Configuring the ArcGIS Web Service Handler cache
The ArcGIS Web Service Handler caches the properties of Web services hosted by ArcGIS Server. For example, properties of a map service, such as the list of server object extensions, parent folder properties, the cache directory parameter, the cache type, and the tiling scheme, are cached. Caching the properties of Web services in the Web Service Handler (WSH) improves response time to Web service requests.
Some properties are cached when the Web service is created, and others when the service receives a particular request. For example, the parent folder properties and supported capabilities are cached when the service is started. Properties such as the cache tiling scheme and directories used by the Web service are cached the first time that property is requested by a Web service user.
WSH cache update property
The frequency of the cache update is defined by the property arcgis.webservices.cacheupdateinterval in the WSH configuration file arcgis_wshandler.properties.
Location of the WSH configuration file
For the out-of-the-box WSH, the configuration file is located in the <ArcGIS installation directory>\java\manager\web_output\services\WEB-INF\classes\ folder. If you have not exported the WSH but plan to, you can edit the configuration template file in the <ArcGIS installation directory>\java\manager\config\security\build\templates\ folder. If the WSH has already been exported and deployed to an external Web server, you will need to do the following:
- Stop the WSH on the external Web server.
- Modify the cache update frequency in the deployed WSH .war file by editing the configuration file located in the <WSH application name>\WEB-INF\classes\ folder.
- Redeploy the WSH .war file to the Web server.
Cache update frequency
The WSH cache update frequency can be set to any positive integer value. This value represents the time, in minutes, that will elapse before the cache is cleared and re-created.
To disable a refresh of the WSH cache, set the cache update property to -1. In this configuration, the WSH cache is never cleared. To reload the cache, you will need to restart the WSH or force a refresh through a special request to the WSH.
You can manually force a refresh of the WSH cache by typing in a special request in the URL field of a Web browser. The syntax of this request is
http://<server name>:<WSH port no>/<WSH application context path>?request=updatecache&username=<user name>&password=<password>&domain=<domain name>&
A sample request would look like
http://arcgissvr:8399/arcgis/services?request=updatecache&username=johndoe&password=xxxx&domain=esri&