Developer Guide : File Repository

In this article you will learn about Helical Insight File Repository.



“File Repository” can also said as “Solution Repository”. The term repository itself signifies a place where you store something. Similarly, File Repository is a place where users files and folders get stored.

Solution Repository

When the application is installed, the files and folders get their own location and a file tree is generated based on the pre-created folders and the ones subsequently added by the user. The Solution Repository for the developer is different from that of the user.

Types of Folders :

  1. System Folder
  2. Public Folder
  3. Private Folder

The developer can see all the folders whereas the user can see only the folders that he has access granted for via the application.

File repository 1

Private Folder
  • These are user created folder accessible to themselves or which is explicitly shared with the user.
  • It ensures that unauthorized persons do not gain access to classified data.
  • In order to make a folder user – specific, it must contain a ‘<file>.efwfolder’ file which contains the configuration for the access permissions.

Why Private folder is require ?

  • It is required to ensure that some folders may contain data which is supporting actual report files cannot be modified by the user.

File repository 2

System Folders

The ‘System Folder’ is one of the most important folder in the application. This folder is where all the Configurations are done for the working of the application. The ‘System Folder’ contains the following sub-directories:-

  1. Drivers
  2. Mail
  3. Plugins
  4. Reports
  5. Admin
  6. Cache
  7. Temp
  8. Scheduling.xml

System 1

Drivers Folder

The ‘Drivers’ folder is where all jdbc connection driver jar files are stored. Each jar must contain a driver file specifying the driver being used.

If, in the driver file, the jdbc4 Java Service Provider name is missing, the Adhoc module will not be able to access the driver and the dashboard will not respond in its expected manner.

Driver 1

Mail Folder

The ‘Mail’ folder contains a configuration file with the extension ‘.properties’. This file is responsible for the configuration of the auto generated mail during E-mailing of the report and Scheduling.

Mail 1

Reports Folder
The ‘ Reports’ folder is where the files required to assist with exporting of the reports are stored. The dashboard uses these files in order to save the report in the form of JPG, PNG or PDF as specified by the user.

Reports 1

Admin Folders
This folder is the most important folder of all since it contains the configuration information of the entire application. The configuration files contain ‘.xml’ or ‘.properties’ extensions.

Admin

Cache Folder
A cache folder is the place where the information is temporarily stored before it can be processed or displayed. It is a temporary halt for the data till it can be used further.
Here, the cache folder populated every time a query is executed and is stored there till the expiration time is reached. At the expiration time the cache is automatically emptied. This is done to conserve memory by rolling up and avoiding overloading the application. The expiration time can be configured by the developer depending upon his needs by using a configuration file.

Cache 1

Temp Folder
It contains a temporary copy of every saved or scheduled report. This stores the saved report in the format it is saved before it is downloaded by the user. This folder contains ‘.html’, ‘.jpg’, ‘.png’, ‘.pdf’ and ‘.metadata’ files.

  • Temp Folder can be deleted without affecting the working of the application.
  • It can be set configured for auto-purging based on space allocated to it.
  • Configuration can be modified by the developer based on requirement.
  • The auto- purging is done in the form off roll-up, meaning that the older entries get deleted ass new entries get added.

Temp Folder 1

Scheduling.xml
This ‘.xml’ file is where the entire configuration for the process of report scheduling is specified. This file is NOT TO BE DELETED. If deleted, the application may become unstable and not give the appropriate results.

Public Folder

The folders that are visible to the user through the Applications Solution Directory are called as ‘Public Folders’. These folders may contain sub-folders or report files. The files found here have the following extensions :

⦁ .EFW



⦁ .HTML



⦁ .EFWVF



⦁ .EFWD



⦁ .EFWSR



⦁ .JS



⦁ .CSS



⦁ .JPG/.PNG



⦁ .METADATA

.EFW :
The .EFW file contains the metadata for that particular report/dashboard. This file contains the information about the report. It specifies which .html file to call, the reports name and its description.

.HTML :
Here the developer designs the layout of the report, defines the components to be used and specifies which .EFWVF file is to be called for which component.

.EFWVF :
The .EFVW file is very important while generating the report since this is where the data is converted into graphical or tabular form for displaying. The .EFWVF calls the .EFWD file to get the data from it and then convert it to graphical form.

.EFWD :
The .EFWD file is where all the queries are defined and when called by the .EFWVF file the queries are executed and the result set is returned to the .EFWVF file.

.EFWSR :
Whenever a Report is saved it is saved in a file with the extension .EFWSR. This extension is added if the file saved directly or is set for scheduling.

.JS :
This is the javascript file being used by .EFWVF for graph or table generations. Eg.- datatables.js, c3.js, etc.

.CSS :
The .CSS file is responsible for adding the styles to the graphics being generated, either graphs or tables. The .CSS file specifies every aspect of the look and feel of the created graphical representation of the given data.

.JPG/.PNG :
There may be certain images included in the report such as logos of companies or enhancement images to make the report look more responsive. These images are also stored in the same folder as rest of the report related files.

.METADATA :
The .METADATA file contains all the information about the drivers and bridges used for ADHOC reports.

Apart from these, the developer may add files of any extensions that he chooses fit and he can configure the Repository to show which file extensions should be shown to the user via the Application.

For More Info, Contact us at demo@helicalinsight.com

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