System requirements
- The latest version of the WebAPI requires .NET framework 4.8 or higher to be installed on the IIS server. From the older wwwopac.ashx 3.7.15106.2 until its last version, the .NET framework version 4.5 is required while to the even older wwwopac.ashx versions 3.6.13277 up to 3.7.15106.2, the same system requirements apply as to the now deprecated wwwopac.exe, with the added requirement of an installed .NET framework version 4.0.3 or higher.
- The WebAPI must be installed on Windows Server. (Axiell supports all Windows Server versions that are still supported by Microsoft.)
- Microsoft IIS (Internet Information Services) 7.0 or higher must have been installed and configured on this server.
- The standard WebAPI has been compiled in any-cpu mode, which allows it to act as a true 64-bit version on 64-bit systems and as a 32-bit version on 32-bit systems. 32-bit software can often be used normally on 64-bit systems, but if you use a 32-bit Oracle client on a 64-bit system, then the standard API will run into problems. For this case you will need a version of the API compiled in 32-bit mode. Note that we do not support Oracle anymore.
- For more information see the web API installation guide
No longer supported data structure aspects
- From wwwopac.ashx 3.7.14032, database structures processed by adlwin.exe versions older than 6.4 are no longer supported. This means that the domain column needs to be present in thesaurus index tables; in older versions, the domain and term were separated by a double colon in the same column. If you have an old data structure and wish to use wwwopac.ashx 3.7.14032 or higher, your database structures need to be converted. Please contact the Axiell Helpdesk for more information about this upgrade procedure.
- From wwwopac.ashx 3.7.14032, internal links need to have been linked on link reference (priref), not on value. This is the case by default in model applications 4.2 and higher. Older applications usually have internal links linked on value. If you have an old data structure and wish to use wwwopac.ashx 3.7.14032 or higher, your database structures and application need to be converted. Please contact the Axiell Helpdesk for more information about this upgrade procedure.
- Binary columns in SQL tables are no longer supported from wwwopac.ashx 3.7.14032: therefore the record data must be stored in XML format. This also means that SQL Server 2000 is no longer supported. If you have a SQL database with binary columns and wish to use wwwopac.ashx 3.7.14032 or higher, your database needs to be converted. Please contact the Axiell Helpdesk for more information about this conversion.
Preparing your Collections application for image retrieval via the WebAPI
Follow the global steps below to set up your Axiell Collections system for the retrieval of images via the WebAPI:
- The WebAPI is not a standard part of a local Axiell Collections system and won’t be installed automatically. See the WebAPI installation guide and the other documentation on the current website for more information about the installation. The WebAPI must also be configured so that it knows where to look for the images and how to retrieve them; see the The adlibweb.xml file documentation for instructions.
- In Axiell Designer, for the image field in which you link to images, set the Storage path, Retrieval path, and/or Thumbnail retrieval path with a call to wwwopac.ashx. (Only fill in the properties that you'd like to use.) See the Designer Help for an explanation of these options. See the WebAPI section on the current website for a description of the syntax for calling wwwopac.ashx
- By setting the path options above, you have specified a large part of the URL and the path to images in advance, so that in the image field in records only the name of the image for example, without path, has to be present. Therefore, you’ll have to check and adjust all your records with linked images for the correct values. Use search-and-replace to remove any part from a fixed path in all links.
From then on, when you create links to images, you’ll have to adjust them (if necessary) so that only the file name (or the proper part of the path to the image in your situation) is filled in, not the entire path.
