WebFOCUS Online Help > Managed Reporting Administrator > Additional Administration Topics > Debugging

Debugging

In this section:

These topics describe how you can access debugging information and enable tracing options.

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Your Browser's Java Console

When you encounter problems with Java applets in the Internet Explorer, you can receive valuable debugging information by looking in the Internet Explorer Java Console. Access this from the menu bar by clicking View and then Java Console. The Java Console, as shown in the following image shows you which Microsoft Java Virtual Machine release you are using. The Java Console also displays messages from the IBI Java code, such as the Managed Reporting Java Gen number. Information Builders Customer Support Service (CSS) may ask you to check for specific messages in this console to aid in problem determination.

You may need to activate the Java Console if it does not appear in your View menu. Activating the Java Console varies with each Internet Explorer release. In Internet Explorer version 6.0, enable the Java Console by selecting Tools, Internet Options, Advanced, Microsoft VM, and Java Console enabled. You must restart your browser for the changes to take effect.

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Tracing the Java Applets

It is possible to increase the level of trace messages written to the Internet Explorer Java Console. This can be helpful for debugging purposes. Before carrying out the following steps, you should back up your mr_ie.htm file in case it accidentally becomes corrupt.

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Procedure: How to Trace the Domain Builder Applet
  1. Edit webfocus76/ibi_html/workbnch/mr_ie.htm and search for the following JavaScript function: 
    function showDomainAdmin()
  2. Below the show Domain Admin function, uncomment the following lines (remove the two slashes): 
    //    innerHTML += "<PARAM NAME=FOCUStrace value='true'>";
//    innerHTML += "<PARAM NAME=PROGRAMtrace value='true'>";
  3. Save the file and either log onto Managed Reporting again or click the browser Refresh button (if you are already logged on). You should see detailed trace messages in the Java Console.

    Note: While tracing is on and the Java Console is open, applet performance will be decreased. Keep the Java Console closed until you have reproduced the steps you are debugging to improve performance.

    You can copy the following trace lines to other JavaScript functions to trace the behavior of other applets: 

    showUserAdmin() - the User Administration applet
showDomains() - the Domains applet
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Tracing the WebFOCUS Client

To turn tracing on, set Trace=ON. For more information, See the WebFOCUS Security and Administration manual.

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Enabling Tracing Options in Dashboard

By default, the Dashboard tracing option is not turned on. Tracing should only be turned on when requested to do so by an Information Builders representative.

Tracing is only active when the TRACE_LEVEL parameter exists with a valid value. To turn the Dashboard tracing option on, add the TRACE_LEVEL initialization parameter in the servlet engine configuration. For details, see How to Add the TRACE_LEVEL Parameter for Windows and How to Add the TRACE_LEVEL Parameter for UNIX and z/OS.

All trace files are created in the ibi\WebFOCUS76\worp\log directory. A trace file is created for every session, therefore it is possible to have many trace files generated for one user.

You can turn on traces dynamically by editing the bid-config.xml file. See How to Turn On Dynamic Tracing in Dashboard.

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Procedure: How to Add the TRACE_LEVEL Parameter for Windows
  1. Open the ServletExec Administration tool.
  2. Below Web Applications, click Manage.
  3. Below WebFOCUS76 Application Name, click web.xml.
  4. BelowServlets, click Manage.
  5. Below Servlet Name, click WORP_Loader.
  6. Below Initialization Parameters, add the following:
    • name: TRACE_LEVEL
    • value: FATAL, ERROR, WARN, INFO, or DEBUG. FATAL is for minimum tracing, DEBUG is for maximum tracing, and OFF turns the tracing option off.

    Descriptions are optional.

  7. Click Submit.
  8. From the Configure Web Applications window, click Reload for the WebFOCUS76 application.
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Procedure: How to Add the TRACE_LEVEL Parameter for UNIX and z/OS
  1. From the WEB-INF directory, open the web.xml file.
  2. Add the following immediately preceding the </servlet> line: 
    <init-param>
    <param-name>TRACE_LEVEL</param-name>
    <param-value>DEBUG</param-value>
</init-param>
  3. Save and close the file.
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Procedure: How to Remove or Modify the TRACE_LEVEL Parameter for Windows
  1. Open the ServletExec Administration tool.
  2. Below Web Applications, click Manage.
  3. Below WebFOCUS76 Application Name, click web.xml.
  4. Below Servlets, click Manage.
  5. Below Servlet Name, click WORP_Loader.
  6. Below Initialization Parameters, delete the TRACE_LEVEL parameter, or change the value to OFF.
  7. Click Submit.
  8. From the Configure Web Applications window, click Reload for the WebFOCUS76 application.
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Procedure: How to Remove or Modify the TRACE_LEVEL Parameter for UNIX and z/OS
  1. From the WEB-INF directory, open the web.xml file.
  2. Change the value in the TRACE_LEVEL parameter to OFF as follows: 
    <init-param>
    <param-name>TRACE_LEVEL</param-name>
    <param-value>OFF</param-value>
</init-param>

    Alternatively, you can delete the lines that were added for TRACE_LEVEL in the web.xml file.

  3. Save and close the file.
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Procedure: How to Turn On Dynamic Tracing in Dashboard
  1. In the WebFOCUS76\worp\conf directory, open the bid-config.xml file in a text editor.

    Find the following line:

    <trace-option trace-flag="false" trace-level="DEBUG"/>
  2. Change the trace-flag value to true.
  3. Save and close the file.

    You do not need to reload the servlet.

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Reference: Dashboard Trace File Names

Trace files are named as follows: 

<username>_<date>_<timestamp>.log
ADMIN_20070829_140159.log

where:

username

Is the name used by the user to log in, not the description in Managed Reporting.

date

Is the date in yyyymmdd date format. For example, 20070829.

timestamp

Is the time using 24-hour hhmmss time format. For example, such as 1401599.

The log file for a user logged in as ADMIN on Aug 29th, 2007 at 2:01:59 PM would be:

ADMIN_20070829_140159.log
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Reference: Dashboard Trace File Contents

Trace files contain the following information: 

<thread number> <date> <time> <level> <location> <message>

where:

thread number

Is the number generated for each new task performed in the servlet.

date

Is the date when the line of trace code is created. The format is MM/DD/YYYY.

time

Is the time when the particular trace code has been written to the trace file. The format is hh:mm:ss:nnn.

level

Is the TRACE_LEVEL defined in the servlet parameters. Valid entries are FATAL, ERROR, WARN, INFO, DEBUG or OFF.

location

Is the internal location called by the Dashboard. The format is <Java class name>.<Java method name>.

message

Is the internal trace text.

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