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Register and configure the EDS plug-in to reference a custom EDS data source plug-in

How To


Summary

Currently, the external data service (EDS) plug-in can be configured to reference an external EDS web service. For customers who cannot deploy a custom web service, the EDS plug-in was updated so that customers can reference a custom EDS data source plug-in.

Objective

Sample code for an EDS data source plug-in was uploaded to the https://github.com/ibm-ecm/ibm-content-navigator-samples GitHub repository. This sample plug-in provides the PluginAPI implementation that is similar to the sample EDS web service.

The sample code includes two PluginAPI classes, GetObjectTypesAPI and Objectification. These classes provide function that is comparable to the GetObjectTypesServlet and UpdateObjectTypeServlet classes that are provided by the sample EDS web service. So, you can use this sample plug-in instead of the sample EDS web service.

When you configure the EDS plug-in in your environment, you can either specify an EDS web service URL or select an installed (and enabled) plug-in from a drop-down. A verify button calls a new plug-in service to verify that the specified plug-in provides the two PluginAPI implementations that are required: GetObjectTypesAPI and UpdateObjectTypeAPI.

This feature requires the EDS plugin at version 3.0.8.1 or later. For IBM Content Navigator (ICN) on-premise and container customers, make sure that you first upgrade to ICN 308 IF001.

For Business Automation Content Service on Cloud (BACSoC) customers, open a ticket and make a request to the BACSoC operations team to get the updated EDS plug-in. After you receive the edsPlugin.jar file, you need to upload it. Note: During the plug-in registration, you need to specify /opt/ibm/plugins/edsPlugin.jar instead of /opt/ibm/intPlugins/eDS/edsPlugin.jar for the Jar file path.

Steps

Prerequisites for a container or Business Automation Content Services on Cloud (BACSoC) environment:

Before you install your custom EDS Data Source plug-in, you need to configure the Upload File Path on the Server setting from the IBM Content Navigator administration console. Then, you must upload your custom EDS Data Source plug-in.

  1. Log in to IBM Content Navigator as an administrator and go to the administration console.
  2. Click Settings. Then, General.
  3. For BACSoC and containers, confirm that the Upload File Path on the Server setting is configured to be /opt/ibm. If the path is not configured to that path, set it to /opt/ibm and Save.
  4. Refresh your browser and log in to the IBM Content Navigator administration console.

Installation instructions for the two EDS plug-ins.

  1. On the IBM Content Navigator directory, select Plug-ins.
  2. Click New Plug-in.
  3. Select Jar file path and enter the path for the EDS Data Source plug-in JAR file.

    An example is

    The ECMClient folder is the IBM Content Navigator installation directory.

    • Microsoft Windows: C:\Program Files\IBM\ECMClient\SamplePlugin\edsDataSourceSamplePlugin.jar
    • Linux® or AIX®: /opt/IBM/ECMClient/SamplePlugin/edsDataSourceSamplePlugin.jar

    For the containers and BACSoC environment, the path for the EDS Data Source plug-in that is uploaded is /opt/ibm/plugins/edsDataSourceSamplePlugin.jar.

    NOTE: You can use the sample code. Build and deploy it as a test to make sure that everything is working. Then, you can customize as you need to.

  4. Click Load.

    If the plug-in JAR file loaded successfully, the EDS Data Source plug-in is automatically loaded and the plug-in information is displayed at the bottom of the pane.

  5. Click Save and Close.
  6. On the Plug-ins pane, click New Plug-in.
  7. Select Jar file path and enter the path to the location of the EDS plug-in JAR file.

    An example is

    The ECMClient folder is the IBM Content Navigator installation directory.

    • Microsoft Windows: C:\Program Files\IBM\ECMClient\edsPlugin\edsPlugin.jar
    • Linux® or AIX®: /opt/IBM/ECMClient/edsPlugin/edsPlugin.jar

    For the containers and BACSoC environment, the path to the EDS plug-in is /opt/ibm/intPlugins/eDS/edsPlugin.jar.

  8. Click Load.

    If the plug-in JAR file loaded successfully, an External Data Service section is appended at the bottom of the pane.

    Note: If you do not see the Data source plugin controls in the External Data Service section, you do not have the required version of the EDS plug-in.

  9. Scroll down to the External Data Service section.
    1. Select Data Source Plugin.
    2. Click the drop-down and select the EDS Data Source plug-in that you just added.
    3. Click Verify. If the plug-in communication is working correctly, Verified is displayed.
  10. Click Save and Close to complete.

Document Location

Worldwide

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Document Information

Modified date:
31 August 2020

UID

ibm16255468

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