Novell exteNd Director
Version 4.1
Release Notes

December 2002

Welcome to Novell® exteNd™ Director Version 4.1.

These Release Notes include the following sections:

Installing Director 4.1 A listing of what is required before starting the Installation Wizard, and a description of the differences between typical and custom installations
Software and database requirements A listing of application servers, operating systems, databases, and browsers supported by this version of Novell exteNd Director
What's new in Version 4.0 A listing of the new features in the 4.0 version of SilverStream eXtend Director
What's new in Version 4.0.1 A listing of the new features in the 4.0.1 version of SilverStream eXtend Director
What's new in Version 4.1 A listing of the new features in the 4.1 version of Novell exteNd Director
Getting started Directions to introductory documentation on using Director
Converting existing Director applications Information about converting Director applications to Version 4.1
Known issues for 4.1 Descriptions of known problems with this version of Director, providing workarounds if available

Installing Director 4.1

This section discusses what you need to consider before running the Installation Wizard.

Director 4.1 requires Workbench 4.1. If you have not yet installed Workbench 4.1 when you install Director 4.1, the Installation Wizard will install Workbench before continuing with the Director installation.

Before you install

Before installing Novell exteNd Director 4.1:

Understanding the differences between typical and custom installations

The Installation Wizard provides two installation options: Typical and Custom. If you choose the typical installation, all features of Director are installed, including:

If you do not want to install one or more of these components, you can choose the custom installation and omit them. You might also want to choose the Custom option if you want to change any of the default settings for the Installation Wizard.

Software and database requirements

Application servers supported by Version 4.1

Operating systems supported by Version 4.1

Databases supported by Version 4.1

LDAP directories supported by Version 4.1

Web browsers supported by Version 4.1

What’s new in Version 4.0

What’s new in Version 4.0.1

What’s new in Version 4.1

Getting started

The Getting Started section of the Director online help provides an overview of Director capabilities, instructions on how to quickly build and deploy a Director application, and links to more information about Director. The Getting Started section includes these topics:

Welcome Provides a high-level summary of Director features and some quick links to introductory information.
Where to Begin Describes the recommended paths to follow in the documentation based on your level of expertise and what you want to know about Director.
Release Notes Opens these Release Notes.
Quick Start Serves as a primer for experienced J2EE programmers who want to begin using Director immediately. Provides instructions on how to create, deploy, and examine a complete Director application.
Help and Documentation Provides instructions on how to use Director online help. Also includes Novell legal, trademark, and copyright information.
Novell Links Provides links to the Novell home page and the Novell DevCenter.

The Core Development Guide provides a more detailed presentation of Director functionality, architecture, and development environment and processes.

Converting existing Director applications

Upgrading Director 3.0 applications to Version 4.0

You can convert Director 3.0 applications to Director Version 4.0 by running the Upgrade utility. For detailed information about planning and procedures required to upgrade existing applications, see the Upgrade Guide.

NOTE: You cannot run the Upgrade utility in Version 4.1. You need to have Version 4.0 of Director installed to run the Upgrade utility.

Once you've upgraded a 3.0 application to Version 4.0, you need to uninstall Version 4.0, install Version 4.1, and use the Update facility of the Director Project Setup Wizard to update it to Version 4.1, as described below.

Updating Director 4.0 and 4.0.1 applications to Version 4.1

You can update Director 4.0 and 4.0.1 applications so they work with Director Version 4.1. To do this, you use the Director Project Update facility of the Director Project Setup Wizard.

To update a Director 4.0 or 4.0.1 application to Version 4.1:

  1. Back up your project.
  2. In Workbench, select Project>Director Project>Setup.
  3. In the Director Project Setup Wizard, select Update and click Next.
  4. Make sure the Copy new files option is checked.
  5. In the From location: box, enter the location of the templates folder in your Director installation. For example: C:\Program Files\Novell\exteNdDirector\templates\Director.
  6. In the To location: box, enter the location of the root of your project. For example: C:\Director_Projects\My_Project.
  7. If you would like to see what files will be updated before you actually perform the update, select the Trial and Create detailed log options and press Go. The Director Project Update facility writes a log with the details to the folder specified in the To location box.
  8. To perform the update, deselect the Trial option and press Go. The Update facility writes a log with the details to the folder specified in the To location box.

IMPORTANT: If you've changed the default name of the Portal Web application (Portal), or if your project includes multiple Web applications, you will need to run the Update facility again after you have run it on the project, as described in the next procedure.

To update an individual Web application:

  1. In the Update facility, enter the location of the Web application template directory in the From location: box. For example: C:\Program Files\Novell\exteNdDirector\templates\Director\Portal.
  2. Enter the location of your Web application in the To location: box. For example: C:\Director_Projects\My_Project\My_Portal.
  3. Repeat this step for each Web application in your project that is not named Portal.

Post-update procedures

After using the update facility, you need to edit a few of the Director XML files by hand. These hand-editing procedures are described below.

Editing the realm name: As part of the rebranding for 4.1, the names for Director realms have changed. The realm name is stored as a value in the Directory service config.xml file:

<property>
<key>com.sssw.fw.directory.api.EbiSilverServerRealm</key>
<value>exteNd Server</value>
</property>

This file is not altered as a result of update. Instead, the old name is retained, as shown below (PPR 35589):

<property>
<key>com.sssw.fw.directory.api.EbiSilverServerRealm</key>
<value>SilverStream</value>
</property>

Therefore, you need to change this value by either editing the config.xml directly or by using the Director project configuration editor to reselect the correct value and save it. If you do not change this value, you will have problems when you open the XML file. When you open an XML file that contains the old value, the editor will not find an appropriate match and the first realm in the list (LDAP) will be displayed as the selected value.

Editing the version and license string: When you update a Director 4.0 or 4.0.1 application to work with Director 4.1, the Update facility does not set the version and license string to work with 4.1 (PPR 35549). You can fix this by editing the Framework config.xml file. To set the version, change the value of the license.version property to 410. To set the license string, change the value of the license.string property to the license string you were given.

Updating projects from J2EE 1.2 to J2EE 1.3

To update a project from J2EE 1.2 to J2EE 1.3, right-click the SPF file name in Workbench and select Update Project Version. The Workbench documentation provides complete details on migrating from J2EE 1.2 to J2EE 1.3. For more information, see "How to handle J2EE versions" in Getting Started in Workbench online help.

Known issues in Version 4.1

Director 4.1 known issues are described in the following sections:

Director functionality

Server issues—general

Using Director with IBM WebSphere Server

Using Director with BEA WebLogic Server