Configuring FCS

User involvement with FCS depends on the type of user:

• For ENOVIA product users, setup is minimal. Application JSP pages are enabled for FCS. You simply define which stores/locations will have FCS URLs. All others will default to the URL of the MCS.
• For Matrix Web Navigator and Studio Customization Toolkit users, setup is minimal. Java classes for business object checkin and checkout are enabled for FCS. You simply define which stores/locations will have FCS URLs.
• For Studio Customization Toolkit users that are running without Matrix Web Navigator (running in a Live Collaboration server), the FCS is normally not used. You can make the Studio Customization Toolkit use the FCS for checkin/checkout without Matrix Web Navigator by setting the environment variable MX_FCS_ENABLED=true. When set to FALSE, FCS is not used.
• For installations having their own JSP-based applications, see FCS with Custom JSPs.

You may need to define FCS URLS for each store and location you want to enable. The FCS URL points to the store or location server containing the actual files.

When to define a URL:

• You must define the FCS URL for FCS file replication.
• The FCS URL is NOT required for file checkin and checkout operations.
• DesignSync stores do not require an FCS URL and one should NOT be defined for them.

When an FCS URL is not defined, the system uses the URL of the local MCS. Since there are two ways to connect to the ENOVIA Live Collaboration Server, note that the MCS URL can be inferred only when connecting through the application server, usually at port 8080. The other way to connect is through the server, usually at port 1099, but an MCS URL cannot be inferred when connecting this way. Therefore, if you are connecting through the server and need to perform FCS operations that require an FCS URL, you must manually define the FCS URL.

For details on defining an FCS URL, see Defining FCS URLs.

You can use the web.xml (or framework.properties) files on the MCS or FCS to configure the FCS.

For example, you can set ticket and receipt expiration and cleanup settings such as:

• The length of time a ticket or receipt is valid.
• How many tickets or receipts the system retains before deleting them.

You can specify settings in either web.xml or framework.properties; however, we recommend that you add all settings to web.xml. If a property is set in both framework.properties and web.xml, the value in web.xml is used.

See the subsection "FCS Parameters" under ""Modifying J2EE Settings" in ENOVIA Live Collaboration - Web Application Installation - Deployment.

The FCS includes support for image caching from the database that is used by the ENOVIA products. Images are modeled as connected Image type objects that provide file storage in the database. It handles images as URLs, and images are generally provided via an FCS.

Images from the database persist for the duration of a browser session, although if new files are checked in during the session, the new images are fetched and displayed as needed.

You can configure settings for FCS image caching in the web.xml file. See the subsection "FCS Parameters" under ""Modifying J2EE Settings" in ENOVIA Live Collaboration - Web Application Installation - Deployment.

To use an FCS in a Single Sign On (SSO) environment, you must add each MCS and FCS in your environment to the access list that excludes them from authentication checks. Note that you cannot use a remote thick client with SSO. A local thick client can be used with SSO since it will be on an MCS that should be on the access list.

See the subsection "FCS Parameters" under ""Modifying J2EE Settings" in ENOVIA Live Collaboration - Web Application Installation - Deployment.

When used with Matrix Web Navigator, the File Collaboration Server works in conjunction with the MX_SITE_PREFERENCE environment setting in the server's initialization file. This allows FCS to access files on a server that is local to the user, but not necessarily local to the Web site from which the user accesses the database. See The Preferred Site. For details on setting this variable, see the subsection "Optional Settings" under "ENOVIA Live Collaboration Server Environment Settings" in the ENOVIA Live Collaboration Installation Guide.

You can set up configurations with multiple FCS servers enabled in different locations servicing the same clients. This configuration requires replication. See Replication.

If you receive an error message that begins with "MLC Warning," it means you are running different versions of the MCS and FCS at the same time.