NX 9: Web browser keeps getting a "Connection refused" error

[Bleaker]

Hi,

after installing and testing NX 9 on my Windows 7 (64-bit) machine last week I noticed that the internal web browser doesn't work for me - any non-local address I punch in, including

http://www.example.com,

returns a "Connection refused. Error code 1." message. The error persists after explicitly allowing NX to do whatever it wants in the firewall rules, or even after disabling the firewall entirely. I also have NX 7.5 and 8.5 installed concurrently, and their internal browsers all work without a hitch.

I noticed there were some changes to the browser in the latest release. Is there some sort of new security setting I'm missing here, or should I just go ahead and contact GTAC now?

 

[JohnRBaker]

It works fine for me, but then I did just install the first Phase of NX 9.0.1. I would call GTAC.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[Bleaker]

Okay, thanks for your reply. I filed an IR, but I have a couple more questions about the browser that can hopefully be answered in the meantime:

What capabilities does this new browser have? Does it support ActiveX or WebGL? Can anyone run the HTML5 test (html5test.com) with it and report back?

I see that the dll for the old IE-based browser is still there, and it can even be enabled by renaming the .dll file. Is there a special setting in NX somewhere that allows the use of the old browser "officially"?

 

[JohnRBaker]

Exactly which 'browser' are we talking about? Are we talking about the 'Internet Explorer' tab on the Resourse Bar? If so, that is just a link to whatever is your default Windows browser. There is nothing special about it other than it's launched from within NX and in Customer Defaults you can set the URL for the default page.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[Bleaker]

Yes, the browser tab on the Resource Bar.

What you say is true for NX 8.5 and older versions - back then it was just a link to Internet Explorer (it opens IE even if I have Firefox set as default). In NX 9, on the other hand, the browser tab opens a "real" internal browser, as evidenced by the change of the tab caption from "Internet Explorer" to "Web Browser", usage of a different dll (qtwebbrowser.dll instead of iewebbrowser.dll) and an apparent total lack of interest for Internet Settings of the OS - because it apparently has its own, which I haven't been able to access so far.

 

[JohnRBaker]

I'll check it out and get back to you.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[JohnRBaker]

OK, here's what I've learned; yes it is true that NX 9.0 uses its own 'Web Browser'. This is because, starting with NX 9.0, the 'Web Browser' must support HTML5 and this was the only way that we could guarantee that. This issue is related to future projects which requires HTML5 support and so this step was taken now in anticipation of those projects being integrated into future versions of NX.

As for your current issues, our development group will be looking at the IR(s) that you opened and will fuollow-up with you when they learn more about what you've encountered. In the mean time, it was suggested that this could be related to your proxy settings, so perhaps that might give you a place to start looking at where changes might need to be made.

If I learn more I'll update this thread. And remember, you will also be getting feedback via the GTAC IR process.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[rothers]

John, please tell me your going to get rid of the need for Java in online help.

 

[JohnRBaker]

Trust me, I feel the same way, but the biggest issue has been that we can no longer include the Java tools with the NX Help files. We had very few problems when Java was installed/updated when you installed the NX documentation, however, all that changed after Sun Microsystems was acquired by Oracle. They've changed the way they do business with application developers like Siemens PLM and so now we can no longer install/update those toolsets as part of our installation kits. Our customers must now acquire and keep those tools updated on their own.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[Bleaker]

For anyone who might stumble in here searching for answers to the questions posted:

1) Proxy settings support for the NX9 web browser is planned for NX 9.0.1.

2) ActiveX and WebGL are not supported. HTML5 support is actually worse than that of IE 10 (but better than IE 9). Guess it's intended to be developed further, or added just for some specific functionality...

3) In any case, in order to switch the built-in NX web browser back to IE you must create and set the following environment variable:

UGII_WEB_BROWSER_FACTORY=iewebbrowser

 

[JohnRBaker]

Please keep this in mind; for changes coming in NX 9.0.1 and definitely in NX 10.0, you'll need an 'NX browser' which supports HTML5.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.