How can I make the difference between backend and frontend in java?

Hello everyone!

I've been searching for a while a way to safely and properly differenciate the frontend from the backend in the code of the external java objects of my components.

For instance if I want to deal with caching one way for the backend (the end attached to TeamSite) and another way for the frontend (the end that is running on its own with the LiveSite runtime), how can I programmatically know which end I'm running on? (Using LiveSite 2.2.1)

We have several environment and we don't really want to have environment variables set or anything of that sort. I've been looking in the base class, and pretty much all the other classes I could find delivered with LiveSite and so far no luck.
Does anyone has an idea? a plan? a solution?

Thanks in advance Smiley Happy

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

moonkhanna

Hello everyone!

I've been searching for a while a way to safely and properly differenciate the frontend from the backend in the code of the external java objects of my components.

For instance if I want to deal with caching one way for the backend (the end attached to TeamSite) and another way for the frontend (the end that is running on its own with the LiveSite runtime), how can I programmatically know which end I'm running on? (Using LiveSite 2.2.1)

We have several environment and we don't really want to have environment variables set or anything of that sort. I've been looking in the base class, and pretty much all the other classes I could find delivered with LiveSite and so far no luck.
Does anyone has an idea? a plan? a solution?

Thanks in advance

Your question is pretty much, with an assumption that all of us are working on Livesite actively. Please provide details of what you are aiming to do and what kind of assistance do you require from Devnet Users.

From your question - I can say "Use cookies" ;-) That may not be what you are looking for but that is how I understood your question.

TheYann

Well this is the LiveSite Forum isn't it ? Smiley Wink

What I'm trying to do is to be able to differenciate backend from frontend at the java code level.
And my example was that I needed to use one caching system on the backend, that end being the one attached to TeamSite, and another caching system on the frontend, the one not attached to TeamSite.
This is only an example.

So technically, I could look in the system and decide arbitrarilly that if the /.iwmnt directory exists then I must be on the backend, or maybe check for a specific environment variable. But I do not like those options as they are too specific and arbitrary. I need a supported way of finding out on which end I'm working in my code so that I can switch from one system to another.

Is that any clearer?

mstradling

Can't you access the host name from something like javax.serlvet.http.ServletRequest.getServerName()?

Assuming your two runtimes are running on different servers that should let you identify which your running on. If they are both on the same box then you should be able to call javax....getServerPort() and have conditional code to work from that.

TheYann

well yeah that would be the specific type of code I want to avoid simply because of our architecture and different environments, I can't always know what the server name is going to be.
We have 4 environments for each ends, which is total 8 machines. Which is why I want to avoid special configuration on each machines or using machin names or stuff like that.

I was more hoping that there was a best practice, like something part of LiveSite, that could tell me whether I was running on back or frontend in a genuine and supported way.

TheYann

For whoever might be interested, we decided to figure out the backend by checking the object type of the FileDAL instance returned by the User object.

In other words:

// assuming neither getUser() nor getFileDAL() are null
if (getUser().getFileDAL().getClass() == com.interwoven.livesite.file.impl.CsFileDAL.class) {
  // this is the backend
}

just leaving this as a follow up.

AlexC

If this is 3.x then your external has a RequestContext and you can call isRuntime() and isPreview(). If its neither of these then it's edit mode.