Selecting the Source URL 

Use

This procedure describes how you select the URL of the Web page or application (the information source), which provides content to the URL iView at runtime.

The URL iView Editor and Wizard provide a fully functional built-in browser, which you can use to navigate the Web and select the content to display in the iView.

Currently, the built-in browser does not support Web sites that require you to logon. In such cases, you need to use an external browser window to determine the iView URL and required URL parameters, and then enter them manually using the URL iView Editor. In addition, you will not be able to use the capture tool to select a specific area in a Web page.

The source URL must only reference a page that is HTML-based. These are typically pages with the .html or .htm file extension. You must not reference non-HTML pages directly files. This includes common files, such as Acrobat PDF or Microsoft Office documents and GIF or JPEG images. If you want to create URL iViews based on such file types, you should first embed the non-HTML objects in a Web page and then reference the Web page as the source URL of the iView.

 

Procedure

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       1.      Open the URL iView in the URL iView Editor.

The current URL defined for the iView is displayed in the URL box.

       2.      To modify the URL do any of the following:

¡        Enter a URL address directly in the URL box. Use this option if you already know the URL of the Web page you want to display in the iView.

§         Do not enter parameters or a named anchor directly in the URL box. Add parameters in the parameter list (see Configuring URL Parameters) and an anchor in the Anchor box.

At runtime, the portal compiles the full URL using the URL domain (as defined in the URL box), parameters, and the anchor name.

§         Do not enter special characters, such as the number symbol (#) or question mark (?), in the URL box.

¡        Click Browse/Capture next to the URL box. A new browser window opens, which you can use it to navigate the Web and choose the Web page to be displayed in the iView.

                                                  i.       In the Browse tab, you can browse the Web. In the Capture tab you can specify which area within the selected Web page is displayed in the iView at runtime (see Selecting the Capture Area). You can toggle freely between the Browse and Capture tabs.

§         In the browse mode, hyperlinks and controls within the displayed Web page are active. When you click a link you are taken to the relevant destination.

§         In the capture mode, hyperlinks within the displayed Web page are deactivated. HTML elements are selected and highlighted when you click inside the Web page. In addition, some JavaScript elements are suppressed, and therefore the site may not function correctly.

§         In some cases, the built-in browser of the portal is unable to suppress or take control of certain JavaScript events. For example, clicking a link might open a new browser window instead of opening it in the built-in browser window. In such cases, copy the URL from the new window and paste it into the built-in browser window (in the Browse tab).

§         To close the built-in browser window without applying changes, click Cancel in the Browse or Capture tabs.

                                                ii.       Once you have reached the Web page you want to display in the iView, click OK in the portal’s built-in browser window. You are returned to the URL iView Editor.

The URL address of the targeted Web page is displayed in the URL box. If the targeted Web page includes URL parameters and a named anchor, they will be stripped from the URL displayed in the URL box. The parameters are displayed in the editor in the parameter list and the anchor in the Anchor box.

¡        Perform a combination of the two options mentioned above. For example, enter a base URL of a given site in the URL box and then click Browse/Capture to test and fine-tune the URL in the portal’s built-in browser.

 

EP 5.0 ‘DB’ Tags

URL iViews in SAP Enterprise Portal 6.0 support the following SAP Enterprise Portal 5.0 tags and attributes within the URL address of the iView:

·        <DBHOST PROTOCOL>

·        <DBHOST HOST>

·        <DBHOST PORT>

·        <DBHOST HOST PORT>

·        <DBUSER USERID>

For more information on ‘DB’ tags, see the HRNL Tags section in the SAP EP 5.0 Developer Guide. This guide is part of the latest SAP EP 5.0 documentation set currently available at help.sap.com/ep.

Examples of URLs using these tags:

§         <DBHOST PROTOCOL><DBHOST HOST>:<DBHOST PORT>/www.post.asp

§         <DBHOST PROTOCOL><DBHOST HOST PORT>/www.post.asp

If needed, these tags can also be assigned as values to URL parameters in the parameters list.

Note that if your iView is based on a source that returns SAP-proprietary Busdoc XML, you need to create an XML iView (see Creating XML iViews) and apply the standard Busdoc-to-XHTML transformer shipped with the portal (see Busdoc XML-to-XHTMLB Transformer).