stSoftware blog
stServer suggested Java arguments
27 Aug 2015
Below are the standard JVM server parameters. G1 Garbage Collector -XX:+UseG1GC Turn on the G1 garbage collector. -XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=250 Target a maximum pause time of no more than 250 milliseconds. Young Generation -XX:PermSize=256m The size of the permanent size. -XX:MaxPermSize=256m Set the max and start size of the permanent memory segment. DO NOT over tune the G1GC by setting -XX:NewSize=512m -XX:MaxNewSize=512m -XX:SurvivorRatio=2 Logging Options -verbose:gc Verbosely log the garbage collection...
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HTTPS versus HTTP, the debate is over.
19 Mar 2015
SSL is secure socket layer ie. HTTPS:// instead of HTTP:// Every web page that is sent via HTTP:// is in plan text and can easily be intercepted or even changed via what is know as "man in the middle" or "man on the side" attacks. Mobile network provides often "improve" HTTP web pages by injecting their own scripts & images, often these unwanted "improvements" break the page being served. HTTPS prevents the carriers from being able to inject their own content. Even when you only access the system...
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How to test Access Control Limits (ACLs)?
19 Mar 2015
Overview Access Control Limits (ACLs) are the expression of the systems information security policies, they can be complex in their nature and vital to not only be correct but also to be seen as correct. The ACLs sanity checks allow for this business level visibility to the information security policies. All sanity checks in the base product are run as part of the system build process which does not proceed if there are any failures. The sanity checks allow for dummy data to be generated ( but not...
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Upgraded the default site SSL to get an A+ grade
8 Mar 2015
Overview The default SSL handler for the hosted sites has been upgraded to include "perfect forward secrecy" and we have dropped support for the weaker SSL ciphers. The drop of the weaker SSL ciphers means old browsers such as Windows XP IE7 will no longer be able to connect via HTTPS. IE7 will still be able to connect to the non-encrypted HTTP sites or alternatively Windows XP users can use more modern browsers Chrome or Firefox. HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) has been enabled by default...
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JDK7 end of life April 2015
30 Dec 2014
Summary Oracle public support for JDK7 will end as of April 2015. Oracle will automatically upgrade JRE7 to JRE8 as of January 2015. As of January 2015 the supported version of Java will be JDK8, all clients will be upgraded within the next quarterly release cycle. Breaking Changes There are a number of breaking changes as part of the JDK8 upgrade. Client ODBC support as been removed. Client programs must be ported to use SOAP or ReST instead. Rhino JavaScript engine has been replaced by Nashorn...
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How to use the "Web Folders" from Mac OS
9 Sep 2014
You can use cloud file manager as a web folder (webDAV) on Mac by "Map network drive" lunching Finder and choosing the menu item "connect to server" from the "Go" menu. Choose "Connect to a server" Then enter the URL of your Job Track server https://hostname/dav You'll then be asked for your user name and password:- Now the files will be listed as if they were local to the Mac:-
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How to define a RESTful Web Services?
4 Sep 2014
Overview Representational State Transfer (ReST) has gained widespread acceptance across the Web as a simpler alternative to SOAP- and Web Services Description Language (WSDL)-based Web services. The resources are acted upon by using a set of simple, well-defined operations. The REST architectural style constrains an architecture to a client/server architecture and is designed to use a stateless communication protocol, using HTTP/HTTPS. The system allows a series of RESTful services to be defined...
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What are the major changes over the since JobTrack 4 ( Nov 2012)
9 Jul 2014
The changes to the system have been broad over the 18 months development period. Moved to JDK7 after end of life period of JDK6 Content Management System ReST Excel ReST services Cloud File Manager Web Folders Shallow Copy of files ( duplicate files in different folders shares the same raw file) New responsive control panel E-Commerce PayPal integration Enhanced login page and session management HTML5 validation of every generated screen iPhone & iPad support on standard screens Numerous performance...
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Java Code generator enhancements for JDK7
11 Jun 2014
Overview How that JDK6 support has been dropped after Java 1.6 reached EOL in February 2013. The new COIN Java 7 language features have been added to the code generator. See an example of the generated Java code for SiteScriptModule here Annotations @CheckReturnValue added to all "get" & "is" generated methods @NotNull added to all generated return values known not to return a null value or when the parameter must not be null. Diamond Operator The diamond Operator is used to reduced the verbosity...
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How is document searching performed?
21 Apr 2014
Overview All documents that are added to the document explorer are automatically indexed by Apache Lucene. Once a document is indexed the normal advanced text searching can be done. Supported file formats MS-Word, MS-Excel, MS-Visio, and MS-PowerPoint using Apache POI. OpenOffice XML file formats HTML files PDF files Text files. Zip/Tar files containing Text files. XML files RTF files Sample Search
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Image searching feature
20 Apr 2014
stSoftware uses the Lucene API to provide the document indexing for searching. The functionality of the Lucene core API is extended with the Lucene Image Retrieval (LIRE) API. When an image file is uploaded/changed in the cloud file manager automatic LIRE indexing on the image is performed and stored as a searchable attribute of the image file. The system allows for searches of images with exact or similar image content based on the LIRE index. All documents (including images) have a SHA1 checksum...
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Does stSoftware support Structured data searching?
19 Apr 2014
Overview Any field in the system can be marked as "searchable" which will then allow the system to search on these fields in a high performance manner as they will be automatically indexed. Any field can be searched on but without an index so slower. Model Field Definition Standard search screen Automatically generated screen based on the data model and the fields marked as "searchable".
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stSoftware server is a Mature multi-tenancy Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) framework.
19 Apr 2014
Overview stSoftware server is a multi-tenancy software-as-a-service (SaaS) framework. The stSoftware system was awarded Australia's first innovation patent and won the National e-Business Award in 2002. The system is based on Industry standard open source frameworks and libraries. Scalable The system is capable of handling growing amounts of work in a near linear fashion by adding additional servers to the cluster. Huge storage capability The system stores encrypted files across many file servers...
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How to view current active sessions for a user?
8 Apr 2014
Overview By clicking on the "Welcome user name" you will be shown your user set up, with the list of current sessions. If you see an IP address that is unfamiliar to you, we suggest you change your password immediately to secure your account against unauthorized access. Your current IP address is displayed below the table. In most cases, we guess the location by matching your IP address to a broad geographical location. The location and IP mappings might not always be accurate, especially in cases...
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What details of a user sessions are available?
8 Apr 2014
Overview Normal users are restricted to view only their own session details. Administrators may see the session details for all users. Active sessions can be forcibly logged out from the session details screen. The list of active sessions for a user can be viewed from the "My Setup" screen. Session Screen Button "Close" closes the screen Button "Print" prints the session details Button "Logout" will forcibly logout the active user session. Session details ID - The internal session identifier. Login...
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You have such big ideas but so few characters...
25 Mar 2014
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How to configure the ideal stSoftware server cluster?
21 Mar 2014
Overview Best practice network design for a highly scalable, distributed web system has:- No single point of failure. Fault tolerant Servers are locked down Defence in depth Load balancing Lowest possible permissions/access for each component Health monitoring for each component Network Layout Design ( source diagram) DNS setup The DNS for yoursite will have two (or more) IP addresses, one for each web server. This is known as a DNS round robin We also define a direct access host name per server...
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