hi there!

i am new to webfocus and would like to know what are the browser restrictions to make the webfocus run perfectly. is this some thing like works only with IE or cross browser compatable ?

Hello and welcome to WebFOCUS!

The latest release supports Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher. End users must have this browser installed on their machines to access WebFOCUS user interfaces, such as Managed Reporting. The browser must use Microsoft VM for Java Version 5.0.0.3167 or higher.
There are other Java SDK's requirements where WebFOCUS is installed depending on the components you'll be using.
You can get more information on the WebFOCUS Installation and Configuration Manuals: http://documentation.informationbuilders.com/masterinde...cat=WebFOCUS&rel=5.2

Also, please note that Netscape support will be phased in future releases.

It seems to me that IBI should understand that only 90% of the world runs on Windows.

Browsers for other platforms should be supported. I would be happy to donate to IBI a computer that runs an OS other than Windows so that you can test your code.

The information posted here describes what browser you need to run if you use ALL the client-side features of WebFOCUS. We've long thought about which features of WebFOCUS *require* IE and which work on most other browsers, and there is a set of these that are more open to other browsers.

For example, if you are doing self-service reporting, WebFOCUS can support nearly every modern browser regardless of platform. By "modern" browser I mean it's graphical (not text-based like Lynx), it supports HTML 4.1 level tagging, and probably also supports CSS level 1. Any browser released in the past 5 years fits these criteria. (though it's possible to avoid CSS formatting - regrettably since it's so cool - to support even ancient browsers like Netscape 4, which a very small minority of people still run because they don't want IE and find the newer Netscapes unacceptable for one reason or another.)

It's really only when you start using the advanced features that require things such as client-side JavaScript support or Java plug-in support - such as the Managed Reporting/UAS Environments, WebFOCUS Maintain applications, or the BI Dashboard - that you start to limit your browser choices to IE.

Hope this is helpful.