Understanding how a home page appears in a browser

When you enter the home page URL (http:// hostName/arsys/home) and then log on to BMC Remedy AR System, the mid tier uses the following sequence to determine which home page form is displayed in the browser. Remember that on the web, the mid tier can be configured to have multiple preference servers. Suppose that the AR System User Preference form is configured to use the server1 server and the HelpDesk form as the home page form.

1. The mid tier checks the home page server that is defined on the Home Page tab of the AR System User Preference form.
   If you defined a home page server in user preferences, the mid tier uses this setting to search for a home page form. For more information, see Specifying a server and home page in the BMC Remedy AR System User Preference form.

   Note

   If you do not create an entry in the AR System User Preference form, the mid tier creates a default record for you, but it does not populate the fields relevant to the home page settings. These are left blank by default.

2. If no user preference is defined, the mid tier checks the home page server setting in the Configuration Tool.
   If there is no configuration setting, the mid tier displays an error.
   In this example, the mid tier found the server server1 in step 1. The mid tier then checks for available home page forms.
   You define preference servers by clicking Home Page Settings in the Configuration Tool. For more information, see Specifying a server for the mid tier.
3. If the mid tier locates a home page form defined in your user preferences, the browser displays it as your home page.
   In this example, the user preference was not the default Home Page form installed with BMC Remedy AR System, but HelpDesk, an alternate home page form. The browser opens and display HelpDesk as the home page.
4. If you did not specify a home page in your user preferences, the mid tier searches for a home page form on the server defined in step 1 and step 2.
   When a home page is found and opened, the mid tier has compiled a list of entry points from all the servers listed in the AR Server Settings in the Configuration Tool and displays them in the home page's Application List field. If two applications have the same name, the mid tier displays their server name as well, as shown in the following figure.
   
   Application list field displaying applications with same name
   
   
   If such a form cannot be found, the mid tier displays an error and no form is opened in the browser.

   Note

   The entry point labels that appear in the application list field are also determined by the form views. You must set the correct view label to expose, for example, a web view of the form's entry points. Otherwise, you might define an entry point that is not displayed properly in your web view. The system displays views based first on the view label and then the locale. For more information, see Selecting a form view for the user.

   For more information about configuring home page servers, see Setting the Home Page tab.