BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.

0
Software Inventory Tool User's Guide

BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.0

Windows
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2008-02-29
Contents
Chapter 1 BusinessObjects Software Inventory Tool 5
Introduction..................................................................................................6
What does the BusinessObjects Software Inventory Tool do?....................6
Installation....................................................................................................6
How does the BusinessObjects Software Inventory Tool work?..................7
Launching the BusinessObjects Software Inventory Tool............................7
Using the BusinessObjects Software Inventory Tool...................................8
The Viewing Format Area.......................................................................8
History View ..........................................................................................9
The Search pane .................................................................................10
The Software Inventory log file.............................................................10

Appendix A Get More Help 13

Index 17

BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.0 Software Inventory Tool User's Guide 3

Contents

4 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.0 Software Inventory Tool User's Guide

BusinessObjects Software
Inventory Tool

1
1 BusinessObjects Software Inventory Tool
Introduction

Introduction
The BusinessObjects Enterprise Software Inventory Tool is a Java-based
maintenance tool available to administrators of BusinessObjects Enterprise.
The tool creates and maintains an inventory of all changes made to Business
Objects software via Business Objects installers and allows users to view
these changes.

What does the BusinessObjects Software

Inventory Tool do?
The Business Objects Software Inventory Tool collects and displays
information on your BusinessObjects installations.

The tool monitors BusinessObjects Enterprise after it is installed and logs

updates such as critical hot fixes and service packs. The logged information
is presented chronologically using various formats and views. The inventory
list can then be queried for specific files, features, and patches.

Installation
The BusinessObjects Software Inventory Tool is automatically bundled
together with your BusinessObjects XI 3.0 installation. It is available for all
Windows platforms supported by BusinessObjects XI 3.0. See the Products
Availability Report PDF which can be accessed at http://support.businessob
jects.com/documentation/supported_platforms/default.asp.

The SoftwareInventory.bat and SoftwareInventory.jar.files are by

default installed to the following directory C:\Program Files\Business
Objects\common\4.0\java\lib. Once the program is launched, theinven
tory.xml and log.txt files are created in the same folder.

6 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.0 Software Inventory Tool User's Guide

 BusinessObjects Software Inventory Tool
How does the BusinessObjects Software Inventory Tool work? 1
How does the BusinessObjects Software
Inventory Tool work?
When a Business Objects installer is run, the tool is automatically evoked.
Information on what is being installed is added to the inventory.xml file. The
inventory contains the following information:

• A record of all Business Objects installations including original product

and service packs, and critical hot fixes.
• Records of all the fixes that were installed on the system.
• Records of the files that are associated with each Business Objects
installation such as WAR files and DLLs.

Launching the BusinessObjects Software

Inventory Tool
The BusinessObjects Software Inventory Tool is installed by default into the
C:\Program Files\Business Objects\common\4.0\java\lib folder.
• To launch the tool, either:
Go to Start/Programs/BusinessObjects XI 3.0/BusinessObjects/Enterprise
and double-click the Software Inventory Tool icon.
OR
Double-click the SoftwareInventory.bat file which is located by default in
the C:\Program Files\Business Objects\common\4.0\java\lib folder. This
launches a Windows Command window and starts the Java program.
OR
1. From the Start\Run command line - type cmd and click OK. This
launches a Windows Command window.
2. Navigate to the folder in which the tool is installed (the default is
C:\Program Files\Business Objects\common\4.0\java\lib).
3. At the prompt type:
"C:\Program Files\Business Objects\javasdk\bin\java" -
Djava.library.path=.\external -Xmx256M -jar "C:\Program
Files\BusinessObjects\common\4.0\java\lib\softwareInven
tory.jar" gui

BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.0 Software Inventory Tool User's Guide 7

1 BusinessObjects Software Inventory Tool
Using the BusinessObjects Software Inventory Tool

This command uses the Java implementation installed with

BusinessObjects Enterprise and provides Java configuration
information.

Note: Closing the Windows Command window will terminate the Java
program.

Using the BusinessObjects Software

Inventory Tool
Once the BusinessObjects Software Inventory Tool is launched it displays
three separate panes for information on :

• Viewing Format

• History View

• Search

The Viewing Format Area

The Viewing format pane provides three options for what to display.

• Install/Patch name
This option displays all the available information logged by the tool in
chronological order.
• ADAPT number
This option only displays the ADAPT numbers for modifications logged
by the tool.
Note: ADAPT numbers are only displayed if critical hot fixes have been
installed. ADAPT is the system used internally by Business Objects to
track technical problems and feature enhancements.

• File

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 BusinessObjects Software Inventory Tool
Using the BusinessObjects Software Inventory Tool 1
This option only displays files that have been installed and recorded by
the tool.

History View

The History View is divided into two parts:

• History Tree
• Node Details
History Tree and the Node Details

The History Tree is the main pane used to navigate the inventory. The
history of installations and changes is listed chronologically; each entry can
be expanded to display further details in the Node Details pane.
Note: To view more specific information you can use the Search function.

The type of information displayed in Node Details includes :

• Name of the product
• Version or Build number
• Date and time of installation
• Path locations
The following table summarizes the detail displayed in the History View area
depending on the selected Viewing Format:

Viewing Format History View Detail

Build number

Installation or Removal timestamp

List of all features installed

Install/Patch Name of the product
List of all files installed

Installed or Removed

List of all ADAPT records (not for Ser-

vice Packs)

BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.0 Software Inventory Tool User's Guide 9

1 BusinessObjects Software Inventory Tool
Using the BusinessObjects Software Inventory Tool

Viewing Format History View Detail

ADAPT number /ID

Problem Summary
ADAPT Number
Fix description

List of updated files

Name of the file

Full path location of the file

File Version (if available)

Build

History of changes to the file

The Search pane

The Search pane of the BusinessObjects Software Inventory Tool allows

you to refine the information displayed in History View. It is divided into
three parts:
• Enter search string: use this field to enter a string. A new tree is
generated based on the search result and the current view being used.
• Search History: lists all the search parameters.
• Clear search history: click to clear the Search History.

The Software Inventory log file

The tool creates a log file for recording each time the tool is launched.

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 BusinessObjects Software Inventory Tool
Using the BusinessObjects Software Inventory Tool 1
The log.txt file is saved in the default installation folder together with the
inventory.xml file: C:\Program Files\Business
Objects\common\4.0\java\lib

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1 BusinessObjects Software Inventory Tool
Using the BusinessObjects Software Inventory Tool

12 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.0 Software Inventory Tool User's Guide

Get More Help

A
A Get More Help

Online documentation library

Business Objects offers a full documentation set covering all products and
their deployment. The online documentation library has the most up-to-date
version of the Business Objects product documentation. You can browse
the library contents, do full-text searches, read guides on line, and download
PDF versions. The library is updated regularly with new content as it becomes
available.

http://support.businessobjects.com/documentation/product_guides/

Additional developer resources

http://devlibrary.businessobjects.com

Online customer support

The Business Objects Customer Support web site contains information about
Customer Support programs and services. It also has links to a wide range
of technical information including knowledgebase articles, downloads, and
support forums.

http://www.businessobjects.com/support/

Looking for the best deployment solution for your company?

Business Objects consultants can accompany you from the initial analysis
stage to the delivery of your deployment project. Expertise is available in
relational and multidimensional databases, in connectivities, database design
tools, customized embedding technology, and more.

For more information, contact your local sales office, or contact us at:

http://www.businessobjects.com/services/consulting/

Looking for training options?

From traditional classroom learning to targeted e-learning seminars, we can
offer a training package to suit your learning needs and preferred learning
style. Find more information on the Business Objects Education web site:

http://www.businessobjects.com/services/training

14 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.0 Software Inventory Tool User's Guide

 Get More Help
A
Send us your feedback
Do you have a suggestion on how we can improve our documentation? Is
there something you particularly like or have found useful? Drop us a line,
and we will do our best to ensure that your suggestion is included in the next
release of our documentation:

mailto:documentation@businessobjects.com

Note: If your issue concerns a Business Objects product and not the
documentation, please contact our Customer Support experts. For information
about Customer Support visit: http://www.businessobjects.com/support/.

Business Objects product information

For information about the full range of Business Objects products, visit:
http://www.businessobjects.com.

BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.0 Software Inventory Tool User's Guide 15

A Get More Help

16 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.0 Software Inventory Tool User's Guide

Index
I Software Inventory Tool (continued)
inventory.xml 6, 10
inventory.xml 7 log.txt 6, 10
search 10
SoftwareInventory.bat 6
S SoftwareInventory.jar 6
Software Inventory Tool user interface 8
functionality 6 viewing format
history view 9 ADAPT number 8
installation files 6 file 8
introduction 6 install/patch name 8

BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.0 Software Inventory Tool User's Guide 17

Index

18 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.0 Software Inventory Tool User's Guide