Panagon eProcess Services consists of several components: Panagon Web Services, Panagon Web WorkFlo, and Panagon WorkFlo Services. This topic describes these components and how they interact with each other and with client applications in a typical, out-of-the-box (OOTB) configuration.
As illustrated in the figure below, when a user request does not require interaction with the Panagon WorkFlo Services through a Java applet or application, the request is routed through the Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) session to the Panagon Web Services and Panagon Web WorkFlo components. However, if the user request can be satisfied only through a Java applet, as is the case with Web WorkFlo applets, the applet residing on the client system gathers the necessary workflow information and communicates via RMI with the eProcess Router. The eProcess Router directs all RMI communication between the Panagon eProcess Services server and the server running Panagon WorkFlo Services.
Note If the Web WorkFlo applet needs to interact with IDM Objects, as is the case with attachments, the applet communicates with the eProcess Service Manager.
Accessing the OOTB application in a web browser, a user logs into the Panagon eProcess Services server and either launches a workflow or participates in a running workflow. The out-of-the-box Web WorkFlo application requires Internet Explorer (Panagon Web Services and Web WorkFlo Services only support the Internet Explorer browser).
eProcess Services combines ASP and Java with the automation layer already provided by Panagon Web Services. The OOTB application contains Java applications and applets that use the Sun Java Runtime Environment (JRE) to operate. If a developer creates Java-based applications or applets, the JRE must be deployed on the client system as well as on the Web WorkFlo server system. If a developer creates only ASP-, HTML-, or XML-based processors (or workflow applications), the browser need not support Java and the JRE need not be deployed on the client system.
Note Panagon eProcess requires the JRE on the Panagon Web server, on the WorkFlo Services server, and also on the client (automatically downloaded when the client accesses the Web server for the first time). For information on which JDK to use and how to configure it for eProcess, see the Configure the JDK topic.
The following diagram illustrates where the eProcess Services architectural components reside in relation to each other and the client. (The figure illustrates only one common, generalized configuration. The figure is not intended to illustrate all possible configurations, and the relative size of any specific component does not signify the importance of the component.)
The numbers (below) refer to the corresponding area shown in the figure (above). The following table describes the architectural components and describes the constituent elements.
Architecture Area |
Description |
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Client system |
This section consists of a client workstation, with an installed web browser, connected to the network. Panagon eProcess Services automatically installs the Sun JRE and the eProcess Java class library (pw.jar) during the first client access to the Web server. However, you must manually install the necessary IDM COM controls the first time the client accesses the Web server. Once all of the necessary client-side components are loaded, the browser uses cached versions of the Web Services JavaScript objects for ASP communication to the Content Services or Image Services servers (as needed). |
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Panagon eProcess Services |
This section consists of Panagon Web Services and Panagon Web WorkFlo on a web server, one (optional) Panagon Content Services (Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000) server, and an optional Panagon Images Services (on Windows NT, Windows 2000, AIX, Solaris, or HP-UX) server. In a typical eProcess Services configuration, the eProcess Router resides on the web server and acts as a Remote Method Invocation (RMI) routing mechanism for handling applet and application requests between the client system and the workflow server. (The eProcess APIs Java class library file, pw.jar, includes all of the eProcess APIs.) The eProcess Service Manager controls the Integration Service, which in turn facilitates communication (for IDM object-related operations) between the Web WorkFlo applets and the IDM Objects. All ASP related eProcess workflow requests are handled through the Panagon Web Services and Panagon Web WorkFlo applications. While not shown in the figure, eProcess Services ASP-related requests communicate with WorkFlo Services using the JiGlue COM Bridge. Note As indicated, the JRE runs on the Web WorkFlo Server and on the client. If you deploy custom applets based on the Java Step Processor or Launch Step Processors samples, the JRE must be deployed on all client systems. |
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eProcess |
This section consists of WorkFlo Services (on Windows 2000, Solaris, HP-UX, or AIX platforms) and optionally, certain Panagon Image Services components (not shown), which are loaded during the Panagon WorkFlo Services installation. (A JRE must run on each WorkFlo Services server). The eProcess Pooled Process Manager (PPM) links the eProcess Router and the WorkFlo Services server processes. The eProcess PPM resides on the WorkFlo Services server, where it manages multiple threads of execution, in a sequential fashion, to a pool of WorkFlo Services server processes. When the PPM receives a request from the eProcess Router, the PPM forwards the request to the appropriate WorkFlo processes. In cases where the client machine is using either a Java- or COM-based workflow application (sometimes called a "work performer"), the client machine can either use an instance of the eProcess Router running on the client system to communicate to the WorkFlo Services server or the client can connect directly to the eProcess Router running on the workflow server. Note While not shown in the figure above, some Panagon Image Services components are installed on the WorkFlo Services server. Refer to the Help for eProcess Administrators, the Panagon Web WorkFlo Installation Handbook, and either the Panagon WorkFlo Services for Windows Installation Handbook or the Panagon WorkFlo Services for UNIX Installation Handbook, depending on the OS, for information on how to configure the Image Services components installed on the WorkFlo Services server. |