I am implementing Novell Portal Services (NPS) at...
Articles and Tips: qna
01 Jan 2002
Q.
I am implementing Novell Portal Services (NPS) at my site. There are several instances where gadgets timeout on my system. I read in the documentation that a Timeout value can be specified, but it was unclear as to what the name of the setting is (TimeOut, Gadget Timeout, or what?). Also, what is the default setting in NPS for this? It is just a little annoying that the user has to click the "Force read" link to bring data back.
A.
You can set an extra value on the gadget called GadgetTimeout. Its value is in milliseconds. Here is some more information on this timeout:
Gadget Timeout
The Gadget Timeout can be set on either the Portal Configuration Object (PCO) or a specific Gadget. Its purpose is to tell the gadget how long to try to retrieve its data. If you configure it on the PCO, that will be the default for all gadgets. If you configure it on a specific gadget, it will overide the global default. The name of the New Value to add to the object is Gadget Timeout and its value is in milliseconds.
LDAP Re-Read Timeout
This is the time before forcing users to re-read the configuration from LDAP (in seconds). The value can range from 0 to unlimited seconds. The number of seconds to wait before refreshing the user's configuration from LDAP while the user is logged in to the Portal. The next request to view a portal page from this user after this amount of time will cause the configuration to be re-read from LDAP. Enter 0 or blank to never update from LDAP during the user's session.
Session Timeout
The session timeout is handled by the Java Application Server (I am using Tomcat v3.2 and Apache v1.3.12). You will need to add the session timeout settings to the Novell Portal Services (NPS) Application Configura- tion in Tomcat. The values for the Session Timeout are in minutes. The default setting is 2.
If you put this in the application setting, it will overide the Tomcat system default of 30 minutes, which is specified in the d:\tomcat\conf\web.xml file. Sample web.xml from the D:\tomcat\webapps\nps\WEB-INF sub-directory portal com.novell.nps.PortalServlet portal /servlet/portal 2.
Note: The Timeout and Keep Alive settings in Apache's httpd.conf do not seem to affect these settings.
According to the Novell NPS Development Team, in NPS 1.5 the Gadget Timeout is being added by default to every gadget's available setting under its advanced settings and to the PCO's settings under its advanced setting. This setting is only available to administrators, not for individual users who may want to personalize a gadget. So once yo upgrade to NPS 1.5, you won't have to try to remember the name of this setting any more.
* Originally published in Novell AppNotes
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The origin of this information may be internal or external to Novell. While Novell makes all reasonable efforts to verify this information, Novell does not make explicit or implied claims to its validity.