ActiveVOS 9.1.0.2 Release Notes
This document describes system requirements, new features, and resolved issues for ActiveVOS Server and ActiveVOS Designer.
Supported Systems
A complete list of supported systems includes application platforms, databases, and relates resources. Review the list at ActiveVOS System Support
Memory Recommendation for Server
We recommend the following application server memory settings:
-Xms256m -Xmx1024m -XX:MaxPermSize=384m
Installation
Before installing ActiveVOS, ensure you have access to your ActiveVOS Designer and/or ActiveVOS Server licenses. Evaluation customers only need a license for ActiveVOS Designer and can use the embedded runtime engine for deployments. A link to download licenses was emailed to you or your company shortly after purchase or evaluation request.
Console-Mode Installation
You can run the installation from the command line in console mode by using the following commands:
- On Windows
- On Linux
start /wait
installer.sh -c
Installing Designer on Windows 7 (and Vista)
ActiveVOS Designer writes to a number of directories within the installation path (e.g., the ActiveVOS embedded Server). Windows 7 implements security mechanisms that are intended to prevent modifications to files located in Program Files and other folders that are managed by the operating system. Installing ActiveVOS Designer under Program Files will likely result in errors when starting the embedded server and deploying processes to it.
You can try any of the following as potential workarounds:
- Install ActiveVOS Designer in a directory to which you have full permissions to such as C:\ActiveVOS
- Run ActiveVOS Designer using the Run as administrator option
- Turn off User Account Control (UAC) from Windows 7 by setting UAC to Never Notify
- Modify the rights to C:\Program Files\ActiveVOS\Designer\designer to grant modify access to your account. Be sure that the new permission is copied down the entire directory structure.
- Copy the Server folder under C:\Program Files\ActiveVOS\Designer\designer\plugins\org.activebpel.enginep_9.1.0.2 to a location which you have permission to write. When you create a new embedded engine in Designer, select the Add... link next to Server runtime environment to point to the correct location
Installing Designer Plugins To An Existing Eclipse Framework
You can install ActiveVOS Designer plug-ins into an existing version of Eclipse 3.6 by following these steps:
- Ensure that you are running Eclipse for RCP and RAP Developers. This is the required version for Designer plugins installation.
- Download the plugins distribution. (designer_update_site_[version nnn].zip) from the ActiveVOS download site. The link is provided with your license key.
- In Eclipse, navigate to Help / Install New Software.
- Select the Add button.
- Provide a name that will appear in the available-software list.
- Browse to the location of the designer_update_site_[version.nnn].zip on your file system.
- Select the new item in the list of available software, and click Next.
- Follow prompts provided in the Eclipse dialogs to complete the installation.
Migrating to ActiveVOS 9.1.0.2
If you have already installed ActiveVOS 9.1.0.1, some of this information may be redundant to you.
Migrating XQuery Expressions
ActiveVOS features a new XQuery processor, which is faster and fully conformant to the latest XQuery specifications. The new processor implements an advanced query optimizer and a stricter XQuery parser, so you may experience syntax errors on XQuery expressions that used to work in previous releases.
The following example shows an invalid XQuery expression that was accepted in previous versions:
if ($parameter) then
<foo/>,
<bar/>
else ()
Here is the correct version in which the if-then body is properly wrapped inside a sequence operator:
if ($parameter) then
(
<foo/>,
<bar/>
)
else ()
Migrating an Existing ActiveVOS Designer Workspace
A simple migration procedure is required in order to update the path and startup settings for the ActiveVOS embedded server:
- In the Designer Servers view, right click on the ActiveVOS Server at localhost then click Delete.
- Right click and select New -> Server.
- Click Configure runtime environments link in the New Server dialog.
- Remove the existing embedded server from the Preferences dialog.
- Click Add.
- Select ActiveVOS_Embedded_Server, then click Finish.
- Click Finish on the New Server dialog to add the new server.
Upgrading an Existing ActiveVOS Server
You can upgrade from an earlier version of ActiveVOS. However, you must be sure to follow the instructions below:
- Run all appropriate upgrade scripts for the database definitions.
- Remember that the default database name is ActiveVOS
ActiveVOS Designer
ActiveVOS 9.1.0.2 is a maintenance release. Information contained in this section includes content from the previous ActiveVOS 9.1.0.1 release.
What's New in ActiveVOS Designer 9.1.0.1 and 9.1.0.2
Version 9.1.0.2 of ActiveVOS Designer adds the following new features and functionality
- Automation for Analysts
- Import Visio XML Drawings
- Script Operation added to Assign activity
- OAuth System Service
- Export Process Layout at a Single JPG
- Updated samples for Screenflow Designer
Automation for Analysts is a feature of ActiveVOS Designer for use by business analysts and others, who are experts in business processes, but don't specialize in creating the building blocks for automated, executable processes. A license is required for this feature.
Import a Visio XML drawing from Visio 2010 Premium (or later) that is created with the BPMN template.
The script operation avoids the need for defining a from/to specification that a copy operation uses.
Use the OAuth system service to allow delegated access to private resources.
Use the Generate Process Image command from the Process menu to create a single JPG image of the process in focus on the canvas.
The Screenflow Orchestration Projects have been updated for the updated version of Screenflow Designer. Screenflow Designer allows a domain expert to design and deploy a custom screenflow-based software application in ActiveVOS Central. A license is required for this feature.
For a comprehensive review of new features in ActiveVOS 9.1.0.2 please read the What's New document on our web site What's New in ActiveVOS 9.1.
ActiveVOS Server
ActiveVOS 9.1.0.2 is a maintenance release. Information contained in this section includes content from the previous ActiveVOS 9.1.0.1 release.
Upgrading from ActiveVOS 9.1.0.1 to ActiveVOS 9.1.0.2
There are no DDL database upgrades to be performed if upgrading from ActiveVOS 9.1.0.1 to ActiveVOS 9.1.0.2.
What's New in ActiveVOS Server 9.1.0.1 and 9.1.0.2
Version 9.1.0.2 of ActiveVOS Server adds the following new features and functionality:
- Cluster Communication Fault Delay Configuration Setting
- Task Reassign Improvements
- Vacation Delegation for Task Owners
- Log all HTTP Messages
- Updated Screenflow Designer (formerly Socrates)
Under Cluster Properties, set a delay for the amount of time ActiveVOS waits before triggering failover after a node leaves the cluster.
In ActiveVOS Central, reassign a task by selecting from a generated list of potential owners.
Designate a delegate user who can work on tasks while the actual owner is on vacation (or for any other reason.)
Log data of each WS message going to/from the ActiveVOS server.
Many new features and improvements are in the Screenflow Designer. A license is required for this feature.
For a comprehensive review of new features in ActiveVOS 9.1.0.2 please read the What's New document on our web site What's New in ActiveVOS 9.1.
Resolved Issues - Designer
Resolved Issues with ActiveVOS 9.1.0.2
| 7137 / 8236 / 12098 | We reduced the amount of time it take to open/save processes using BPMN notation and generate images for large process definitions |
| 11594 | Significantly reduced the time to perform incremental builds on large projects |
| 11655 | Fixed a problem where reports were not being generated if a BUnit failed. Also introduced a new "FailOnError" BUnit parameter which defaults to false and provides the ability to fail the test on the first error. |
| 12011 | Fixed a problem with auto-layout. When auto-layout is performed, bend points are now deleted before performing auto-layout improving the outcome. |
| 12100 | Fixed a problem whereby when sample data is added via participants view, it is referred by absolute path rather than relative path. |
| 12103 | Fixed a problem whereby you could not step over a nested pick activity in simulation. |
| 12121 | Fixed a problem whereby you could not override the default sample for a receive, a pick or a invoke activity if the data is not schema adherent, even though validation is turned off for simulation. |
| 12160 | Fixed a problem whereby annotations inside collapsed Sub-Processes (scopes) would appear erroneously in outer scopes. |
| 12214 | Fixed a problem whereby expression evaluation of ht and abxht extension functions would not occur when the 'evaluate' button is clicked in the expression editor. |
| 12225 | Fixed a problem whereby valid a XQuery module displays errors even though I can run it successfully in Saxon or a BPEL process |
Resolved Issues with ActiveVOS 9.1.0.1
None
Resolved Issues - Server
Resolved Issues with ActiveVOS 9.1.0.2
| 12095 | Introduced the ability to avoid unmatched receive timeouts due to a plan inconsistency. When a deployment occurs, the node where the deployment occurs notifies other nodes of the cluster signaling the need to update affected process plan. So if communication errors occur at that level, notifications may never be received by other nodes. This can result in the plan ID they believe is the latest to not match the current plan ID. And thus, messages get queued as unmatched receives waiting for a plan ID they need to become available - something which will not occur. The message then eventually times out. We now handle the case where the current plan used to construct the message context is no longer the current plan when the message hits the queue manager due to a new deployment taking place while requests are being handled. More generally, if we detect that there has been an issue with cluster communications we will issue a monitoring event. An event handler process could then notify an administrator. NOTE: It may be necessary and prudent to stop/start the engine in case something important could have been missed during the interval when communication errors manifested themselves. |
| 10482 | Fixed a problem whereby a deadlock could be encountered during process recovery. It was possible to get the ActiveVOS server into a deadlock situation during process recovery, while attempting to recover more processes than configured number of work manager threads. To address this issue recovery now routes requests through the (ActiveVOS 9.1) dispatch service to throttle requests. |
| 11763 | Enhanced logging to handle cases where some logging messages were not recorded in the application server's log and only console output. Logging has been revamped through further consolidation. |
| 12178 | Fixed a problem whereby the retry policy assertion was not being invoked when used with process-based invoke handler. |
| 12202 | Fixed a problem whereby process rewind no longer worked via the console. |
| 12206 | Fixed a problem whereby a parallel for each loop (500+ iterations) that contained a process invoke would not allow the ability to load (without first reaching a browser timeout) the main process in the active process detail page. |
| 12207 | Fixed a problem whereby an interrupting boundary event used in in combination with cycles failed to function as expected. |
| 12268 | Fixed a problem whereby the LIKE clause (e.g. Task.Name LIKE 'abc') no longer worked with getTasks. |
| 12322 | Fixed a problem whereby ActiveVOS's log formatter was interfering with JBoss's standard log formatter |
Resolved Issues with ActiveVOS 9.1.0.1
| 11119 | Fixed an issue whereby services being deployed were annotated as ONLINE yet contributions were not activated until the server was restarted. The problem was attributed to the deployment of contributions containing thousands of artifacts which resulted in an excessive number of notifications being generated by the engine. These notifications are now batched, reducing deployments from hours to seconds. |
| 11130 | Queries causing unnecessary full table scans were adding significant load on the database, a situation exacerbated when millions of tasks had been created. The performance of these queries was improved. |
| 11344 | Fixes a problem whereby a business administrator can see a task assigned to a user. Although he/she can select "Assign" to assign the task to himself/herself, the save and complete buttons are disabled unless the page is reloaded, or the user logs out/logs in back. |
| 11498 | Fixes an error invoking a stored procedure that returns summarized data via the ActiveVOS Data Access Service. The error returned was "The executeUpdate method must not return a result set." |
| Enhancement | Logging of contribution deployment progress. The time required to migrate process instances heightened the need to provide progress indication. ActiveVOS 9.0.2 adds contribution deployment progress logging. You should now expect to see the following logging information when deploying new contributions. [INFO][xxx.bpr] Starting BPR archive deployment. [INFO][xxx.bpr] Finishing BPR archive deployment. [INFO]services for plan xxx, version 2 are active |
Resolved Issues - ActiveVOS Central
Resolved Issues with ActiveVOS 9.1.0.2
None
Resolved Issues with ActiveVOS 9.1.0.1
| 11526 | Fixed issue relating to cached identity details, when access to ActiveVOS Central is through a browser with cache enabled. You can now log in and log out in same browser with different user names and passwords and see the tasks and forms relevant for the log-in identity. |
| 11527 | Fixed issue with inaccessible task attachments resulting from an auto-claimed task that contained a Repeat Until construct. |
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