First Steps - Starting your ApplinX Components

This document tells you how to start the components you will need to work with ApplinX:


Starting your ApplinX Server

The ApplinX server can be started either as a Windows service or using a batch file. ApplinX can also run under a Java Application Server (for further details, refer to the relevant topics in Deploying with ApplinX in the Designing and Developing an Application documentation).

See also Managing the ApplinX Server in the Administration section.

Windows Service

In the installation process, it is possible to define that ApplinX server runs as a Windows system service, started and stopped via Start > Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services. By default, the service is automatically run when starting the computer.

Batch Files

ApplinX Server can be run using batch command files, located in the <ApplinX installation>/bin folder:

startup.bat Starts the ApplinX server.
shutdown.bat Stops the ApplinX server.

UNIX Environments

In the ApplinX installation directory, you can find the following shell scripts:

startup.sh Starts the ApplinX server.
shutdown.sh Stops the ApplinX server.

Starting the ApplinX Server Administrator

Starting the Server Administrator

From the Start menu, select Software AG > Administration > ApplinX Administration <version number>.

Alternatively, you can run the Administrator from a remote PC (for example: on a Microsoft Windows operating system) and connect to the server using TCP/IP.

Logging On

Once you start the ApplinX Administrator, the Logon screen is displayed. When this is the first time you are logging on, by default, "Administrator" will be displayed in the User name field. Type the server address (IPv4 and IPv6 address formats are supported) and port. When it is not the first time you are logging on, the Administrator will automatically try to connect to the last server it connected to.

You may have to set a new password when connecting for the first time.

Main Screen

The screen consists of four parts:

  • Title bar, menu bar and toolbar.

  • ApplinX Explorer pane.

  • Main view: The main view corresponds to the selected node/entity/session in the ApplinX Explorer.

  • Status bar: The status bar displays information according to the object selected in the main view. The status bar may include information such as: the user name, application name, the number of users connected, indication of file tracing/replaying or the host address.

Operations, features and applications that the logged-in user is not authorized to use will be disabled or are invisible.

graphics/MainScreen.png

ApplinX Explorer

Enables viewing and controlling users' activity, maintaining the server's configuration, viewing runtime information about connection pools, sessions, server logs, define hosts and design and configure applications.

Node Description
ApplinX The root node.
Management Includes managerial functions.
Current Activity Controls the sessions connected to the server, the server activity and the connection pools. The Current Activity node is unavailable when the ApplinX Administrator is not connected to the server.
Sessions Lists the currently connected sessions.
Connection Pools Provides runtime information regarding the connection pools.
Security Holds the definitions of the users, their permissions and roles, and the user groups.
Server Logs Lists the server logs.

Toolbar

Icon Description
graphics/TBunlink.gif Disconnect from Server
graphics/TBlink.gif Connect to Server
graphics/TBserverinfo.gif Server Information...
graphics/TBlogs.gif Server Log
graphics/TBnewfolder.gif New Folder
graphics/TBusers.gif New User
graphics/TBgroups.gif New Group
graphics/TBdelete.gif Delete
graphics/TBrefreshTable.gif Refresh
graphics/TBupOneLevel.gif Up One Level

Menu Bar

Menu Item Description
File New Creates a new user or group.
Open Opens the selected item.
Delete Deletes the selected item.
Properties Opens the properties of the selected item.
Exit Exits the Administrator.
Edit Select All Selects all entities displayed in the main view.
Invert Selection Selects all entities that were not selected, and deselects entities that were selected.
View ApplinX Explorer Hides/shows the ApplinX Explorer tree area of the screen.
Summary Hides/shows the summary area of the screen.
Server Log Displays the server log.
Refresh Refreshes the main view to match the data stored on the server.
Connection Connect/Disconnect Connects and disconnects the Administrator from the server.
Cancel Session Displays the View Session window of the selected session.
Tools Server Info Displays the Server Information dialog box.
User Information Displays the User Information dialog box.

Starting the ApplinX Designer (Software AG Designer)

Introduction

From the Start menu, select All Programs > Software AG > Tools > Software AG Designer <version number>.

Alternatively, you can run the Designer from a remote PC (for example: on a Microsoft Windows operating system) and connect to the server using TCP/IP. When running the Designer from a remote PC, some Designer features may not work, for example opening the file system.

The first time you start the Designer, a Welcome page will be displayed. From this page you can access the ApplinX perspective and the help contents. If you close the Welcome page, and you would like to display the ApplinX perspective, go to Window > Open Perspective > Other and select ApplinX.

If you are not yet familiar with Eclipse, see the Eclipse online help at http://www.eclipse.org/documentation/, or start the Software AG Designer and then choose Help > Help Contents. General information on Eclipse can then be found under Workbench User Guide. When working with the Software AG Designer, the online help also provides help for the currently installed Software AG products; this can be found under Software AG Designer Guides.

Logging On

Once the Designer is displayed, you will see the available list of servers. Double-click on a server or select Connect from the right-click context menu. When this is the first time you are logging on, by default, "Administrator" will be displayed in the User name field. When it is not the first time you are logging on, ApplinX Designer will automatically try to connect to the last server it connected to.

You can select to remember the user password in the Login dialog box. Once this is selected, the Login dialog box is not shown again. To require entering a password and displaying the Login dialog box, change the Remember passwords check box in Window > Preferences > Software AG > ApplinX.

Note:
The first time the Remember password check box is selected, an Eclipse Secure Storage message is displayed. This message offers remembering an internal Eclipse password using a hint, but this is not applicable to the ApplinX server password, therefore click No.

Adding a New Server Connection

Additional connections to servers can be added. To add an additional server connection, in the Server menu, select Add ApplinX Server Connection.... The wizard is displayed. Enter the name of the server, the relevant address (IPv4 and IPv6 address formats are supported) and port. Also determine whether the connection will be a secured connection.

For more information see Configuring the Server in the Administration documentation.

Designer Layout

By default the layout is as displayed below, but as possible in Eclipse, the layout can be changed.

Designer

ApplinX-related Menu Bar Commands

Detailed below are the ApplinX-related commands that are included in the menu bar.

Menu Item Description
File New > ApplinX Application... Creates a new ApplinX application.
New > ApplinX Host... Creates a new ApplinX host.
New > Entity Creates a new entity from the list of entities.
New > Session Creates a new display session or printer session (according to the selected option).
Import.... Enables importing ApplinX entities or importing/replacing an ApplinX application.
Export... Enables exporting ApplinX entities or application.
Session Duplicate Session Definition Creates another session with the same definitions as the selected session.
Connect Connects to the host using the selected session definitions.
Disconnect Disconnects the session from the host.
Open HTTP Session Opens the session as an instant web application. The session is displayed by default in the Editor area of Eclipse. It is possible to display the session in your system's browser by changing the web browser definitions in Eclipse (Window > Preferences > General > Web Browser). This is convenient for checking transformations. This is only available when you have a web enablement license.
Entity Show WSDL Displays the WSDL in the Editor area.
Copy WSDL URL Copies the WSDL URL to the Clipboard.
Open HTML Preview Displays an HTML preview of the screen. Useful to preview transformations that are used in this screen.
Generate > JSP Page from Screen... Generates a JSP page from the current screen.
Generate > JSP Page from Screen Group... Generates a JSP page from the current screen group.
Generate > Procedure Client... Generates a Procedure Client from a procedure group.
Generate > JSP Page from Procedure... Generates a JSP page from a procedure.
Convert > Screen to Screen Group Converts a screen to a screen group.
Convert > Screen Group to Screen Converts a screen group to a screen.
Convert > Path / Path Wrapper to Path Procedure Converts a path to a path procedure.
Application Open Application Opens the application.
Close Application Closes the application.
Reload Application Reloads the repository.
Import Predefined Transformations Imports into the application a list of predefined transformations.
Import Host Screen Maps Opens a wizard which enables importing screen maps.
Show Application Map Displays the Application Map view.
Automatically Identify Screens/Steps using Trace Files... Opens a wizard which enables to automatically identify screens.
Extract Business Process Activities Opens a wizard which enables to extract business activities from trace files.
Web Application Manager... Initiates the Web Application Manager wizard which enables creating a web application.
Deployment Manager for J2EE... Initiates the Deployment Manager wizard which enables deploying.
Open in File System Opens the file system and allows viewing the files in the relevant folder.
Server Add ApplinX Server Connection... Adds an additional server connection.
Connect to Server Connects to the server.
Disconnect from Server Disconnects from the server.
Reload Reloads the server configuration, i.e. the configuration of all applications connected to the server.
Show Web Services Displays a list of the available web services.

ApplinX Explorer

The ApplinX Explorer is comprised of the ApplinX Explorer toolbar and the ApplinX Explorer tree.

ApplinX Explorer Toolbar
graphics/server.gif Adds a new server connection.
graphics/server_connect.gif Connects to the selected server.
graphics/server_disconnect.gif Disconnects from the selected server.
graphics/find.gif Enables finding an entity.
graphics/application.gif Enables creating new entities in the currently selected application.
ApplinX Explorer Tree
graphics/server.gif Local ApplinX server
graphics/hosts.gif Hosts
graphics/host_display.gif <Host name>
graphics/application.gif <Application name>
graphics/emu_session_disconnected.gif Session (disconnected)
graphics/emu_session_connected.gif Session (connected)
graphics/printer_node.gif Printer Session
graphics/folder.gif Repository
graphics/screen.gif Screen
graphics/screen_group.gif Screen Group
graphics/transformation.gif Transformation
graphics/connection_pool.gif Connection Pool
graphics/connection_info.gif Connection Information Set
graphics/procedure_group.gif Procedure Group
graphics/procedure_flow.gif Flow Procedure
graphics/procedure_path.gif Path Procedure
graphics/procedure_rpc.gif Program Procedure
graphics/data_structure.gif Data Structure
graphics/database.gif Database Connection
graphics/procedure_web.gif External Web Service

Editor

The various entity editors are displayed in the editor area: Screen, Screen Group, Transformation, Connection Pool, Connection Information Set, Path Procedure, Procedure Group, Flow Procedure, Program Procedure, Data Structure, Database Connection and External Web Service. This area also displays the HTML preview of a screen, the list of all relevant web services and a specific WSDL.

Application Map

The Application Map view displays application screens through which the user has navigated. Refer to Application Map in the Designing and Developing an Application documentation for further details.

Properties

This area displays basic details regarding the object selected in the ApplinX Explorer tree. For example, when selecting the Server, the Properties area displays a number of parameters such as the server address, port, state and version. Another example is when selecting the Repository, or a folder within the repository, the Properties area displays parameters such as the application name, a detailed list of all the entities, and the number of each type of entity.

Console

This area displays the console messages.

Error Log

This area displays the error log.

Status Bar

Online/Offline indication Name of GCT trace file/application name.
Screen name UNKNOWN when the screen has not been identified.
Cursor position Row and column, and position in the host.
Mouse position Row and column, and position in the host.
Selection start Starting position of the currently selected area (in host units).