I am having trouble getting WebFOCUS to direct PDF output directly to the browser. I am running WebFOCUS 7.1.1 with Apache Tomcat/5.0.28 on a desktop Windows XP Pro computer. When I run the report the pdf output file is written to the temp disk (C:\ibi\WebFOCUS71\temp) but the browser window shows nothing, not even an error message. However, if I bring up the Adobe Reader, the output is there. I can also view it by clicking on the pdf file in the C:\ibi\WebFOCUS71\temp temp disk area.

I suspect there is some sort of configuration problem. I believe I chose all the defaults when I installed WebFOCUS, and chose the option to have WebFOCUS install the Apache Tomcat server. To my knowledge, I did not change any of the default installation options.

The Adobe reader is apparently working correctly, since when I visit the documentation page at IBI, I am able to click on a PDF file, and it will display in my browser.

Does anyone have any idea of how to fix this problem? Maybe I should try reinstalling WebFOCUS and the Apache Tomcat software.

Try changing the output format to html and exl2k and see how it works. If those are working then your installation is good. Then check your mime.wfs file for the setting for PDF.

I have no trouble getting EXCEL or HTML output. I did a search on mime.wfs and I see there are many copies of this file.

I don't know which one to check/modify. For the C:\ibi\srv71\home\etc\mime.wfs file here is the setting:

.pdf application/pdf ascii yes &astran no

What do I need to change? What files do I need to change?

I noticed that for PDF on our 7.1 that the report is not in the window but in a separate PDF launch. Just assumed it was due to the differences in the versions of WebFOCUS as our 5.3.6 doesn't launch Adobe reader separately, but leaves it in the window. Hmmmmm, should I be concerned or just annoyed and didn't know it.

Leah:

It appears that you have duplicated my problem. Unless I hear from someone else, I'll just accept this problem of not getting PDF output in a browser as just an annoying bug with WebFOCUS 7.1.1. I can live with it, but it would be nice to get the output directly in the browser, just as I receive HTML or EXCEL output.

Johnk,

Annoyance aside, let's hope it is not tied to a version of Adobe Reader. I keep mine current.

Try change that setting to NO in c:\ibi\client71\wfc\etc\mime.wfs

This wont store the PDf in to temp directory and it directly displays the report in your browser.

This problem has nothing to do with WebFOCUS. The problem is with the version of Tomcat 5.0.28 that is delivered with webfocus. There is a problem with one of the JAR files in that writes a wrong context-type header to the returning pdf file. The browser does not interpret the header properly, so the browser passes the output to the full version of pdf. What you want is to get a new "tomcat-coyote.jar" file, and replace the one in the "server/lib" directory of your Tomcat install. The JAR files you all have are approx 19k, it should be approx 22k. Request it from IBI ... I think that is where I got my copy from! Once the JAR file is replaced, and Tomcat is restarted, everything should work as expected.

dhagen:

Thanks, that was the problem. I got another version of the tomcat-coyote.jar from another computer in the office and copied it into the server/lib folder for Tomcat. After restarting the computer, I was able to have PDF output start in my browser.

thanks again

John

Just FYI - All the "official" versions of the "tomcat-coyote.jar" file are 19k in size (including the latest beta).

At my location it looks like the issue is related to IE as Firefox works as expected. The version of Tomcat installed makes no difference.

I wonder if IBI is providing their own jar file to overcome a problem in IE?