In Spotfire Server, you can configure and run automated data updates to existing analyses. This saves time for end users because they do not have to wait for the new data to download when they open the analysis.
Prerequisites
● The analysis file to be updated must be in the Spotfire library.
● The scheduled updates user service account (scheduledupdates@SPOTFIRESYSTEM) must have the following library permissions:
— Browse & Access permissions to the analysis.
— Permissions to access the folder(s) that hold the information link object.
— Permission to access the data source object.
To set library permissions, use the tools in Spotfire Analyst.
Alternatively, you can use the copy-library-permissions command to copy library permissions from another user or group.
The following tasks are optional, but you may want to complete them before creating the scheduled update:
● If you want this update to run according to a schedule (or several schedules) that you plan to reuse, create the schedules first; for instructions, see Creating a schedule.
● If you want the updated file to open on specific instances of the Spotfire Web Player, create a resource pool containing those instances; for instructions, see Creating a resource pool.
If you are creating a scheduled update for an analysis that is based on data from a prompted or personalized information link, see Scheduled updates with prompted or personalized information links.
Procedure
1. Log in to Spotfire Server and click Scheduling & Routing.
2. In the Rules pane, click Create rule.
3. Under Type, select File, and then click Next.
4. Enter a name for the rule and select the file that you want to update.
5. Under Select resource pool, do one of the following:
● If you do not want to set a specific resource pool on which to open the analysis, leave the default routing selected.
● If you want the analysis to open on a specific resource pool, select it.
If a scheduled update rule indicates that a file should open on a specific resource pool, this rule overrides any routing rules (for a group or an individual user) that specify a different resource pool for the user who opens the updated file.
6. Optional: Set a priority. This setting comes into effect if two or more scheduled updates are scheduled to occur at the same time. 0 is the highest priority.
7. To set a schedule, do one of the following:
● To update the analysis based on a schedule that has already been created or several schedules, select Use existing schedule and then, in the Select schedule dialog, select the schedule or schedules that you want to use.
● To create a "unique schedule" for this rule (a schedule that will not be available for reuse), select Create new schedule. For instructions on setting up the schedule, see Creating a schedule.
8. Optional: If you want to set the number of Spotfire Web Player instances for this rule, switch the client update method from automatic to manual, or disallow cached and pre-computed data, click Additional properties. (For details, see Setting additional properties for scheduled updates.) 9. In the Create rule dialog, click Save.
If you are unable to save the information you entered, and your library files are stored externally on Amazon Web Services S3 (AWS), see Forcing Java to use IPv4.
Result
The rule is displayed in the Rules list.
Additional settings for scheduled updates
In addition to basic information about the analysis that you want to update and when you want the update to occur, several additional property settings are available in Spotfire Server.
Setting the number of Spotfire Web Player instances to make available for a scheduled update
By default Spotfire Server uses one of the available Spotfire Web Player instances when users open a scheduled update file. To load balance or to change the resource load of a particular analysis, the administrator can set the number of instances on which the updated analysis can open.
Procedure
1. Log in to Spotfire Server and click Scheduling & Routing.
2. Do one of the following:
● If you want to change this property for an existing scheduled update, under Rules select the update and click Edit.
● If you are creating a new scheduled update, at the bottom of the second Create rule dialog, click Additional properties.
3. In the Additional properties dialog, under Number of instances select a number.
4. Click Update and then Save.
Switching the scheduled update method from automatic to manual
When the scheduled update method is set to manual, users decide when to incorporate new data in the analysis.
Procedure
1. Log in to Spotfire Server and click Scheduling & Routing.
2. Do one of the following:
● If you want to set this property for an existing scheduled update, under Rules select the check box next to the update rule and click Edit.
● If you are creating a new scheduled update, at the bottom of the second Create rule dialog, click Additional properties.
3. In the Additional properties dialog, under Update method, indicate how users should receive the updated data:
● Automatic—The new data is automatically displayed in the analysis when a user opens it.
● Manual—A Refresh icon on the title bar of the analysis indicates that an updated version is available. When the user clicks the icon, the analysis is updated.
4. Click Update and then Save.
Disallowing cached and precomputed data in individual scheduled update files
If your Spotfire environment is set up to use disk caching and precomputations of data to shorten the time it takes for an updated analysis to reopen in a Spotfire Web Player after the analysis closes, this setting may prevent the latest data from appearing in the reopened analysis. You can turn this setting off for individual scheduled update files.
By default, cached and precomputed data is not enabled. To enable this feature, see Enabling cached and precomputed data for scheduled update files.
Procedure
1. Log in to Spotfire Server and click Scheduling & Routing.
2. Do one of the following:
● If you want to change these properties for an existing scheduled update, under Rules select the update, click Edit, and then click Additional Properties.
● If you are creating a new scheduled update, at the bottom of the second Create rule dialog, click Additional Properties.
3. In the Additional properties dialog, under Caching, clear the check boxes of the settings you want to turn off.
4. Click Update and then Save.
Result
The analysis will always reflect the latest data but it may reopen more slowly.
Scheduled updates with prompted or personalized information links
Scheduled updates are intended mainly for use with analyses that were set up using ordinary information links to load data. If you set up scheduled updates for an analysis that is based on data from a prompted or personalized information link, there are special issues to consider.
When a user opens an analysis that is based on a prompted information link, the user selects a certain view of the data to be loaded. In the same way, when a user opens an analysis that is based on a personalized information link, the data loaded is determined by the permissions of the user who logs in.
However, when a scheduled update of this file occurs, the update causes the analysis to reload based on the prompted values that were specified when the file was originally saved, and the permissions of the user that the administrator set up to programmatically run the scheduled update. This means that users with an analysis already open will see a different selection of data the next time that they update the analysis because the scheduled update has in fact updated the underlying data on the server.
You should be especially careful when setting up scheduled updates for analyses with personalized information links. If the user you specify for the scheduled updates has access to more data than the intended end users of the analyses, these end users may see more data than they have access to; they will see all the data that is available to the user specified for scheduled updates.
Editing a scheduled update
You can edit most properties of a scheduled update at any time. To change the analysis file or the resource pool in a scheduled update, however, you must first disable the rule.
Procedure
1. Log in to Spotfire Server and click Scheduling & Routing.
2. In the Rules pane, select the scheduled update that you want to edit.
3. Optional: If you want to change the rule's analysis file or resource pool, click Disable.
4. In the Rules pane, click Edit and make your changes.
5. Click Save.
6. Optional: If you disabled the rule in step 3, click Enable to make it active again.
Creating a reusable schedule
You can create and save schedules that you plan to reuse in scheduled updates to analyses. If a schedule will only be used once, you can set it when you create the update rule.
Procedure
1. Log in to Spotfire Server and click Scheduling & Routing.
2. In the Saved schedules pane, click Create schedule.
3. In the Create schedule dialog, enter a name for the schedule.
4. Under Repeat, indicate the days on which you want the update to run by selecting the appropriate check boxes.
5. Under Start and End, enter the times between which the update should run (on the days that you indicated in the previous step).
6. Under Time zone, select the time zone for the times that you entered in the previous step.
7. Under Reload every, select how often you want Spotfire Server to check if the analysis file or its underlying data has changed, and if so, update the pre-loaded file. If you leave the value as 0, the analysis will load once a day (on the days you selected in step 4), at the beginning of the scheduled time.
8. Click Create.
Result
The new schedule is displayed in the Saved schedules list.
Changing the priority of a rule
Spotfire Server uses rule priorities if two or more rules are executed at the same time.
Procedure
1. Log in to Spotfire Server and click Scheduling & Routing.
On the Overview page, under Rules, the scheduled updates and routing rules are listed in priority order.
2. Select the rule whose priority you want to change and then do one of the following:
● Drag the rule to a new position in the list.
● Click the three dots at the end of the row and then click Move to top or Move to bottom.
● Click Edit and then, in the Edit rule dialog, enter a new priority number under Set a priority.
Manually updating a file outside of its update schedule
If you do not want to wait for a file to be updated according to its schedule, you can trigger an update manually.
Prerequisites
There is a scheduled update for the file that you want to manually update.
Procedure
1. Log in to Spotfire Server and click Scheduling & Routing.
2. On the Overview page, under Rules, select the file.
3. Click Reload.
Disabling or deleting scheduled updates and routing rules
Disabling a scheduled update or other rule makes the rule inactive until you activate it again. Deleting a rule removes it from the database.
Procedure
1. Log in to Spotfire Server and click Scheduling & Routing.
2. Select the check box next to the rule or rules that you want to disable or delete.
3. Click Disable or Delete.
If you disabled a rule, it appears grayed out in the list.
Deleting schedules
Deleting a schedule removes it from the database and cancels any scheduled updates that use the schedule.
Procedure
1. Log in to Spotfire Server and click Scheduling & Routing.
2. Select the check box next to the schedule or schedules that you want to delete.
3. Click Delete.
If deleting the schedule will cancel any scheduled updates, Spotfire Server lists the affected rules.