How to download, install and run

Installation prerequisites

The eSubmission builder uses a technical architecture, suitable for both desktop as well as server & cloud deployments, as it consists of a server component and a web browser as client. The software has been developed under Windows 10 and the Chrome webbrowser, but can be deployed and used with other platforms / browsers

For installation, you need

  • a PC with Windows 10 (tested and developed with Windows 64bit environment)
  • a supported web browser. Currently supported browsers are Chrome (preferred), IE11 and the latest Microsoft Edge version (based on Chromium) . There are known issues with Firefox and the previous generation of Microsoft Edge.
  • a Java runtime environment installed and properly configured, at least Java version 8 (tested with 32 and 64bit Java environments). You can test Java by typing “java -version” in a command shell, this should return the version of your installed Java environment. If you don’t get this info, you either do not have Java installed nor not properly configured (e.g. PATH and JAVA_HOME environment variables). Please ask your local IT for assistance in this case.
  • sufficient main memory (768 MB of free consecutive space)

The program is offered in a zip file that needs to be downloaded und unzipped. There is currently no signed installer available, therefore the installation consists of a few manual steps.

Dependent on your local access rights you may eventually face some installation and startup issues, please see the section below.

Download and installation

To download and install the eSubmission builder software under Windows please do the following:

  • Download the ZIP file from the download section (check your download page that you receive after your registration) and save the ZIP file in a folder on the harddrive of your local PC. Please avoid using folders on remote harddrives, OneDrive folders and folders with long filenames. If possible, create and use the folder directly below the C:\ drive, e.g. in “C:\esub-builder”. In case of questions please contact your local IT
  • Rename the file (press F2 when file is selected) and remove the “.rename.me” suffix, the file name should then end with “.zip” (The reason for this is that some company proxy servers intercept the download of zip files)
  • Unpack the ZIP file in the newly created folder
  • In the root directory of the extracted folder structure you will find the following files

These are the file you need to start, open and stop the eSubmission builder. You may want to add shortcuts to those files on your Windows desktop for the convenient access.

To use the application you need to do the following:

  • Please click on “01 eSubBuilder Server Start.cmd”. A command window will appear and show startup message of the eSubmission server component. Please wait a few seconds until the window looks sikmilar to the following (please note the last line stating “Started x out of y services”)
  • Do not close this window and do not click into it. Instead, minimize the window with the “_” icon in the upper right corner of the window.
  • If you only very briefly see a Window flashing and then immediately disappearing, then there is a startup error: Please open a command window, navigate to that directory, type “01 eSubBuilder Server Start.cmd” and then hit return. You will then see the message, why the system does not start. Often this is related to a missing or malconfigured Java environment. Then, please ask your local IT for support.
  • The eSubmission builder server component has now started. You can now open the eSubmission builder by typing http://localhost:8080/esub-builder/#/ in your favorite web browser or click the shortcut “02 eSubBuilder URL” in the root directory. For convenvience you can also create a bookmark in the web browser. Of course you need to start the server component first before you can access the builder itself-
  • To stop the server you can either
    • select and maximize the startup window and type Ctrl-C on the keyboard
    • click “03 eSubBuilder Server Stop.cmd”
  • The server will stop in a few seconds and you can then close the command window(s)

Backup

Please make sure to run a regular backup of the following directories of the computer where the eSubmission builder is installed:

  • The installation directory of the eSubmission builder
  • All directories where documents (PDF, Word, Excel) are stored that have been made available to the eSubmission builder.
  • Please note the the eSubmission builder does not store any document data, just a file reference to that file. There is no real upload of documents to the eSubmission builder. Consequently, you must not move or delete the files after having referenced them in the eSubmission builder. Please choose an appropriate file location before referencing content in the eSubmission builder. This is also true when importing a CADDY dossier.

Prior to the regular backup, please make sure that the eSubmission builder is properly shut down.

Upgrade from previous version

In order to update from a previous version and to retain the information already present in the previous version, the following steps are to be done:

  1. Make sure, that prior to the upgrade you have a full backup of the computer available, with both the old installation directory as well all the directories that contain the actual documents (mostly PDFs) that are referenced from the data in the eSubmission builder (the builder does not contain the documents, just the references!)
  2. Unzip the new release in a parallel directory compared to the previous version. This is implicitly done by unzipping using the default name.
  3. Then, in the previous installation navigate to the subdirectory
    wildfly-xxxx.Final\standalone\data.
  4. Copy the subdirectory
    esub-builder-db
    including all its contents to the same directory in the new installation. If there is already a directoy present and you are sure that you have not entered any data in the new version, you can overwrite it
  5. Apply the same copying process for the subdirectory
    publications
    including all of its content (assuming that you have not modified the setting publication.path for the publication directory setting in the standalone.xml configuation file).
  6. If you have modified any settings in the standalone.xml (in the subdirectory wildfly-xxx.Final\standalone\configuration) , you may want to copy the modified settings over to the new installation.
  7. Start the new installation as described above and verify, that you see the same content from the previous version. Please note that you cannot start both version simultaneously. If you would want to do that, please ask your IT administration to change the default ports of one of the installation.

Possible installation and startup issues

Due to frequent user rights restrictions in the IT environment of companies, a number of issues may occur. Please contact your local IT department first in case of download, installation and startup problems, using the information below. Only if you think that you have encountered a problem not  listed below, please inform the development team.

The following paragraph lists possible issues you may encounter:

  • Restrictions to download the ZIP file, your IT may have decided not to trust the certificate on https://esubmission.croplifeeurope.eu.
  • Restrictions to create a folder in a local directory below C:\
  • Restrictions to run the startup script. Windows may display the following screen (after your press “More information”) at the end of the top text.
    • The reason for this screen is that the program is not signed with a certificate and hence the published of the software cannot be verified by Windows. Please click “Run anyway” to start the eSubmission builder
  • Failing initialisation, e.g. due to Java problems.
    • Please check the file “server.log” in the installation subdirectory “esub-builder-0.9.0\wildfly-16.0.0.Final\standalone\log” for errors
  • Error “Path too long” during unzip operation, when already the path of your installation folder is too long
    • Please use a folder directly below “C:\”, like “C:\esub-builder”
  • Insufficient free consecutive main memory