Viewer Rendering issues

[EntArtJoe]

Hi there
I'm a brand new EA user and I've been pretty impressed with what I've seen so far. But I'm trying to render an element of the Demo project supplied with Protege 3.5, but it gets as far as 69% and then hangs.

I have not entered any username or password before clicking on "Publish Repository" and I'm pretty sure my Apache Server is running as when I manually enter the URL I get "The requested URL /essential_viewer was not found on this server." which I sort of expect as it's busy trying to build it... I think?

Any suggestions, much appreciated
Joe

[JohnM]

Hi Joe,

That's usually a sign that tomcat isn't running. If you just type in Localhost:(whatever your port number is) into the browser do you see the Tomcat successfully installed screen?

If you don't see the page then you need to start tomcat and try republishing. If you do see it then let us know as we'll need to look somewhere else, it could be a memory or config issue.

John

[colinfrewen]

Hi Joe,

If Tomcat is running then your war file hasn't been fully deployed. I would suggest that you:

1) Shutdown Apache
2) Delete your viewer folder in webapps (assume you haven't got any customised reports)
3) Cleat browser cache / restart computer
4) Put viewer war in webapps folder / restart apache:
Check: Have enough memory allocated to Java (at least 1 gb with 1.5 preferred.
Check Apache mem allocation. Make 512 minimum which will work on standard viewer.
Check: Full folder deployed. Start up Apache Manager app and check the viewer is one of the options to open and open from there.
NOTE: If you are memory constrained run import utility in another instance of Tomcat.

Regards
Colin

[EntArtJoe]

Hi John & Colin
I'm actually not sure if Tomcat is running as I have MAMP installed on my MacBookPro. I have verified Apache is running because when I use the browser to navigate to localhost:8080 I get my WordPress home page.

I've googled how to include Tomcat in MAMP, at the following URL and I think I've done what it states.
https://gist.github.com/emiller42/4982462

Does this look right?
Also, how do I check the Apache Mem Allocation in the above scenario?

Thanks
Joseph

[EntArtJoe]

Hi All
I've made progress
now the Rendering is completed but, It stops with the following lines

Sending XML snapshot
Failed to send snapshot to Report Service:
Essential Viewer ReportService could not be found at this URL.

I think this means my essential viewer.war has not installed properly?

Appreciate all your help

Joseph

[JohnM]

Hi Joseph,

Have you checked this post? http://enterprise-architecture.org/foru ... +URL#p3146

The problem seems similar to yours

Let us know how you get on

John

[EntArtJoe]

Hi there
Thanks for the pointer, I do have the same problem that although my Apache and My Tomcat are running, I still get the "Essential Viewer ReportService could not be found at this URL"

In my case I am running MAMP on a MAC which points to port 8888 so my Essential Viewer URL is http://localhost:8888/essential_viewer

I manually extracted the war file to this folder (which I manually created)

I'm really keen to get this up an running this week, but this is proving almost impossible. Any further suggestions would be appreciated.

Regards
Joseph

[neil.walsh]

Hi Joe,

Can I just check you've updated the URL in the Publish tab to reflect the MAMP Tomcat port?

Tomcat isn't included with MAMP, the Apache Web Server is but not Tomcat and I know getting Tomcat to work on MAMP can be rather tricky.

Many of the team here use Macs and we use a standalone Tomcat which works great. This is pretty easy to set up and should take about 5-10 mins.

Here's a quick guide...

Download Tomcat (choose the Core ZIP)
https://tomcat.apache.org/download-80.cgi

Unpack the ZIP and copy the folder (it'll be called something like apache-tomcat-8.5.5) to your Documents folder

Next we'll make sure Tomcat has got enough memory to run Essential Viewer.
Open a text editor such as TextEdit or TextWrangler and create a new blank document.
Add the following line

Code: Select all

export CATALINA_OPTS=”-Xms128m -Xmx2048m -XX:MaxPermSize=512m”

Save the file as setenv.sh to the "bin" folder of Tomcat (e.g. Documents > apache-tomcat-7.0.16 > bin)

We'll make all the scripts in the Tomcat folder executable so type (don't forget to change the name of the path if it's different)
Open the Terminal Application from your Applications > Utilities folder

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sudo chmod +x Documents/apache-tomcat-8.5.5/bin/*.sh

That's it.

To start Tomcat, type this into the Terminal Window

Code: Select all

Documents/apache-tomcat-7.0.16/bin/startup.sh

To shutdown Tomcat, type this into the Terminal Window

Code: Select all

Documents/apache-tomcat-7.0.16/bin/shutdown.sh

Alternatively you can drag the startup.sh or shutdown.sh files from Finder onto the Terminal window or Dock icon

Simply add the essential_viewer.war file to the Tomcat webapps folder and it will unpack and deploy automatically. If you have already unpacked the folder you can copy this into the webapps folder but you'll probably need to restart Tomcat to see it working.

To access the Viewer from a browser visit http://localhost:8080/essential_viewer

Let us know how you get on.

Thanks

Neil

[EntArtJoe]

Hi Neil
Really appreciate you getting back to me, I've made the changes you requested and I now see the Essential Viewer home page in Safari. Which is great, BUT, Protege still renders the repository ok, after Checking for Access... it gets Exception encountered during send
Fails to send snapshot to Report Service
No response from the Report Service at this URL.

I think it a mySQL Access issue

Any ideas appreciated.

Its really hard to convince management to use a tool I can't show them.

Thanks
Joseph

[neil.walsh]

Hi Joe,

Can you post a few things to help us debug this for you.

From you Tomcat install folder > logs can you attach the following
- catalina.out
- localhost_access_log_[some_recent-date].txt

Also a screenshot of the publish tab from Protege after a unsuccessful publish

I've attached a screenshot of what it should look like.

Also, here is a link to a blog we've put together about configuring the memory settings for Protege and Tomcat with Essential

http://www.enterprise-architecture.org/ ... essential/

Cheers

Neil

[EntArtJoe]

Hi Neil
Thanks for the response, really appreciate the assistance you guys are giving me on this. I've put the files in this Dropbox folder, you should be able to access them.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/q4ym1vitkvty ... b0rha?dl=0

Screenshot is in the folder as well, please let me know if you cannot access the folder.

Regards
Joseph
P.s I'm on Tomcat 8.5.4

[neil.walsh]

Hi Joe,

Thanks for your persistence.

We've taken a look at the logs and assets you've sent over and a couple of things spring to mind.

In the screenshot you've sent, the URL you're publishing to is

http://localhost:8889/essential_viewer

If you installed Tomcat as a described in my earlier post, you'd need to change this URL to be the default.

http://localhost:8080/essential_viewer

The localhost access logs show no attempt to publish which suggests this is at least a possibility. This should be the same URL and Port that you access from the browser.

Another issue I can see from the logs is the following

Code: Select all

14-Sep-2016 15:40:04.623 SEVERE [localhost-startStop-1] org.apache.jasper.EmbeddedServletOptions.<init> The scratchDir you specified: /Applications/MAMP/tomcat/work/Catalina/localhost/essential_viewer is unusable.

This means Tomcat doesn't have permission to write to this folder and in probably is a result of trying to use Tomcat within MAMP in the Applications folder of OSX and the inherited permissions of this setup.

You could try to resolve this by typing the following from Terminal

Code: Select all

sudo chown -R <your_username> /Applications/MAMP/tomcat

Generally speaking there's no reason to use MAMP with Essential and it's likely to be the cause of many of the issues you're seeing here due to permissions configuration complexity.

I assume as it's on your local laptop, you're just trying to setup a single user local install for evaluation purposes. In this scenario, you just require a single standalone Tomcat (as described earlier) and a copy of Protege. MySQL isn't required unless you specifically want to run a database backend. For standalone versions, we rarely use a database backend unless for testing. Performance with a file-based standalone version is excellent for evaluation.

When setting up a multi user production installation, we'd do so using the database backend on a dedicated server using the multi user install guide. Again though, we wouldn't be using a MAMP, LAMP, WAMP stack for this but rather a full install of Tomcat and a SQL database with the appropriate management tools.

MAMP is great for web development and both myself and some of my colleagues make use of it for that but none of us are using it to manage Tomcat for Essential.

Have a try at the two suggestions above and let me know how you get on

Thanks

Neil

[EntArtJoe]

Hi Neil
Tried the terminal commands but no change to results. Also in Protege oddly enough I get the same error if I use either port 8889 or port 8080 in the URL?

I'm may uninstall MAMP for now and see what happens, also I have edited the tomcat config to point at the 8889 port so when I enter localhost:8889 I get the tomcat page as expected. Not sure if this helps

Regards

Joseph

[neil.walsh]

Ok thanks for trying those.

One other thing, have a look at the Protege logs and see if there are any errors showing up there. (Application > Protege 3.5 > Logs). Feel free to post these if you aren't sure.

I've forgotten to ask which version of Java you're using. From a terminal window type

Code: Select all

java -version

You need 1.7 or higher to use Essential. The current Java version is 1.8.0_45

Here's what I'd suggest next (apologies if this sounds like a repetition of earlier posts but bear with me...). What we're trying to establish is a known state. I think the MAMP configuration may have muddied the waters a little.

Here we go...

Shutdown MAMP and make sure Tomcat is not running. Easiest way to ensure this is the case is to reboot.

Install and configure Tomcat as per my earlier instructions to your Documents folder. Use the ZIP you downloaded rather than any unpacked version to be safe. Avoid any port config if possible. Try to keep it as default as possible for now.
If you did this earlier and edited the config. Delete the Tomcat folder as start again (just in case there's some config you've changed and forgotten about - easily done)

Once you have Tomcat installed, start it up and check it's running by visiting http://localhost:8080/

Copy in the WAR file and check it's unpacked. Now check it's running by visiting
http://localhost:8080/essential_viewer

Assuming this is working. Try a publish from Protege to http://localhost:8080/essential_viewer

Now, if it's working then great if not post the Tomcat and Protege logs from this setup. They'll be clean and will show any failures. We'll get this sorted asap.

Thanks

Neil

[EntArtJoe]

Success !
Hi Neil
I followed your suggestion to work outside MAMP and everything worked as expected, i.e. "Repository snapshot generated and sent" can now view the repository on my machine via the browser at the following location, http://localhost:8080/essential_viewer

I had a few teething issues now, when I select the Business Process Catalogue, then CRM, I get an error which seems to relate to Graphviz, although I just installed it via the installer on the Mac, its put it in the Applications folder and I think this might be the problem.

error is in a black window, green text - "Dot Executable:/usr/bin/dot File does not exist Cannot find Graphviz..." -

Re-installed Graphviz and for some reason it worked this time, so far, so good. What I need now is a crash course in EA I'm a BA by profession with a wide IT background. Also have a lot of Business Process Data I think fits well in the Business Layer of an EA.

I propose starting with what I know, and working outwards through my organisation. Do you have any tips for a first time user?

Thanks for all your help thus far, it really helps that I can demonstrate this tool to management,
I'm looking at deploying in a VM so they can see the Repository via the viewer as I build the EA via Protege on my machine. I do have an IT dept to set this up, assuming management approves.

Regards
Joseph

[JohnM]

Hi Joseph,

Glad you are up and running now. Hints and tips...the main thing is focus on one area where there is some value to be gained. Work out at the start what questions you are going to answer for your stakeholder and what view(s) you will use in Essential in order to really help them. Then focus on those questions based on the priority of answering them, and build out your repository from there, so if you are capturing processes then capability model should probably be next on your list, then down to apps, etc (it really depends on the business need). Also, keep the stakeholder involved all the way through.

Typical Essential implementations struggle when people try and populate every view without really understanding what the stakeholders see as value, when it gets demo'd the stakeholders don't really know what they are looking at or why.

If you want to show the capabilities of Essential to management, we have a demo available of our upcoming Application Portfolio Management lens here http://essentialviewer.com/apm_demo/ To get best value, focus on the Tradeflow application and the Trade Matching Service.

If you want to bulk load data into Essential and get views working quickly then we have launched some low cost loaders this week, more details are here http://enterprise-architecture.org/serv ... ew-loaders

Keep us posted on how you get on

John

[EntArtJoe]

Hi there
Thanks a lot, that all helps. I see from the Essential Project Home page, that I can customise the views or Portals as well, but I can't really see how to do this. I'd appreciate a step by step guide for this.

Thanks again
Regards
Joseph

[jonathan.carter]

Hi Joseph,

This article should help introduce the concepts and how you go about creating new views / editing existing ones.

Creating New Views and Reports

We strongly recommend that if you need to enhance / update an existing View, make a copy of that view template (a .XSL file) and store that copy in the ‘user’ folder of your Viewer deployment. This way, your customisations will be maintained across updates to the Viewer.

In addition, we have a training course (paid-for) that covers all aspects of how to customise and work with the Viewer

Jonathan

[EntArtJoe]

Hi Jonathan
Thanks for that, can you give me an idea of what the training could cost please and can it be done on-line as I live in Perth, Australia and working for a Not for Profit org, residential training is very, very unlikely to be approved.

Regards
Joseph

[EntArtJoe]

Hi Jonathan
I have been working in Protege for a ay or so now, and I think I'm slowly getting the hang of it.
One thing I've noticed though is that in the Instance Browser for example the Business_Capability list I see 2 odd things;

1. a number duplications e.g.. Economic Research or development Product.
I have created a new Portal and selected specific items to populate it with, these seem to work ok.
2. There are a number of Instances in each item e.g. Business_Capability as well, where Protege seems to have named things itself, for e.g. essential_sample_repo_mmv505_build1-Class21342

Can you tell me what this is and why its doing it?

Thanks

Joseph

[jonathan.carter]

Hi Jonathan
Thanks for that, can you give me an idea of what the training could cost please and can it be done on-line as I live in Perth, Australia and working for a Not for Profit org, residential training is very, very unlikely to be approved.

Regards
Joseph

Hi Joseph,

Firstly, the training can indeed be delivered on-line. All our training modules can be delivered in this way, although we split the full-day sessions into 2 x half-day sessions when we do these online.

I think it would be best to discuss the options and your requirements directly rather than in the forum. Please fill out this form and we can take it from there: Training Services Request Form

Jonathan

[jonathan.carter]

Hi Jonathan
I have been working in Protege for a ay or so now, and I think I'm slowly getting the hang of it.
One thing I've noticed though is that in the Instance Browser for example the Business_Capability list I see 2 odd things;

1. a number duplications e.g.. Economic Research or development Product.
I have created a new Portal and selected specific items to populate it with, these seem to work ok.
2. There are a number of Instances in each item e.g. Business_Capability as well, where Protege seems to have named things itself, for e.g. essential_sample_repo_mmv505_build1-Class21342

Can you tell me what this is and why its doing it?

Thanks

Joseph

Can you tell me more about this duplication that you’re seeing, please?

Is this what you are seeing in the Protege Instance Browser or from the Viewer in the views?

Whilst it might seem like an error, it actually often makes sense to have instances of different types (Class) that have the same name. You may notice the warning that the name is rendered in red within Protege. However, within a particular class, it is generally a modelling error to have two instances that have the same name, e.g. 2 x Business Capability each called “Economic Research”. The tool won’t stop you doing this but it doesn’t really make sense to have two capabilities with the same name.

If you can see two instances in the Instance Browser with the same name, you should try to resolve this either by removing one of them (possibly transferring some of its properties (slot values) to the one you wish to keep) or by renaming one of them.

Instances that are showing as “essential_sample_repo….” are what Protege shows when an Instance does not have a value in the ‘name’ slot. They are often candidates for removal from the repository but alternatively can be selected and given a name.

Jonathan

[sylvia]

Hi Joseph,

This article should help introduce the concepts and how you go about creating new views / editing existing ones.

Creating New Views and Reports

We strongly recommend that if you need to enhance / update an existing View, make a copy of that view template (a .XSL file) and store that copy in the ‘user’ folder of your Viewer deployment. This way, your customisations will be maintained across updates to the Viewer.

In addition, we have a training course (paid-for) that covers all aspects of how to customise and work with the Viewer

Jonathan

Hello Jonathan,
I am trying to get 'Application Capability Catalogue by Name' view/report using the tutorials as shared.
However link shared -
Creating New Views and Reports

is broken
Is there a step by step doc which I can use to get the views working.


Regards,
Sylvia

[JohnM]

Hi Sylvia,

It looks like the url has changed, try https://enterprise-architecture.org/doc ... w_reports/

John

[sylvia]

Thank you John for the response however I still need help.
I followed the steps as below -

Install all software components : Protégé, tomcat
Deploy the Import utility and the viewer apps
Adapt the excel file with your data
Process the excel file with the provided script in the imp utility as in Launchpad, attached herewith
publish the result in the configured viewer (for test or for production)
However I cannot see any of the data in the Excel in the Essential Viewer
I need to demo this asap and am struggling for weeks with this.
Thanks to pls guide

[JohnM]

Can you try the 'Generate DUP' option in the Import Utility and then upload that into your baseline using the Essential Update tab.

Let us know if that works