timeouts

TIMEOUTS IN UNICORN

Without making reference to iLink but only to CHUI, WebCat and WorkFlows, there are a variety of places in which timeouts are set in the system, or in which timeouts happen by default and are not customizable.

In the Utilities: SYSTEMCONFIG/ACCESS/ENVIRONMENT (Values shown are for our Webserver Environment for Webcat)

Host timeout 500 (seconds) -- the amount of time the client software has to try to get a response from the server
Idle timeout NO

So Webcat users have a host timeout of just over 8 minutes, but no idle timeout at all.
The Clavis login used by remote CHUI users has 300 and 300. (i.e. 5 minutes)
The Maipub login -- used by diskless workstations and public access logins at the reference desk and some subject selectors -- has 300 and 300.
The Mairef environment, and the environments used by staff have no Idle timeout at all.

Webcat/Config/webcat.env

SESSION_TIMEOUT|900| # Number of seconds of inactivity before resetting session
DOWNLOAD_WIN_TIMEOUT|120000| # milliseconds -- to download the window

In 1997, Selden Deemer wrote the following, and I think it's still true:

Every time someone uses WebCat, a websession.nnn
file gets created in your locks directory. I believe the lock file gets
cleared IF the user uses the EXIT button. If not, then the websession.nnn
file doesn't get cleared until the session timeout value is exceeded.
These files are neglible in size, but they are not an accurate
indicator of how many WebCat sessions are active.

Since we upped our timeout value from 15 minutes to 60 minutes, the
number of websession.nnn files at any given time has increased sharply.
So, the number of these files will almost always exceed the actual
number of WebCat users, and the multiple has a great deal to do with
your SESSION_TIMEOUT value.

Webcat/Config/webconfig

CGIOPAC_TIMEOUT|180| -- the amount of time before a search times out
When cgisirsi starts, the timer begins. If it can't generate the results webpage before this time expires, it aborts the cgiopac start. The search part programs time out by default at 90 seconds.
The response timeout is NOT the inactivity timeout, which kills a user session if that user has not sent a request to the server in x amount of time.
One Sirsi system administrator says that if you are using any frames at all in Webcat, the timeouts don't work at all.

Individual Gateway Elements

Idle timeout -- the number of seconds to wait for a response from the database. If Idle Timeout Limit is set to NO, Unicorn will wait an unlimited amount of time for a response from the database, and the system will ignore any value in the Idle Timeout field.
Session Llimit In Seconds -- the amount of time that a user may stay connected to a destination. If Session Limit [the previous field] is set to NO, users wil be able to stay connected to the destination for an unlimited amount of time, and the system will ignore any values in the Session Limit field.

/Webcat/Pages_custom/Default/wtop.h

There are references to the timeouts in this file.

There is also a terminal timeout limit in the BRS configuration somewhere.
This is probably the "Search Timeout Value" referred to in Sirsi's Catalog Access Manual (Page Browsing 3-31). It says: "The search timeout value is the length of time that Unicorn's search program will wait for a search to complete. The default value is 90 seconds, but this may be modified by SIRSI Customer Support."

(/Config/Webenviron.0 THIS WAS FROM VERSIONS PREVIOUS TO VERSION 8

STATION_TIMEOUT|600
SESSION_TIMEOUT|600)

P.S.
Rob Brown says that if you are using any frames at all in Webcat, the timeouts don't work at all.

WORKFLOWS LOGIN TIMEOUT

Sirsi's Version 98.5 to 99.4.2 Release notes say this:
"During the login process using the WorkFlows client, the initial login timeout value can be specified in the Login Timeout field in the Configuration dialog box. [This is the box that comes up when you try to connect to WorkFlows]. By default, the timeout value is 30 seconds. This specifies the amount of time the client will attempt to establish a connection to Unicorn before timing out. Sites with a slower network may need to increase the timeout."

Z39.50 SERVER TIMEOUTS

In the Utilities, Systemconfig / Modules / Catalog Zserver:
Timeout : 600 -- If the user has not sent a request for the number of seconds specified here, the catalog zserver will close the session.
Initialization Timeout : 30 -- Any time a Z39.50 client connects to a Z39.50 server, the client must send an initialization request. If the user has not sent a complete initialization request in the number of seconds specified here, the catalog zserver will close the connection.