ReportCaster Troubleshooting Tips

Review the installation and configuration instructions in Installing WebFOCUS Client Version 8 and Configuring Web and Application Servers.

• Ensure the web server and application server are running.
• If your repository requires JDBC drivers, ensure they are in your application server CLASSPATH. The path up to and including any file names must be specified. Specifying a directory containing a driver file is not sufficient. Be sure to restart your application server after changing CLASSPATH.

  For Tomcat, you can set CLASSPATH from the Start menu by selecting Tomcat Configuration Utility, under the Information Builders Program Group.

If the Distribution Server fails to start, or starts as a non-Windows service but fails to start as a Windows service, check your Java configuration.

• Confirm that Java executes by checking the version at a command prompt. Open a Command Window and type:

  java -version

  Something similar to the following should appear:

  java version "1.8.0_102"

  If you receive an error, ensure the Java JDK is properly installed.

Review the installation and configuration instructions in Installing WebFOCUS Client and WebFOCUS RepostCaster Post-Installation Tasks.

• Ensure the ReportCaster Distribution Server is running.
• Ensure that the ReportCaster web application knows where the Distribution Server is. Edit the dserver.xml file, which is located in the following directory:

  drive:\ibi\WebFOCUS82\utilities\WFReposUtil\xml

  Locate the <host_name> and <port> elements in the dserver.xml file. For example:

  <host_name>hostname1</host_name>
  <port>8200</port>

  If the values within these elements are incorrect, correct them. Specify the host name and TCP port for the Distribution Server according to your configuration.

  After you save the dserver.xml file, you must reload the repository tables and restart Tomcat or the application server where WebFOCUS is deployed.

• Check the Java configuration, as explained in Troubleshooting Java Errors. If ReportCaster starts as a non-Windows service but does not start as a Windows service, the Java installation is a likely cause.
• Check settings using the ReportCaster Console, which can be accessed from the WebFOCUS BI Portal. After you sign in to the WebFOCUS BI Portal, click Tools from the top menu bar and select ReportCaster Status. The ReportCaster Console opens in a new browser window. Click the Configuration tab, which contains the ReportCaster configuration settings.

Review the installation and configuration instructions in Installing WebFOCUS Client, WebFOCUS Repository Post-Installation Tasks, and Additional WebFOCUS Repository Topics and Tasks.

• Ensure the database server is running.
• Ensure the repository tables exist.
• Ensure that the Distribution Server machine contains the correct information to connect to the database. For more information on these parameters, see Repository Connection Information.
• Ensure the correct JDBC driver is installed on the web server and ReportCaster Distribution Server machines.
• Ensure that your application server or servlet container has the correct CLASSPATH to the JDBC driver. You can also add the driver files to the WEB-INF/lib directory for the ReportCaster web application. To do this, copy the files into:

  drive:\ibi\WebFOCUS82\webapps\webfocus\WEB-INF\lib

  If you deployed the expanded directory, redeploy it. If you deployed the webfocus.war file, use the jar utility to insert the driver files or create a new web application, as explained in Using the jar Utility. Then redeploy the WAR file.

• Ensure the Distribution Server has the correct CLASSPATH to the JDBC driver. This is set in a file:

  drive:\ibi\WebFOCUS82\ReportCaster\bin\classpath.bat

  and in the registry:

  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Information Builders\ReportCaster\WF82\Parameters\Java\Classpath

• For SQL Server, ensure SQL Server authentication is supported, as explained in SQL Server Pre-Installation Steps.

Review the WebFOCUS and ReportCaster documentation and review the documentation for your Mail or FTP server.

• Ensure the WebFOCUS Reporting Server is running.
• Ensure the report, file, or URL is valid.
• Ensure the Mail or FTP server is running.
• Check the settings in the ReportCaster Server Configuration interface.
• Check the files in the logs directory:

  drive:\ibi\WebFOCUS82\ReportCaster\log

Normally, you should turn the Distribution Server traces on and off using the ReportCaster Console, which can be accessed from the WebFOCUS BI Portal. After you sign in to the WF BI Portal, click Tools from the top menu bar and select ReportCaster Status. The ReportCaster Console opens in a new browser window. Click the Configuration tab. The Distribution Server trace and log settings can be accessed in the left pane.

The trace files appear in drive:\ibi\WebFOCUS82\ReportCaster\trc. In addition, check the log files in drive:\ibi\WebFOCUS82\ReportCaster\log for more information.