Running DFS Sample Code for D6

D6 provides an SDK for developing custom web services and clients using DFS (Documentum Foundation Services). When I started playing with it, the first thing I wanted to do was to see that the sample code works. I also found that the DFS Development Guide describes the use of the SDK in good detail. The sample service that I tried was AcmeCustomService.

I ran into a few issues but they were not too much to overcome. Following are the key things to keep in mind if you are trying this for the first time:

1. In the sample code, replace the host IP and port number everywhere with the correct values.
2. The build.xml file refers to dfs.sdk.libs variable, but it is not defined anywhere. This can be added to the build.properties file. However, it is more appropriate to add it to the build.xml as follows:
   <property name="dfs.sdk.libs" value="${dfs.sdk.home}/lib"/>
3. The packageService target packages the dfc.properties file from outside the AcmeCustomService folder. Any changes to the dfc.properties files under the AcmeCustomService/etc folder are ignored. These can be fixed as follows:
   <path location="${basedir}/etc/dfs.properties"/>
<path location="${basedir}/etc/dfc.properties"/>
4. I found this to be the easiest way to do the build:
   ant clean artifacts package