Applies To
	Product(s):	Exor Noticing Manager
	Version(s):	04.05.10.02
	Environment:	N/A
	Area:	Attachment
	Original Author:	Lee Jackson, Bentley Technical Support Group

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Background

The first thing to note is that EToN Attachments are not files sent via web services. When sending an attachment in a notice, you actually send part of a URL to where the recipient can obtain a file, such as an image or document. Your operational district (OD) data file will contain the first part of any attachment URL, and the notice will contain the rest. For example the first part the attachment URL in your OD file would be similar to 'ftp://ftp.bentley.com/attachments' and the notice will contain the second part, for example '/filename.jpg'.

The receiver of the notice should then have an option to view the attachment. Exor software does this by piecing the 2 parts described above together, then launches the URL via your default internet browser. (I.E. ftp://ftp.bentley.com/attachments/filename.jpg)

When a user wants to send an attachment file for a particular TMA record, they must first upload the file to the database via the exor forms application. This is known as the local copy and is stored in the database for the record it was loaded against. When the user then sends a notice for that record, they can select to send the attachment via the TMA1001 Noticing Assistant. When the user issues the notice declaring an attachment, a copy of that file is then downloaded to the database server and the notice is sent via web services.

For more information on how the users upload attachments via the forms application, please see the 4.5.10 release notes:

https://communities.bentley.com/products/assetwise/exor/m/mediagallery/269411.aspx

Once the file has been downloaded, it then needs to be made accessible to the outside world. How this is done is up to individual organisations, but is expected be done using an FTP or HTTP server, taking into account how EToN provides the URL to access the file in a notice as described above. It is expected most users will move the files to an FTP site, however if this is not suitable for your business, an alternative could be to use an HTTP server. For example you could enable Windows IIS services on your EToN Web Server, then create a virtual directory to point to where you store the attachment files. You would then declare your Attach URL as the address of the virtual directory on your EToN Web Server.

There is lots of information on the internet on how to do this, but the following links are a good start:

How to enable IIS services:

 http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms181052(v=vs.80).aspx

How to create a virtual directory in IIS 7.0 http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb763173.aspx

Configuration

To configure attachments you first need to setup an Oracle database directory, which references a file directory on your database server. This is where all out bound attachments should be downloaded to when sending a notice with attachments declared.

Within the HIG1895 Directories form, change the File System Path for the TMA_ATTACHMENTS_DIRECTORY Oracle directory, to a suitable location on your database server. Next assign a role such as TMA_USER and apply the necessary permissions via the Java Role Privs tab.

For example:

NOTE: Changes to Java permissions only take effect on new sessions. Before you start testing the feature, close all internet browser windows and log in to the application again.

Next you need to configure a process to allow external users to view these files. We do not recommend that you allow users to access the files directly on your database for security reasons. One solution is to create a process to move any files in the directory to an FTP site. You then need to declare the location of the FTP site in your OD data as the Attach URL.