How to set up Safari for application users

PRPC application users need one or two free browser plug-ins from Adobe Systems Inc.

Depending on their Windows and Safari settings, users at workstations with World Wide Web access can download these plug-ins quickly upon first use. However, in some Windows configurations, installation of the plug-ins require a Windows Administrator log-in (not a Windows log-in that has administrative privileges).

Flash Player

Adobe Flash Player 9 plug-in is required to use interactive charts in the Monitor Activity workspace, interactive charts in your application, and other displays. This is available as a small download from www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer.

Adobe Reader

The Adobe Reader plug-in is often used in accessible applications. See PDN article 25265 Adding browser plug-ins to accessible applications.

PRPC uses HTTP 1.1 and marks pages as expired when appropriate. No exposed method is available that allows a user to instruct Safari to automatically clear the browser cache when the user refreshes a page. However, you can manually clear the cache by either of two methods:

1. Select Edit > Empty Cache... from the Safari menu bar (if it is available). When the "Are you sure...?" message appears, click Empty.
2. Click the Settings icon at the top right and then select Reset Safari... A display of options appears, from which you can select Empty the cache. Make sure to deselect all options on this screen that you do not want to use.

The system responds best if your MSIE cache is enabled, because the cache can store images and other static files locally. However, browser caching is not required.

PRPC uses pop-up windows, so Safari users need to turn off the pop-up blocker in their browser. Use any of these three ways:

1. Select the Settings control at the top right of the Safari screen. In the list that appears, find Block Pop-up Windows. If a check mark appears beside this entry, the pop-up blocker is activated. Click the entry to remove the check mark and disable the blocker. Click the entry again to reactivate the blocker.
2. Open the Preferences window by one of the methods outlined above. In the window that appears select the Security tab . Locate the Block pop-up windows checkbox and deselect it to disable the blocker. Select the checkbox to reactivate the blocker.
3. Toggle the pop-up blocker on and off using the key combination Ctrl + Shift + K.

The pop-up blocker in Safari is either on or off. Safari cannot be configured to allow pop-ups from selected sites, while blocking other pop-ups. A work-around is for the user to turn off the pop-up blocker by one of the methods above when working with a PRPC application, and turn the blocker on again when moving to other sites.

To open a link in a new tab, rather than overwriting the current Safari window, right-click the link and choose Open Link in New Tab. You can also specify opening links in new tabs:

You can use multiple tabs in Safari to connect to different PRPC systems, or to have multiple connections to a single PRPC system using the same Operator ID.

You can't use multiple tabs to connect to one PRPC system as multiple operators. All Safari windows and tabs are part of the same session and share cookies.

PRPC requires persistent cookies. To enable cookies, open the Preferences window by one of the methods outlined above. In the window that appears, select the Security tab . Locate the Accept cookies radio buttons and select either Always or Only from sites I visit (recommended).

When you use other desktop applications in addition to your PRPC session through Safari, and Safari is your default browser, your interaction with another application may cause another web page to open in your current browser window, displacing your PRPC session.

For example, if an arriving email message contains a link, clicking the link may displace your PRPC window.

When this happens, you can use Back to return to the PRPC session, and continue. However, if instead you close the Safari window, your session (and any unsaved work) is gone.

To avoid this, Safari offers two options for opening links from applications: to open them in a new window, or to open them in a new tab in the current window. Open the Preferences window by one of the methods outlined above, and select one or the other option in the General tab .

Developers and users are most productive if they remember these tips:

• Click the logo on the upper left of the portal to return to your portal home view.
• Don't use the browser Back icon or the Back keyboard shortcut. Don't use the browser History capabilities to return to an earlier page. The older pages may contain stale information, and the Back and History features may interfere with PRPC server synchronization.
• Click the Refresh button on the portal, not the Safari reload icon or the F5 key, to refresh the current display.
• Press CTRL+F to search for text on a page.
• Press CTRL+P to print the current page.

ActiveX is the mechanism by which Internet Explorer (IE) loads other applications in the browser.

Because Safari does not support ActiveX, Safari users are unable to use functions that rely on ActiveX controls.

Cookies

PRPC uses cookies. Open the Safari Preferences window by one of the methods outlined above, select the Security tab , and confirm that for the Accept cookies radio buttons either Always or Only from sites I visit is selected.

Scripting

PRPC uses JavaScript. Applications based on PRPC may use VBScript in addition to JavaScript. Safari lets you permit or block JavaScript in the Preferences window, which you can access by one of the methods mentioned above. On the Security tab , locate the Enable JavaScript checkbox and make sure it is selected.

Safari provides no exposed function allowing users to manage VBScript. Enabling JavaScript gives the best chance that VBScript functions also work in applications accessed through Safari.

Java applets and programs

PRPC does not use Java applets and does not require Java to be installed or enabled on the workstation. Note these two exceptions:

• The Demo facility of the Locale Settings tool is a Java applet. This facility requires a JVM installed on the workstation and the ability to run applets within Internet Explorer.
• The Animator client program in PegaRULES Process Simulator is a Java application and so requires a workstation JVM.

To enable Java for these cases, open the Preferences window by one of the methods mentioned above. On the Security tab , locate the Enable Java checkbox and make sure it is selected.

Temporary files

The open authoring facilities (including those for text files, HTML, XML, Excel, Visio, and Word) save temporary files on the user's workstation, or on a local directory that is dedicated to this user, to avoid file name conflicts.

To identify the appropriate directory for a temporary file, the open authoring facility first looks on the workstation for a Windows environment variable named TEMP. If this variable is not found, it looks next for a Windows environment variable named TMP. If defined, make sure that these variables identify a private, writable directory with available disk space that is dedicated to the workstation or user.

If neither environment variable is found, it attempts to use the directory C:\PegaTemp\, creating this directory if possible. Finally, it attempts to use C:\. If none of these are successful, the open authoring process fails.

Restrictions on file downloads

If your PRPC server is identified (in the URL on the Safari address line) by an IP address or by a domain-qualified name (such as myserver.mydomain.sub), a browser setting to prompt the user before downloading a file may restrict your ability to use file attachments. To disable the setting, open the Preferences window by one of the methods outlined above and select the General tab . Find the Always prompt before downloading checkbox and uncheck it. Note that "Prompting cannot be disabled for some high-risk file types, including applications."

Use of HTTPS may block certain download operations from the server to workstations. For details and suggestions, see PDN article 17997 Troubleshooting: "Internet Explorer cannot download..." messages (Tomcat with SSL) .

Checking for cross-browser compatibility

To verify that the application you built can be displayed by all supported browser types, run the Browser Compatibility report (> Application > Tools > Browser Compatibility report).

This report checks the value set in the Browser Support option for all the harness, flow action, section, HMTL, control, and HTML fragment rules in your application and analyzes the calling relationships that are invoked at runtime. For each harness and flow action, it displays a percentage value that represents how cross browser-compliant it is based on the value of its Browser Support option and that of the rules it calls.

To learn about using this report, see the PDN article 25240 How to Run the Browser Compatibility Report.