This topic is divided into the following sections:
| What is WebDAV? | Configuring
Portal for WebDAV | Setting up a WebDAV client |
What can you do using a WebDAV client? | Viewing
errors |
Oracle9iAS Portal supports the use of a Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning protocol (WebDAV). Using a WebDAV client, such as Web Folders, you can seamlessly drag and drop content, files, and folders back and forth between your desktop and the page groups in your portal (see Using Web Folders to add content to a page: an example). You can also perform in-place opening, editing, and saving of file-type items using desktop applications, such as Microsoft Office 2000 (see Using Microsoft Office 2000 to edit the content of a page: an example).
WebDAV also has Java clients (such as DAV Explorer), open source tools (such as Cadaver and Sitecopy), Apple GUI tools (such as Goliath), and commercial authoring tools (such as Macromedia Dreamweaver and Adobe Photoshop). You can also use browsers such as Mozilla or Internet Explorer 5.5 to browse a portal's content in a hierarchical structure.
Setting up WebDAV requires some simple configuration on both the server side (in Portal) and the client side.
When Oracle9i Application Server is installed, all required OraDAV parameters are set with values that enable access to Oracle database content through a Web browser or a WebDAV client. If necessary, you can modify parameter values if the default values do not meet your needs. For information about how to do this, refer to the Oracle9iAS Portal Configuration Guide on Portal Center.
Note: OraDAV refers to the capabilities available through the mod_oradav module. The mod_oradav module is the Oracle module that extends the implementation of mod_dav, and is integrated with the Oracle HTTP Server. The mod_oradav module enables WebDAV clients to connect to an Oracle database, read and write content, and query and lock documents in various schemas. See the Oracle HTTP Server Administration Guide on Oracle Technology Network for more information about WebDAV, OraDAV, and how to set up mod_oradav.
Similarly to the Portal DAD configuration file, WebDAV has it own configuration file ($APACHE_HOME/oradav/conf/oradav.conf) that contains the OraDAV parameters. The contents of this file look something like the following:
<Location /dav_portal/portal>
DAV Oracle
DAVParam ORACONNECT dbhost:dbport:dbsid
DAVParam ORAUSER portal_schema
DAVParam
ORAPASSWORD portal_schema_password
DAVParam
ORAPACKAGENAME portal_schema.wwdav_api_driver
</Location>
We recommend that you always use the DAD configuration utility to create new DADs and make changes to existing DADs, as this keeps these two files in sync. If the Portal DAD file is manually edited, you must also edit the oradav.conf file to make the corresponding changes.
Due the way some WebDAV clients behave, you might experience authentication requests multiple times. To avoid this, you can enable the cookie option by adding the following line to the oradav.conf file:
DAVParam ORACookieMaxAge <seconds>
Where seconds is the amount of time in seconds before the cookie expires. For example a value of 28800 is 8 hours and means that once a user has logged on through a WebDAV client, he or she will not be prompted for a user name and password again until 8 hours has passed.
Notes:
Some WebDAV clients, for example, Dreamweaver, do not support cookies, so even if you enable the cookie option, users may still be prompted for their passwords multiple times.
Whenever you make changes to the oradav.conf file, you need to restart the HTTP Server before the new settings will take effect. For information about how to do this, refer to the Oracle HTTP Server Administration Guide on Oracle Technology Network.
The steps required to set up a WebDAV client to connect to Portal varies depending on the client. But all clients will eventually request a URL. The Portal DAV URL is very similar to the URL you use to access Portal in your Web browser, and uses the following format:
http://<hostname>:<port>/<dav_location>
Where dav_location is the location as specified in the oradav.conf file, for example, the default Portal DAV URL is:
http://<hostname>:<port>/dav_portal/portal
Note: There is no /pls/ as in the default Portal URL. The dav_portal part of the URL is the default name of a virtual directory used to differentiate between portal access via a WebDAV client and portal access via a browser which uses the PLS virtual directory. portal is the DAD of the portal installation. Administrators can also configure virtual hosts to provide a different, simpler, or easier to remember URL for WebDAV access, if need be.
Administrators can also configure virtual hosts to provide a different, simpler, or easier to remember URL for WebDAV access, if need be.
You connect to a portal in WebDAV clients using the same user name and password that you use to log in to the portal in the browser interface. If your portal is in a hosted environment, you need to add your company information to your user name, as follows:
<username>@<company>
See Using Web Folders to add content to a page: an example for a step-by-step example showing how to set up the Web Folders WebDAV client.
Tips:
Portal's Single Sign-On functionality does not apply for WebDAV clients, and so you will need to explicitly login from the client.
If your WebDAV client has no explicit logout feature, you will need to logout from the operating system (like in Windows 2000 or NT) to logout from the portal.
You can also directly access a particular page group or page by adding its (internal) name to the Portal DAV URL, for example, http://mymachine.mycompany.com:5000/dav_portal/portal/myportal/mypage
Some WebDAV clients do not support multiple simultaneous log ins. If you want to log in as a new user, clear your cookies, restart your computer to clear out the current login session, then log in as the new user.
Oracle9iAS Portal supports the following set of actions using a WebDAV client. Since not all WebDAV clients behave the same way, you might be allowed only a subset of these actions depending on the client you have. For example, you can check items in and out only if your WebDAV client supports the WebDAV LOCK method (Web Folders do not currently support locking operations, Office 2000 clients support implicit locking operations, Cadaver and Dreamweaver support explicit locking operations). Performing any of the following actions has the same effect as performing it from a Web browser, and any change you make from the WebDAV client is instantly visible when you access the portal from your browser.
Listing content
Once connected to the portal, all the page groups you have privileges to see are visible as folders at the root level (the folders actually represent the root pages of the page groups).
For you to be able to see a page group, you must be able to view the root page of the page group. All authenticated users should see at least the Portal default public page groups:
Corporate Pages
Documentation
Portlet Repository
Portal Design Time Pages
Additionally, if you have a personal page in the Shared Objects page group, you should be able to see Shared Objects and access your personal page via your WebDAV client.
Drill into a page group to list all the pages inside the page group as folders. Drill into a page to list the page's sub-pages and all items (and sub-items) of the following types:
Simple File
Simple Image
File
Image
Imagemap
Zip File
Custom types based on the Simple File or Simple Image item types
You will see only the main file (i.e., the primary item) associated with each item. Any other files (i.e., secondary items) associated with the item (for example, the item image), are hidden in the WebDAV client. If you want to delete or change these files, you must do so from the browser interface.
To see Portal files in a WebDAV client, you must have at least Manage privileges. You will be able to see all versions and translations of an item. However, you will not be able to see items that are contained within tabs on pages or items that are inherited from page templates.
Tips:
In WebDAV clients there is no differentiation between items and sub-items.
All page groups, pages, and items display their internal names in WebDAV clients, not their display names.
Templates, regions, and tabs are not currently represented. Because these are not represented, their content is not represented. This means that if a file is placed on a tab using the Portal browser interface, that item will not display in a WebDAV client. We recommend that you do not use tabs in pages that are intended for use with WebDAV clients.
Viewing content
Most WebDAV clients allow you to view the content of a file by clicking on the name. In Windows 2000 or NT, the behavior is very similar to clicking a file on the local machine; the operating system opens it in the application associated with the file type.
Tip: Some desktop applications may have difficulty opening files that use special characters in the file name. We recommend that the file names you use contain only alphanumeric characters (A-Z, a-z, 0-9), spaces, and the following special characters: _ - . ( ) ! , ; = ~ @.
Moving, copying, and editing content
To move, copy, or edit files, you must have at least Manage Items With Approval privileges.
If you are using a WebDAV-enabled desktop application, such as Microsoft Office 2000, you can open a file, edit it directly, and then save it to the same location, using the same name. Otherwise, save the file to your file system and drag and drop the new file to your portal. The next time you open the file from Portal's browser interface, you'll see the edited version.
You can specify what item types to use for new files published to the portal via WebDAV. For example, you might want any zip files published to the portal to be uploaded as Zip File items, so that their contents can be extracted into the page group. See Choosing default WebDAV item types for more information.
Note: If the page is based on a page template, any files added to that page via WebDAV will use the Default Regular Items item type, even if the file is an image or zip file.
When you edit or move an existing item using WebDAV, that item retains its original item type and attribute settings. Similarly, when you copy an item using WebDAV, the copy uses the item type and attribute settings of the original item. You cannot edit an item's attributes in Portal's DAV server. To do this you must edit use the browser interface.
Tips:
You can move and copy files and pages to other pages within the same page group. Copying files and pages across page groups is not supported in Portal. If you wish to perform this action using WebDAV, copy the files to your file system, then copy them from your file system to the target page group.
If you move or copy a file, the whole item associated with that file is moved or copied, including associated files (for example, the item image) and any sub-items. If you copy a sub-item, the copy is created as a top-level item.
The target page must contain at least one item region. If a page has more than one item region, you can specify one of those regions as the default item region. When you add an item to a page using WebDAV, the item is placed in the page's default item region. If a default item region has not been specified, the item is placed in the second item region on the page (or first if there is only one item region). The second item region is used to avoid placing items in a region intended for navigation elements. If there are no item regions, the item is placed in the first undefined region on the page (and that undefined region becomes an item region). If the target page is based on a page template, the default item region is determined by the default item region of the template (unless overridden by the page itself). All pages, including those with no item regions, are visible on the WebDAV side. Moving or copying documents and items into a page with no item (or undefined) region will produce an error. Pages created from a WebDAV client automatically include an item region.
You cannot use WebDAV to add items to pages that are based on a seeded Portal page template (those templates provided when you install Portal).
Portal's DAV server's capabilities do not support versioning. If you activate Audit versioning in Portal, then edit and save a file via Office 2000, the modified file overwrites the original file, and a new version is not created. If you want to save the original version of a modified file, do so before you make your edits, copying then renaming the copy, making sure the file to be modified retains the original name. Similarly, Portal approval functionality is not supported on the WebDAV side.
If the page to which you are copying a file includes tabs with item regions, the files will not show up in your portal.
If items you add don't display in Portal immediately, this may be due to caching. The next time the page cache is invalidated (from an editing or customization action), the content will appear. If you require this content to appear immediately, you can invalidate the page cache by clicking the "refresh" link (if such a link has been added to the Portal page) or by performing an editing action. Alternatively, you can explicitly clear the cache for the page.
Deleting content
When you delete a file in a WebDAV client, the whole item associated with that file is deleted from the portal. This means that any other files that are associated with the item (for example, the item image) are also deleted, as well as all versions and translations of the item.
Checking content out and in
If the WebDAV client supports locking and unlocking, you can lock a document, which in turn will check out the item (the Portal equivalent of the WebDAV LOCK method) attached to the document. Once an item is locked from a WebDAV client, no-one else can make changes to the document until it is checked back in.
After you have made the required changes to the document, you can unlock it, which in turn checks in the item (the Portal equivalent of the WebDAV UNLOCK method) attached to the document. Other users will then be able to make their own changes to the document.
See Using Dreamweaver to edit the content of a page: an example for a step-by-step example showing how this functionality works.
Notes:
You cannot check folders in or out, or recursively check out the contents of a folder.
You cannot move a page if an item in that page has been locked via a WebDAV client.
Creating portal pages and sub-pages
Using a WebDAV client, you can create and delete pages within existing page groups on which you have the appropriate privileges. For example, in Web Folders, in the folder for the page where you want to create a sub-page, right-click your mouse and choose New>Folder from the resulting menu. (Note that the name you give the folder in WebDAV is the internal name, not the display name.) By default, all new Portal pages you create via WebDAV clients are Standard pages and contain an item region.
Tips:
Page names can contain any alphanumeric character (A-Z, a-z, 0-9), spaces, and the following special characters: _ - . ( ) ! , ; = ~ @. Consequently, to paste a folder from your file system into Portal, it and all sub-folders that it contains must use only these characters.
Because they are considered to be mount points like drives, you cannot create, edit, or delete page groups via WebDAV. You must perform these actions using the Portal browser interface.
You cannot create tabs via WebDAV.
To edit a page via WebDAV, you must have at least Manage privileges on the page.
Any errors that occur when a user performs actions on a portal using a WebDAV client are recorded in an error log that is created in that user's personal page (as an item titled My Error Log) the first time a Portal related WebDAV error occurs. This can be very helpful for interpreting the error messages reported in WebDAV clients, such as the message 'An error has occurred while trying to complete this operation' that is often displayed in Web Folders, or HTTP error numbers reported in Cadaver.
All errors are also recorded in the Apache error log file ($ORACLE_HOME/Apache/Apache/logs), so if the user does not have a personal page, or is a public user, the errors can still be examined.
For more verbose error reporting in the Apache error log file, add the following parameter to the oradav.conf file:
DAVParam ORATraceLevel 1
Note: Remember to restart the HTTP Server after making this change. For information about how to do this, refer to the Oracle HTTP Server Administration Guide on Oracle Technology Network.