Choosing an application server

Crystal Enterprise requires an application server to process the server-side scripts that make up web applications. Before choosing an application server, assess your current web environment and determine whether you want to deploy the default Crystal Enterprise web applications (the Crystal Enterprise web desktop and the Crystal Management Console), develop custom web applications, or both.

Depending on your needs, you can install Crystal Enterprise in one of two ways:

• On Windows, install Crystal Enterprise with its own application server: the Web Component Server (WCS).
• On Windows or UNIX, install and configure the Java Web Component Adapter and the Crystal Enterprise Java SDKs on a supported, third-party J2EE web application server.

Web Component Server

The Web Component Server (WCS) is an application server that provides two main services: an engine for processing CSP script, and an application engine for WCS extensions. The WCS supports web applications composed of Crystal Server Pages (CSP) such as the CSP version of the Crystal Enterprise web desktop. The WCS also supports WCS extensions, which include Crystal only services such as the CMC, Crystal report viewers (via viewrpt.cwr based url requests), and Crystal Analysis Professional (CA Pro) via infoobject.cwr based url requests.

In Crystal Enterprise 10 on UNIX the WCS has been deprecated. The WCS will also be deprecated in a future release of Crystal Enterprise on Windows. However, before the WCS becomes obsolete, all applications using the WCS will be migrated to use standard application servers. To allow time for customers and Crystal applications to be migrated, WCS services will be provided by the Web Component Adapter. Crystal Enterprise 10 includes a Java Web Component Adapter. A Web Component Adapter for ASP.NET will be provided in a future release of Crystal Enterprise.

Java Web Component Adapter

On Windows and UNIX, Crystal Enterprise provides a Java web application—the Java Web Component Adapter —that allows your J2EE web application server to run CSP applications, to process .cwr requests, and to host the Crystal Management Console. The Web Connector that resided on the web server in earlier versions of Crystal Enterprise is no longer required. Requests are handled by the application server, and are passed on to the Web Component Adapter. This Java solution essentially replaces the Web Component Server (WCS) in J2EE environments.

The Java Web Component Adapter must be installed on a J2EE web application server. Crystal Enterprise supports a number of third-party application servers, so you can connect Crystal Enterprise to your existing infrastructure. For a detailed list of tested application servers, see the platforms.txt file included with your product distribution.