docx
CACHE_CONTROL
Specifies how a web browser caches information using one of the following values:
*NO‑CACHE indicates that the browser does not cache information and forwards all requests to the server. With NO‑CACHE, the back and forward buttons in a browser do not always produce expected results, because choosing these buttons always reloads the page from the server.
If multiple users access Visualization Platform client from the same machine, they can view the same cached data. Setting CACHE_CONTROL to NO‑CACHE prevents different users viewing data cached by the browser.
*NO‑STORE indicates that information is cached but not archived.
*PRIVATE indicates that the information is for a single user and that only a private cache can cache this information. A proxy server does not cache a page with this setting.
*PUBLIC indicates that information may be cached, even if it would normally be non-cacheable or cacheable only within an unshared cache.
*Unset (no value) is the default value. The browser uses its own default setting when there is no CACHE_CONTROL value.
Caching information reduces the number of server requests that the browser must make and the frequency of expired page messages. Caching increases security risks because of the availability of information in the cache. For additional information about cache control, see the HTTP/1.1 specifications.
CONNECTION_TIMEOUT
Controls how many seconds Visualization Platform client waits for a request to complete before dropping the connection to the application server or BIRT iHub. Set this value to limit wait times. The default value is 0, meaning the connection is never dropped.
COOKIE_DOMAIN
Specifies the host name of the server setting the cookie. The cookie is only sent to hosts in the specified domain of that host. The value must be the same domain the client accesses. Visualization Platform client automatically sets this parameter. For example, if the client accesses http://www.actuate.com/iportal/login.do, the domain name is actuate.com.
COOKIE_ENABLED
Indicates whether to use cookies to store information between user logins. The default value is True. If False, Visualization Platform client does not use cookies. Without cookies, many Visualization Platform client features are unavailable or do not persist across sessions. For example, without cookies, user name, language, and time zone settings always use their default values when a new browser session begins.
COOKIE_HTTPONLY
Sets the HTTPonly property of cookie stored by Visualization Platform client. In supported browsers, this property prevents third-party scripts from accessing cookies generated by Visualization Platform client. The default value is true, which enables the HTTPOnly flag.
COOKIE_SECURE
Indicates whether to access and write cookies securely. If true, cookies are only written if a secure connection, such as HTTPS, is established. The default value is false, which enables cookies for all connection types.
DATAFIELDS_DISPLAY_ORDER
Specifies display order of Fields and Folders. Default value is "ascending". Valid values are: "ascending", "descending", "none".
DEFAULT_LOCALE
Specifies the default locale. Visualization Platform client sets this parameter value during installation. The locale map is <context root>\WEB‑INF\localemap.xml.
DEFAULT_PAGE_BREAK_INTERVAL
Specifies the number of rows to display in one page when viewing a report. If set to 0, there are no page breaks.
DEFAULT_TIMEZONE
Specifies the default time zone. Visualization Platform client sets this parameter value during installation. The time zone map is <context root>\WEB-INF\TimeZones.xml.
ENABLE_CLIENT_SIDE_REDIRECT
Specifies whether URL redirection is done on the client side or the server side. Set the value to True for client side redirection. The default value is False. For more information about URL redirection, see Using proxy servers with Visualization Platform client.
ENABLE_DEBUG_LOGGING
Indicates whether to record debugging messages in a log file called Debug.log. Set the value to True to enable debug messages in the log file. The default value is False.
ENABLE_ERROR_LOGGING
Indicates whether to log errors. This parameter’s default value is True, which enables error logging. If you set this parameter to True, Visualization Platform client creates two error log files:
*Admin.log records general errors.
*Soapfault.log records iHub communication errors.
ENABLE_JUL_LOG
Indicates whether to log Visualization Platform client activity. This parameter’s default value is TRUE, which enables logging. If you set this parameter to TRUE, Visualization Platform client creates log files named reportService.<Service number>.<System name>.<Visualization Platform client start up time stamp>.<File number>.log.
ERROR_LOG_FILE_ROLLOVER
Specifies the time period to wait before starting a new log file. Options are Daily, Monthly, Weekly, and Yearly. The default value is Monthly.
EXECUTE_DASHBOARD_GADGET_GENERATION_WAIT_TIME
Specifies the time to wait, in seconds, for a gadget to generate when running a dashboard design file. This parameter’s default value is 2 seconds.
EXECUTE_REPORT_WAIT_TIME
Specifies the time to wait, in seconds, for a report to execute. This parameter’s default value is 20 seconds. For more information about the wait time parameter, see Integrating Applications into BIRT iHub.
FORCED_GC_INTERVAL
Indicates the length in seconds of the interval that the Visualization Platform client application waits between forced garbage collections. To disable garbage collection, set this parameter to 0, the default value. Use this parameter to tune application server performance. 600 seconds is the recommended value. If the value is too low, the application server performs garbage collection too frequently, slowing the system. If the value is too high, you waste memory. If disabled, the application server controls garbage collection.
GADGET_
GENERATION_
WAITING_TIME
Specifies the time to wait, in seconds, for an individual gadget to generate. This parameter’s default value is 10 seconds.
IDAPI_TIMEOUT
Specifies the number of seconds to wait for a SOAP message response. This value must be larger than the maximum time necessary to run a report design or Visualization Platform client generates a time-out error for some reports. Its default value is 7200.
INSTALL_MODE
Indicates whether Visualization Platform client is installed with iHub. The value is set when Visualization Platform client is installed. Do not change this setting.
JUL_LOG_CONSOLE_LEVEL
The level of Visualization Platform client activity to log to the console. Valid values are OFF, SEVERE, WARNING, INFO, CONFIG, FINE, FINER, FINEST, in order of the number of messages to log. The default value is OFF.
JUL_LOG_FILE_COUNT
Specifies the number of log files for a particular time stamp, if the value of ENABLE_JUL_LOG is TRUE.
JUL_LOG_FILE_LEVEL
The level of Visualization Platform client activity to log in a file. Valid values are OFF, SEVERE, WARNING, INFO, CONFIG, FINE, FINER, FINEST, in order of the number of messages to log. The default value is WARNING.
JUL_LOG_FILE_SIZE_KB
The maximum size, in kilobytes, for a Visualization Platform client activity log file. When a log file reaches this size, Visualization Platform client creates a new log file and increments its file number. If the log file number reaches the value of JUL_LOG_FILE_COUNT, Visualization Platform client resets the file number to zero and overwrites the first log file for the time stamp.
LOG_FILE_LOCATION
Indicates which directory contains the log files. If the value is not an absolute directory path name, Visualization Platform client locates the directory in the Visualization Platform client home directory. The default value is logs in the Visualization Platform client home directory.
LOGIN_TIMEOUT
Specifies the number of seconds to wait before a session times out. The minimum login time-out is 300 seconds. The maximum value is equivalent to java.lang.Long. Its default value is 1200 seconds.
MAX_BACKUP_ERROR_LOGS
Specifies the maximum number of backup error log files to keep. The default value is 10.
MAX_LIST_SIZE
Limits the number of items returned when getting folder items, jobs, job notices, scheduled jobs, and subscriptions to reduce network traffic. The default value is 150.
MOBILE_APP_DOWNLOAD
The URL target of the download button displayed by Visualization Platform client when viewed in mobile/touch device.
PROGRESSIVE_REFRESH
Controls the interval in seconds at which an Actuate report refreshes itself when running a progressive report. The report refreshes first after 15 seconds, then after 60 seconds, and then after the PROGRESSIVE_REFRESH interval. If the value is less than 60, Visualization Platform client uses 60 seconds. This parameter’s default value is 1800 seconds.
PROGRESSIVE_VIEWING_ENABLED
Specifies whether a paginated report starts to display in the browser as soon as the first page has been generated. Valid values are true and false. The default value is true.
PROXY_BASEURL
Indicates a proxy server’s URL if the network uses one between Visualization Platform client and the client. The default value is blank, which indicates that the network does not use a proxy server.
REDIRECT_TO_OUTSIDE_DOMAIN
Specifies whether an outside domain is a legal value for the targetpage URL parameter. If set to false, targetpage cannot redirect traffic to any outside domain. The default value is false.
SECURITY_ADAPTER_CLASS
Specifies the fully qualified class of the security adapter, which must extend com.actuate.iportal.security.iPortalSecurityAdapter, that controls access to Visualization Platform client functionality. The default value is no name.
SESSION_DEFAULT_PARAMETER_VALUE_ID
Specifies the name of the object that stores the HTTP session-level report parameters. This object is an instance of the com.actuate.parameter.SessionLevelParameter class, which is extensible. The default value is SessionDefaultParameterValue.
sessionTimeout
The number of milliseconds the Visualization Platform client Ajax Proxy maintains an idle session. The default value is 5000.
TRANSIENT_STORE_MAX_SIZE_KB
Limits the amount of disk space that Visualization Platform client uses for temporary files. The default value is 102400, which is 100 MB.
TRANSIENT_STORE_PATH
Path to Visualization Platform client transient files. The default value is set when Visualization Platform client is installed. When deploying more than one context root or separate server, set a unique path for each.
TRANSIENT_STORE_TIMEOUT_MIN
Specifies, in minutes, how long to retain Visualization Platform client transient files. The default value is 40, which is 40 minutes.
UPLOAD_FILE_TYPE_LIST
Specifies the valid file types, by extension, for upload with Visualization Platform client. The default value is blank, which indicates any file type.
UPLOAD_SECURITY_MANAGER
Specifies the fully qualified class of the security adapter, which must extend com.actuate.iportal.security.IUploadSecurityAdapter, that controls access to the upload functionality. The default value is no name.
iHub Visualization Platform client can use a volume profile to access a specific iHub instance and volume when it is not part of the iHub cluster. Because the volume profile conceals the iHub and volume values from the users of iHub Visualization Platform client, the system administrator can change the location of these resources without affecting the URLs accessed by the users. To access iHub resources using a volume profile, add a __vp=ProfileName parameter to the URL.