Form Caching feature in ehcache.xml and its impact

Products

• CA Service Catalog
• CA Service Management - Asset Portfolio Management
• CA Service Management - Service Desk Manager

Issue/Introduction

why do we need to adjust value of timeToIdleSeconds and timeToLiveSeconds for  system.form.cache  in ehcache.xml  on different environments  and how to adjust them .  

Form definitions are cached in run-time memory for better response times specially when request details are viewed

 

Form definition exists in run-time memory for certain duration based on configuration in a file called USMHOME/view/conf/ehcache.xml   and It is controlled by the setting :

<cache name="system.form.cache" maxBytesLocalHeap="100M" eternal="false" overflowToDisk="false" timeToIdleSeconds="2"  timeToLiveSeconds="2"/>

  

You can adjust the value of timeToIdleSeconds and timeToLiveSeconds   accordingly to the different environments and for different needs 

Environment

Service Catalog 12.9 CP2 and later

Resolution

On Production Environment , Caching form definition is highly recommended for PRODUCTION deployment : 

 To enable Form caching for fast  performance , follow the steps below

1.  Open the file USMHOME/view/conf/ehcache.xml in a text editor

2.  Locate the following line

    <cache name="system.form.cache" maxBytesLocalHeap="100M" eternal="false" overflowToDisk="false" timeToIdleSeconds="2" timeToLiveSeconds="2"/>

3.  Change the following values

             timeToIdleSeconds  to  86400

             timeToLiveSeconds  to  120000

4.  Save the file

5.  Restart catalog windows service for the change to effect

 

Please note : 

The downside of form caching is that any change to form definition in form designer would not reflect in the request which is associated with that changed form , unless catalog service is restarted. Hence it is not recommended for environments where the form definition change frequently, for example ,  your development system .  In other words ,  on your development ,  you can keep  timeToIdleSeconds  and timeToLiveSeconds  as 2  ( default one ) so that you can see the changed form reflected  in the request immediately while you develop/change  the forms frequently .  

Additional Information

 To understand the meaning of  timeToIdleSeconds  or  timeToLiveSeconds ,  you can do google search  them to find out the explanation . 

For example :

https://coderanch.com/t/587872/caching/Difference-timeToLiveSeconds-timeToIdleSeconds