Server Connection dies out with ICEFaces with long request

Question

Hello,

I have long HTTP request ( generating large Excel file - about 60K records or so) which takes like 5 minutes to complete. The wheel with icefaces shows connection is dead and although the file is ready on the server, ICEFaces page is dead and I have to refresh it and can't get the file! How to about extending timeout I tried the following in web.xml but it didn't help:

Code - Web.xml:

 .....
 <context-param>
         <param-name>blockingConnectionTimeout</param-name>
         <param-value>600000</param-value>
 </context-param>  
 <context-param>
         <param-name>synchronousUpdate</param-name>
         <param-value>false</param-value>
 </context-param>
 <context-param>
         <param-name>connectionTimeout</param-name>
         <param-value>600000</param-value>
 </context-param>
 <context-param>
         <param-name>heartbeatRetries</param-name>
         <param-value>20</param-value>
 </context-param>
 <context-param>
         <param-name>heartbeatInterval</param-name>
         <param-value>400000</param-value>
 </context-param>
 <context-param>
         <param-name>heartbeatTimeout</param-name>
         <param-value>2000000</param-value>
 </context-param>
 .....

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Tam

Answer 1

Seems to be a client timeout! Try async creation with ajax response.

Answer 2

Try setting the buffer size to an increased value to prevent unneccessary handshaking between client/server.

<context-param> 
  <param-name>facelets.BUFFER_SIZE</param-name>
  <param-value>500000</param-value>
</context-param>

web.xml

You'll find a lot of positive feedback from people who increased their JSF performance drastically with this little switch. Maybe it will help in your situation, too?

Answer 3

Without knowing more about the problem, here's the approach I would take:

1. User clicks on link to generate excel file. Display some message in place of the link such as "Processing..."

2. Periodically (maybe every 3 sec) ask the server if the file has been generated, if not wait a few seconds and ask again.

3. Once the file is finished generating, change the "Processing..." text to a link to the file "Download yourfile.xls" which has been generated and stored on the server in a download area.

This way the browser isn't stuck waiting for the file to be generated.