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Meta Integration® Works (MIW) Desktop Toolset
"Metadata Management" Solution

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README

Table of Contents

  1. Copyright Notice
  2. Release Changes
  3. Installation
    1. Installing on Windows
    2. Installing on Solaris
  4. Quick Start
    1. Quick Start on Windows
    2. Quick Start on Solaris
    3. Works options
  5. Setting up Meta Integration Works
    1. Setting up Works on Windows 9x
    2. Setting up Works on Windows NT/2K/XP
    3. License Key
  6. License Server Management
    1. Configuration the License Server
    2. Starting the License Server
    3. Using (Refering to) the License Server in Model Bridge
  7. Customization of Meta Integration Repository (MIR) Profiles for ModelBrowser's Views
  8. Integrating Works in a web site
  9. Frequently Asked Questions
  10. Known issues related to the Java 2 SDK
  11. Technical Support

1. Copyright Notice

Copyright © Meta Integration Technology, Inc. 1997-2006.
All Rights Reserved.
Meta Integration® Model Bridge (MIMB), Works (MIW), Repository (MIR), Repository SDK (MIRSDK), and Database SDK (MIDBSDK) are trademarks of Meta Integration Technology, Inc.
Other product and company names (or logos) mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
http://www.metaintegration.com

2. Release Changes

For a full list of changes on this release, you should also have a look at:
   the MIR Readme file for repository server's improvements
   the MIMB Readme file for model bridges improvements

3. Installation

A Java 2 Platform version 1.5 Runtime Environment is now required to run Meta Integration Works. If it is not already installed, download and install J2SE now.

3.1. Installing on Windows

First Installation

Note: you must have installed Java™ 2 Runtime Environment Standard Edition (or JDK), v1.5 before to start the installation.

Upgrading Java after having installed MIW

If you installed Meta Integration Works, then discover that you need to upgrade Java, you can do so without re-installing MIW. However if you don't install the new version of Java in the same directory as the previous one, you need to manually modify the MIW installation.

Edit the batch file named MIW.bat in the installation directory (in the 'win32' subdirectory) to update the path of the javaw.exe executable. You may also need to change the classpath option.

3.2. Installing on Solaris

First Installation

Note: you must have installed Java™ 2 Runtime Environment Standard Edition (or JDK), or v1.5 before to start the installation.

Upgrading Java after having installed MIW

If you installed Meta Integration Works, then discover that you need to upgrade Java, you can do so without re-installing MIW. However if you don't install the new version of Java in the same directory as the previous version, you need to manually modify the MIW installation.

Edit the Shell script named WorksClient in the installation directory (in the 'solaris/bin' subdirectory) to update the path of the java executable.

4. Quick Start

4.1. Quick Start on Windows

Setup creates a command batch file named MIW.bat in the installation directory (in the 'win32' subdirectory).
Setup also creates a shortcut to this batch file in the program folder Programs/Meta Integration. You can use it to start MIW from the Start Menu.

4.2. Quick Start on Solaris

The installation script creates a bourne Shell script named WorksClient in the installation directory (in the 'solaris/bin' subdirectory). This script starts the application.

4.3. Works options

The application connects to the server and requires a user name and a password. The installation default administrator's login user name is 'administrator' and password 'administrator'. The installation default user name is 'anonymous' and the default host is 'localhost'. These settings can be found in the file MIW.properties which is in the MIW.jar file. The easiest way to override these defaults is to use command line switches. For example, modify the batch file (on Windows) or the shell script (on Solaris) that you use to start MIW. The default host can also be set using the Preferences dialog box in the tool.

Usage: java_runtime [java_options] Works [works_options]

where java_runtime is the command used to run Java application. This may be javaw or java depending on your Java virtual machine.

where java_options is one or more of the following options:

-classpath classpath
list of directories in which to look for classes
-Dworks.home=installation directory
Specifies the installation directory pathname of Works (e.g. "C:\Program Files\MetaIntegration" on Windows)
-Djava.security.policy=file:/installation directory/win32/java.policy
Specifies the Java security policy file where installation directory is the installation directory pathname of Works with slashes (e.g. "C:/Program Files/MetaIntegration" on Windows)

and where works_options is one or more of the following Works options:

-help
Prints out this message on the standard output.
-username user_id
Specifies the default user name for the connect dialog box.
-password password
Specifies the default password for the connect dialog box. If set then Works will log in on startup using this password.
-host hostname
Specifies the default host to connect to.
-port port_number
Specifies the port to use to connect to the MIR Server. Note that the MIR Server must be configured to expect connection requests on this port.
-model model_path
Loads the specified model on startup. The products and version are separated by slashes '/'. Note also that to use this option you must specify a password.
-mapping mapping_path
Loads the specified model mapping on startup. The products and version are separated by slashes '/'. Note also that to use this option you must specify a password.
-file model_file
Loads the specified MIM file on startup. Unlike the -model and -mapping options this does not require the -password option.

5. Setting up Meta Integration Works

This section tells you how to configure your environment to run the application if you didn't install it using the self-extracting file (on Windows) or the installation shell script (on Solaris).

It is recommended to uninstall any previous version of Meta Integration Model Bridge before starting this installation.

If you already have a License Key you can provide it during the installation. Also, refer to the License Key section of this Readme.

5.1. Setting up Works on Windows 9x

  1. Open your favorite text editor and add the following environment-variable settings to your system's AUTOEXEC.BAT file:
    If you have Sun's J2SDK 1.5 
    set JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.5.0
set MIW_HOME=C:\Program Files\MetaIntegration\java
set CLASSPATH=.;%MIW_HOME\%MIW.jar;%MIW_HOME%\jhall.jar
set PATH=%PATH%;%JAVA_HOME%bin
    or if you have Sun's J2RE 1.5 
    set JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\JavaSoft\JRE\1.5
set MIW_HOME=C:\Program Files\MetaIntegration\java
set CLASSPATH=.;%MIW_HOME%\MIW.jar;%MIW_HOME%\jhall.jar
set PATH=%PATH%;%JAVA_HOME%bin
    These settings assume that you have installed Meta Integration Works and JRE 1.5 or JDK 1.5 on drive C. If either of these toolkits has been installed on a different drive or directory, substitute that drive's or directory designator wherever it is appropriate.
  2. From the Windows desktop right click and select 'New' and 'Shortcut', type javaw -Dworks.home="C:\Program Files\MetaIntegration" Works [optional options] for the Command line, select Next. Call your icon Meta Integration Works and select finish.
  3. You need to modify the java security policy to grant access to the Works jar files. Modify (or create) the security policy file .java.policy located in %WinDir% to add the lines: 
    grant codeBase "file:/C:/Program Files/MetaIntegration/java/MIW.jar" {
    permission java.security.AllPermission;
};
grant codeBase "file:/C:/Program Files/MetaIntegration/java/jhall.jar" {
    permission java.security.AllPermission;
};
    at the end of the file.
    If you did not install Meta Integration Works in the default directory, replace "C:/Program Files/MetaIntegration" by your installation directory, but be sure to use slashes (not backslashes) as the directory separator.
  4. To run from the Command Prompt type: javaw -Dworks.home="C:\Program Files\MetaIntegration" Works -host myrepository -username mylogin -password secret
  5. If you encounter an "Out of environment space" error, then you'll need to increase the size of the environment table. You can do this at the command line (which is temporary) or by editing a configuration file to make a permanent change (which requires restarting your computer). To temporarily increase environment space, enter the following at the DOS prompt: command /e:8192 To permanently increase environment space, add the following line to your config.sys file and then restart your system: shell=command.com /e:8192 /p Once you've increased the size of the environment table, try running Meta Integration Works again.

5.2. Setting up Works on Windows NT/2K/XP

  1. Double-click the System icon inside the Control Panel. When the System Properties dialog box opens, place the following variables in the lower list box, which is labeled "User Variables". (Be careful not to change your system environment variables, which appear in the upper list box.)
    If you have Sun's J2DK 1.5 
    JAVA_HOME C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.5.0
MIW_HOME C:\Program Files\MetaIntegration\java
CLASSPATH .;%MIW_HOME\%MIW.jar;%MIW_HOME%\jhall.jar
PATH %PATH%;%JAVA_HOME%\bin
    or if you have JavaSoft's J2RE 1.5 
    JAVA_HOME C:\Program Files\JavaSoft\JRE\1.5
MIW_HOME C:\Program Files\MetaIntegration\java
CLASSPATH .;%MIW_HOME%\MIW.jar;%MIW_HOME%\jhall.jar
PATH %PATH%;%JAVA_HOME%\bin
    These settings assume that you have installed Meta Integration Works and J2RE 1.5 or J2DK 1.5 on drive C. If either of these toolkits has been installed on a different drive or directory, substitute that drive's or directory designator wherever it is appropriate.
  2. From the Windows Desktop Right Click and select 'New' and 'Shortcut', Type javaw -Dworks.home="C:\Program Files\MetaIntegration" Works [optional commands] for the Command line, select Next. Name your icon Meta Integration Works and select finish.
  3. You need to modify the java security policy to grant access to the Works jar files. Modify (or create) the security policy file .java.policy located in %SystemRoot%\Profiles\login where login is your login name to add the lines: 
    grant codeBase "file:/C:/Program Files/MetaIntegration/java/MIW.jar" {
    permission java.security.AllPermission;
};
grant codeBase "file:/C:/Program Files/MetaIntegration/java/jhall.jar" {
    permission java.security.AllPermission;
};
    at the end of the file.
    If you did not install Meta Integration Works in the default directory, replace "C:/Program Files/MetaIntegration" by your installation directory, but be sure to utilize slashes (not backslashes) as the directory separator.
  4. To run from the command prompt type: javaw -Dworks.home="C:\Program Files\MetaIntegration" Works -host myrepository -username mylogin -password secret

5.3. License Key

You will need a full license to use this product. Please refer to our web site for more information on purchasing licenses.

Once you have received the license key you can install it by following these steps:

You may also wish to use a server license. Please refer to that section for how to setup and use a server license.

6. License Server Management

Meta Integration Repository (MIR) allows for an unlimited number of clients and 5 concurrent users. In this configuration, one machine acts as a License Server and all other installations of MIW use this license server for validation of their license. The license server will be running as long as MIR Server is running (usually as a service).

6.1 Configuration the License Server

The MIRSetup.xml file contains information that is necessary for the correct functioning of the MIR server application. In particular, it provides the parameters memory size specifications and the location of the class files to be used by the Java run time environment. The installation procedure initializes this file so that you should not have to modify it unless you want to change the location of the log file or use the server with specific parameters.

The file is self-documenting. Each parameter is given an XML tag, definition, usage and examples within the text of the file.

This file resides in the MetaIntegration\conf directory.

The MIRSetup.xml file is located in the conf directory.

This file can be modified in any text editor, and is autodocumented using xml comments.

The MIRSetup.xml file contains three sections underneath Setup:

Directory
for designating the installation directories.
Home
for designating the main Meta Integration directory.
Bin
for designating the binary execution directory.
Log
for designating the log directory.
Temp
for designating the temp directory.
Java
Meta Integration Java Environment Setup.
Directory
Meta Integration JAR file Directory.
ClassPath
Defines the Java Class Path.
AppendSystemClassPath
Specifies wether to append the system ClassPath.
LibraryPath
Defines the Java Library Path.
VirtualMachinePath
Defines the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) Path.
RunTime
Java Run Time Environment (JRE or JDK).
Executable
Purpose: JRE or JDK execution Options.
Server
Meta Integration Server Configuration.
Parameters
MIR Server Execution Paramaters.
Encryption
MIR Client/Server Communication Encryption.
ModelBridge
Meta Integration Model Bridge Information.
XmlConversationDirectory
Identify the XML Conversation Directory.
License
Meta Integration Licensing Information.
Mode
License Key Mode.
Key
License Key specific to your hostid.
Server
Defines the MIR License Server connection parameters.
Name
MIR License Server name or address.
Port
MIR Licenser server port number.

Note that these keywords are case sensitive.

Note: Some metadata bridges require shared libraries supplied by the vendors to be accessible at runtime on the computer where the bridge is executed.
Other bridges may require the complete Design Tool to be installed.

For example:
The Sterling Software CoolGen Export Bridge requires the "Workstation Update API" to be installed.
The Sterling Software CoolGen Import Bridge requires either the "Workstation Read Only API" or the "Workstation Update API" to be installed.

6.2 Starting the License Server

On Windows

For a server license configuration, the MIR Server is installed so that it is started automatically. On Windows NT it is installed as a service. On Windows 9x it is installed as a shortcut in the Startup folder.

The MIR Server program may be started as an application (if is not installed so as to start automatically or if the program has been stopped). You can start it by opening the "Start Menu", going to the "Meta Integration" folder under "Programs", and clicking on the "Repository Server" entry. You can also start it from the command line by typing "MIRServer -run" (supposing that you have set the PATH accordingly).

On Unix / Linux (x86)

If the user installing the product is the root user, the MIR Server is installed so that it is started automatically using the System V init scripts.

The MIR Server program may be started as an application (if is not installed so as to start automatically or if the program has been stopped). The command is RepositoryServer (supposing the PATH variable has been set to contain installation directory/bin).

6.3 Using (Refering to) the License Server in Model Bridge

Once the License Server is installed and running and has a valid license key, any number of other MIMB installations may be made on other machines. To license them, follow the licensing instructions in section 3.4 above, except specify that the software should use a shared license from the license server. Enter the ip address or name of the license server and the port (if different than the default 1099).

7. Customization of Meta Integration Repository (MIR) Profiles for ModelBrowser's Views

The Meta Integration Repository (MIR) stores metadata under the powerful MIR metamodel which is fairly large and complex as it implements and integrates many standard metamodels like the OMG UML and CWM, IDEF1X, W3C, as well as metamodels from tool vendors like IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, etc. The MIR metamodel vocabulary is therefore primarily driven by the OMG UML & CWM metamodels with notions of Classifier, Feature, ClassifierMap, FeatureMap. If not experienced with the OMG UML and CWM vocabulary, the Meta Integration tool users may not be knowledgeable of the MIR vocabulary when browsing models in Meta Integration Works (MIW) or in MIR Web. However, users can define views on the MIR Metamodel known as "Profiles" in order to:

  • filter out metadata they are not interested to see,
  • rename metadata to their own terminology (e.g. Classifier, Class, Entity, Table),
  • associate metadata with the icons of their usual tools,
  • filter out or rename properties (attributes).

    • Meta Integration Repository (MIR) Profiles corresponds to the concepts of OMG UML Profiles. Note that the MIR Profiles are not only used by the Model Browser, but also the Model Comparator in order to generate custom comparison filters.

    When using the Model Browser of MIW or MIR Web, a default (mandatory) view called "Meta Integration (UML, CWM, IDEF1X)" shows all available metadata in the MIR repository. Other customizable profiles are available in the Meta Integration install directory, for example: 

    C:\Program Files\MetaIntegration\Profiles\*.profile
    These files can be customized to produce business vs. technical views, or tool oriented views like ERwin, Informatica, BO. You can start from the most appropriate profile templates: MyMIR.profile, MyIDEF1X.profile, MyRDBMS.profile, MyUML.profile or MyXML.profile

    The profile file is organized by order of inheritance since some child object views can override some properties of their parent. The overall syntax is defined as follows: 

    # Comments

%label="ProfileName"
[%iconPath="C:\\Program Files\\MetaIntegration\\MIRWeb\\images"]

MetaClassName[="NewMetaClassName"] {
Attributes
	[!][-]MetaAttributeName[="NewMetaAttributeName"];
Links
	[!][-|+]MetaLinkName[="NewMetaLinkName"];
Icons
	icon="Icons/ProfileName/MetaClassName.gif";
}
    Here are a few customization tips on the syntax of .profile files:

    7. Integrating Works in a Web site

    This section describes how to invoke Meta Integration Works from your Web site.

    Your clients must run Netscape Navigator 4+ with Java Plug-in Software 1.5 or Microsoft Internet Explorer 4+ with Java Plug-in Software 1.5.

    8. Frequently Asked Questions

    1. When I run Works from the browser and try to connect I get a "Connection to 'some-host' ... Please Wait" and I'm still waiting.

    This problem is due to the Java Plug-in working under 1.3 that requires we shut off security under Meta Integration Works. Have the web users copy and paste the following statement contained in quotes (after you have replaced yoursite.com/MIW-Path by your own path), "-Djava.security.policy=http://www.yoursite.com/MIW-Path/java.policy", to the Java Run Time Parameters field in the Java Plug-in Control Panel.

    2. On Windows, when launching the self extracting executable, an "Overwrite Protection" window appears: "The following file is already installed on your system".

    This is because you have launched this executable shortly after a previous installation and the previous InstallShield Setup has not yet finish its cleanup. Click on "Cancel" and restart the program. If you click on any other button, you may experience problem during the installation because some files would not have been copied correctly. Typically, an error (-113) will occur during the move data process. If you experience such an error, wait a few seconds then restart the installation.

    3. Java Plug-in crashes or gives me NoClassDefFound errors when I load large models.

    This may be caused by bugs in the Just In Time compiler. If you encounter these problems set the environment variable 'JAVA_COMPILER' to '' or remove the option "-Djava.compiler=symcjit" from the command line/batch file/shell script. If you use Java Plug-in, start the Java Plug-in Control Panel, select the "Advanced" tab and uncheck the "Enable Just In Time Compiler" property.

    4. When I load MIW in my browser I get nothing in the browser but two windows outside the browser. Also sometimes MIW does not start at all or I get an "Ole Edit" window instead. Why ?

    This bug is known to happen when an older version of java or MITI's classes are in your CLASSPATH. On installation Symantec Cafe, or another Java developer tool may have modified your CLASSPATH variable. The solution is to set the CLASSPATH variable to ".". Your CLASSPATH is not actually needed for Cafe and removing should not affect it.

    5. When I load MIW in Microsoft Internet Explorer browser I get an exception "java.io.FileNotFoundException: \C:\Program Files\MetaIntegration\java\MIW.jar". Why ?

    This is a bug in Microsoft Internet Explorer. When you try to open a URL containing spaces and it references Java Jar files in the same directory, Explorer passes an incorrect pathname to the Java Plug-in. To avoid this problem, copy the html file and related Jar files in a directory so that the URL does not contain spaces. Note that using short names does not work as Explorer automatically translates them back to long names and then fails.

    6. Why does the connection to the server take so much time on Windows?

    Works uses RMI which do TCP/IP host name lookups - both host to address mapping and address to hostname mapping. If your host is set up to use DNS, then it is usually a problem with the DNS server not knowing about the hosts involved in communication, and what you are experiencing are DNS lookup timeouts. Try specifying all the involved hostnames/addresses in the local hosts file that is \winnt\system32\drivers\etc\hosts on NT or \windows\hosts on Windows 9x. The format of a typical host file is: 

    #IPAddress        Machine Name
192.168.2.1       emerald
192.168.2.2       diamond

    This should dramatically cut down the time it takes to connect to the server.

    7. How does the JDBC import bridge retrieve the directory or the jar file that contains the JDBC driver I want to use to load a model from a database?

    The directory or jar file pathname must be set on the command line in the batch file (on Windows) or the shell script (on Unix) that starts Works.

    On Windows, you need to edit the batch file MIW.bat to add the directory or jar file pathname at the end of the value of the '-classpath' option, and restart Works.

    On Unix, you can simply set the directory or jar file pathname in the environment variable CLASSPATH before to start Meta Integration Works. You can also edit the shell script WorksClient if you don't want to modify the CLASSPATH variable (because it is shared by several applications for instance): add the pathname of the directory or jar file holding your JDBC driver to the value of the '-classpath' option, and restart Works.

    8. You say that anonymous user does not have a password. But I am concerned with security. What can I do?

    You can delete the user 'anonymous'. To do so, log in MIW as administrator and start the Repository Administration tool. Select the user anonymous in the table of users and click on the Delete button.
    Note that if you later on re-create an 'anonymous' user, it won't have a password (more exactly the password will be ignored).

    9. I have a window that I cannot move/resize anymore because the title bar/border is not visible.
    There is a window that I cannot see anymore. What can I do?

    It is possible to resize or move a window so that the title bar, its border or the whole window disappears from the screen. Use "Cascade", "Tile vertically" or "Tile horizontally" in the "Windows" menu to regain access to this window.

    10. I opened a model browser with an internal attribute panel. I iconized it, deiconized it and now all I see is the attribute panel. What can I do?

    When the model browser was iconized the attribute panel took all the space. To see the model tree again grab the splitter near the left window border.

    11. I changed the look&feel, but nothing happened. What can I do?

    Try to select the first object in the window and select the look&feel again. You have to apply this procedure to each open window. This may not work in JRE 1.5. In this case, you need to re-start the Client. Note that, in any case, except for the font display in the trees, the client will continue to work.

    12. When I try to start the Transformation Manager, a window says "Unable to load the Transformation Library from the repository. Make sure it is installed." Why?

    The MIR repository was not populated with the standard transformations when it was installed. Ask your MIR Administrator to install these transformations on the server (the MIR Readme contains information on how to install them).

    13. Works fails to load a very large model into memory, what can I do?

    This could be caused by the Java Virtual Machine running out of memory when loading the large model. You can edit the MIW.bat file used to launch Works and force the JVM to reserve more memory: ... java.exe -Xmx100m ... to reserve 100 megabytes of heap for example.

    8. Known issues related to the Java 2 Platform

    8.1 J2SE version 1.3

    1. Drag and Drop sometimes locks up.

    We have put as many work-arounds as we could, but there are still some cases where the Drag and Drop freezes the application. You can alternatively use the copy/paste mechanism: select an object, right-click to display the popup menu associated to this object and select the item "Copy". Then select the destination object, right-click to display the popup menu associated to this object and select an item in the "Paste" or "Paste Link" sub-menu.

    2. When editing descriptions, I sometimes loose a character.

    The character is not lost but there is a bug in the JTextArea class that makes the text shift of one character when a space or tab is typed while the caret is at the right of the window. By moving the caret, you can make the text shift back correctly in the window.

    3. The popup menu does not always disappear.

    This happens sometimes, on Windows, if the item selected in the popup menu launches a modal dialog box.
    If you change the selected window, then select back the 'dirty' window, the menu should disappear.

    4. The scrolling does not stop.

    Sometimes, on Windows, when you start scrolling, the scrolling does not stop when the mouse is released. This seems to happen more frequently when the hotspot JVM is used than when the classic JVM is used.

    5. I un-docked the tool bar and now I lost it.

    It is not lost. It is just hidden behind the Works window. To re-dock it, close it.

    6. When I open a drop-down menu in the Data Query, Where Clause Editor or Operation Editor, it is unreadable.

    This only happen the first time you open that menu, just re-open it.

    9. Technical Support

    The best way to get support is to send an email to with a detailed description of your problem, the MIW version that you use, your platform and your database.

    You can also get more information about our products by going to our Web Site, http://www.metaintegration.com or sending an email to .

    Finally you can also contact us by regular mail or phone at:

    650 Castro Street (Suite 210)
    Mountain View, CA 94041

    Phone: (650)960-9000
    Fax: (650)960-9003

    < Description | Documentation | Tutorial | Readme | Functionalities | Architecture width=17 height=22>