Disable browser buttons

ckirnbauer

Hello,

sorry for that long post, but I want to summarize my questions.

Is it possible to change to URL localhost/AwareIM to localhost/myproject?
How is the back button handled? Sometimes I get a page not found.
Can I disable the navigation buttons (back, forward) and the url-field in my browser via AwareIM?
Is there the need for a refresh-button, if yes, can I place this button into the application?
Can I print into a new window, so that the current window is still displayed?
Is a wizard-like design supported, e.g. I create a customer, his child-objecst address and account-nr on one form with "Next" buttons and say only ONE time SAVE?
In other words, I don't want to create the child objects in a extra process, but in one big process to minimize navigation steps.

Kind regards,
Christian

aware_support

1. Is it possible to change to URL localhost/AwareIM to localhost/myproject?

Yes, you need to do the following:
1) Rename Tomcat/webapps/AwareIM directory under the Aware IM root installation directory into Tomcat/webapps/myproject
2) Open the file web.xml located in the AwareIM/Tomcat/webapps/myproject/WEB-INF directory, search for AwareIM and replace it with myproject

2. How is the back button handled? Sometimes I get a page not found. Can I disable the navigation buttons (back, forward) and the url-field in my browser via AwareIM?

Usage of Back button in the browser should be strongly discouraged - sometimes it may not work. Users should use Back buttons provided by Aware IM instead. There is no way to disable this button, though.

3. Can I print into a new window, so that the current window is still displayed?

If you use Print functionality in a browser it will not change your current window.

4. Is a wizard-like design supported, e.g. I create a customer, his child-objecst address and account-nr on one form with "Next" buttons and say only ONE time SAVE?

Yes. If you define several form sections for a business objects you can also define navigation style for these sections to be "Wizard-like" rather than the default "random", which produces tabs. Usually, a wizard-like process collects the data for a single object, so if you have a form for this object consisting of a few form sections with "wizard-like" navigation, you just need to provide the ENTER NEW rule for this object in your process.

pbrad

Hi,
With respect to changing from localhost/AwareIM to localhost/myproject, could you please let me know which file needs to be changed so that the configuration tool operation mode points to http://localhost:8080/myproject/logonOp.jsp rather than http://localhost:8080/AwareIM/logonOp.jsp
Thanks,
Pete

aware_support

Pete,

you need to edit the file UIConfig.props located in the BIN directory of your Aware IM installation. Add the following lines:

OperationMode=http://localhost:8080/myproject/logon.jsp
OperationModeOp=http://localhost:8080/myproject/logonOp.jsp

pbrad

Excellent, thanks!

Incidentally, with respect to their other question about hiding the back button, I experienced the same issues with users using it, so I now link to the login page using a simple javascript to open the link in a new window that does not have a toolbar.

In the occasion when I have the login form outside of the AwareIM application I use the following script in the head:

and then my form looks like this:

<form name="submitForm" method="post" action="http://www.mywebsite.com:8080/awareim/logon.do?actionMethod=commit&domain=XXX" target="newWin">
  <span class="HeaderWhiteBold">Username:<br>
</span>  
<input name="username" type="text" size="17">
<span class="HeaderWhiteBold">   Password:</span><span class="style2"><br>
 </span>
<input name="password" type="password" size="17">
<label></label>
<p>  
<INPUT TYPE="button" NAME="button" Value="Submit" onClick="doSubmit()">
</form>

Hopefully, this may be of use to somebody.
Cheers,
Pete

pbrad

Hi,

Sorry to revive this old thread but could I please ask for a little assistance in determining the new url to post to when accessing V4 application?

According to the manual it would appear to start off 'logon.aw?... however I get the error,
The requested resource (/AwareIM/logon.aw) is not available

Thanks,
Pete

aware_support

You cannot post the form to version 4.0 application. You have to do it using Javascript. For an example see logonAdmin.html or logon.html in AwareIM/Tomcat/webapps directory.

These files use EXT to display a form and then use special Javascript to post to the server and start the application. There is no other way of doing it. If you want to modify the login page I suggest that you copy one of these files and then modify it to add your functionality

pbrad

Hi,

That is a drag. I always try to protect users from themselves as much as possible and I always open up their AwareIM application in a chromeless window in order to remove the back buttons, superflous menu items etc...

I can see that I can duplicate the logon.html page and even hard code the links to the ext libraries which would allow me to have the same page on a different server but it still isn't going to give me any control over opening up the AwareIM app in a new chromeless window.

Is there any possibility that a new ext function might be written and added into your main library that would accept new window parameters? Or is there any other option for removing the browser back buttons, etc?

Cheers,
Pete

tazzmaxx

Since the back button is not supposed to be touched by a user can't Aware include something in the application that would allow the configurator the ability to select a "chromeless window" in the bsv that would start the application in a chromeless window. I have altered pages in Aware but then forgot which ones I touched and when I installed a new version lost what I had worked on...

I imagine all that would be required would be 2 separate html pages that the application would start from based on the selection from the configurator for either standard or chromless.

I hope this is something that could be added because it just makes sense.

aware_support

With some Javascript knowledge you can do what you want. This is the idea:

1) Create a form to collect the user credentials. This can be your own form in any existing browser
2) When a button is pressed create a new chromeless window using this javascript:
window.open (....)
3) The window being opened should be based on the logonOp.html except that rather than creating a form the page will use the credentials entered on the opening window. These can be accessed using window.opener inside the chromeless window page.

pbrad

I will give it a try and post the results if successful.

Pete

tazzmaxx

"No programming, no scripts, no HTML, no database, web or user interface knowledge. Forget PHP or ASP! Powerful AJAX-enabled web applications in a fraction of the time."

I was counting on your advertising to be true since I am a complete novice at these things. With all due respect, if users are not supposed to use the back button, why would you expect Aware users to build a solution to remedy this operational issue? If this was adding code to accomodate a business need then there would be no expectation that Aware would offer a solution but since this is core operation...why am I doing this? How do I tell my boss who is going to sign the check for Aware that AwareIM will not stop users from using the back button which in essence will remove them from the application or cause undesired results and confusion. I just think that if you are truly selling to 'Technically Minded Busines People' then you would not expect them to build solutions to operational issues.

pbrad

Hi Tazzmaxx,

Give them a break, it doesn't say 'No effort'. I'm sure that they will address this when they get a chance but in the meantime, he is pointing us in the right direction to come up with a fix right away. I am okay with that.

Pete

tford

Tazz,

Ditto on Pete's comment.

This is clearly not a simple thing or everyone would solve it. Just google on "do not click the back button" or "do not hit the back button" and you will find thousands of listings.

🙂

Tom

tazzmaxx

Hey Pete,

With all due respect, I disagree with your position. It states clearly in their marketing that "No programming, no scripts, no HTML, no database, web or user interface knowledge". Asking me to create an HTML page and add a Java SCRIPT... doesn't just sound like programming it is programming. Like I said before, if it was programming something to resolve a business need then I am ok with it...but since this is core operation (if you don't think that it is core operation then please set me straight) I believe that Aware should come up with the solution.

I believe that there is a lot of effort necessary to create an Aware application and to dedicate time to learning their way of doing things and I am ok with all of that (since I have only been trying this out for a few months) but I don't think that core operational issues should have to be solved by users like myself. You might be a tech wiz and have been using Aware for several years and are comfortable continuously making these types of changes but as a novice IT manager who is trying to offer a solution to his company I am never going to get this to pass our internal quality assurance team if they can click on the back button and have the application stop.

While you might be OK with their solution, I am not because it sounds to me like they have no intention of fixing the problem.

aware_support

tazzmaxx wrote
I was counting on your advertising to be true since I am a complete novice at these things. With all due respect, if users are not supposed to use the back button, why would you expect Aware users to build a solution to remedy this operational issue? If this was adding code to accomodate a business need then there would be no expectation that Aware would offer a solution but since this is core operation...why am I doing this? How do I tell my boss who is going to sign the check for Aware that AwareIM will not stop users from using the back button which in essence will remove them from the application or cause undesired results and confusion. I just think that if you are truly selling to 'Technically Minded Busines People' then you would not expect them to build solutions to operational issues.

We understand your frustration but as Tom points out disabling the Back button is just impossible and it never occurred to us yet in the context of version 4.0 that users would want to start Aware IM as a chromeless window. We will provide an easier solution and in the meantime we recommend a workaround to those who are familiar with JavaScript and HTML (like Pete).

Speaking of knowledge of technologies - I think you have been evaluating Aware IM for some time now and I don't think you ever needed to know any of the above mentioned technologies up to this point. In fact, most users of this forum probably don't know any of these technologies. So our claims are probably not far away from reality.

tazzmaxx

Aware Support,

Thank you for your response. Being in the IT field for over 20 years I have seen different technology come and go. I have also been on the programming side (15 plus years ago) and on the management side and have found that the biggest challenge is making the business communicate their needs to the IT group in an effective and clear manner. As most all of your users are probably aware this never seems to happen and it generally causes budgets to go out of scale and timelines to extend way beyond their appropriate deadlines. I have enjoyed my learning process of using Aware. It has been a great way to display what the application will "look like" to end business users. I can't tell you what a positive and production reaction I have been able to obtain using your product.

That said, I really am adamant that a user like myself shouldn't be required to create temporary patches to address operational issues. It does appear that you are aware of the problem and look to resolve this for your users. This is very important to me as it shows your dedication to your product and your ability to understand the needs of the users who use Aware IM.

Do you have a timeframe on this change? I ask obviously because I wish to purchase the software but need to feel comfortable that this will not be an issue when we move an application to production.

pbrad

Hi,

I have been poking around under the hood a little bit and although I can likely get it to do what you describe it still isn't going to do exactly what I want.

Typically, I provide the login pages on external client sites using ssl. The login info is then posted to the AwareIM app in a chromeless window. The problem with your solution is that the login page needs to be within the Tomcat folder in order to be able to access the external ext.js file.

Would it be an option to have a page within the tomcat folder that receives the external html post like version 3 did in a chromeless window but then passes that info on to the V4 LogonOp.aw page?

Pete

tford

Tazz,

With a little Googling & experimenting, I was able to come up with this. Maybe this can be a short solution until support comes up with a more glamorous one:

1- Create a file in notepad called ChromelessAwareIMLogin.html with the following contents:

Bold words will be your own URL

2- Users would then click click on a shortcut to ChromelessAwareIMLogin.html .

3- Click on the link to get to AwareIM's login menu. Your AwareIM login screen will then be a window without back buttons, etc.

Like you, I am not an HTML guy, but using http://newsourcemedia.com/index_view.php?id=61 and some trial and error, I came up with the above short term solution.

Tom

PS -- I would love to know how to automatically maximize the AwareIM login screen in this example.

pbrad

Hi Tom,

I thought of this approach yesterday but discounted it. The problem is that most users will bookmark the login page. When they access the bookmarked login page it will open up in a regular browser window, not the chromeless window.

Pete