Point of View Thin Client Configuration Part 6: Help from AutomationDirect

In this video we’ll take a look at some of the things that are easy to stumble over when trying to connect to an app using a web thin client. If you get this error when trying to connect to the application from a Web Thin Client, check the following: Make sure the webserver is running. If you are using the preferred Microsoft IIS Server, then go to the control panel, Administrative tools, Internet Information Services Manager and see if the Start is grayed out like this one. If it is then the IIS Server is running. If it is not grayed out, then click on it to run it. If you are using the NTWebServer during system setup like we did in the previous videos and you see a window with this text in it on your desktop then the NTWebServer is running. If you don’t see that window, then make sure a copy of the NTWebServer app is in the current projects WEB subfolder and double click it to run it. Again, you should see the listening window when the NTWebServer is running. If you see a window like this then someone else is using the port NTWebServer needs. Usually it’s the IIS Server, so go back to the IIS Manager window and STOP to kill the IIS Server. Now if I run the NTWebServer – it works as expected. Perfect. Make sure you typed the URL correctly – I know that sound silly, but you would be surprised how many times that trips people up. And that’s another really good reason to add that IP Address display function somewhere in the app. When you see the actual IP address right there in front of you it’s a lot harder to get it wrong. Also don’t forget to add the .html suffix to the end of the file. Make sure the project is published and verified. Click on the Point of View button, Publish, Save all as HTML – that creates html files of all of your screens and places them in your projects WEB folder for the client to use. Also, under the HOME tab, click on Verify – that will check that your project is complete and setup the needed file associations. Finally, make sure the webserver is hosting the correct folder. For the IIS server go to the control panel, Administrative tools, Internet Information Services Manager and click on basic setting. Make sure this is the path to YOUR projects web folder. Also click on this TEST button to verify everything. Which is the perfect Segway to our next subject. The HTTP Error 401. Which is the perfect segue to our next subject, the HTTP Error 401 – the Unauthorized Error. In that same dialog we were just in … click “Connect As …” and make sure your login credentials are correct. You would typically want this to be the same user name and password you use to log into THIS computer. Remember – you may have developed this app on a different computer. If so, then you need to change this for the current computer by hitting the Set button and filling in the blanks. You can also try pinging the host from the web thin client. Start, run, cmd then type ping and the IP address of the host. If you get return info back like this then you have a connection. Check with your IT folks to make sure Network Security isn’t getting in the way. And finally, make sure the PC’s Firewall and Anitvirus software aren’t preventing a connection. If you are connecting from a web thin client and you get this error, it’s usually because Network Security is blocking access, or your user name and password aren’t correct or your Firewall or Anti-Virus software are preventing a connection. Check your username and password like we did a minute ago. Check with your network administrator and verify that the web thin clients are allowed to access ports 80, 1234, and 443 and that port forwarding is allowed. And of course, make sure your firewall and antivirus software aren’t getting in the way. If you get a blank screen when you try to connect to your application from a web tin client, then check the following; First, make sure all of your MIME types are set correctly. Bring up the computers control panel, administrative tools, IIS Manager. Bring up the MIME types and scroll through the list to make sure that everyone of these is in this list and that it is spelled correctly. If you see an error, just click on the Extension and then edit. If you see one missing, click on add. Use Application/POV as the type. Next, Make sure you aren’t missing any project files. Click on the Point of View button, Publish and save all as html. That creates all the html files that the web thin client needs. Make sure you designated one of your screens as the Startup Screen. Just right click on the screen and select “Set as startup.” Otherwise, Point of View won’t know where to start. Finally make sure your ISSymbol.ocx isn’t being blocked from loading or updating. This is the symbol library the web thin client needs to build the screens you see. There are a couple ways to fix this. Normally, any symbol updates the app needs will be collected during this downloading files time directly from the automation direct website. You can see that link under the Project tab, Web, Advanced. This shows you where the symbol library is downloaded from and what version it is. That’s great because it ensures you have the correct symbol library, but what if you don’t have internet access? It’s pretty common to have your system’s network is isolated from the outside world for security reasons. In that case, you can simply make the necessary files available to the web thin client locally. Go to the BIN folder of the Point of View install and copy these two files, the ISSymbol.ocs and .cab file. Put a copy of those in your projects web folder. Now in the web dialog’s advanced dialog, enter the path to those two files. So now when the web thin client connects to the app, it will be able to find the symbol libraries it needs without having to go outside your local network. Another way to make these files available is to simply install them on the Web Thin Client itself. Go to the bin folder of your Point of view install, and copy this Thin Client Setup application. Put that on your thin client computer and run it. It will install the symbol library right there on the client. You may need to make sure you have administrator privileges on the web thin client pc to run this app. Hopefully you found some things to help you in this video. If not, please don’t hesitate to call AutomationDirect’s free award winning tech support during regular business hours. They will be happy to help you. And don’t forget the forums. There are lots of folks there that love to share their years of experience. Just don’t post any support questions there AutomationDirect’s tech support doesn’t monitor the forums on a regular basis.