Integration client

The ROB-EX Desktop Planner can as needed be installed to run as a Windows service. This is typically useful when a ROB-EX Desktop Planner needs to run unattended batch jobs like interfacing to external ERP systems, running the Shop Floor server, automatic generation of reports, automatic rescheduling, etc. In the following this client is termed the “Integration Client” (some also refer to it as Client Run as Service).

*During initial program installation make sure to select the component “Integration Client” (or “Planner with Operator” in v7.0 and earlier) and install the Integration Client program in a separate folder from Planner and Viewer client installs. The default install location will be C:\Program Files (x86)\ROB-EX\PlannerIC

Installing an Integration Client Service

With the Integration Client program code correctly installed, now open Windows File Explorer and navigate to the dedicated Integration Client Service installer, which is available in the directory <sch_client_dir>\service. The Integration Client Service installer is named RobexIntegrationClientSetup.exe. When RobexIntegrationClientSetup.exe is executed as an administrator, this installer supports the installation of one or more Integration Client services. A single client service serves a single site, so to support multiple different sites RobexIntegrationClientSetup.exe is executed multiple times.

• On first run of the installer, make sure to put a check mark in the first option “Enable auto start of RobexTray.exe”. This ensures a tray icon becomes available in the Windows system tray, to control the service. Read more in the Tray Service Manager section.
  • Note that the ROB-EX Scheduler Tray program can if needed also be started manually by running the RobexTray.exe file located in directory <sch_client_dir>\bin.
• For each site requiring an Integration Client service, rerun RobexIntegrationClientSetup.exe and for each run select the “Service X install” option and specify the siteId the particular service should serve.
  • The entered site will become part of the service name and will help you to choose the correct service in case more than a single ROB-EX Scheduler client is installed as a service. Typical examples of names could be “stdSite”, “production”, “east_site” etc.
• Click next and close

*After successful installation of a service it is possible to configure additional service options using the windows sc.exe program (important: must run in elevated mode, so right click cmd.exe and select “Run as administrator”).
The following command will specify that ServiceA cannot start until both ServiceB and ServiceC has been started up (the space after = must be there!).
sc.exe config ServiceA depend= ServiceB/ServiceC
If the Integration Service runs on the same PC as the Multiuser Service, then you need to ensure that the integration client does not start before the server is up and running. This is achieved with this command (possibly adjust the actual service names)
sc.exe config RobexClient_stdSite_1 depend= ROB-EXServerG2Instance1x64

!For client versions prior to 6.4.0.319 / 6.2.0.346, the Integration Client service was installed using a so called “Wrapper” launcher. For versions 6.4.0.319 / 6.2.0.346 and later, an improved launcher called “Procrun” is being installed. Note that upgrading from “Wrapper” to “Procrun” requires re-installation of the service. This page describes the new launcher. For more info on the old launcher (including how to upgrade), read the page for the old Integration Client service.

!OpenJDK notice. Versions of ROB-EX Multiuser Server and ROB-EX Tray icon prior to 6.4.1.928 have known issues running on OpenJDK java. For full OpenJDK support, make sure to run the installer update for both ROB-EX Server and Client for 6.4.1.928 or newer.

Startup modes

The ROB-EX Scheduler Integration Client can be started in either

• UI mode – In UI (User Interface) mode the service client starts with the normal ROB-EX Scheduler windows, menu, Gantt chart, etc. enabled. This mode allows the service client to be configured and tested. Read more about UI mode in the Start service” section.
• Headless mode – in this mode the service client is started and controlled by a Windows service and no UI will be displayed. This mode is the normal production mode of the service client. Before starting the client in this mode make sure it has been started in UI mode, so it has been validated that the service client is correctly licensed and configured.

The Tray Service Manager is used to start/stop the integration client in both UI and Headless mode. Double click the icon of the RobexTray Icon which will open op the ROB-EX Services window. Whenever new services clients have been installed, click the Refresh button to make the new services appear in the Service list.

When running in Headless mode it is important to note that the user running the Integration Client will be the built-in Local Service user. This has implications for

• How the muProfiles.xml is configured – i.e. specifying {user_name} as login name may not do what you expects.
• Network drive letters. I.e. you may have a f: drive mapped when running in UI mode, which is no longer available when the service runs as the Local Service user.
  Note that you can map a drive letter by creating a macro. Configure the “RunExternalProgram” macro like this:
  • program= cmd.exe
  • parameters= /c "net use f: \\myserver\myshare"
• Network drive security. I.e. in UI mode you may have security rights enabled to access a network drive. The Local Service user may not have the same security rights.
  

If the built-in Local Service user has too many limitations, consider creating a new Windows Service user and have the service run logged in as this user.
To change the Windows user that the Integration Client service uses, navigate to the service in Windows, i.e. “Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Services”. Locate the ‘Integration Client’ service, right-click and view the ‘Preferences’. Go to the ‘Log On’ tab and change the user as desired.

Automating jobs

Once the Integration client has been installed and configured to start, then the recommended process for configuring it will be

1. Start the integration with UI
   • If you want to auto start the Shop Floor server, enable the setting in Functions->Setting->General Shop Floor: “Automatic launch at ROB-EX startup”
   • Configure macros to drive automatic import/export follow the description for automatic macro execution in the Macro section
   • To enable automatic login to Multiuser enable the Functions->Settings->General->Multiuser setting: “Automatic login at startup”
   • Carry out any other configuration you would like for the client
2. Now exit the client UI mode and startup the client like a normal service (either from the normal Windows Services window or using the Tray Service Manager as explained in the following section)

Adjust startup parameters

Depending on specific customer requirements and how the ROB-EX system is deployed, it may be needed to further configure more advanced startup parameters of the service. Read more about how this is carried out in the sub-section Service client startup parameters.