NETConductor Getting Started. Covered Installation requirements NETConductor installation...

NETConductor Getting Started

Covered•Installation requirements•NETConductor installation•NETConductor license files•Starting the DataTier in client•Starting the DataTier in NAS•Accessing MiddleTier•How does it work?•How fast is it?•Invoker

On to installation requirements.

Installation requirements• The following slides show the requirements that must be

installed before the NETConductor can be installed !

NAV Database Server• NETConductor requires a NAV Database Server both

Native and SQL servers are supported

Dynamics NAV Server

NAV

Dynamics NAV Server

NAV Application Server• For production we suggest NAV Application Server but a

NAV Client is fine for initial setup and testing.

NAV NAS

NAS

Dynamics NAV Server

Internet Information Service (IIS)•NETConductor requires Internet Information Service

NAV NAS

NAS IIS

IIS

.NET Framework 2.0•In order for the installation and execution of the NETConductor, the .NET Framework must be properly installed on all machines where the NETConductor is going to be running.

Dynamics NAV Server

NAV NAS

NAS IIS

IIS

Microsoft .NETFramework 2.0


On to NETConductor installations.

NETConductor installation•The following slides describe what application components are installed when the two NETConductor installation wizards are run.

NETConductor DataTier being installed.•When installed, the DataTier registers an OCX that is then started by the NAS.

Dynamics NAV Server

NAV NAS

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DT

DataTier Wizard•You start the installation of the DataTier by double-clicking on the .msi file, located on the distribution media.

• %DistributionMedia%\NETC_XXX\DataTier\NETConductorDT.msi

DataTier Wizard Page 1

The start page of the NETConductor DT installation wizard !

Press ‘Next’

Select folder for OCX and accompanied files !


You should always select ‘Everyone’ so that any Windows user can start the

DataTier !

This is the folder where the OCX and

accompanied files will be stored. Just use the

default !

Press ‘Next’


Page to indicate that the installation is about to start !

Press ‘Next’

DataTier Wizard Progress

Installation is currently underway !

The installer will wait a bit to start

with and then run through the progress bar a

couple of times–just be patient !

DataTier Wizard Reminder

Remember that you have to install license files !

This is a small Readme file just to

notify the developer that he must have a

valid rdn.rlf and fin.flf files to use the

NETConductor DataTier.

Press ‘Next’

DataTier Wizard Complete

You are done !

Press ‘Close’

NETConductor DataTier installed !•To complete the DataTier installationyou have to load the DataTier .fob file into NAV.

• C:\Program Files\Rue de Net\NETConductor\DT\fobs

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DT

NB: If running with SQL Server, you need to re-compile the objectsin the fob, because the Session table (2000000009) is different !

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NAV NAS

NAS IIS

IIS



NETConductor MiddleTier being installed.•When installed, the MiddleTier createsWeb Services that are hosted by the IIS.

DT MT

MiddleTier Wizard•You start the installation of the MiddleTier by double-clicking on the .msi file, located on the distribution media.

• %DistributionMedia%\NETC_XXX\MiddleTier\NETConductorMT.msi

MiddleTier Wizard Page 1

The start page of the NETConductor MT installation wizard !

Press ‘Next’


License file directories (can later be found in Web.config) !

Location of the rdn.rlf file. Defaults to the

installation directory of the DataTier

(convenient when both are installed on the

same machine)

Location of the fin.flf file. Again, defaults to the

installation directory of the DataTier.

Press ‘Next’

When using the NETConductor

operations, without providing a DataTier, this is the DataTier that will be used.


Press ‘Next’

This is the directory to install the

MiddleTier to. This means that

you access it using a URL like: http://localhost/NETConductor.

This is the site onto which you want to install the MiddleTier.

Usually this is the “Default Web

Site” but you may have configured

your IIS with other sites that

you may want to use for the MiddleTier.


Page to indicate that the installation is about to start !

Press ‘Next’

MiddleTier Wizard Progress Page 5

Installation is currently underway !

The installer will wait a bit to start

with and then run through the progress bar a

couple of times –just be patient !

MiddleTier Wizard Reminder Page 6

Remember that you have to install license files !

Press ‘Next’

This is a small Readme file just to

notify the developer that he must have a

valid rdn.rlf and fin.flf files to use the

NETConductor MiddleTier.

MiddleTier Wizard Complete Page 7

You are done !

Press ‘Close’

NETConductor MiddleTier installed !•Both tiers of the NETConductor have now been installed. Before you can use the NETConductor you have to install license files !

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On to NETConductor license files.

NETConductor license files•The following slides show how the license files are loaded by the DataTier and the MiddleTier.

NETConductor DataTier license file !•When the DataTier is started, directories are given, in which it searches for the rdn.rlf and fin.flf license-files.

rdn.rlf

fin.flfLocation storedin NAV

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DT MT

The DataTier will not start without valid license files !

– C:\Program Files\Rue de Net\NETConductor\DT– C:\Program Files\Rue de Net\NETConductor\DT\CFront370

rdn.rlf


rdn.rlf

fin.flfLocation storedin Web.config

NETConductor MiddleTier license file !•The MiddleTier uses a Web.config configuration file to store the directories used to find the rdn.rlf and fin.flf.

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– C:\Program Files\Rue de Net\NETConductor\DT– C:\Program Files\Rue de Net\NETConductor\DT\CFront370

Same as for the DataTier !

rdn.rlf


rdn.rlf

fin.flfLocation storedin Web.config

NETConductor MiddleTier license file !•You can verify the validity of the MiddleTier license file using a browser.

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Browser

License should have ‘Valid’=True and ‘Expired’=False !

– http://localhost/NETConductor/Configs.asmx/GetLicense

On to starting the DataTier in client.

Starting DataTier in client•The following slides show, first, how to start the DataTier in a NAV Client.•The next section will then show how to start it in a NAV Application Server.

NETConductor DataTier being started.•To start with you want to run the DataTier in a NAV client because then you can see errors and respond to them more quickly.•You must remember to have a NAV Database running and you must have loaded the .fob file of the DataTier into that database.•When you are ready, you start by runningForm 84920 NETConductor

NB: If running with SQL Server, you need to re-compile the objectsin the fob, because the Session table (2000000009) is different !

Form 84920 NETConductor Create Config.

Just leave the ID empty and press enter to create a

new DataTier configuration.

Form 84920 NETConductor Create Config.

Your new configuration,

with ID NC0001, has now been created and

many default values have

automatically been entered.

The configuration has been given a

default description that

you should change to your

liking.

Form 84920 NETConductor DataTier

When the DataTier is

running it will accept TCP/IP connections, from Middle-Tiers, on this

port. Only one DataTier can be

accepting connections on

each port on each machine.

Each DataTier has a service-name that the

MiddleTier uses to hook up with

it. Many running

DataTiers can have the same

service-name, in which case the MiddleTier will

do load-balancing

between them (in a Round-

Robin fasion)


The ‘Base Path’ is the location of

license files, configuration and

log files.

Calculated location of the

rdn.rlf file based on the given ‘Base Path’.

Form 84920 NETConductor XMLSpecifies the

limit on records in a response

from the NETConductor.

The nodes in the XML reply can

either have their original names or

simply use the names Record or

Field.

XSD Schemas can be included

inline or externally.

Value format can be local NAV or

Universal. Verbosity

settings specify how detailed the xml reply will be.

These are presets for XML settings.

Form 84920 NETConductor MailWhen the DataTier is

running and a call is made into a CodeUnit (for

example) an error may be raised. If

this happens when running the

DataTier in a client, it will

simply open up the well-known

ERROR dialog. But if running in a NAS

the ERROR is written into the Windows Event

Log. Now, by indicating a Mail Server here, an

administrator can get an e-mail on every such error.

Ask your administrator for

the machine name of the

SMTP server on you local

network. When you have the SMTP server

name or IP, you can check if the SMTP is running by using ‘telnet servername 25’

in a DOS command

prompt. If there is no server

running on the machine you will

get an error. Otherwise, you

will have a connection.

Form 84920 NETConductor MailThis text will be

the subject of the e-mail if an error

occurs. It is therefore

convenient to have a string that

identifies this DataTier from others (even

though the e-mail body will contain

the complete configuration of the DataTier as

well as the request being

made when the error occured)

The address, from whom the

error e-mails will be sent.

The addresses, to whom the error e-mails will be sent,

can be either simple e-mail

addresses or they can contain

display names.



running it can do logging of

requests. If checked, the log-

file will be created in the

directory indicated by ‘Base Path’.

NETConductor DataTier being started.

•When you have created a valid configuration (like the NC0001 described before) you can start the DataTier.

Form 84920 NETConductor Starting ...

Press ‘Start’

Form 84920 NETConductor Started !


successfully started it will open up this

message dialog when running in

a NAV client.

Form 84920 NETConductor Started !This indicates

whether a session is online or not.

If the DataTiers are running on other machines you can also see on what

machines they are running.

The DataTiers send a heartbeat to

indicate that they are alive/online.

This shows the time of the last heartbeat.

Number of requests processed by the

DataTier.Number of records

returned by the DataTier.

On to starting the DataTier in NAS.

Starting DataTier in NAS•The following slides show how to start the DataTier in a NAV Application Server.

NETConductor DataTier being started.

•When running the DataTier in a client it will stop running upon every ERROR or CONFIRM that is being made by code that is run through it.•To prevent this you should run the DataTier in a NAS. In this case all the ERROR, CONFIRM, TESTFIELD, DIALOG and other GUI usage will produce an error that is sent back to the client, stored in the Windows Event Log and possibly sent via e-mail to the administrators of the NETConductor.•However, before the DataTier can be started from a NAS, you need to make a few NAV code changes...

CodeUnit 1 ApplicationManagementWhen the NAS is

starting it will run this NASHandler function.

The default implementation of

these functions vary a bit between NAV

versions, so you will have to add the

following code by hand ...

CodeUnit 1 ApplicationManagement Add Code

This added code will start the

DataTier described in the given

DataTier configuration. A typical startup

parameter for the NAS will then be

NETC:NC0001

When the NAS is starting it will run this NASHandler function.

The default implementation of

these functions vary a bit between NAV

versions, so you will have to add the

following code by hand ...

Notice that you should understand

this code and not just insert it blindly.

CodeUnit 1 ApplicationManagement Local Var.

Then before you can save and compile the CodeUnit you have

to create the NETConductor local

variable.It is of type

‘CodeUnit 84920 NETConductor’

NETConductor DataTier Starting ...

•Now that the code changes have been done you are ready to start the NAS. This is done using the Application Server Manager ...

NETConductor DataTier Starting ...

The Application Server Manager can be found

in the ‘Start’ menu.

NAV Application Server Manager

The Application Server Manager gets started and you need to start by adding

your newly installed NAS into the console.

This is done by selecting theNew->Application Server from

the pop-up menu.


The New NAV Application Server dialog requests you to provide the

‘Service Name’ of the NAS.

The ‘Service Name’ can be read from the Services console. Pick up

the CLASSIC or SQL name depending on your configuration.


When the newly added NAS is then selected it’s parameters

need to be provided.

NAV Application Server ManagerDatabase Server Name is the

name of the NAV Database Server. Remember that DataTier only

works when a database server is installed.

When using the NETConductor the Database is left empty unless you

are running an SQL based NAV.

The company name.


According to our coding in CodeUnit 1 ApplicationManagement, the Start-Up Parameter should start with ‘NETC:’ to start a DataTier. After the NETC: there is the ID of the DataTier configuration

to use.

Select the Net Type.

Select the Object Cache Size.


When all parameters have been provided then you press the ‘Start Service’ button to

start the service ...

Windows Event Logs and Viewer

If the NAS and DataTier start normally then three information events will be written

into the Windows Event Log. If there are errors more event logs may be written. Some of those errors may be ...

NAS Windows Logon

NAS Uses a given Windows username and password to

logon to the given NAV Database Server. If you are

having problems with the NAS logging on then right-click the

service in the Services console and select properties. Then change the account and remember to add it into the

Windows Logon in the database as well.

If you want to be absolutely sure that your NAS (including the NET Conductor) restarts upon every

incident, then you should open up the ‘Recovery’ tab and set the

recovery options. If the NETConductor unexpectedly goes down (and is then automatically restarted) it will start by sending an email to the Administrators to notify of the unexpected restart.

This email is not sent if the NETConductor is shut down

normally using the Start/Stop service.

•If you forget to put the fin.flf license file into the directory of the NAV Application Server then you may get errors saying that the license doesn’t allow C/Front.

NAV Application Server License

NAV Application Server Started!

When the NAS is successfully started, the console will show ‘Started’ in the Service Status. However, you should

remember to check the Windows Event Viewer for errors as the NAS might start but show errors anyway.

On to accessing the MiddleTier.

Accessing MiddleTier•In the following slides we will look at some of the many services provided by the MiddleTier.•We will be using a browser interface (HTTP access).•During development of .NET applications developers can also use the SOAP protocol for access, but that is outside the scope of this guide.

NETConductor MiddleTier accessed.• You can access the MiddleTier using a browser.

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DT MT

Browser

http://localhost/NETConductor


Browser

This is a page that provides direct access to many of the

services provided by the NETConductor

License information

List of found DataTiers

The NETConductor Web Service

Direct access to certain NETConductor Web Service

Operations

Lets start by taking a look at the Config. Web Service

NETConductor Config. Web Service

All of the pages used for HTTP access to the NETConductor Web

Service contain a description.

Each of the operations of the Web Service are listed.

With a description of the operation.


Browser

Lets take a look at the Basics NETConductor Web Service.

NETConductor Basics Web Service

Lets try out the SelectFromTable operation.

SelectFromTable Operation

Service Name can be left empty, then the default one is used.

Number of the NAV table to get the information from

Sorting (a comma separated string of field numbers). If not

given the primary key is used for sorting the resulting records.

SelectFromTable OperationFiltering is of the format:

fieldnum1=“filter1”,fieldnum2=“filter2”

This is a list of fields to return. Empty list returns no fields but ‘*’ means

return all fields. Why not change this to “8,9” because both of those fields exist

in table 210.

from and to, required, indicate the number of the records to return. 0 and

0 will return all records fulfilling the given filter.

This is a list of fields to calculate. If left empty then no calculated fields get calculated; ‘*’ means calculate all

returned.

8,9

SelectFromTable OperationVerbosity level must be given from 0-9

By giving definition=true then the definition of the table is added at the top

of the reply.

Press ‘Invoke’ when ready.

SelectFromTable ReplySet

All calls to NETConductor will return XML of a similar format.

Always one ‘ReplySet’ Node.

Containing several ‘Reply’ Nodes, possibly of different types: RecordSet, String, Hashtable.

‘Reply’ of type ‘RecordSet’ contains a list of records, all with the node name similar to the

name of the table.

Such nodes will then contain a list of nodes, one for each column being returned.

NETConductor Basics Web Service

Next, lets try out the RunCodeUnit operation.

RunCodeUnit Operation

Number of the NAV CodeUnit to run.

Parameters should be of the format: “Name1”=“Value1”,”Name2”=“Value2”

Press ‘Invoke’ when ready.

Service Name can be left empty, then the default one is used.

RunCodeUnit ReplySet

This ‘ReplySet’ contains several ‘Reply’ nodes of different

types.

On to how does it work?

How does it work?•The following slides show how a typical request for data from a CodeUnit execution runs through the MiddleTier and then DataTier.

1) A client sends a request to MiddleTier•The request contains the name of the DataTier service to execute the command.

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DT MT.NET

basedclient

RunCodeUnit 84922Service name CRONUS.DT

•Looking for DataTier service name = CRONUS.DT•Static locations of DataTiersread from the Web.config file.

Web.configstatic locations

of DataTiers

Location storedin Web.config

2) MiddleTier looks for a DataTier

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•Looking for DataTier service name = CRONUS.DT•MiddleTier broadcasts onto port 8932 in search of DataTiers, unless the Web.config contains “Broadcast” = “False”



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CRONUS.DT?8932


of DataTiers


•DataTier responds !



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CRONUS.DT?8932


of DataTiers

RunCodeUnit 84922Service name CRONUS.DTI do!

•A connection is made !•In this case there is only one DataTier to select from so the MiddleTier will select this one.


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CRONUS.DTRunCodeUnit 84922Service name CRONUS.DT

If there were more DataTiers providing the CRONUS.DT servicethen the MiddleTier would select one in a Round Robin fashion !

3) Selected DataTier executes the CodeUnit•The request to run the CodeUnit is sent to the selected DataTier.

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RunCodeUnit 84922

3) Selected DataTier executes the CodeUnit•The DataTier then runs the CodeUnit in NAV.

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RunCodeUnit 84922RunCodeUnit84922

4) The CodeUnit returns a RecordSet•When the CodeUnit has a RecordSet to send back it returns “RecordRef” to the DataTier.

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CRONUS.DTRecordRef

5) The DataTier fetches the data from NAV•The DataTier uses it’s C/Front connection to fetch the data of the “RecordRef”.

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DT MTCRONUS.DTRecordRef

.NETbasedclient

6) The DataTier then wraps the data in XML•This is done in the fastest native way possible.

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CRONUS.DTRecordRef

Other reply types, like strings and hashtables, don’t use theC/Front connection. Such replies are put directly into the XML!

7) DataTier sends XML back to the MiddleTier•This is done over the same connection as before.

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CRONUS.DTRecordRefXML

8) MiddleTier forwards the XML to client

XML

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CRONUS.DTRecordRefXML

On to how fast is it?

How fast is it?•The following slides report the results of a single stress test that provided some speed results as well.•Note that the following results may not appear on your site for a number of different reasons, including machine and network configurations.•However, the results give a clear indication that the latency in NETConductor is not a problem in most scenarios.

The setup of the NETConductor•For the experiment, NAV and the NETConductor are setup as shown in the following diagram:

NAV NativeDB 3.70.A (Build 16172)

CRONUS Company

NAV NAS

NAS 3.70.B (Build 19516) IIS 5.0

IIS

Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1.4322 (Rev. 2032 SP 1)

DT MT.NET

basedclient

NETConductor 2.10

Server,2 x 800 MHz CPU,1GByte memory,W2K-SP4

RunCodeUnit that returnsrecords from G/L Entry

Workstation, 1 x 3.4 GHz CPU, 1GByte memory, XP-SP2

The .NET based client randomly requests differentnumber of records and fields from NAV.

Raw data of the test requests

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000 11000

Record Fields

Tim

e

Amount of data requested from NAV. This number is the multiplication of requested Records and

Fields.

The number of

milliseconds the request

took.

Requesting 1000

records of 1 field is not

the same as requesting 1

record of 1000 fields.

Time Report in 3D

10 30 50

70

90

110

130

150

170

190

210

230

250

4

12

20

28

360

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

900-1000

800-900

700-800

600-700

500-600

400-500

300-400

200-300

100-200

0-100

Records

Fields

Time

The slope of the requests

of small records is

small.

The slope of the requests

of larger records is

larger.

Requesting 250 records of different

sizes has the largest slope.

Many and Few Fields/Record

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1100

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000 11000 12000 13000

40 Fields/Rec

4 Fields/Rec

Records

NETConductor returns around

4.380 larger records in a

second.

NETConductor returns

around 11.385 smaller

records in a second.

How fast is it?•We can therefore draw the conclusionsthat the NETConductor can return

• Ca. 5.000 large records / second• Ca. 10.000 smaller records / second

•Another result from this experiment is that the NETConductor can make

• Ca. 200 calls/secondinto NAV.

NB: These numbers depend heavily on the machineconfiguration and are shown as a reference only !

On to Invoker

Hope it was helpful !

Vesturgata 3, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland [email protected]: (+354) 414 5050 Fax: (+354) 414 5051

NETConductor Getting Started. Covered Installation requirements NETConductor installation...

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Transcript of NETConductor Getting Started. Covered Installation requirements NETConductor installation...