Introduction
It’s a little later than planned but here’s the April instalment of my KM and WPC updates blog. In the past month we’ve seen a wide range of fixes released relating to taxonomies, web repositories, file system repositories, indexing and KM transports to name but a few. There also appeared to be an upsurge in the number of systems being upgraded from EP 7.0X to EP 7.3X/EP 7.4 and as a result we saw a number of incidents being raised in relation to WPC Migration. Below, I’ll be taking a closer look at the WPC Migration process and some of the known issues to look out for.
First however, here’s a brief rundown on some of the latest fixes released since the start of March –
New Notes and KBAs
KM – This area outlines a selection of Notes and KBAs which have been released in the general KM component area in the past couple of months (component EP-KM and its sub areas)
2294907 - Antivirus service doesn't delete temporary documents
KM documents stored in the temp folder on the file system are not deleted when highlighted by the Antivirus service. This issue has been corrected in a patch fix.
2296947 - Hidden taxonomies are not exported
It’s not possible to import or export Hidden Taxonomies. This is due to a program error and has also been corrected with a patch fix. There is no work around available for the issue.
2296833 - Re-indexing of datasources do not start
When reindexing of a data source within KM is triggered, nothing happens. This note outlines the exception which would be typically seen in the default.trc should this issue occur but specifically the following would be seen –
- java.lang.NullPointerException: while trying to invoke the method com.sapportals.wcm.util.uri.RID.toString() of a null object returned from com.sapportals.wcm.service.indexmanagement.AbstractXIndexCrawlerReceiver.createStartFolderRIDFromXCrawlerID(java.lang.String)
As indicated by this exception, the system is unable to locate the start folder from which to start indexing for the data source. A patch fix has been provided to correct this.
2292336 - After accessing a file via KM iview, the read flag is not updated
This KBA describes an issue which may be observed within KM whereby the ‘Read’ flag is not activated on resources after they have been accessed by end users. This can occur due to the ‘host’ property not being correctly maintained in the URL Generator Service. As there are quite a few erratic behaviours which can result from neglecting to configure this parameter correctly it’s vital to ensure it is always maintained! The host parameter should point to the full qualified domain name of the portal (ie. The hostname + port number).
2297348 - Lifetime Properties are not Translated
This Note relates to a coding issue which has resulted in the failure of the Lifetime Properties (used for Time Based Publishing) to be translated from English. Specifically, the ‘Valid From’ and ‘Valid To’ properties are displayed in English regardless of the language settings in the portal. The note outlines for which portal versions the patch fix has been released.
2287320 - getBrowserId() error in KM User Interface
If using Internet Explorer in standards mode and attempting to use any functionality which incorporates the HTML Editor (eg. Edit Locally, WPC Editor etc), you are liable to encounter the following error in both the UI and the default.trc –
Error: while trying to invoke the method com.sapportals.htmlb.enum.BrowserType.getStringValue() of an object returned from com.sapportals.htmlb.rendering.IPageContext.getBrowserId() java.lang.NullPointerException: while trying to invoke the method com.sapportals.htmlb.enum.BrowserType.getStringValue() of an object returned from com.sapportals.htmlb.rendering.IPageContext.getBrowserId()
Again, this issue is due to a coding error and can only be resolved by applying the relevant patch fix.
2293252 - Attachments in Collaboration Sessions are Visible to All Users
This affects collaboration sessions – if you attach a resource to a collaboration session, it’s visible to every user instead of just the host/participants in the session. There’s no workaround available other than to apply the patch fix.
2291234 - EP: KM Transported Collaboration Room structures appear but the room content is missing
This KBA was created to clear up some confusion regarding the transport of collaboration rooms and their content. While the room structures are stored in the /rooms repository, the room content is stored in the /room_extensions repository. Transporting the /rooms repository between portal environments results in only the actual room structures being transported (and often confusion as to where the room content has gone!). I attempting to transport rooms along with their content, be sure to include the /room_extensions repository in the transport.
2290781 - Http communication broken
This issue can cause communication to fail between a Web Repository its source. It only occurs when the Transfer-Encoding header is used and the issue has been corrected in a patch fix.
2289868 - Versioning automatically activated after Importing KM Content
When using the KM Transport, if you import a mixture of versioned and non-versioned content, you may encounter an issue whereby versioning will be enabled on all folders after the import has completed. This patch fix corrects this.
2290543 - Some properties of resources are missing in FS repository
Finally, this patch fix address an issue which could cause the properties of some resources to be missing if using the File system repository in conjunction with Kerberos authentication.
Forums/WIKI – New Notes and KBAs relating to the KM Forums and KM WIKI applications
2299218 - Multiple Choice Polls under Category Level doesn't work
This issue had a couple of symptoms which could be observed when using Polls in the KM Forums application. The issue is only reproducible when creating polls at category level and not when creating them at forum level. If the ‘Multiple Vote’ option is selected, not only will the voting options be displayed as radio buttons instead of checkbox but it’s not possible to select multiple votes. The issue is corrected with a patch fix.
Monthly Hot Topic – WPC Migration
As mentioned above, in the last month there’s been several incidents reported relating to the WPC migration when upgrading a portal environment from EP 7.0X to EP 7.3X or higher. With EP 7.30, a new WPC application was delivered which greatly extends the functionality provided, content types supported, etc, and makes use of a completely new framework, new repositories and configurables. As such, the old WPC content needs to be migrated and transferred/modified for use with the new application. This process takes place during the ‘Execute-Final-Online-Migration’ step of the portal migration and typically, this is where we see issues being reported. Due to the complexity of WPC content and the wide range of possible errors, it can often seem daunting when trying to locate the exact cause of an issue here but by following these steps, the troubleshooting of an issue here can be made far more straightforward.
First, I should clarify that this phase is an online migration step which requires a running portal. If this step is failing to due ‘Exception while trying to get InitialContext’, then the most probable cause is that the J2EE engine is not started. If this is the case, nothing can be done from the WPC side of the scenario (it requires the InitialContext) and this would need to be looked at from the J2EE side.
If the J2EE engine is running and the migration is still failing, then the next check should be performed on the portal and KMC itself. In order for the WPC migration to be successful, it’s necessary to ensure that the portal is stable and error free. Most importantly, the KM repositories need to be accessible, and the PCD needs to be free of inconsistencies. If it’s not possible to log into the portal through the regular portal login page or you are seeing portal runtime errors in portal iViews, these issues need to be addressed before it will be possible to proceed with the WPC Migration.
J2EE running and the portal/KM stable? If the migration is still failing, then it’s probably due to some problematic WPC content or configuration. The most important resources in identifying the cause are both the WPC_Migration_Report.log file and the default.trc file generated when performing the ‘Execute-Final-Online-Migration’ step. As the WPC application enables users to implement a large variety of scenarios and custom content, there are also a large range of issues which might prevent the migration from completing. I’ve compiled an extensive list of the various exceptions which might be written to these log files and outlined the steps to be followed to resolve these. This information can be found here - Troubleshooting Migration Issues in Web Page Composer
Typical problems that might prevent the WPC content from being migrated would be the presence of unsupported content (eg Web Pages) in the ‘Site Content’ folder, the ‘External Connector’ property for Web Sites being incorrect, or a problematic Navigation.wpc file which may need to be deleted.
