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Release Notes

Release Notes

BEA Liquid Data for WebLogicTM Release: 1.1

Date: April 2003

About This BEA Liquid Data for WebLogic Release

Welcome to BEA Liquid Data for WebLogic Version 1.1. Liquid Data is real-time data integration technology built on the BEA WebLogic Server. For the most up-to-date documentation on WebLogic Server, including the WebLogic Server Release Notes, see http://www.oracle.com/technology/documentation/index.html.

Liquid Data provides on-demand access to, and aggregation of, information in relational databases, XML files, Web services, and packaged and custom applications with Application Views. It also provides the facility for pluggable custom functions through which you can access any other type of resource. Liquid Data features an easy-to-use Data View Builder for drag-and-drop design and testing of queries using XML schema representations of the data in various types of data sources. The Data Views, generated as query results, can also be used as Liquid Data sources.

These release notes include the following topics:

- What's New in Release 1.1?

- Features Released in 1.0.1

- General Notes

- Miscellaneous Issues

- Known Limitations

- Liquid Data 1.1 for WebLogic Platform 7.0 SP01 on SuSE Linux for ZSeries Mainframe

- Where to Find Liquid Data Product Documentation

What's New in Release 1.1?

Liquid data 1.1 introduces a number of New Features. In addition, Liquid Data has been upgraded to support WebLogic Platform version 7.0 SP2.

Revised System Requirements

Release 1.1 requires that WebLogic Platform version 7.0 SP2 be installed. The previous version of Liquid Data required SP1. Other than the required upgrade the current WebLogic Platform, installation prerequisites for Liquid Data remain unchanged. For details, see Installation Prerequisites in Installing Liquid Data.

New Features

The following table briefly describes new features added in Liquid Data 1.1. For detailed descriptions of the features, follow the links provided.

Table 1 New Features in Liquid Data 1.1

Feature | Description | Documentation Link
--- | --- | ---
Stored procedures. | You can now access stored procedures defined in relational databases without requiring the use of database adapters. | Defining Stored Procedures in Building Queries and Data Views
Complex parameter types. | You can now define user-defined complex parameter types which take an XML data stream as an input. | Using Complex Parameter Types in Queries in Building Queries and Data Views
Parameterized views. | You can now add simple or complex input parameters to data views. | Using Data Views as Data Sources in Building Queries and Data Views
Multiple levels of data views over data views is fully supported. | You can now create as many levels of data views as you need. (Previously only one layer of abstraction was possible.) | Using Data Views as Data Sources in Building Queries and Data Views
Enhanced namespace support in the Liquid Data server. | Liquid Data now supports XML Namespace declarations in queries and schema. | Understanding XML Namespaces in Building Queries and Data Views
Security with the JSP tag library. | There are now username and password attributes for the query JSP tag library, allowing you to specify a WebLogic username and password to use for your query. | Invoking Queries in JSP Clients in Invoking Liquid Data Queries Programmatically
Ability to edit the target schema in the Data View Builder. | There is now enhanced support of editing target schemas in the Data View Builder. For example, you can specify the data type and namespace of attributes and elements. | Building Queries and Data Views
Internationalization support. | Liquid Data supports multi-byte data from the underlying data sources. | Internationalization Support in Installation and Migration
Domain Configuration Wizard enhancements. | You can now configure domains with Liquid Data and other BEA products directly through the WebLogic Domain Configuration Wizard. | Deployment Tasks in Deploying Liquid Data
Informix database support. | Liquid Data now supports access to Informix databases. | Supported Databases and Drivers in the WebLogic Platform documentation.

Features Released in 1.0.1

Release 1.0.1 of Liquid Data featured enhanced platform support.

The following information was added to the product documentation for Release 1.0.1:

- Enhanced platform support for HP UX, IBM AIX, and SuSE Linux for IBM is described in Supported Platforms and Databases in Installing Liquid Data.

- Information about which versions of XML schema are supported is provided in Supported XML Schema Versions in Liquid Data in Building Queries and Data Views.

General Notes

If you do not have a Java 1.3 executable in your PATH, you must add it before running the Liquid Data installer. You should find the Java executable from the WebLogic Platform 7.0 SP2 distribution in the following directory:

>     BEA_HOME/jdk131_06/bin

Update your PATH environment variable so the Java 1.3 executable preceeds any Java 1.4 executables. The updated PATH should be similar to the following:

>     PATH=BEA_HOME/jdk131_06/bin;$PATH

Miscellaneous Issues

1. For more information on how to remove Liquid Data from a domain, see "Uninstalling Liquid Data" in Post-Installation Tasks in Installing Liquid Data.

2. If the PointBase server is already started when you start the Liquid Data Sample server, you may get the following error message:

   >     The process cannot access the file because it is already being used by another process

   You can disregard this message. The server will start and run normally, regardless.

3. Do not use Ctl-C command to shut down the Liquid Data server. Doing so could corrupt the Liquid Data configuration files in the server domains (config.xml).

   Instead, make sure that you always shut down the server through the WebLogic Server Administration Console. For example, the WLS Administration Console using the default port is at the following URL for a local server:

   >     http://localhost:7001/console

   Instructions on how to shut down the Liquid Data server from the Administration Console are provided in Starting and Stopping the Server in the Liquid Data Administration Guide.

   For complete information on how to recover a corrupted configuration file, see "Backing Up Configuration Data" in the topic Recovering Failed Servers in the WebLogic Server system administration documentation.

Known Limitations

This section describes limitations in the current BEA Liquid Data 1.1 release and includes possible workarounds, where applicable.

The table below lists a CR (Change Request) number for each problem. Refer to this number to track the solution as the problems are resolved.

Please contact BEA customer support at http://support.bea.com for assistance in tracking any unresolved problems.

CR078812 | XML and CPT data sources in Liquid Data are not type-aware. Data in XML files is processed as "string" type, regardless of the type information in the associated schema.
Problem | In the current release, XML and complex parameter type (CPT) data sources in Liquid Data are not type-aware. Liquid Data processes the data in XML files as "string" type, regardless of the data types defined for elements and attributes in the associated schema. The type information in the schema is ignored by the XML data source.
Platform | All
Workaround | You can use automatic type casting in the Data View Builder to ensure that the appropriate data type is used. With automatic type casting set to on, depending on the target schema, type casting is done to convert from string to the appropriate type in the target schema. (For more information, see Using Automatic Type Casting and Type Casting Reference in Building Queries and Data Views.) For hand-coded queries, it is the responsibility of the developer to do the appropriate type casting.
CR078921 | In the Test pane of Data View Builder, stopping a query with Stop Query Execution button may cause a query result to hang.
Problem | In rare cases, clicking the "Stop Query Execution" button while a query is running will cause the query result that would otherwise run successfully to hang. The result will not be returned and the Data View Builder will need to be restarted.
Platforms | All
Workaround | If you encounter this behavior, restart the Data View Builder, open the project and re-run the query. We suggest that you do not stop query execution on subsequent tries for the particular queries for which you encounter this problem.
CR081983 | Use of xfext:time-from-dateTime function in a query result shows a time that is one hour behind the actual time.
Problem | When you use the xfext:time-from-dateTime function in XQuery for a query, the XML query result will show a time that is one hour behind the intended time.
Platform | All
Workaround | This is a known Java Virtual Machine (JVM) bug from Sun Microsystems, Inc. (logged as ID: 4414844). As a workaround, add one hour to the time of day value when you build the query.
CR082881 | The floor, ceiling, and round functions have problems handling large numbers.
Problem | The xf:floor, xf:ceil, and xf:round functions do not handle large numbers correctly.
Platform | All
Workaround | For large numbers (larger than 2147483647 and smaller than -2147483647), do not use xf:floor or xf:ceil. Use the function xf:substring(<large_number>,".") for floor and Use the function xf:substring(<large_number>+1,".") for xf:ceil.
CR085437 | Liquid Data requires Compatibility Security. Liquid Data may not work with WebLogic Server (WLS) 7.0 security.
Problem | Liquid Data requires Compatibility Security. Liquid Data may not work with WebLogic Server (WLS) 7.0 security.
Platform | All
Workaround | Use Compatibility Security as described in the documentation.
CR087058 | The Liquid Data installer overrides the beahomelist file.
Problem | If you are using a NIS/NFS based file system and have Liquid Data installed on multiple systems, each time you run the installer it will rewrite the beahomelist file. The existing BEA homes from the previous install will not be listed in the new beahomelist. (The most recent installation will have its BEA home in the list and it will be the only one listed.)
Platform | All platforms when using NIS/NFS-based file system with Liquid Data installed on multiple systems.
Workaround | Edit the beahomelist file to include the appropriate BEA homes.
CR087410, CR087443 | Removing a generated Web Service from the Liquid Data web_services_gen directory does not automatically remove it from the WebLogic Server (WLS) Web Services table as expected.
Problem | When a generated Web Service is removed from the Liquid Data repository web_services_gen directory, it is undeployed and removed from the directory. At this point, Liquid Data console management should also automatically remove the Web Service from the Web services table in the WLS Administration Console. But the Web Service is not automatically removed—it still shows up in the WLS Web Services table even after removal from the web_services_gen directory.
Platform | All
Workaround | Follow these steps to remove a generated Web Service for a stored query in Liquid Data: 1. Use Administration Console to browse the web_services_gen directory in the Liquid Data server repository. (Click the Liquid Data node in the Administration Console, then click the Repository tab.) 2. Click the trash can icon (Delete) next to the EAR file for the generated Web Service that you intend to remove and confirm. 3. On the left pane of the Administration Console, click the Web Service Components folder to display the table of WLS Web service components. 4. In the table, click the trash can icon (Delete) next to the EAR file for the generated Web service that you removed earlier from Liquid Data and confirm.
CR088338 | InstallAnywhere fails with JDK 1.4 and above
Problem | The Liquid Data installer requires that JAVA_HOME/bin is in the PATH in order to work properly. Unfortunately, JDK 1.4 versions and higher do not function properly with InstallAnywhere; these versions of Java cause the installer to crash.
Platform | All
Workaround | Use the JDK version (1.3.1) that ships with WebLogic Platform 7.0—make sure JDK 1.3.1 is in your PATH before Java 1.4, as described in the Installation Guide.
CR090531 | Installer hangs if JAVA_HOME/bin is not in your path.
Problem | The Liquid Data installer hangs if you do not have $JAVA_HOME/bin in your search path.
Platform | All
Workaround | Make sure $JAVA_HOME/bin is in your PATH environment variable. Also, Java 1.3 must be before Java 1.4 in your PATH. For details, see General Notes.
CR091944 | The Monitor tab in the Liquid Data Administration Console does not appear in a clustered configuration.
Problem | When LD is deployed in a cluster, the statistical data in the Liquid Data > Monitor tab disappears from Liquid Data console.
Platform | All
Workaround | None available.
CR093157 | Oracle TIMESTAMP data type not supported.
Problem | Liquid Data treats the Oracle TIMESTAMP data type as a string.
Platform | All
Workaround | None available.
CR096240 CR096242 CR096331 | Unsupported JDBC type found when running an existing query on Oracle RDBMS.
Problem | When using the Oracle 9.2 JDBC driver with Oracle 8.1.7, some queries might fail with unsupported JDBC data type errors.
Platform | All
Workaround | If you are using Oracle 8.1.7, use the Oracle 8.1.7 JDBC driver; if you are using Oracle 9i, use the Oracle 9.2 JDBC driver. For details on changing the JDBC driver, see http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E13222_01/wls/docs70/jdbc/thirdparty.html#1043614
CR096974 | Changes to Liquid Data configuration may adversely affect the ability of WebLogic Server to restart after a server failure.
Problem | The following condition can occur: While the Platform server is running, a change is made in Liquid Data configuration. The change may contain an error of some type. The Platform server fails. A reboot of the server cannot be fully effected due to an error in the Liquid Data configuration.
Platforms | All
Workaround | The Liquid Data environment should be frequently exported. This is especially true when configuration changes are made such as adding, removing, or updating a data source. Using a recently exported configuration, the workaround for the problem described above is to: For each domain, remove the entire contents of the LDdomain/userConfig directory, including any sub-directories. Set the location of the domain LDrepository directory. For details see the Server Repository Location discussion in the Liquid Data Administration Guide. Import Liquid Data configuration information. See Importing and Exporting Liquid Data Configurations in the Liquid Data Administration Guide.
CR097511 | Data View is not recognized by Liquid Data due to names starting with a numeric character.
Problem | Data Views created in Liquid Data 1.0 that have element or attribute names starting with a numeric character must be updated to have names that start with a non-numeric character in order to work with Liquid Data 1.1.
Platform | All
Workaround | For Data Views created in Liquid Data 1.0 that have element or attribute names starting with a numeric character, you must rename any elements or attribute names that start with a numeric character to start with a non-numeric character.
CR097979 | DVB cannot 'Set Target Schema' under JDK1.4
Problem | On client only installations, the Data View Builder does not work properly if Java 1.4 is in your path before Java 1.3. It is designed to run under Java 1.3. This problem does not occur on a machine which has both the Data View Builder and WebLogic server.
Platform | All
Workaround | Make sure Java 1.3 is in your path before Java 1.4. For details, see General Notes.
CR098830 | Using Netscape 7, you get an exception accessing the Liquid Data data sources or Relational Databases tabs in the Liquid Data console.
Problem | When you access the Data Sources or Relational Databases tab in the Liquid Data console using Netscape 7, an exception is sometimes thrown in the WebLogic console.
Platform | All
Workaround | This exception in the WebLogic console does not cause any problems, so you can safely ignore it.
CR099042 | In IBM DB2, when returning a result set from a stored procedure, connections are not being released.
Problem | When using the IBM DB2 Type 3 JDBC driver to access stored procedures, connections are not always released, which can cause subsequent queries to fail. This is a problem in the DB2 Type 3 JDBC driver.
Platform | All
Workaround | Use the IBM DB2 Type 2 JDBC driver; the Type 2 driver does not have this problem, and releases the connections as expected.
CR099523 | Undeploying/Deploying the LDS.ear file sometimes requires the user to log back into WLS to gain access to the Liquid Data Administration Console.
Problem | If you undeploy the LDS.ear application from the WebLogic console, when you redeploy the application, you might need to log back into the console in a new session in order to see the Liquid Data Administration Console node in the WebLogic console.
Platform | All
Workaround | Start a new console session by exiting your browser and logging into the Liquid Data Administration Console again.
CR099803 | Generating a Web Service without setting the MaxPermSize MEM_ARGS flag on the WebLogic startup script causes the Java process to hang.
Problem | In order to generate a Web Service from a stored query, you must first set the MaxPermSize MEM_ARGS flag in the WebLogic startup script for the server in which Liquid Data runs. If you do not set this parameter, the Java process will hang and then exit when you try and generate a Web Service from a stored query.
Platform | All
> Workaround | If you plan on generating Web Services from stored queries, edit the startup script for the Web Logic server in which Liquid Data runs and add MaxPermSize to the MEM_ARGS flag. For example, in the sample configuration on Windows, perform the following: Edit the following file in a text editor:
>     bea_home/liquiddata/samples/config/ld_samples/startWebLogic.cmd
1. > Find the line that starts with the following text:
   >     set MEM_ARGS
2. > Add the MaxPermSize argument tp the MEM_ARG flag. For example, change the line in the startup script to look as follows:
   >     set MEM_ARGS=-Xmx1024m -XX:MaxPermSize=128M
The values you enter for the arguments will be different based on the memory available on your machine and your production requirements. Restart WebLogic Server.
CR100052 | Cannot project an element that is not mapped in the underlying view.
Problem | When you create a data view in Liquid Data, you must map all elements and/or attributes to the target schema. That is, every element in the target schema must have a valid mapping. If you do not map all of the elements and attributes, queries against the resulting view might fail.
Platform | All
Workaround | Map all elements and attributes to the target schema (even if they are optional) when creating data views.
CR100072 | Cannot Use Console Mode to Install Liquid Data on Solaris on a Japanese system.
Problem | On Solaris machines with the locale set to Japanese, the console mode Liquid Data installation fails. The installation completes successfully if you run it in a window where the locale is set to English.
Platform | All
Workaround | On a Japanese Solaris machine, set the locale to English in the shell in which you run the console installation. After installation, you can run Liquid Data in a Japanese Locale.
CR100708 | Liquid Data console hangs if you are using the Sun 1.4.1_01 Java plugin in your browser.
Problem | If you are using the Sun 1.4.1_01 Java plugin in your Internet Explorer or Netscape browser, accessing the Liquid Data console will hang your browser and might hang the machine in which the browser runs.
Platform | All
Workaround | Do not use the Sun 1.4.1_01 JVM; upgrade to the Sun 1.4.1_02 or later JVM from java.sun.com.
CR101077 | When you open a stored query with a complex parameter type in the Data View Builder, you get an unknown/unsupported query parameter type exception.
> Problem | If you open a stored query which accesses a complex parameter type in the Data View Builder, you get an exception that says:
>     Unknown/unsupported query parameter type: crm. Reverting to xs:anySimpleType.
Platform | All
Workaround | If you have a project file associated with this query, open the project file.
CR101650 | If NVARCHAR2 Oracle Column is passed to Function eq() and "Query Parameter", SQLException will occur.
Problem | Using Oracle 8.1.7 with the 8.1.7 JDBC driver, if you pass an NVARCHAR2 column with a Query Parameter argument to the xf:eq function, a SQLException occurs.
Platform | All
Workaround | If you encounter this problem, use one of the Oracle 9i JDBC drivers.
CR101921 | Cannot process xs:short, xs:byte stored procedure input parameter.
Problem | When mapping numeric constants to the stored procedure inputs that contain input parameters of type xs:byte and xs:short, you must explicitly cast the constant to the type xs:short or xs:byte, respectively, or an error will occur.
Platform | All
Workaround | When you map any constants to input parameters of type xs:byte and xs:short in stored procedure queries, you must first explicitly cast the constants to xs:byte and xs:short, respectively.
CR102004 | Informix stored procedure hangs with no result coming back.
Problem | Due to a problem in the Informix JDBC driver, when executing a stored procedure against an Informix data source, the query can hang without returning any results.
Platform | All
Workaround | When using stored procedures with Informix data sources, set the Prepared Statement Cache Size to 0 in the JDBC Connection Pool used in the data source. The Informix JDBC driver does not behave properly when using stored procedures with a cache size greater than zero. This will not impact the performance of the stored procedure because Stored Procedure statements are not cached. BEA recommends creating two different JDBC connection pools for Informix data sources, one for stored procedures and another for Table access. Set the Prepared Statement Cache Size property to a non-zero value for the Table access JDBC pool and set it to zero for the Stored Procedure access JDBC pool.
CR102072 | Cannot select NCHAR Column with oracle9iR2.
Problem | You cannot select NCHAR columns with Oracle9iR2. The following error message occurs when trying to select an NCHAR column: "Error: Unable to parse the result." The release notes from the Oracle Patch Set 92021 has the following description of this problem: Bug 2285052 Fixed: 9202 JDBC Nulls are being padded instead of blanks when selecting a NCHAR column when using thin JDBC with some database character sets.
Platform | All
Workaround | If you are using Oracle 9i with NCHAR columns, install the Oracle patch 92021.
CR102229 | Extraneous errors in JDBC log file.
Problem | When you turn JDBC logging on, some extraneous error messages appear in the JDBC log file when Liquid Data starts up.
Platform | All
Workaround | Ignore the extraneous JDBC log file messages that occur when Liquid Data starts up. These are debugging messages and do not indicate any problems.
CR102469 | Cannot use Japanese repository directory name.
Problem | If you try to enter a name for the Liquid Data repository that contains Japanese characters (from the Administration Console —> Liquid Data —> Configuration tab —> General tab —> Repository Directory), a configuration error occurs.
Platform | All
Workaround | Do not use Japanese character in your repository directory name.
CR102652 | Liquid Data does not handle the target schema namespace defined in the WSDL schema properly, resulting in overloading problems.
Problem | When using multiple web services as data sources, it is possible to have namespace collisions where Liquid Data cannot differentiate between the two web services.
Platform | All
Workaround | When designing WebLogic Workshop web services, you may need to alter the targetNamespace for a web service if a method name in this web service clashes with a method name in another web service that uses the same targetNamespace.
CR102869 | Query runtime problems with WebLogic Workshop 7.0-generated Web Services that return SOAP arrays.
Problem | If you are using a Web Service created in WebLogic Workshop 7.0 that returns a SOAP array, queries that use that Web Service will return empty elements instead of the SOAP array.
Platform | All
> Workaround | The WSDL generated by WebLogic Workshop 7.0 does not match the actual SOAP responses from the Web Service. To work around the problem, perform the following steps to modify the generated WSDL: Save the Workshop 7.0 Web Service WSDL to a file (for example, AAA.wsdl) in the ld_repository/web_services directory. Edit the saved WSDL file and find the SOAP array definition. The SOAP array definition is a complex type with the name prefix ArrayOf and has the restriction base="soapenc:Array" attribute. For example:
>     <s:complexType name="ArrayOfString">
>         <s:complexContent mixed="false">
>             <s:restriction base="soapenc:Array">
>                 <s:sequence>
>                     <s:element minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"
>                               nullable="true" name="String" type="s:string"/>
>                 </s:sequence>
>             </s:restriction>
>         </s:complexContent>
>     </s:complexType>
Replace the name="String" (or name="AAA") with name="item". Save the WSDL file. Use the saved WSDL file to create a Web Service data source (instead of using the URL of the original WSDL).
CR103325 | On Liquid Data domains created with the Domain Configuration Wizard, the webapp.template file for the domain is the wrong version.
Problem | If you created a Liquid Data domain with the Domain Configuration Wizard, generating a Web Service from a stored query that has a query parameter fails.
Platform | All
> Workaround | If you use the Domain Configuration Wizard to create a domain, copy the webapp.template file from the LD_HOME/server/lib directory to the top level of the domain directory. For example, if Liquid Data is installed in /home/bea/weblogic700/liquiddata and your Liquid Data domain is installed to /home/bea/user_projects/myLDdomain, then copy the following file:
>     /home/bea/weblogic700/liquiddata/server/lib/webapp.template
> to:
>     /home/bea/user_projects/myLDdomain/webapp.template

Liquid Data 1.1 for WebLogic Platform 7.0 SP01 on SuSE Linux for ZSeries Mainframe

Liquid Data 1.1 is supported on SuSE Linux for ZSeries mainframe platform. This configuration is only supported under WebLogic Platform 7.0 SP01. WebLogic Platform 7.0 SP02 is not certified on SuSE Linux for ZSeries mainframe.

When deploying Liquid Data in a WebLogic 7.0 SP01 domain on SuSE Linux systems, you must apply the two WebLogic Patches listed below. These two patches are included in the Liquid Data 1.1 for WebLogic 7.0 SP01 distribution.

The two patches are:

- CR103182_70sp1.jar

Without this patch, the Liquid Data Administration console throws the following error:

>     cannot resolve symbol probably occurred due to an error in /ld_dialog.jsp

- CR084935_70sp1_3.jar

Without this patch, Liquid Data generated Web services throw the following exception message:

>     java.lang.Error: NYI

Add these two jars to the beginning of your java CLASSPATH in the list of jars in the startWeblogic script.

Where to Find Liquid Data Product Documentation

Documentation for this product is available on an Online Documentation CD-ROM that ships with the product, and is also available on the Web at the BEA edocs documentation site at:

>     http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E13190_01/liquiddata/docs11/index.html

To access the PDFs on either platform, open the Liquid Data documentation Home page in a Web browser as described above, click the PDF files button, and select the document that you want to view or print. Alternatively, from within an HTML document, click the View as PDF link on the top navigation bar to open a PDF version of the currently displayed document.

If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can get it for free from the Adobe Web site at http://www.adobe.com/.