Collaboration - Administration Guide

The following is a list of the requirements for the installation of this TVC. If your system is different, consult Technia before installing. For best performance it is recommended to use the latest version of browsers and application servers.

Disclaimer: This feature uses a framework called Atmosphere for sending notifications from the server to the clients. This framework supports a wide range of browser and app servers. We will not be able to add support for browsers and/or app servers that is outside of this frameworks support. Also we might not be able to fix issues that could appear in the usage of this framework. See following pages for a list of this frameworks supported platforms and known issues:

Many environments are scaled horizontally to support a larger amount of users. When having > 1 application server you need to use a load balancer that can divide the users across these application servers somehow.

The Collaboration component uses the web socket technology for setting up persistent connections between clients and servers and this technology has a completely different analogy than the traditional request/response paradigm used in HTTP/HTTPS communication. This will have some impact on your infrastructure since your load-balancer must be able to deal with web sockets correctly.

Since users in fact are connected to different application servers, but still should be able to receive notifications from other users – there is a need for the application servers to be able to speak with each other.

There are currently two different implementations available that solves this, one of the implementation uses HTTP communication between the servers and the second implementation uses the Open Source library named Ehcache. The latter is the default communication strategy.

The choice of strategy is defined with a TVC init-parameter. The name of the parameter and the possible values are shown below:

Technia have during the development of the Collaboration component tested on a setup using an Apache HTTPD server acting as a load-balancer and behind having a couple of app servers running Apache Tomcat. All on a Windows 7 host.

The Apache HTTPD server has lately improved their support for web-socket tunneling, and we were using the version 2.4.10.VC11 (64 bit).

The Apache Tomcat versions were 7.0.56 (64 bit).

Below are the configurations we made. Note that we only provide these as examples and you should and might need to adjust them to your needs.

The first task is needed in order to include some functionality within the "emxNavigator.jsp" page (resides in the common folder in your application directory). The only change needed in this file, is to add a single line of code.

Just after the "body" element tag, add the line below (shown in bold):

The second task is needed in order to include some functionality within the "emxNavigatorDialog.jsp" page (resides in the common folder in your application directory). The only change needed in this file, is to add a single line of code.

Just after the "body" element tag, add the line below (shown in bold):

The third task needed is the registration of the Atmosphere servlet that is used for sending notifications from the server to the client (https://github.com/Atmosphere/atmosphere). The following lines should be added to web.xml

Collaboration panel are also rendered in stand-alone tvc pages like /launchFromPortal, /loadCategoryTopPanel, /loadTopPanel and /searchBasedTable based on configuration.

Following is the default configuration.

If collaboration panel injection is not required on any of the supported pages, that page can be removed in the configuration.

Even on the supported stand-alone pages, Collaboration panel is rendered by default only if the page is top most.(Popup or browser tab)

That behavior could be changed with the following property configuration.

This could be used in application where emxNagivator.jsp is not configured with collaboration and tvc pages only used for navigation.

Figure: Collaboration panel for /launchFromPortal

Figure: Collaboration panel for /loadTopPanel

Figure: Collaboration panel for /loadCategoryTopPanel

Figure: Collaboration panel for /searchBasedTable

There are three built-in providers available in Collaboration. They are "config"(default), "enovia" and "exalead". The provider value can also be a class full-name which extends "com.technia.tvc.collaboration.core.model.Provider". The provider can be configured as below.

The default "config" provider enables possibility to have Discussion and Workflow components run in different mode.

The other "enovia" or "exalead" provider makes both Discussion and Workflow run in same mode.

In order to use any of the features that requires Exalead you need to install Exalead and set it up for collaboration. To enable Exalead for Collaboration there is a TVC Init parameter that needs to be set.

or

In order for Exalead to know what data to index for Collaboration the following needs to be added to your Exalead index configuration file.

Sorting in Exalead is only possible to do on the field called "NAME". In case you have other information you need to index and sort on you will probably already have a name field in your config.xml. This means that objects indexed by TVC Collaboration needs to coexist with other objects on what data to index in the name field.

The way forward is to make a JPO in which you determine if the object belongs to TVC Collaboration or not. In case it is a TVC Collaboration object the value to index is determined by Collaboration otherwise it is delegated to the Exalead standard indexing mechanism.

Example code snippet handling the name field:

To optimize the indexing performance when there is no other BOTTYPE configutation other than Collaboration specific configuration, use the below:

In order to use any of the features that requires Elasticsearch you need to install Elasticsearch and set it up for collaboration. We have tested it for version 7.1.1 and it should work for later versions as well. It is only supported for discussions at the moment and not for workflows. To enable Elasticsearch for Collaboration there is a TVC Init parameter that needs to be set.

or

In order to control certain aspects of Elasticsearch, following configuration possibilities exists.

Collaboration True widgets can be configured through the widget preferences in the administrator’s dashboard. It runs directly inside the 3DDashboard widget iframe. The following widgets URL can be used to configure myspace and panel as a custom Application in 3DDashboard.

Refer 3DDashboard chapter for configuring the widget app.

The panel that contains the discussion functionality is located in the right side of the application. It is injected on the side of the page content so It will stay visible even when navigating around the different pages of an object. The panel is collapsed by default and will be expanded on click.

After clicking on the panel it will be expanded towards the left side and show the discussions for the object that you are currently in context of.

If you disabled the discussion functionality for some object types by configuration the panel will be greyed out and the user will not be able to expand it.

If there is single set in the set list and user want to load the details of set on load of panel or on switching the panel tab then following system property need to be set as true (default:false).

In Single set load, set id priority will be in following order:

When the user is standing in context of an object that has support enabled for discussions it will be possible to expand the discussion panel in order to view and/or create discussions. The default view of the panel will show a toolbar in the top and below that a list of all the discussions that has been started around the context object.

Each discussion in the list is clickable. The entire discussion will be loaded when a user clicks on it. See next chapter for more details on that.

When a discussion in the list has been clicked it will load the entire discussion in the panel. In this view the user will be able to see all the messages in the discussion and also have the ability to reply to it.

Command like ShowWatchers, ToggleWatch, Reply and customize command are configurabale. possible command position are HEADER, FOOTER , BOTH. By defalut command, Reply position are BOTH.

In order to create a new discussion you use the action in the top toolbar (plus sign). That will launch a form that allows you enter the data needed to create a new discussion.

The following data can be entered:

A user can reply to a discussion using the reply button located at the top or bottom of the discussion. The reply form is the same as the one you use when you create a new discussion but you are not able to set a subject (see chapter above on creating a new discussion)

When a discussion is no longer required to continue, the user can close the discussion using the close button located at the top of the discussion. Once the discussion is closed, replying to a discussion is not possible. By default, only the owner of the discussion can access the close discussion command.

In some cases, the user may need to reopen the discussion. In those cases, the user can reopen the discussion using the open button located at the top of the discussion. By default, only the owner of the discussion can access the open discussion command.

To print a discussion that happened in any context, the user can use the print button located at the top of the discussion.

When a discussion is no longer required, the user can delete the discussion using the delete button located at the top of the discussion.

Once the discussion is deleted, undo is not possible. By default, the only owner of the discussion can access the delete discussion command.

Users can configure the discussion behaviour by changing the below properties in the string resource file.

The following system properties are introduced to control commands behaviour.

Using tvc.properties create/reply discussion form fields can be configured to be hidden except Subject and Message fields.

The ability to discuss around objects can be configured on the server. This is done in a file called TVCDiscussionConfig.xml that is placed in /WEB-INF/classes/TVCDiscussionConfig.xml. If you skip to have this configuration file the users will be able to discuss around ANY object in Enovia with default settings.

Below is an example configuration file that shows the supported elements and their location.

Messages are often created in context of an object. It can later on be found when navigating to that particular object and then opening the discussion panel. The cloud concept allows labelling of messages with other entities. It can be other objects or fictive clouds.

Example: Let’s presume we are in the apparel industry. We are working with seasons and each season we launch a number of products which in turn consists of parts. When a message is created on a product it should be labelled with the season cloud. Messages created on a part should be included in both the product and season cloud. Once users navigate to the product or season they can see discussions related to the product/season cloud.

When a discussion is created and sent to some users all of them are automatically subscribed (started watching) to the thread. Any reply to the thread is notified to all the subscribers/watchers of the thread.

Any time user can unsubscribe or stop watching the thread clicking the stop watching. Any time use can start watching the thread by clicking start watching.

Start watching / Stop watching action can be performed in inbox as well.

When a thread is replied number of watchers to the thread is shown. Clicking the watcher count will show all users watching the thread.

By default the reply form is opened in "popups". This is good for visibility since the form gets all focus. However this prevents the users from reading the previous replies while doing a new reply. So if it is more important to be able to see the entire discussion while gruntreplying we have added a new rendering mode called "single page mode". This will do the following two changes to the UI:

This mode is enabled by setting the following parameter to true.

By default all notifications and collaboration objects are displayed under myspace and panel but we can limit the page size to limit the objects count on initial load by using following property:

If there is more objects than the page size exist in system then on scroll next set of page is displayed.

Users can updated their Absence dates and Delegatee to be assigned for any future active Workflow tasks during that period can be configured in Myspace’s Profile Action page.

On selection of absent person for To, CC or assignee field, it will be reflected in red and tooltip will provide the absence related information.

At some events that occur in the discussion functionality there are "notifications" sent out to users that are involved in a discussion in one or more ways. If someone starts a discussion around an object then the owner of that object will get a notification. Users will also get notifications when another user is replying to a discussion or message that user started.

These notifications are sent to the user instantly when an event is occurring. We have two ways of notifying the users, one called "Inline notifications" and one called "Web notifications". These work in the same way but are displayed in different ways.

Notification Handler can be used to enable other type of notifications like Email, Log or custom implementations. Default is Web notification which is used to send real-time notification to browsers.

Notification Handler is supported in both Collaboration Configs. (DiscussionConfigs or WorkflowConfigs).

It can be built-in handlers like <Web/>, <Email> or <Log/> or class implementing interface "com.technia.tvc.collaboration.core.model.dao.enovia.config.NotificationHandler"

The inbox is a functionality used for displaying all notifications that a user has received. It has a layout that is similar to a mail application.

Figure: Inbox displaying notifications

"ToMeAction" is a predefined custom Inbox Actions which depends on Exalead that can used in "My Space". This action shows the inbox items sent to the context user as "To" Recipient.

"CcMeAction" is a predefined custom Inbox Actions which depends on Exalead that can used in "My Space". This action shows the inbox items sent to the context user as "Cc" Recipient.

"UnreadAction" is a predefined custom Inbox Actions which depends on Exalead that can used in "My Space". This action shows the inbox items which are not read by the context user.

"SystemNotificationAction" is a predefined custom Inbox Actions which depends on Exalead that can used in "My Space". This action shows the inbox items which are system generated. System generated Inbox items are identified using System Tags. Refer the consecutive chapters for configuration.

"FollowupAction" is a predefined custom Inbox Actions which depends on Exalead that can used in "My Space". This action shows the inbox items which are followed by the context user.

Following Inbox items using Context Menu:

Followup showing followed item by the context user:

"DeletedAction" is a predefined custom Inbox Actions which depends on Exalead that can used in "My Space". This action shows the inbox items which are deleted using delete context command by the context user.

"SentAction" is a predefined custom Inbox Actions which depends on Exalead that can used in "My Space". This action shows the inbox items which are sent by the context user.

"JunkAction" is a predefined custom Inbox Actions which depends on Exalead that can used in "My Space". This action shows the inbox items which are marked junk using junk context command by the context user.

"ArchiveAction" is a predefined custom Inbox Actions which depends on Exalead that can used in "My Space". This action shows the inbox items which are marked archive using archive context command by the context user.

The profile page has functionality for doing various types of actions related to the user. It is used for uploading an avatar image that will be displayed in discussions and for controlling user preferences.

Figure: Profile Page

"ExternalAction" is a predefined custom Inbox Actions which can used in "My Space". This action can be used to host External web application inside iframe of Collaboration component.

Bing.com as MySpace Action:

Inbox will have following context actions which can be applied on multiple selected Inbox items.

Below properties can be configured to show the context actions like Delete, Archive, Junk and Move to Inbox

Category’s label can be changed using "All Categories…​" context action.

From a table page, you can add a column that will show an icon when a discussion exists for the object. Clicking on the icon brings up the discussion panel.

To enable this column in your table, add a column like shown below:

If the table is defined as a system table, use the setting "Column Type" to achieve the same. This "Column Type" can be used in Helium as well.

Below is a screenshot illustrating how the icon will appear in case there are discussions available.

Web App should reference following TVC endpoint in Script tag

TVC Collaboration Integration URL:

Attribute data-collaboration="path/integration.js" points to hosting web application’s integration scripts.

Web App invokes Collaboration script with configuration details.

Web App registers for collaboration ready event which is passed with collaborator interface.

Thread actions can be configured globally and is done using the following elements (placed directly under the <DiscussionConfigs> element). This will then be used for ALL discussion configurations.

The first one will change the thread actions in the inbox and the second one for the side panel. See more details later in this document.

Thread actions and top toolbar actions can also be configured for different discussion configurations. This means you can have different actions depending on what configuration is used. You can also configure actions for the different My Space inboxes.

The top toolbar for the side panel is configured like this (placed inside a <DiscussionConfig> element).

Thread actions for side panel are configured like this: (placed inside a <DiscussionConfig> element)

Thread actions for an inbox are configured like this: (placed inside a <InboxAction> or something that is derived from that)

All the different configuration elements share the same abilities of configuration. You can ADD commands using a TVC XML menu configuration AND/OR add or remove commands using Java code.

By adding a reference to a TVC XML menu configuration it is possible to add one or more actions. This uses the same menu configuration as other TVC (not everything supported though). Below is an example configuration:

Use either the <Image> or <FontIcon> element to control the action icon. Action commands are by default opened as a popup but it is also possible to specify a JavaScript to be executed on click. Use the <Label> element for adding a text to the action (not used for top toolbar).

AccessExpression

The setting is to control command visibility based on condition. Also, settings like AccessProgram and AccessFunction are supported.

Status

The setting to show a custom command based on discussion thread status. ex. If status is Active, the custom command is only visible when discussion thread status is Active.

If more complex logic is needed to control what actions to show it is possible to use JAVA code to achieve this. It is done by adding an attribute called className that points to a custom JAVA class that extends one of the following classes:

In the custom Java class it is possible to override the following method:

That method will allow you to return the menu to use. By calling the super class method it is possible to get the default menu. The MenuContext object contains information like user, thread and context.

In order to enable a filter you can reference a filter configuration in your TVCDiscussionConfig.xml file like this.

In Enovia mode, the same configurations which are defined for Exalead Powered feature need to be done to use the filter and features such as Unread, Archive, To ME, CC Me, Followup etc…​

Following fields must be added in Exalead Indexed Configuration file.

Multiple JPOs have been configured for mutiple filters for Exalead mode. These fields has been introduced to improve the performance on some extent by avoiding these JPO invocation.

Date formats inside collaboration user interface can be configured to display custom date format.

Collaboration component uses moment.js version 2.4.0 (http://momentjs.com/) for date/time display. So supporting formats documented here http://momentjs.com/docs/#/displaying/format/ and also a custom format "fromNow" equivalent to moment.js’s "fromNow" functionality.

Below properties can be configured to format the date used in sections of the collaboration component.

Additional property configurations for Collaboration

Additional resources like JavaScript, CSS, AjaxService and Custom Template can be included in discussion component.

<JavaScript>, <StyleSheet>, <AjaxService> and <Template> element can be repeated to support multiple resource inclusion.

<Resources> configuration can be under configuration elements like <MySpaceConfig>, <MySpaceAction>, <TopbarConfig>, <DiscussionConfigs>, <DiscussionConfig>.

Ex: inboxCustomScript.js

Ex: InboxContextMenu.xml