Filter Usage
The filter is the component in an unblu integrated system that is responsible for the Injection and for Forwarding Webpage Resources (images, css) to the collaboration server so that they can be transmitted to the agent's browser. Custom filters may, in addition, be responsible for Proxying certain browser requests to the server.
The filter is the link between the collaboration server and the customer's website (web or application server). Depending on the deployment scenario the filter might be part of (or even implement) a reverse proxy, fully integrated in the client's web or application server or integrated into the customer's website (client side filter).
Injection
The filter's main responsibility is to decide when to inject which unblu javascript files and to only do this when a co-browsing session is about to be started or has been started. This is of essential importance since co-browsing is typically only required for a fraction of website visitors. The filter therefore assures that the collaboration server infrastructure requirements can remain much lower than the website infrastructure requirements. For example, a website delivering 1,000,000 website visits per month may require multiple servers to bear the load, but still only need one collaboration server to provide 3,000 co-browsing sessions.
The decision on when to inject what is rule based. The rules are the main configuration element of the filter. They must stay in sync with the server settings. The collaboration server provides a json-based configuration, including rules and injection advice for the filter.
Forward Webpage Resources
Another filter responsibility is to catch resources as they fly-by and send them to the collaboration server in case a co-browsing session is active. This is only required for setups that depend on webpage resources delivered by the server. The process of uploading webpage resources is called "add-to-cache" in the server.
Similar to injections, add-to-cache operations are rule based. Again, the corresponding rules can (and should) be retrieved from the collaboration server and must stay in sync with it over time. In contrast to injection, the provided filters do not provide uploading functionality out of the box, though. Instead, they provide a means to determine when uploading is required.
Proxying
Usually, proxying is the responsibility of the reverse proxy the filter is running / integrated with. Some setups have no proxies in their existing network topology and introducing one only for the purpose of enabling co-browsing may be too expensive or for other reasons not feasible. In such cases, it may be an option to implement simple proxying yourself.
Filter Configuration
The filter configuration is json-based and can be retrieved from the collaboration server using: http://<unbluserver>/sys-unblu/filterBackend/read-configuration
Replace<unbluserver>with the hostname:portof your collaboration server and sys-unblu with your configured systemPathPrefix.
Available Filters
- deployonprem