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User: Developer

Prerequisites

- not applicable

Introduction

Introduction of a number of troubleshoot tools that can be used to troubleshoot when errors occur.

 

Description

At the About Futurama page the structure of Futurama is explained. Basically depending on the application you want to make with Futurama several Futurama installations are applicable:

For all these installations some configuration has to be done in the applicable configuration files. It is possible that during the installation errors occur. Futurama offers detailed log information that can be used to solve the problem. In this page some troubleshoot tools are introduced that can be used to test and to troubleshoot. 

Logging

First of all it is important to enable logging. Basically there are two types of logging:

  • Futurama specific logging
  • Webservice logging

Futurama specific logging

It is possible to log errors, warnings, information messages and developers messages with Futurama. In the chapter 'Configuration Log' you can find information how to configure the configuration file to log this information. Make sure you enable this logging to solve errors.

Webservice logging

In addition to the Futurama specific logging it is possible to log every message that is sent to a webservice or is received from a webservice. For some Futurama applications webservice calls and responses are used, so this type of logging can be useful to solve webservice related issues. See the paragraph 'Logging webservice messages' how to enable webservice logging.

Troubleshoot tools

There are a number of troublehoot tools that can be used to test and to troubleshoot. Below a couple of these tools are introduced:

  • Notepad ++
  • SOAP UI
  • SvcTraceViewer

Notepad ++

The Futurama specific logfiles are typically saved in XML-format. To read these XML-files it is recommended to use an XML-editor. An example of such an editor is Notepad ++. This editor offers a number of plugins that can be downloaded and used within the editor. It is recommended to download the XML tools plugin. With this plugin for example the syntax of XML can be checked, and the XML can be pretty printed. This last option makes it easier to interpret XML-files with lots of information. Error logfiles can contain much information, so this option makes it easier to troubleshoot in this files. 

SOAP UI

For some Futurama applications webservice calls and responses are applicable. To test these calls and responses a package dedicated to send and receive messages to a webservice is needed. An example of such a package is SOAP UI. Within SOAP UI it is possible to test a webservice with certain input:

  1. open SOAP UI
  2. right mouseclick on Projects and select New SOAP Project
  3. choose a name for the project
  4. define the Initial WSDL. This WSDL is typically of the form http://servername/applicationname/service.svc?wsdl

Now the webservice can be tested by defining a test request and executing the webservice. If errors occur makes sure that the webservice logging in your application is enabled. These logging files can be used to troubleshoot (see the next paragraph).

SOAP UI for example can be used to test the connection between Futurama and Futurama Vision. See this page for the way webservices are used to connect between Futurama and Futurama Vision. The initial WSDL for Futurama Vision is of the form http://servername/applicationname/services/VisionService.svc?wsdl, where applicationname is the name of the Futurama Vision Management Site installation.

SvcTraceViewer

To interpret the logging files of webservice calls and responses the SvcTraceViewer can be used:

  1. Install this SvcTraceViewer
  2. Open the SvcTraceViewer
  3. Click File - open and browse to the folder where the svclog files are located (location is configured in your application configuration file)
  4. In the Description window the warnings/errors are displayed. Click on one of these warnings/errors
  5. In the Formatted window information about the webservice call or response is given. Consult the XML tab for the XML of the request or response 

An error which frequently occurs is when a webservice message extends the maximum configured allowed size (see next paragraph for more information). In that situation information regarding this error will be given in the svclog files. In the SvcTraceViewer a message of the form 'The maximum message size quota for incoming messages (xxx) has been exceeded. To increase the quota, use the MaxReceivedMessageSize property on the appropriate binding element.' is given (where xxx is the configured allowed size).

Maximum received message size

In .NET 4 for webservice messages a default maximum message size of 64KB is used. If this default size is used and within a Futurama application a webservice call or response is done extending this maximum size (for example a webservice call where the response returns a PDF document) an error will occur. Using webservice logging information about this error will be shown. In general this issue can be solved by increasing the maxReceivedMessageSize of the binding that is used. See below for an example:

<system.serviceModel>        
    <services>
        <service name="ActuIT.Futurama.WcfService.Service">
            <!-- Service Endpoints -->
            <endpoint address="" binding="basicHttpBinding" bindingConfiguration="basicHttp" contract="ActuIT.Futurama.WcfService.IService">
            </endpoint>
        </service>
    </services>
    <bindings>
        <basicHttpbinding>
            <binding name="basicHttp" maxReceivedMessageSize="1048576">
            </binding>
        </basicHttpbinding>
    </bindings>
</system.serviceModel>

In this example the maximum received message size is increased to 1048576 bytes (i.e. 1 MB). If the message is even larger make sure to further increase this maxReceivedMessageSize.

Related Topics

- Configuration-Log: Description how to enable Futurama and webservice logging

External Links

SOAP UI: Package to test webservice requests and responses

- Notepad ++: Example of an XML-editor

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Updated: 2014-08-06