Configuring URL Parameters (SAP Library

Configuring URL Parameters

Use

Once you have defined the iView’s URL to the targeted Web page, you may need to configure parameters that are passed to the information source as part of the URL. In the URL iView Editor, you can do the following to URL parameters:

· Add, remove, and modify URL parameters

· Determine whether or not portal end user can view and personalize URL parameters at runtime

· Assign intuitive display names to URL parameters that are viewed or personalizable by portal end users

· Specify the URL request method (GET or POST)

Note

If you navigated to the targeted Web page and defined the iView URL using the portal built-in browser, the URL parameters and request method may already been defined in the URL iView Editor.

Procedure

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1. Open the iView in the URL iView Editor.

Note

The editor does not display URL-specific parameters in the URL address within the URL box. URL parameters that were part of the URL referencing the selected Web page (the information source) are automatically removed from the source URL and displayed in the URL parameter list in the editor. At runtime, the portal automatically appends the URL and the listed parameters to the targeted URL request.

2. In the Request Method option, choose either GET or POST to specify the request method. The request method indicates how the browser sends information to the information source:

Request Method

Description

GET

This request method appends parameters to the URL when the data request is sent to the information source. The server receives the data in one long query string, which typically limits the length of parameters that can be passed.

For example, a URL using the GET request method would be: http://www.google.com/search.asp?&querystring=SAP where querystring indicates the parameter identifier and SAP is the parameter value.

POST

This request method sends parameters for the URL in the header of the data request stream; parameters are not appended to the URL. This allows for long parameters to be passed to a script and parsed one element at a time.

For example, a URL using the POST request method would be: http://www.google.com/search.asp.

Note

POST is only supported when the Fetch Method property defined in the iView is set to Server-side. For more information, see URL iView Properties.

Note

For iViews that have a mixture of parameters sent by GET and POST together, you must:

§ Choose POST as the request method.

§ Set the Fetch Mode property to Server-side

§ Append the GET_EXPLICIT_ prefix to the parameter identifier of each parameter that is sent by GET. For example, a parameter defined as searchstring should be defined as GET_EXPLICIT_searchstring. When the iView sends a data request, the prefix is removed from the parameter identifier at runtime. Parameters sent by POST do not require a special prefix.

3. To add a parameter, click Add below the table. A new entry is added to the parameter list.

To remove a parameter, select the checkbox of the relevant parameter in the list and click Remove. Before doing so make sure the parameter is not required by the information source.

4. Define the attributes of existing or new parameters, as follows:

Attribute	Description
URL Parameter	Specifies the parameter identifier as recognized by the information source. For example, in the URL http://www.google.com/search.asp?&querystring=SAP, the parameter identifier is querystring. As stated above, parameters that need to be sent by GET when the request method is defined as POST, must have the GET_EXPLICIT_ prefix. For example: GET_EXPLICIT_searchstring. Enter special characters that are present in the parameter identifier as is. Do not convert them to ASCII code. For example, enter first name, and not first%20name. At runtime, the portal will encode special characters to ASCII when fetching the iView data.
Value	Specifies the value of the parameter. This is not mandatory. If you set the parameter as a variable that can be personalizable by end users (see following attribute), then this value will be the parameter’s default value. However, if you set the parameter as not personalizable, then this value is the fixed value of the parameter. Enter special characters present in the parameter value as is. Do not convert them to ASCII code.
Type	Specifies the data type of the parameter. Choose one of the following options: · String: Apply this option for all data types whose property is not a mapped user name or password; for example, an integer or string. · Mapped User: Apply this option when the URL parameter designates a “user name” that is required to authenticate the user with the information source at runtime. · Mapped Password: Apply this option when the URL parameter designates a “password” that is required to authenticate the user with the information source at runtime. § When Mapped User and Mapped Password are selected, the Value and Personalize attributes cannot be edited. § If you want to enable user mapping for the user name and password parameters, in the System drop down-down list, choose an appropriate system already defined in the portal, which contains the necessary settings. See Selecting a System.
Personalize	Specifies whether or not portal end users can view the parameter and its assigned value if they personalize the iView at runtime. This attribute also allows you to determine whether or not end users can personalize the parameter value. Choose one of the following options: · Hidden: The end user does not see the parameter and its value. This is the default setting. · Read / Write: The end user sees the parameter and is able to modify its value. · Read Only: The end user sees the parameter and the fixed value assigned to it. The end user cannot modify the parameter value.
Name	Specifies an intuitive display name for the parameter identifier. If you set the parameter to be viewable by end users at runtime, this name is displayed instead of the parameter identifier, which is often abbreviated and unintuitive. This attribute is available only if Read / Write or Read Only is selected in the Personalize attribute. If you do not specify a name, the Personalize attribute will be reverted to Hidden.