Oracle Web Publishing Assistant Getting Started for Windows NT
Release 1.0
A53270_01

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3
Working with Oracle Web Publishing Assistant

This chapter discusses how to use Oracle Web Publishing Assistant. Specific topics discussed are:

Before You Start

Before you begin using Oracle Web Publishing Assistant:

Enlarge the event queue log file size.

From the Start menu, select Programs > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer.
From the Log menu, choose Log Settings.
The Event Log Settings screen appears.
Select the Application log type from the Change Settings drop-down list box.
Set the Maximum log size to 30016 Kilobytes (K).
Set Event Log Wrapping to Overwrite events older than 7 days.

Be aware that the limit of queries stored in the Oracle Web Publishing Assistant repository is 65535 queries.
Be aware that the maximum characters per column returned from the database is 2000 characters.
If you want to use domain shared or Oracle OPS$ accounts:

From the taskbar, select Start > Settings > Control Panel.
Double-click Services.
Double-click the service OracleWebAssistant from the listing.
The Service dialog box appears.
Select This Account.
Enter your (domain) user account in the This Account field, or alternatively, click "..." to select your account.
Enter your (domain) user password, and confirm.
Click OK to dismiss the dialog box and save your changes.
Select OracleWebAssistant from the service listing, and Stop and Start the service to use the new account.

About the Interface

Oracle Web Publishing Assistant features an easy-to-use toolbar interface that enables you to create new queries and administer existing queries. A file listing shows you the web page query files that you have scheduled, the location of the files in your system, the scheduling option you have specified for that page query, and the last time the web page was modified. Double-click a file name in the listing to open the page in your web browser. If the page does not yet exist, Oracle Web Publishing Assistant prompts you to create the page immediately

Perform these administrative tasks using either the toolbar or the command menu:

Toolbar Button	Task Performed
New	Creates a new web page query.
Open	Opens the web page query in your web browser.
Generate	Generates a web page immediately.
Delete	Deletes a query.
Properties	View the properties of the web page query: login information query syntax scheduling file options (which template was used to generate the web page)
Refresh	Refreshes the web page query listing.
Help	Displays Online Help topics.

How to Web-Enable Your Oracle Database

The table provides an overview of the steps involved in creating a web page from a database query.

Step	How to Web-Enable Your Oracle Database
1	Before entering a query to create a web page, think about how you want the web page to look. Oracle Web Publishing Assistant ships with sample templates that you can use (ORANT\OWAST\SAMPLES\*.HTX), or you can create your own template using any HTML editor. See the section "Designing Templates".
2	Create a new page query to the database after deciding which template to use for your web page. See the section "Creating New Page Queries".
3	View the resulting HTML output. See the section "Opening a Scheduled Web Page Query".
4	Change the settings for your query. See the section "Administering Oracle Web Publishing Assistant".

Creating New Page Queries

To create a new page query:

From the Start menu, select Programs > Oracle for Windows NT > Oracle Web Publishing Assistant.

The Oracle Web Publishing Assistant Welcome screen appears.

If you do not want this welcome screen to appear the next time you start the Oracle Web Publishing Assistant, de-select the checkbox.

Click OK.

The Oracle Web Publishing Assistant screen appears.

Click the New button on the toolbar, or from the Web Page menu, choose New to create a new query.

The Create Web Page Wizard (Step 1 of 4) screen appears.

Enter database login information, and click Next:

Field	Description
User Name	Enter a valid user name for the database you want to access.
Password	Enter the password for the account.
Database	Enter the SQL*Net or Net8 service name or database alias of the database you want to connect to. Leave the field blank if you want to connect to a local database.

The next screen (Step 2 of 4) appears.

Select a method for creating a query, and click Next:

Method	Description
Build a query from a database hierarchy.	You can view the structure of the database, and select a table, view, or multiple columns of one table or view. You can further customize your query by clicking Customize. Provide additional criteria such as WHERE or ORDER BY clauses.
Enter a query as a SQL statement.	Type the SQL `SELECT' statement in the field provided.

The next screen (Step 3 of 4) appears.

Select a scheduling option.

Scheduling Option	Description
Immediately	Oracle Web Publishing Assistant immediately generates your web page. To view the page, open the file in your web browser. The default directory for generated pages is ORANT\OWAST, where ORANT is your Oracle home directory and OWAST is the Oracle Web Publishing Assistant directory. The file will not be included in the file listing.
Once	Select the specific date and time of the day within the next 31 days to create your web page. Oracle Web Publishing Assistant will create the web page once at the time and day you specified. You can select only one day and time. You cannot specify multiple create sessions with this scheduling option.
On Day(s) of the Week	Select the day or days of the week to create your web page. Oracle Web Publishing Assistant will automatically create the web page on that day (or those days) and time, every week. You can choose any number of days and one time for that day. For example, you can choose to have your web page created at 2:00 PM every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of every week.
On Date(s) of the Month	Select the date or dates of the month you want Oracle Web Publishing Assistant to create your web page. You can select any number of dates and one time of day to create your web page. For example, you can choose to have your web page created at 7:00 AM every 1st and 15th of every month.
At Regular Intervals	Specify the time intervals at which Oracle Web Publishing Assistant should create your web page. You can specify the time interval (minutes, hours, or days) between web page builds. For example, you can choose to have your web page created every 5 minutes, every 36 hours or every 31 days. The maximum time interval is 744 hours (31 days).

The next screen (Step 4 of 4) appears.

Enter the file name of the web page you want to create, or click Browse to search for a location or an existing file name.

Specify whether you want Oracle Web Publishing Assistant to use a default template or a template file that you have already created. Browse to locate the file, or enter the file name in the field. Click Next.

The Summary Screen appears. Click Finish to dismiss the screen.

Note:

All web pages are automatically generated at this time, even if you chose a scheduling option other than Immediately. If you chose a different scheduling option, your web page will be re-generated at the specifed time.

Administering Oracle Web Publishing Assistant

Oracle Web Publishing Assistant screen provides an easy to use graphical interface for you to administer your web page queries. Toolbar buttons are briefly described in the section "Before You Start" on page 2.

Administration Tasks

Once you have scheduled (and created) web page queries, the files appear in the file listing of the Oracle Web Publishing Assistant. Oracle Web Publishing Assistant enables you to perform maintenance on your web pages graphically:

Opening a Scheduled Web Page Query

To open and view a web page query:

Select the web page query file name from the listing.
Click Open on the toolbar, or from the Web Page menu, choose Open.

Alternatively, using the right mouse button, right-click on the file name. Choose Open from the pop-up menu.

Due to the asynchronous processing model used by Oracle Web Publishing Assistant, it is possible that your scheduled web page query has not yet been generated. If it has not been generated, Oracle Web Publishing Assistant asks if you want to generate it now.

Oracle Web Publishing Assistant launches your web browser, if you have associated your web browser with the web page query file type.

Generating Web Pages

To generate scheduled web pages:

Select the web page file name from the listing.
Click Generate on the toolbar, or from the Web Page menu, choose Generate.

Alternatively, using the right mouse button, right-click the file name. Choose Generate from the pop-up menu.

Oracle Web Publishing Assistant generates the web page immediately.

Double-click the web page query file name in the listing to view.

Oracle Web Publishing Assistant launches your web browser.

Deleting Scheduled Web Pages

To delete a scheduled web page:

Select the web page query file name to be deleted from the listing.
Click Delete on the toolbar, or from the Web Page menu, choose Delete.

Alternatively, using the right mouse button, right-click on the file name. From the pop-up menu, choose Delete.

Viewing Properties of a Web Page

View properties of web page queries to review the settings used to create the page. To view the properties of the web page queries:

Select the web page query file from the listing.
Click Properties on the toolbar, or choose Properties from the Web Page menu.

Alternatively, using the right mouse button, right-click the file name. Choose Properties from the pop-up menu.

The Properties screen appears.

Click the tabs to see the properties:

Tab	Description
Login	Shows the User Name, Password (encrypted), and Database (service name or database alias) used to connect to a database.
Query	Shows the SQL `SELECT'statement used to query the database. You can edit the query syntax from within this window: Click Apply or OK after you edit the query. A message appears, warning you that the template you specified may no longer be appropriate for the query. Click OK to dismiss the message. Edit the current template if necessary, from the File Options tab. Click OK to close the Properties screen.
Scheduling	Shows the scheduling option details you specified while creating the web page query.
File Options	Shows the web page query file name and full path. Shows the location of the template used to create the web page. You can edit the template from this screen: Click Edit. The Oracle Web Publishing Assistant launches the program associated with editing HTX files. If you do not have a program associated with HTX files, Oracle Web Publishing Assistant launches Notepad. Edit the template, and save. Oracle Web Publishing Assistant uses the revised template for the next scheduled or the next requested web page generation.

Refreshing the File Listing of Web Pages

To refresh the file listing, click Refresh. Alternatively, from the View menu, choose Refresh.

Editing Templates

You can edit templates from within the Properties screen or by opening the template file directly from your HTML editor.

To edit the template from within the Properties screen:

Select the web page query file name from the listing.
Click Properties from the toolbar, or from the Web Page menu, choose Properties.

Alternatively, using the right mouse button, right-click the file name. From the pop-up menu, choose Properties.

Click the File Options tab.

This tab shows where your web page query is stored (file name and full path), and it shows which template you used to create the query.

Click Edit.

The template is opened with the program associated with that file type, or if there is no program associated, Oracle Web Publishing Assistant launches Notepad.