The configuration of the Viz Flowics Middleware takes place in the cloud via https://engage.flowics.com.
Before delving into the Middleware configuration, ensure you have successfully installed it. You can find the installation instructions by clicking here.
It is important to note that this article does not cover the configuration of the MOS Gateway. If you are seeking information on that topic, click here.
Configuring Middleware Token
The Middleware token serves as a key connecting a Middleware instance with its configuration.
To obtain the Token, access the Middlewares menu by navigating to SETTINGS and clicking Middlewares.
If the Middlewares menu is not available, please get in touch with support at support@flowics.com.
Now follow these steps:
Copy the token from the config window, located in the General Settings tab
Paste it on
conf/middleware.properties, then save.
Middleware Configuration
According to the service you need to set up with the middleware, its configuration will be different, especially when selecting the integration mode.
However, what is mandatory to fill out for Viz Social, Data Bridge, Shared Memory, and integration with data connectors is the Shared Folder Path.
Shared Folder Path defines the location where the downloaded data is stored. This folder includes at least one subfolder named "media," which contains all downloaded media related to Ticker Middleware Sources (e.g., user avatars and images shared by users in their posts). If you're using the File integration mode, a subfolder is created for each company assigned to the middleware.
Config for Viz Social - File Integration Mode
Config for Viz Social - File Integration Mode
Using the File Integration Mode is the simplest way to configure and run the Middleware.
If you opt for File mode, the middleware essentially downloads the data into a file in the configured path in the shared folder in your local network. This file can be in either XML or JSON format. This format can be configured in the Middleware source.
See how a typical installation works:
The Middleware is installed on a PC in the DMZ area of your network (1), which has access to the Internet. This PC (1) is isolated from the private LAN (Intranet) by a firewall (2). The firewall (2) must allow the PC in the DMZ (1) to write to a shared network drive (3) within the private LAN.
The on-premise graphics generator (4) accesses the shared network drive (3) to obtain Flowics data. All of this occurs within the private LAN. This way, the graphics generator never accesses the internet and retrieves all Flowics data from the shared network drive.
The Middleware is installed on the PC (1) only once, and then all configuration and Flowics data selection to be written are done via the web interface of Flowics. This last part can be performed from any PC that has a web browser (it does not have to be the one running the Middleware).
Config for Viz Social - SQL Database Integration Mode
Config for Viz Social - SQL Database Integration Mode
In this mode, each Middleware Source is synced to a different table on a SQL Database. Each data field of the Middleware Source maps to a column on the table. Middleware Sources of the same type (counters, polls, etc.) and version have the same columns on their tables. Columns are of type text or corresponding on the connected Database engine.
Media, such as avatars and images, is still downloaded to a Shared File System and referenced via table columns, similar to the XML File integration mode.
The following diagram illustrates this setup:
To enable this support you have to follow these steps:
Create a database and a database user who owns this database.
Stop the Middleware if running.
Enable SQL Database Integration Mode on Middleware General Settings.
Configure database access at the Middleware installation editing webapp/WEB-INF/env.xml and following the instructions on that file.
Start the Middleware.
If you want to use a MySQL server, you have to install a version equal to or greater than 5.5.3 to have full UTF-8 encoding support. This support is needed to correctly store special characters like emojis. For this to work, the UTF-MB4 encoding is needed which was added in 5.5.3 (see http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/charset-unicode.html for details).
You also have to configure the character set and collation options on the MySQL server before creating the database that the middleware will use:
character-set-server=utf8mb4
collation-server=utf8mb4_unicode_ci
To select a character set and collation at server startup, use the --character-setserver=utf8mb4 and --collation-server=utf8mb4_unicode_ci options. To specify the options in an option file, include these lines:
[mysqld] character-set-server=utf8mb4 collation-server=utf8mb4_unicode_ci
These settings apply server-wide and apply as the defaults for databases created by any application and for tables created in those databases.
InnoDB storage engine for tables is required as it is ACID compliant and hence fully transactional.
Config for Data Bridge
Config for Data Bridge
To enable Data Bridge, simply set it as the integration mode.
For more information about how to use the Data Bridge click here
Proxy Configuration
As stated in the Requirements section, the middleware requires an internet connection. If your network environment uses a proxy server to connect to the internet you can add the following property to the file conf/middleware.properties to use it. Please replace the fields in brackets with your configuration:
flowics.middleware.proxy.url=http://[proxy host]:[proxy port]
Proxy authentication is also supported. If you need it please use the following configuration instead:
flowics.middleware.proxy.url=http://[username]:[password]@[proxy host]:[proxy port]