BusinessObjects Enterprise Infrastructure

Client and server interaction

The BusinessObjects Enterprise infrastructure provides the basic messaging mechanism needed for BusinessObjects Enterprise components to communicate with one another. The BusinessObjects Enterprise infrastructure is a series of services that are designed to communicate via CORBA, which runs over TCP/IP.

Some CORBA applications use a Name Server. The Name Server service is a facility of the underlying CORBA architecture that binds the BusinessObjects Enterprise servers together. The Name Server provides a directory of the servers registered in the BusinessObjects Enterprise environment and helps establish connections between clients and these servers. The Name Server service is a part of the CMS Server.

The BusinessObjects Enterprise infrastructure establishes connections between clients and servers: • It is the centerpiece of BusinessObjects Enterprise technology, allowing the communication to happen between servers. • A client object can transparently make requests to server objects using the BusinessObjects Enterprise infrastructure. • A server object is a server that participates in serving requests to client objects. • A client object is a client that makes requests to servers on the BusinessObjects Enterprise infrastructure.

Note: In the BusinessObjects Enterprise environment, all servers act as clients and servers to each other during the transactions between the servers.

When a BusinessObjects Enterprise server starts, it registers itself with the Name server in the CMS. The server will provide information about itself, such as its IP address, TCP port, and description of the server, to the Name Shell.

Each individual server polls the CMS every 60 seconds to get an updated list of available servers in the system.

This diagram displays each server in BusinessObjects Enterprise. The following sections describe the role of each server within the application, intelligence, and processing services.

BusinessObjects Enterprise infrastructure

Application services

The application services are server-side components that process requests from client applications and communicate these requests to the appropriate server. These requests include support for report viewing and logic to understand and direct web requests to the appropriate BusinessObjects Enterprise server.

Note: The Web Component Server and Crystal Server Pages, part of Crystal Enterprise, are no longer supported under BusinessObjects Enterprise architecture. However, the Crystal SDK will still work with non-proprietrary Web Application Servers.

Web Application Server • The Web Application Server uses the BusinessObjects Enterprise SDK (Java or .net) to interface with the rest of the BusinessObjects Enterprise services. • It is responsible for processing requests from the browser, sending Crystal Server Pages (.csp files) and Crystal Web Request (.cwr) requests to the Web Component Adapter, and formatting pages to be returned to the web client. • The Web Application Server acts as a gateway between the browser and the rest of the components in BusinessObjects Enterprise. Web Component Adapter (WCA) • The Web Component Adapter runs within the application server and provides backward compatibility for applications developed using Crystal Server Page (.csp) and Crystal Web Request (.cwr) requests. • The WCA also handles OLAP Intelligence view requests.

Note: When configuring servers using the Central Management Console, the Web Application Server communicates with all BusinessObjects Enterprise servers.

Services that interact with the Web Application Server

Intelligence servicesThe Intelligence services manage the BusinessObjects Enterprise System. These services maintain all security information, send requests to the appropriate services, manage auditing information, and store report instances. The Intelligence services are also responsible for storing objects and object instances.

Central Management Server (CMS)The Central Management Server is responsible for authenticating users and groups, and keeping track of the availability of the other BusinessObjects Enterprise services. It also maintains the BusinessObjects Enterprise system database, which includes information about users, groups, security levels, BusinessObjects Enterprise content, and services. The CMS also maintains a separate audit database of information about user actions and manages the Business Objects Repository. Note: All servers communicate with the CMS when they start up.

Services that interact with the CMS

Event ServerThe Event Server manages file-based events. It monitors the directory you specified when setting up a file-based event. When the appropriate file appears in the monitored directory, the Event Server triggers your file-based event.

Services that interact with the Event Server

Input File Repository Server • The Input File Repository Server manages all of the report and program objects that have been published to the system. It can store the following files: .rpt, .car, .exe, .bat, .js, .xls, .doc, .ppt, .rtf, .txt, .pdf., .wid. • .rpt files may be stored with or without saved data. Output File Repository Server • The Output File Repository Server manages all of the report instances generated by the Report Job Server and the program instances generated by the Program Job Server. It can store the following files: .rpt, .csv, .xls, .doc, .rtf, .txt, .pdf., .wid. • .rpt files are stored as reports with saved data.

Services that interact with the File Repository Server

Processing servicesThe Processing services access the data and generate reports. This tier interacts directly with the databases that contain report data during the processing of Crystal Reports and Web Intelligence documents. Which services are involved in processing an object is determined by whether the object is being scheduled or viewed on demand. Viewer choice also plays a role in determining which servers are involved in object processing.

Report Job Server • The Report Job Server processes report objects, as requested by the CMS, and generates report instances. • The Report Job Server then retrieves the file to be run from the Input File Repository Server, runs the report or program, and then saves the processed file to the Output File Repository Server as an instance.

Services that interact with the Report Job Server

Page Server • The Page Server is primarily responsible for responding to page requests by processing reports and generating Encapsulated Page Format (.epf) pages. The Page Server retrieves data for the report from the latest instance or directly from that database. After it has generated the report and converted it to .epf, the Page Server then sends the .epf file to the Cache Server.

Services that interact with the Page Server

Cache Server • The Cache Server is responsible for handling report viewing requests from the DHTML, ActiveX, and Java viewers. It checks whether or not it can fulfill the request with a cached report page. If not, it passes the request to the Page Server. The Cache Server stores .epf and .etf files for a defined period of time.

Services that interact with the Cache Server

Report Application Server (RAS) • The Report Application Server processes all requests from the Advanced DHTML Viewer, as well as requests from users who modify reports over the web using the Crystal Reports Explorer application.

Services that interact with the Report Application Server

Web Intelligence Job Server • The Web Intelligence Job Server receives schedule requests from the CMS and then forwards them to the Web Intelligence Report Server for processing. Web Intelligence Report Server • The Web Intelligence Report Server processes Web Intelligence report requests.

Services that interact with the Web Intelligence Job Server and the Web Intelligence Report Server

Destination Server • A user can take an existing report instance and schedule/process the report under a specified format and destination. The Destination Server applies a format to the report and sends it to the selected destination for processing.

Services that interact with the Destination Server

List of Values (LOV) Job Server • The List of Values Job Server processes scheduled LOV objects to populate them with values that are retrieved from a database.

Services that interact with the LOV Job Server

Program Job Server • The Program Job Server processes program objects, as requested by the CMS, and generates program instances. • The Program Job Server then retrieves the file to be run from the Input File Repository Server, runs the report or program, and then saves the processed file to the Output File Repository Server as an instance.

Services that interact with the Program Job Server