Follow the "Server Components Administration"->"Session Rules Administration"->"Session Rules Book Aliases"->"Edit Domain Aliases" menu tree which brings you to a screen identical to the one depicted below.

The Admin Assistant presents you with a list of pre-configured Domain Aliases, click on the "Edit" hyperlink to change settings, the "Remove" hyperlink to delete an Alias, and the "Add" button at the bottom of the screen to create a new Domain Alias.

Figure7.14.Admin Assistant

The example below assumes that you are modifying a Domain Alias named "ora8" with the attribute values "Oracle 8". This implies that you want to take note of Domain Connection Attributes from an OpenLink Client that start with the value "Oracle 8" evaluation against a mapping rules template. Once you have completed your input click the "Update" button.

Figure7.15.Admin Assistant

You then commit your changes to the rule book by clicking on the "Reinitialize the OpenLink Request Broker with these settings" hyperlink. See screen shot below:

Figure7.16.Admin Assistant

Admin Assistant confirms commitment of your changes to the rule book.

Figure7.17.Admin Assistant

Follow the "Server Components Administration"->"Session Rules Administration"->"Session Rules Book Aliases"->"Edit User Aliases" menu tree which brings you to a screen similar to the one depicted below.

The Admin Assistant presents you with a list of pre-configured User Aliases if any exist, if this is your first time there will be not items listed. Click on the "Add" hyperlink to create a new User Alias.

Figure7.18.Admin Assistant

The example below assumes that you are creating an User Alias named "Sales" with attribute values of "Test" or "Mary", the use of the caret symbol (character "^") and the Dollar symbol indicate the start and end of regular expression evaluation values respectively. The Pipe symbol (character "|") indicates an OR condition. Thus the entry depicted below implies that you want to take note of User Connection Attributes from an OpenLink Client that hold the values "Test" or "Mary" for evaluation against a mapping rules template. Once you have completed your input click the "Add" button.

Figure7.19.Admin Assistant

3.You then commit your changes to the rule book by clicking on the "Reinitialize the OpenLink Request Broker with these settings" hyperlink. See screen shot below:

Figure7.20.Admin Assistant

Admin Assistant confirms commitment of your changes to the rule book.

Figure7.21.Admin Assistant

The steps that follow show you how to manage OpSys Aliases using the Admin Assistant:

Follow the "Server Components Administration"->"Session Rules Administration"->"Session Rules Book Aliases"->"Edit Operating System Aliases" menu tree which brings you to a screen identical to the one depicted below.

The Admin Assistant presents you with a list of pre-configured OpSys Aliases if any exist, if this is your first time no items will be listed. Click on the "Add" hyperlink to create a new OpSys Alias.

Figure7.22.Admin Assistant

The example below assumes that you are creating an OpSys Alias named "ClientOS" with attribute values of "win32" or "unix". The Pipe symbol (character "|") indicates an OR condition. Thus the entry depicted below implies that you want to take note of OpSys Connection Attributes from an OpenLink Client that start with the values "win32" or "unix" for evaluation against a mapping rules template. Once you have completed your input click the "Add" button.

Figure7.23.Admin Assistant

You then commit your changes to the rule book by clicking on the "Reinitialize the OpenLink Request Broker with these settings" hyperlink. See screen shot below:

Figure7.24.Admin Assistant

Admin Assistant confirms commitment of your changes to the rule book.

Figure7.25.Admin Assistant

Follow the "Server Components Administration"->"Session Rules Administration"->"Session Rules Book Aliases"->"Edit Operating Machine Aliases" menu tree which brings you to a screen identical to the one depicted below.

The Admin Assistant presents you with a list of pre-configured OpSys Aliases if any exist, if this is your first time no items will be listed. Click on the "Add" hyperlink to create a new Machine Alias.

Figure7.26.Admin Assistant

The example below assumes that you are creating an Machine Alias named "MyNetwork" with an attribute value of "123.123.123". This implies that you want to take note of Machine Connection Attributes from an OpenLink Client that start with the value "123.123.123" (you would do this to identify the Network portion of the client machines IP address). Once you have completed your input click the "Add" button.

Figure7.27.Admin Assistant

You then commit your changes to the rule book by clicking on the "Reinitialize the OpenLink Request Broker with these settings" hyperlink. See screen shot below:

Figure7.28.Admin Assistant

Admin Assistant confirms commitment of your changes to the rule book.

Figure7.29.Admin Assistant

Follow the "Server Components Administration"->"Session Rules Administration"->"Session Rules Book Aliases"->"Edit Application Aliases" menu tree which brings you to a screen identical to the one depicted below.

The Admin Assistant presents you with a list of pre-configured Application Aliases, click on the "Edit" hyperlink to change settings, the "Remove" hyperlink to delete an Alias, and the "Add" button at the bottom of the screen to create a new Application Alias.

Figure7.30.Admin Assistant

The example below assumes that you are modifying an Application Alias named "msoffice" with attribute values of "MSACCESS" or "EXCEL" or "MSQRY32". The Pipe symbol (character "|") indicates an OR condition. Thus, the entry depicted below implies that you want to take note of Application Connection Attributes from an OpenLink Client that hold the values "MSACCESS" or "EXCEL" or "MSQRY32" for evaluation against a mapping rules template. Once you have completed your input click the "Update" button.

Figure7.31.Admin Assistant

You then commit your changes to the rule book by clicking on the "Reinitialize the OpenLink Request Broker with these settings" hyperlink.

Figure7.32.Admin Assistant

Admin Assistant confirms commitment of your changes to the rule book.

Figure7.33.Admin Assistant

Start the Request Broker in Debug Mode

Then make a connection from your OpenLink Client

The debug output in your Request Brokers debug window will contain the following:

oplrqb: client-machine.YourDomain called (123.123.123.100.1510)
oplrqb: request: domain=Oracle 8 database= serveropts=
oplrqb: connectopts= user= opsys=win32 readonly=0
oplrqb: application=OPLSCAN processid=384

Take note of the values assigned to the following Connection Attributes: opsys, readonly, and application. Apply these values to the appropriate Aliases that your are attempting to configure.

Start the Request Broker

Start a Web Browser session

Enter the following URL into your browser:

If you started the Request Broker on your local machine enter:

http://localhost:8000/

(assuming you accepted port 8000 as the Admin Assistant port number at installation time).

If the Request Broker in on another machine enter:

http://<hostname or IP address>:8000

(assuming you accepted port 8000 as the Admin Assistant port number at installation time).

Since you are attempting to create a read-only session rule for a particular database, you need to ensure that you actually have an OpenLink Agent template that has its ReadOnly attribute set to "Y" or "Yes". To do this you navigate the Admin Assistant menu down the following path: "Server Components Administration"->"Database Agent Administration"->"Database Agent Settings (Form)" . Locate the database agent for your database engine type from the list presented and then click on the "Edit" hyperlink.

Figure7.34.Admin Assistant

Locate the "Read Only" checkbox and then hatch the box which indicates the enforcement of Read-Only session when this agent is connected to backend database.

Figure7.35.Admin Assistant

Proceed to the end of this page and then click on the "Update" button.

Figure7.36.Admin Assistant

You then commit your changes to the rule book by clicking on the "Reinitialize the OpenLink Request Broker with these settings" hyperlink.

Figure7.37.Admin Assistant

Admin Assistant confirms commitment of your changes to the rule book.

Figure7.38.Admin Assistant

Now that you have created a OpenLink Agent Template for Read-Only sessions against your backend database you can now proceed to the creation of your session rule.

Follow the "Server Components Administration"->"Session Rules Administration"->"Session Rules Editor" menu path which brings you to a screen identical to the one depicted below, this presents you with a list of existing session rules (all OpenLink installations come with a set of pre-configured session rules).

Figure7.39.Admin Assistant

Scroll to the bottom of the session rules editor page and then click on the "Add a new rule" hyperlink, this opens up a new session rules page.

Figure7.40.Admin Assistant

Create your new session rule.

A session rule is broken down into three parts a "Rule Number", a "When" predicate and a "Then" processing instruction.

Rule Number: This sets the order in which the session rules are evaluated. The Request Broker reads scans session rules in ascending "Rule Number".

"When" Predicate: Enter a regular expression value into the field beside the "+" button, this identifies to the Request Broker an OpenLink Service Type (a Domain attribute) value that forms one of the Connection Attributes that make up the session rule that you are constructing. Simply click on the "+" button to Add other Connection Attributes that will make up the session rule that you are constructing. In this example we want our session rule to apply to all OpenLink clients thus entering an "*" (which implies any Domain attribute and sub attributes) serves our needs adequately.

"Then" Processing Instruction: Check the "Accept" radio button and then select an OpenLink Agent template to associate with your rule by clicking on the "configuration" Listbox. The template that you choose needs to match the one that you placed in Read-Only mode at the start of this exercise. Then click on the "Add" button.

You then commit your changes to the rule book by clicking on the "Reinitialize the OpenLink Request Broker with these settings" hyperlink.

Figure7.41.Admin Assistant

Attempt a new OpenLink Client connection to you backend database and then attempt a record update, you will observe that your update attempt will be rejected and an error condition communicated to you via your ODBC, JDBC, UDBC,or OLE-DB based application.

Follow Steps 1 - 10 of the "Read-Only" session rules exercise above.

Create your new session rule.

A session rule is broken down into three parts a 'Rule Number', a "When" predicate and a "Then" processing instruction.

Rule Number: This sets the order in which the session rules are evaluated. The Request Broker reads scans session rules in ascending "Rule Number".

"When" Predicate: Enter a regular expression value into the field beside the "+" button, this identifies to the Request Broker an OpenLink Client User (the User attribute) value that forms one of the Connection Attributes that make up the session rule that you are constructing. Simply click on the "+" button to Add other Connection Attributes that will make up the session rule that you are constructing. In this example we want our session rule to apply to a specific OpenLink Client User irrespective of anything else. Thus, entering the value "^Test$" implies that anyone that makes an ODBC, JDBC, UDBC, or OLE-DB connection using the user name "Test" operates against your backend database in Read-Only mode.

"Then" Processing Instruction: Check the "Accept" radio button and then select an OpenLink Agent template to associate with your rule by clicking on the "configuration" Listbox. The template that you choose needs to match the one that you placed in Read-Only mode at the start of the "Read-Only" session rules exercise. Then click on the "Add" button.

Figure7.42.Admin Assistant

Click on the "Update" button to complete the rule creation exercise and then reinitialize the Request Broker when prompted.

Attempt a connection under the user name "Test" and attempt a database record update. Note that "Test" must be a valid user account in your database environment.

Follow Steps 1 - 10 of the "Read-Only" session rules exercise above.

A session rule is broken down into three parts a "Rule Number", a "When" predicate and a "Then" processing instruction.

Rule Number: This sets the order in which the session rules are evaluated. The Request Broker reads scans session rules in ascending "Rule Number".

"When" Predicate: Enter a regular expression value into the field beside the "+" button, this identifies to the Request Broker an OpenLink Client User (the User attribute) value that forms one of the Connection Attributes that make up the session rule that you are constructing. Simply click on the "+" button to Add other Connection Attributes that will make up the session rule that you are constructing. In this example we want our session rule to apply to a group of OpenLink Client Users irrespective of anything else. Thus, entering the value: "^Test$|^Mary$|^John$" implies that anyone that makes an ODBC, JDBC, UDBC, or OLE-DB connection using either the user name "Test" or "Mary" or "John" operates against your backend database in Read-Only mode.

"Then" Processing Instruction: Check the "Accept" radio button and then select an OpenLink Agent template to associate with your rule by clicking on the "configuration" Listbox. The template that you choose needs to match the one that you placed in Read-Only mode at the start of the "Read-Only" session rules exercise. Then click on the "Add" button.

Figure7.43.Admin Assistant

Click on the "Update" button to complete the rule creation exercise and then reinitialize the Request Broker when prompted.

Attempt a connection under the user name "Test" and attempt a database record update. Note that "Test" must be a valid user account in your database environment.

Follow Steps 1 - 10 of the "Read-Only" session rules exercise previously.

Create your new session rule.

A session rule is broken down into three parts a "Rule Number", a "When" predicate and a "Then" processing instruction.

Rule Number: This sets the order in which the session rules are evaluated. The Request Broker reads scans session rules in ascending "Rule Number".

"When" Predicate: Enter a regular expression value into the field beside the "+" button, this identifies to the Request Broker an OpenLink Client Application (the Application attribute) value that forms one of the Connection Attributes that make up the session rule that you are constructing. Simply click on the "+" button to Add other Connection Attributes that will make up the session rule that you are constructing. In this example we want our session rule to apply to a specific OpenLink Client Application irrespective of anything else. Thus, entering the value "^MSACCESS$" implies that anyone that makes an ODBC, JDBC, UDBC, or OLE-DB connection using the Application presented by an OpenLink Client as "MSACCESS" operates against your backend database in Read-Only mode.

"Then" Processing Instruction: Check the "Accept" radio button and then select an OpenLink Agent template to associate with your rule by clicking on the "configuration" Listbox. The template that you choose needs to match the one that you placed in Read-Only mode at the start of the "Read-Only" session rules exercise. Then click on the "Add" button.

Figure7.44.Admin Assistant

Click on the "Update" button to complete the rule creation exercise and then reinitialize the Request Broker when prompted.

Attempt a connection under the user name "Test" and attempt a database record update. Note that "Test" must be a valid user account in your database environment.

Follow Steps 1 - 3 of the "Read-Only" session rules exercise previously.

Since you are attempting to create a read-only session rule for a particular type of connection, you need to ensure that you actually have an OpenLink Agent template for your Read-Only database sessions and another Agent template for your Read-Write database sessions. The ReadOnly attribute of the Read-Only Agent template should be set to "Y" or "Yes", while that of the Read-Write session left unchanged.

To set things up navigate the Admin Assistant menu down the following path: "Server Components Administration"->"Database Agent Administration"->"Database Agent Settings (Form)" . Locate the database agent for your database engine type from the list presented and then click on the "Edit" hyperlink.

Figure7.45.Admin Assistant

Locate the "Read Only" checkbox and then hatch the box which indicates the enforcement of Read-Only session when this agent is connected to backend database.

Figure7.46.Admin Assistant

Proceed to the end of this page and then click on the "Update" button.

Figure7.47.Admin Assistant

Create a new OpenLink Agent template for the same database, but this time around we will not alter it Read-Only setting since this is disabled by default.

To set things up by navigate the Admin Assistant menu down the following path: "Server Components Administration"->"Database Agent Administration"->"Database Agent Settings (Form)" . Scroll to the bottom of the page and then click on the "Add" hyperlink.

Enter a name for your Agent template in the "Name" field, a descriptive comment in the "Comment" field, then click on the "Make a copy of the configuration" and select the template name that matches your Read-Only template.

Figure7.48.Admin Assistant

You now have a new Agent template named "basic_session", but since this is based on your Read-Only template (which was created earlier) you need to change its Read-Only attributes to that Read-Only session aren't enforced when OpenLink client connections are associated with this template after the "Mapping Rules" evaluation process. To do this navigate the Admin Assistant menu down the following path: "Server Components Administration"->"Database Agent Administration"->"Database Agent Settings (Form)" . Locate the Agent template named "basic_session" and then click on the "Edit" button. Uncheck the "Read Only" checkbox.

Figure7.49.Admin Assistant

Proceed to the end of this page and then click on the "Update" button.

Figure7.50.Admin Assistant

Proceed to the creation of your session rule.

Follow the "Server Components Administration"->"Session Rules Administration"->"Session Rules Editor" menu path which brings you to the session rules editor, click on the "Add new rule" hyperlink so that the new session rule page is presented to you.

Figure7.51.Admin Assistant

Create your new session rule.

A session rule is broken down into three parts a "Rule Number", a "When" predicate and a "Then" processing instruction.

Rule Number: This sets the order in which the session rules are evaluated. The Request Broker reads scans session rules in ascending "Rule Number". Since you are going to be creating two rules (one for read-write sessions and another for read-only sessions), you need to order your rules appropriately, remember Request Broker reads these rules for evaluation in ascending order. In this case the rule for read-write sessions is the exception to the norm so we change the number of this rule to 1.

"When" Predicate: Enter a regular expression value into the field beside the "+" button, this identifies to the Request Broker an OpenLink Client Machine (the Machine attribute) value that forms one of the Connection Attributes that make up the session rule that you are constructing. Simply click on the "+" button to Add other Connection Attributes that will make up the session rule that you are constructing. In this example we want our session rule to apply to a specific OpenLink Client Machines irrespective of anything else. Thus, entering the value "123.123.123" implies that any machine that makes an ODBC, JDBC, UDBC, or OLE-DB connection with an from an IP Address that starts with "123.123.123" operates against your backend database in Read-Write mode.

"Then" Processing Instruction:

Check the "Accept" radio button and then select an OpenLink Agent template to associate with your rule by clicking on the "configuration" Listbox. The template that you choose needs to match the one that you placed in Read-Only mode at the start of the Read-Only" session rules exercise. Then click on the "Add" button.

Logically all other connections will end up being in Read-Only mode since they will not be resolved to having an IP Address that starts with "123.123.123". This also means that they will not be associated with the "basic_agent" Agent Template which is the only means of establishing a Read-Write session with your backend database.

Figure7.52.Admin Assistant

Click on the "Update" button to complete the rule creation exercise and then reinitialize the Request Broker when prompted.

Attempt a connection from outside your LAN and attempt a database record update.

Start the Request Broker

Start a Web Browser session

Enter the following URL into your browser:

If you started the Request Broker on your local machine enter:

http://localhost:8000/ 

(assuming you accepted port 8000 as the Admin Assistant port number at installation time).

If the Request Broker in on another machine enter:

http://<hostname or IP address>:8000/

(assuming you accepted port 8000 as the Admin Assistant port number at installation time).

Since you are attempting to modify the ReUse attribute of an existing Agent Template simply navigate the Admin Assistant menu down the following path: "Server Components Administration"->"Database Agent Administration"->"Database Agent Settings (Form)". Locate the database agent for your database engine type from the list presented and then click on the "Edit" hyperlink.

Figure7.53.Admin Assistant

Scroll down to the "Client-Server Process Mapping & Control section, and then check the "Always" radio button as depicted in the screen shot below.

Figure7.54.Admin Assistant

Click on the "Update" button to complete the rule creation exercise and then reinitialize the Request Broker when prompted.

Restart your Broker in debug mode.

Attempt multiple OpenLink ODBC, JDBC, UDBC, OLE-DB connections from the same and different machines.

Then navigate the Admin Assistant menu down the following path: "Server Components Administration"->"Request Broker Administration"->"List of Current connections" . This will show you how many OpenLink Client connections that you have open and how many OpenLink Agents are serving these sessions.

Follow steps 1 -4 in the prior section.

Scroll down to the "Client-Server Process Mapping & Control section, then check the "Conditionally" radio button, then check the checkbox field labeled "When originating from the same machine" as depicted in the screen shot below.

Figure7.55.Admin Assistant

Click on the "Update" button to complete the rule creation exercise and then reinitialize the Request Broker when prompted.

Attempt multiple OpenLink ODBC, JDBC, UDBC, OLE-DB connections from the same and different machines.