Clipboard Tool

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Definition, Usage and Navigation
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C3: Protected
 About the Author

Created By: Tanay Kumar Bal, 136240

Credential Information: Pega CSSA
Reviewed By: Somasish Setua, 107760
Credential Information: Pega CSA and experienced PRPC expert

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Version and Date: BPM/PPT/0810/1.0

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 Icons Used

Hands on
Questions Tools Exercise

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Coding Test Your
Reference
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Standards Understanding
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A Welcome
Contacts
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Demonstration Break
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 Clipboard Tool: Overview

 Introduction:
 The Process Commander logical layer for storing data between an application and the

database is the clipboard.

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 Process Commander keeps XML-based structures called pages in memory, and pages

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contain property-value pairs.

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 A page is an instance of a class rule, and the page holds the current property values for
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that instance.
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 Clipboard Tool: Objectives

 Objective:
After completing this chapter you will be able to know:

 What are Clipboard pages

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 Clipboard Structure and Page Scopes

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 Use of Clipboard tool

 Debugging with Clipboard Tool

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 How to view a clipboard page as an XML document
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 Methods to access Clipboard pages

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 Standard Clipboard pages and their functions :

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 pyWorkPage
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 pyWorkCover
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 Clipboard Scope and Structure

 The clipboard is collections of Java objects in the JVM.

 The clipboard is managed as a group of pages, which are arranged into sets of
decreasing scope.

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 Process Commander has three clipboard page scopes.

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 Process Scope - shared globally across all requestors on a system

 Requestor
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Scope - shared among all the separate Threads within one requestor
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connection
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 User Scope - single requestor Threads

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 Page Scope : Process Scope

 Process Scope : System Pages

 Have the widest scope.
 Created at the startup of the application server, and live until the application
server is shut down.

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 Contains system-wide state and configuration information at runtime.

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 Example: – pxSystem, pxProcess.

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 Page Scope : Requestor Scope

 Requestor Scope : Requestor Pages

 Next, narrower scope.
 Exist for the lifetime of the requestor.
 Typically only a single requestor clipboard page, is created for each

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requestor.

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 Example - pxRequestor.

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 Page Scope : User Scope

 User Scope : Thread Pages

 Contains information at the thread level.
 Contains user and connection specific state and configuration information to
Process Commander at run time.

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 Memory for these pages are managed automatically according to Java rules.

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 Example: - pxThread

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 Page Scope : User Scope

 User Scope : User Pages

 Familiar named pages.
 Is a top-level clipboard page that
an activity creates using any of

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several methods.

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 If you log out, any user pages not
saved to the PegaRULES
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database are gone from memory.
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 E.g. –
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pyWorkPage,newAssignPage
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 Clipboard Tool : Basics

 Select Tools > Clipboard or type the

keyboard shortcut CTRL + B to open the
Clipboard tool.

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 The Clipboard tool displays two panels:

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 The left panel displays the page

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structures, in a hierarchical tree format.

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 The right panel displays the value of
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Single Value, Value List, and Value
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Group properties and messages, for one

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page selected in the left panel.

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 You can also control whether the Clipboard

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tool opens in a new window or in the lower

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half of the Developer workspace.

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 Clipboard Tool : Left Panel

 The left panel presents the

entire clipboard as a tree,
growing from the left.
 Click a name or plus sign [ ]

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to expand any node.

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 Click a minus sign [ ] to
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 If one of the User Pages
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holds a work object, that

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page is initially selected in

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this panel
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 Clipboard Tool : Right Panel

 When you select a page in the left

panel, all Value List, Value Group, and
Single Value properties on that page

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appear in the right panel, sorted by

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property name.

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 Property messages appear in red text.
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 Clipboard Tool : Limitations

 Refresh to present current information

 As you work, the system creates and updates clipboard pages related to your
work.
 These changes are not automatically reflected in the Clipboard tool display.

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 Measuring the size of the clipboard

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 The Clipboard display shows the contents of the clipboard, but not its size in
bytes.
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 Large clipboards can affect performance.
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 You can use the Performance tool to see the size of your clipboard in bytes.
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 Clipboard Tool : Limitations

 What properties do not appear?

 The Clipboard display doesn't include properties with names that start
with pz.
 These standard properties support internal operations.

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 Properties of mode Java Object, Java Object Group, and Java Object List

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do not appear on the Clipboard tool display.
 Only ‘Named’ pages are displayed in the Clipboard display.
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 The primary pages of some activities are not named and don't appear
on the Clipboard display.
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 To see the contents of unnamed pages, use the Tracer.

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 Using the Thread and Action menus

 Use the Thread menu to select which Thread (and

so which clipboard) you are viewing.

 Use the Action menu to test a rule without the need

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to create a test activity that creates the pages and

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properties expected as starting conditions for the
rule.
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 Action menu options that update the clipboard are
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available only to users who have the hold the

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clipboardViewerUpdate privilege.
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 Action Menu

Menu Description
Select to cause the Clipboard tool to display the most
Refresh
current pages, properties, and values.

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Select to cause the Clipboard tool to access and redisplay

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only a single aggregate property and its elements.

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Refresh
Current Page This operation is faster than a complete Refresh operation,
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but may result in an inconsistent representation of your
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clipboard contents.
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Choose Find to search through values on one of your

clipboard pages, or on all pages. Click Find to open a new
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Find panel below the right-hand panel.

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You cannot search for blanks, non-printing characters or

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null values.
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 Action Menu Contd.

Menu Description
After you choose Create Page, enter the page name and
Create Page
the class of the page into the resulting dialog box.

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Select the page in the left panel and choose Update Page.

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Enter one or more Single Value property references and a

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value for each, or update the values of properties already
Update Page listed.
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You can't use the Update Page menu item on an
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embedded page or a declarative page.

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To delete a page, select a page in the left panel and

choose Delete Page. Confirm the deletion in the resulting
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Delete Page
dialog box.
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 Action Menu Contd.

Menu Description
Select a page in the left panel and click Execute Activity.
The selected page becomes the primary page for the

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activity.
Execute Activity

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A dialog displays the class of the selected page. Enter the

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Activity Name key part. Click Parameters to enter
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values for parameters.
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Select a page and click Save Page to save the page to the
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Save Page database.

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You can't save a declarative page.

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To start execution of a flow, select a page (with a class

Start Flow derived from the Work- base class ) and choose Start
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Flow.
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 Action Menu Contd.

Menu Description

To review a tabular report showing the approximate size in kilobytes of each

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clipboard page, the page name and class, the number of accesses (read or

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update), and date and time of the last access, and passivation history. If the

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Analyze Clipboard
Collect Details mode is enabled, the display contains stack traces showing how
pages were created or deleted and historical information about pages no
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longer on the clipboard.
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Click to enable, or disable, automatic collection of detailed clipboard size and

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access information. A check mark next to this menu option indicates that
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data collection is active. A pop-up window confirms your menu action.

Collect Details
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 Clipboard page as XML Document

 Pages on your requestor's clipboard have a

natural tree structure that you can view as an
XML document.
 Follow these steps to display an XML

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document for a clipboard page.

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 Open the Clipboard tool.

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 In the left panel, click to select the desired
page.
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 Right-click on the page name. A menu with an
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option Show XML appears.

 Select Show XML . The Process Commander
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server sends an XML document corresponding

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to the page to your Internet Explorer session.

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 pyWorkPage and pyCover Page

 pyWorkPage
 By convention in standard flow processing activities, when a single
(non-cover) work object is opened onto the clipboard, the page is
named pyWorkPage.

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 Standard properties of Work- class get populated here.

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 Many OOB default activities use this page as reference.
 DO NOT name a page with this name.
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 This page opens up by default as you open up the Clipboard tool.
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 pyCoverPage
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 By convention, a cover work object occupies a clipboard page named

pyCoverPage; the covered work object is on a page named pyWorkPage.
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 . Many standard activities depend on these naming conventions.

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 Clipboard Tool

Time for Questions !

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 Test Your Understanding

1. How many types of Page Scope are there?

2. Under which scope does “User Pages” fall in?

3. What is the scope of page “pxT/=hread”?

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4. Where do you open the Clipboard tool from?

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5. Do you need a special privilege to open up Clipboard tool?

6. How do you switch between threads using the Clipboard tool?

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7. Will you be able to execute a flow using the Clipboard tool?
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8. How do you check the properties in a parameter page using the Clipboard tool?
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9. Where do you find the size of the Clipboard?

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10. Can you update an embedded page using a Clipboard tool?

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 Hands-on Exercise

 Create a clipboard page.

 Update a clipboard page.
 Execute an Activity.

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 Clipboard Tool : Summary

 Clipboard tool is one of the most important debugging tool.

 Always take care of removing clipboard pages when you think its not needed any
more.

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 You can easily monitor the same while you are developing an application.

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 Count the number of user pages in the Clipboard.

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 Execute a specific component that you have built.
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 Go back to the Clipboard tool.
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 Again count the number of pages. It should be atleast equal if not less than what you had
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counted in step 1.
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 Analyze the code and identify areas where you think the memory leak is.
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 Clipboard Tool : Source

 http://pdn.pega.com

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Disclaimer: Parts of the content of this course is based on the materials available from the Web sites and books
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listed above. The materials that can be accessed from linked sites are not maintained by Cognizant Academy and
we are not responsible for the contents thereof. All trademarks, service marks, and trade names in this course are
the marks of the respective owner(s).
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 You have successfully completed

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Clipboard Tool
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Definition, Usage and Navigation
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