finPOWER Connect Web Services Administration and Pooling Enhancements

Wednesday, 22 August 2018 by Paul Hammond

With version 3.01.05, Web Services and the corresponding Web Administration facility have been enhanced.

This provides a simpler interface and more powerful tools for monitoring Web Services.

Our online demo lets you check out the latest build of finPOWER Connect Cloud.

NOTE: This is regularly updated to show new features and may not match screenshots shown in this article.

Overview

The finPOWER Connect Web Services are used by finPOWER Connect Cloud and many other client-specific applications.

The first thing you will notice upon signing in to the Web Administration facility is the new layout:

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In addition to the tabbed layout, the following visual changes have been made:

  • The version number is now displayed next to the title
  • A status flag is displayed on the home icon. This can be either green, orange or red depending on the Web Services status

Better Business Layer Pooling

The Web Services rely on a pool of finPOWER Connect business layers to service incoming requests.

The following enhancements have been made:

  • 4 business layer objects are automatically added to the pool upon startup
    • This means that once Web Services are up and running, there should be no delay with users signing in or external applications accessing the Web Services
    • This does however mean that Web Services are slower to start up since as well as creating the 4 business layers, large collections such as "External Parties" are pre-loaded
  • 2 special "Quality of Service" or "QoS" business layers are added to the pool
    • These business layers service high-priority requests such as authenticating users and keeping the Web Administration facility itself responsive

The "Pools" tab now shows more information about the pool:

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NOTE: The pool can still create and use up to 10 finPOWER Connect business layers.

Statistics

You can now see which custom Scripts (including HTML Widgets and Smart Lists) are being called and how much time it is taking to service these requests.

The "Statistics" tab shows this information and other useful details such as the last error that occurred:

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