BI 4.0 Launch Pad - Customize

[Former Member]

There are a couple threads on here that deal with this, but the answers are vague and unhelpful. My question is this: I want to be able to add an additional graphic to the top left of the launch pad (the logo banner + custom image)after successful login and need to know how this can be achieved. I have already changed the logo banner, but I need to add some custom HTML code for my custom image. main.jsp is the page that needs to be changed, but it seems that this page isn't actually used. I think the page that is actually used instead of main.jsp is a compiled jsp page. This thread [here|http://forums.sdn.sap.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2125006], talks about using custom.jsp to achieve this. Is that for the actual login screen or the launch pad? I have played with the file, but have been unsuccessful in getting anywhere. Does anyone have any tips?

Thanks

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

This thread is misguiding.

The answer is in SAP Note 1586824.

You can find the image files in

BOINSTALL\SAP BusinessObjects\Tomcat6\webapps\BOE\WEB -INF\eclipse\plugins\webpath.InfoView\web\images

banner_logo.gif - this changes the logo in the top left

Additional steps are mentioned in the note, please check.

Regards,

Armands

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

First off, I apologize I have not responded to everyone.  For some reason I never received email notifications on this thread.

Two things:

1 - In response to Armands Slihte - This thread is not misguiding at all.  If you read the posts you will see where I have already changed the logo that is customizable.  As you said, there is already SAP notes and a ton of google results on how to do just that.  My particular question was in regards to adding custom html "next" to the banner.  That was achieved as I noted in my response.

2 - This actually had come up again and I had to dig back through my computer to find the notes I took regarding this.  Funny that this thread came up in my query.  I did find my notes and was able to replicate the work.  I will try to post a short blog post on this and hopefully answer some of the questions posed in the thread.

Thanks

[solvaysa · Accepted solution]

Hello Scott,

I made a try with your solution to add some custom text beside the user name after we log into BI4 successully.

The only change at my side is:

//main_jsp.java

String userName=ident.getUserFullName()+"BI4Poc";

The compilation is good, but after I copy the updated jar to the two folders, the Launchpad can't display correctly.

Thanks for your help.

Saints

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Saints,

Just so I understand, after you compiled the changes, did you replace the existing jar file with your newly compiled one, or did you replace the main_jsp.class file in the existing jar file with the compiled class?  If you replaced the entire jar , did it include all the classes that were in the original jar?

Thanks,

Scott

[solvaysa · Accepted solution]

Hello Scott,

See my steps:

- I copied the jar com.businessobjects.webpath.InfoView_jsp.6.0.18.jar from the server into my pc

- Open the jar file with winzip and copy the source java file main_jsp.java into Eclipse

- Copy all the required other java library files into the build path

- Compile the main_jsp.java

- Add the changed main_jsp.java into com.businessobjects.webpath.InfoView_jsp.6.0.18.jar

- Add the compiled main_jsp.class into com.businessobjects.webpath.InfoView_jsp.6.0.18.jar

- Stop the tomcat

- Copy the changed om.businessobjects.webpath.InfoView_jsp.6.0.18.jar into Tomcat\webapps\BOE\...

- Copy the above file into Tomcat\...Work\...

- Restart Tomcat and log into LaunchPad, the main page is not started at all

Any mistake in my steps ?

Thanks.

Saints

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Saints,

Your steps are spot on.  I do not have access to our sandbox environment right now, but when I do, I will replicate and let you know the results.

I opted to build the entire jar file and made sure the original manifest was part of the ant build, but I see no reason replacing the class file shouldn't work.

Does the tomcat stderr.log give any indication what is happening?

Thanks,

Scott

[solvaysa · Accepted solution]

Hello Scott,

I see nothing related to my change in tomcat.err and other logging files.

Anyway, I tried another way to change precompiled.jsp.files.use=false in global.properties.

And then I change the main.jsp.

It works well.

Thanks.

Saints

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Saints,

Brilliant!  I didn't even think about that.  Since your method is so much easier for people to understand, can you please describe your steps that you took?  I can then mark your response as the answer.  This should really benefit people who are trying to do the same thing.

Thanks,

Scott

[solvaysa · Accepted solution]

Hello Scott,

1) go to <BOE Installation>\tomcat\webapps\BOE\WEB-INF\internal

     and modify the precompiled.jsp.files.use line by setting it to false from true in the         

     file global.properties

2) change the page main.jsp

    For me I made only a small change by adding manually our BI4 platform information.

    String userName = ident.getUserFullName()+"@BI4Poc";

The changes should apply also in the folder tomcat\..\work\.....

3) Restart tomcat

Regards,

Saints

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Thank you Saints.  I have replaced your steps as the correct answer since it involves much less work for people to replicate.  Since there is really no performance benefit from using precompiled jsps after the initial page load, this should really help people get to a custom solution without having to hassle with the steps I took.

For anyone else implementing Saint's solution and have questions, please let us know and we can get them answered for you.  The source for step 2 can be found in the BOE\eclipse\plugins\webpath.InfoView\web\jsp directory.

A couple things to note:

1 - If you only make changes in the webapp directory, you will need to stop tomcat, delete the folder tomcate\work\Catalina\localhost\BOE, and the start tomcat.  This will deploy your changes in the webapp directory.

2 - If you only make your changes in the work directory, then only a restart of tomcat will be required, but anytime a redeploy is needed, it will be overwritten unless you also made your changes in the webapp directory.

3 - Any patch/updgrade/reinstall will run wdeploy and all changes, regardless of tomcat location, will be overwritten.

[former_member206725 · Accepted solution]

Scott and Saints.

Thanks for providing a simple and clear solution for the problem.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Scott and Saints,

thanks, it works!

But I need to do one more thing: Adding a custom <meta>-Tag to the header (tell IE11 to emulate IE10 for launchpad until our update to 4.1).

Customizing the main.jsp only affects content of the first iframe within Launchpad. My Tag has to be placed in the above layer to take effect.

Any ideas where I can find the template file?

[former_member184088]

You can Vote for below Idea so it will be available in upcoming version.

BO Customization Option from CMC : View Idea

[Former Member]

Hi Scott,

Thanks a lot for your info. Could you please explain what exactly we need to update the .java file located in that jar file and re-compile it.

Thanks,

Javed.

[Former Member]

Check the Administrators guide:

http://help.sap.com/businessobject/product_guides/boexir4/en/xi4_bip_admin_en.pdf

in page 484. Customizing BI launch pad and OpenDocument logon entry points

[Former Member]

Thanks for the reply. I have read that document, but unfortunately, it is specific to the logon page. As described in my initial post, I am not trying to customize the logon page.

Is there anyone that has been successful in adding custom html to the header of the launchpad (the page after you successfully login) other than editing the properties files?

Thanks

[Former Member]

Have a look on this SAP notes 1586824 - BI 4.0 - How to customize BI Launch Pad / Logon page

Sap Notes : 1574035

To create a customized logon page, you will need to edit the custom.jsp file, and place supporting files in the noCacheCustomResources folder. You will then be required to redeploy the BOE.war web application to your SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise system.

The custom.jsp file can be found in: C:\Program Files (x86)\SAP BusinessObjects\Tomcat6\webapps\BOE\WEB-INF\eclipse\plugins\webpath.InfoView\web

[Former Member]

To create a customized logon page, you will need to edit the custom.jsp file, and place supporting files in the noCacheCustomResources folder.

Again, thanks for the reply, but I do NOT want to have a custom logon page! I don't want to change anything about the logon page. What I do want to change/modify is the page AFTER the logon page. In the source files, this would be main.jsp found here:

C:\Program Files (x86)\SAP BusinessObjects\Tomcat6\webapps\BOE\WEB-INF\eclipse\plugins\webpath.InfoView\web\jsp\listing\main.jsp

Thanks

[Former Member]

I got it figured out. It was not an easy solution, but it is working like a charm.

For those that are interested:

The jsp files that are used for launchpad are NOT the files in the BOE\eclipse\plugins\webpath.InfoView\web\jsp directory. Those files are compiled using apache jasper so making changes to those files will not show up (except for the cusom.jsp file). The compiled files are actually in the BOE\eclipse\plugins\com.businessobjects.webpath.InfoView_jsp.6.0.18.jar file. You will have to update the .java file located in that jar file and re-compile it. Any java IDE will work, but you will have to make sure in your IDE that all jar file libraries are in your IDE classpath when compiling.

There are 2 places you can make the changes. The actual BOE.war file or the BOE directory in the tomcat work folder. If you make the changes in the work folder, then redeploying will overwrite any changes made.

A background in java is necessary.

If you need any more info, let me know

[alfons_gonzalez]

thanks a lot, i was trying to modify unsucessfully main.jsp and I ddin't understand why changes were not reflected on the site.

great comment!

[Former Member]

excellent! thank you!

[Former Member]

Good job and thanks so much Scott!

Does anyone know which file, in particular, we need to change to edit the Analytical Reporting App?

[Former Member]

One question. You kind of brush over this phrase;

"Any java IDE will work, but you will have to make sure in your IDE that all jar file libraries are in your IDE classpath when compiling."

How do you do that? I can use any Java IDE. There are a bazillion jar files all over the plugin dir. Also, how do we build the jar? I don't understand how you compile the correct jar file.