Symptom

Using summary view rules, your applications can generate graphs and charts.

However, display of these charts depends on server software. Some UNIX platforms cannot support charts until you add Pure Java AWT jar files to the server.

By default, charting facilities depend on the server configuration. Pure Java AWT provides a native implementation of Java's Abstract Window Toolkit, eliminating any dependencies upon the host operating system's graphical subsystem (or lack thereof) such as the Win32 GDI or the variety of Unix X11R6-compatible display servers.

In most cases , errors related to such dependencies are seen on Unix or Unix-variant setups. If the default graphical subsystem is not available to the server, users experience exceptions. Traceback errors include the text

• DISPLAY variable not configured

• Unable to connect to X11 server

and come from the java.awt package.

Update: This article applies only to static (non-interactive) charts. Beginning with V5.2, interactive charts are available, supported by Adobe's Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) plug-in. Beginning with V5.4, interactive charts are supported by Adobe's Flash Player plug in.
If your V5.2+ application includes only interactive charts — not static charts — the Pure Java AWT is not needed.

Solution

The eTeks PJA toolkit is redistributed with Process Commander. Install Pure Java AWT using the following steps:

1. Install the libraries into your application server's classpath setup:

• For Tomcat, add the PJA jar files to the \common\lib directory.
• For WebSphere, place the PJA jar files somewhere on disk, and reference them in the application server's bootclasspath.
• For WebLogic, place them on the disk and modify the startup scripts to include them.

2. Update the JVM's font.properties file to support PJA. The font.properties files are typically located in your $JAVA_HOME/jre/lib directory. Consult your JVM documentation for information on which of the files is being resolved in your setup.

By default, the font.properties file that the JVM ships with is written for use with the X11 font resolution mechanisms. You must update the file to use the style preferred by PJA. The font.properties file maps the True Type fonts shipped as part of Java to a format that PJA can understand. Depending on the fonts shipped with your JVM (typically under $JAVA_HOME/jre/lib/fonts/), you may need to alter the sample file.

3. Configure your application server to use Pure Java AWT. This requires adding several JVM system property definitions to support PJA, including:

• awt.toolkit: Set the value to com.eteks.awt.PJAToolkit
• java.awt.graphicsenv: Set the value to com.eteks.java2d.PJAGraphicsEnvironment
• java2d.font.userPlatformFont: Se the value to true
• java.awt.fonts: Set the value to the path of your JVM's font directory

This sample configuration was performed in a WebSphere 5.0 Application Server on Linux. Consider these steps as considered guidelines; the details may differ on your platform.

1. Copy pja.jar and pjatools.jar into /opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/. (The Java Virtual Machine Properties for the application server's process definition were updated to include the jar files in the boot classpath.)

2. Update the font.properties located in /opt/WebSphere/AppServer/java/jre/lib/

3. Return to the Java Virtual Machine Properties for the application server's Process Definition. Modify the Generic JVM arguments to include:

• Dawt.toolkit=com.eteks.awt.PJAToolkit
• Djava.awt.graphicsenv=com.eteks.java2d.PJAGraphicsEnvironment
• Djava2d.font.userPlatformFont=true
• Djava.awt.fonts=/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/java/jre/lib/fonts

References

For information about the Eteks Pure Java AWT toolkit, see http://www.eteks.com/pja/en/

To review Sun's documentation for the font.properties file, see http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/docs/guide/intl/fontprop.html