Custom Logon Page in C8

[jhemelt]

Hi all,

what is the best approach to create AND integrate a custom logon page in Cognos 8? I could use a JSP-Page using SDK to connect to Cognos 8. But how can I integrate this page, so that e. g. a re-logon after logoff leads to my page?

I tried experimenting with xts-templates but didn't have much success by now. Is there a documentation out there for this xts-stuff?

Thanks for any comments!

Rgds.
Juergen

[sir_jeroen]

It can't be done with editing the XTS-files because the files are compiled already. The way to do this is with the SDK.

[jhemelt]

Ok, thanks.

The question remaining is, how to integrate an SDK based logon page so that it will always be opened when a logon is required (e. g. after pressing Logoff button).

Rgds.
Jürgen

[sir_jeroen]

you could create a link in Cognos Connection which is called "log off" that does the logoff and shows the new logon page. In order to automatically show the new log on page you should route all traffic to the the new logon page instead of the "default.htm" or you could create a link in CC called Logon which shows it in CC. You should allow anonymous access though...

[jhemelt]

Thanks again!

This solution may be sufficient for the normal logoff procedure. But it is not a tight integration. A real integration would call the custom logon page whenever a logon is required. This is also the case when a user has bookmarked a report and clicks on the bookmark before he/she logged in. Without modifications this will pass the user on the standard logon page.

I think the only way to really integrate an own logon page is to alter the XTS files.

Rgds.
Jürgen

[MDXpressor]

I make claims to understanding any real code, but here is what the Cognos Knowledge base has to say:

Title:
SDK sample that creates a custom Login Page using HTML forms.

Updated:
Aug 17, 2006

Applies To:
Cognos 8 BI Access Manager - 7.3
Cognos 8 BI Cognos Connection - 8.1
Cognos 8 BI Install and Config - 8.1
Cognos 8 BI Report Studio - 8.1
Cognos 8 BI Security - 8.1
Cognos 8 Software Dev. Kit - 8.1
Cognos ReportNet - 1.1MR2
Cognos ReportNet - 1.1MR3



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


What does the code do?

Creates a custom HTML page as described in the SDK developers guide that will login the user providing credentials and redirect to ReportNet/Cognos 8.

Note: If invalid credentials are provided at login or in the case of timeout the user will be redirected to the default login page.  In this case a full SDK solution maybe needed where total control over errors and timeouts is possible.  See the SDK samples installed with CRN or Cognos8 for examples.

How does the code work?

Using HTML and URLs (Chapter 6: Viewing, Editing, and Running Reports Using URLs in the SDK Developer Guide) a simple HTML form is created and submitted to the gateway.


How do you run the code?

1. Copy the html file to <install_location>\webcontent

2. Change localhost to a valid machine_name where Cognos ReportNet or Cognos 8 gateway is:

location.href= 'http://localhost/cognos8/cgi-bin/cognos.cgi?b_action=xts.run&m=portal/cc.xts&gohome=';

<form  name="logon" method="POST" action="http://localhost/cognos8/cgi-bin/cognos.cgi" >

2. In Internet Explorer execute the following URL:

http://<machine_name>/cognos8/CustomLogin.html

3. Provide valid credentials and click Login. Please note that the namespaceID field is expecting the namespace ID as configured in Cognos Configuration and not the namespace name. All entries are case sensitive.


Note: Anonymous has to be disabled in Cognos Configuration for this to work as expected.


Again, I want to be clear, I have not tried this code, and I'm not sure that it's exactly what you are looking for, but it seems like a good match.

[sir_jeroen]

Please next time only post a link to the Cognos Support Site and not the contents....