® Best Practices for Creating Applications with IBM WebSphere Portlet Factory Jonathan Booth | Senior Architect, WebSphere Portlet Factory | IBM AD504

®

Best Practices for Creating Applications withIBM WebSphere Portlet Factory

Jonathan Booth | Senior Architect, WebSphere Portlet Factory | IBM

AD504

Best practices topics

Introduction Creating applications using a service oriented architecture

Controlling and customizing the user interface Choosing the right builder Building multiple application variations with profiling Optimizing performance Building for multiple platforms Top 10 development best practices Q & A

4

WebSphere Portlet Factory

Rapid development

Robust integration capabilities (SAP, Domino, relational DB, web services and REST services, PeopleSoft, Siebel, and more)

Service-oriented development

Support for many deployment platforms: WebSphere Portal WebSphere Application Server (servlet or portlet) IBM MashupCenter (widget) Lotus Notes 8.x

Runs on Eclipse or IBM Rational tools

IBM WebSphere Portlet Factory simplifies & accelerates the development of custom portlets and applications

5

Key concepts: builders

Capture design patterns and automate the creation of code

Have easy to use, wizard-like interfaces

Create or modify any number of application elements

Pages, schemas and data, server-side and client-side actions and logic, back end connectivity, etc.

/** * Generated Method [employees_SelectRow] */public void employees_SelectRow(WebAppAccess webAppAccess,

Integer rowIndex, String nextAction) { int index = rowIndex.intValue(); Variables vars = webAppAccess.getVariables(); int selectedRow = index - 1; IXml data = vars.getXml("employeesGetEmployeesByDeptResults"); if (data == null) return; data = data.findElement("EmployeeList"); if (data == null) return; int row = 0; IXml child = data.getFirstChildElement(); while (child != null) { if (row == selectedRow) { vars.setXml("employees_SelectedRowData", child); break; } row++; child = child.getNextSiblingElement(); } webAppAccess.callMethod( "employeesGetEmployeeRecord" );

webAppAccess.processAction(nextAction);}

6

Key concepts: models

Models are containers for builders

Developers work iteratively with builders in a model, adding and modifying builders to get desired functionality

A model is typically used to create a service or presentation pages

●Portlet Factory and software automation

Portlet Factory’s model-based development paradigm – using builders – is different than other development tools

You specify the inputs that control code generation Builders generate all the code, optionally incorporating hand-edited code

Builders implement patterns – from high-level service and user interface patterns, to low-level page elements

The benefit of this approach is rapid development and a high degree of automation

Best practices have evolved over the past several years of experience with this paradigm




●Service oriented builders in Portlet Factory SOA builders in Portlet Factory make it easy to implement a service provider/consumer architecture

These builders work in a consistent way with any back end data source:

Data integration builders provides access to data source Service Definition builder defines a service provider model for use by consumers

Service Operation builders define the operations to expose to consumers Service Consumer allows you to consume service operations in presentation models

10

Presentation models

Service Consumer

Service

Definition

SQL Call

Service

Operation

Service

Operation

SQL Call

Service model

DB Service Consumer

View & Form

View & Form

Service and presentation models

11

Presentation models

Service Consumer

Service

Definition

Domino Data

Access

Service

Operation

Service

Operation

Domino Data

Access

Service model

Service Consumer

View & Form

View & Form

Service and presentation models – Domino

12

Presentation models

Service Consumer

Service

Definition

Web Service Call

Service

Operation

Service

Operation

Web Service Call

Service model

Service Consumer

View & Form

View & Form

Remoteserver

or Enterprise Service Bus

Service and presentation models – web services

Benefits of using a service architecture

Separate back end and presentation development

Automatic support for service testing

Develop consumer (presentation) model without any back end access, using stub service model

Reuse services in multiple presentation models

Transform data between back end schema and some other schema

Switch between service implementations without changing consumer model Demo:

creating a portletusing a service

architecture

High-level steps for application development1. Create a service model for data access

2. Use builder such as View & Form to create the initial presentation Forms and views are automatically generated from the schema

3. Use high-level builders to control overall user interface

4. Apply fine-grained builders where needed For example, for additional navigation

5. Add and modify builders iteratively until the application functions and looks as desired




●Controlling and customizing the user interface

Portlet Factory uses “Page Automation” technology to generate pages based on schema definitions

For example, View & Form builder and Data Page builder Best practice is to use this automation for any data display and input

These builders work with a whole set of fields at a time They adapt automatically to schema changes

Builders are used to customize and control the various aspects of the user interface:

Forms and data display (formatting, validation, pickers, etc.)

Overall style and look and feel (colors, fonts, etc.) Page layout Navigation and other added elements

Controlling the UI: forms and data display

Portlet Factory has several builders for controlling and customizing forms and views

Some builders target a whole set of page elements, for maximum automation

Rich Data Definition applies UI characteristics (validation, formatting, UI type, labels, etc.) across many fields

Other builders target a specific page element Data Field Modifier sets UI characteristics Attribute Setter sets HTML attributes

Goal: use maximum automation whenever possible; use detailed individual customization when needed

Controlling forms and views with Rich Data Definition

<xsd:schema xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:tns="http://bowstreet.com/2002/10/generatedschema1" targetNamespace="http://bowstreet.com/2002/10/generatedschema1">

<xsd:element name="ORDER_ID" type="xsd:string" />

<xsd:element name="DATE_ORDERED" type="xsd:string" />

<xsd:element name="STATUS" type="xsd:string" />

<xsd:element name="DATE_SHIPPED" type="xsd:string" />

<xsd:element name="QUANTITY" type="xsd:string" />

<xsd:element name="AMOUNT" type="xsd:string" />

<xsd:element name="BILLING" type="xsd:string" />

<xsd:element name="SHIPPED" type="xsd:string" />

<xsd:element name="STATE" type="xsd:string" />

</xsd:schema>

Schema

Controlling forms and views with Rich Data Definition

<xsd:schema xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:tns="http://bowstreet.com/2002/10/generatedschema1" targetNamespace="http://bowstreet.com/2002/10/generatedschema1">

<xsd:element name="ORDER_ID" type="xsd:string" />

<xsd:element name="DATE_ORDERED" type="xsd:string" />

<xsd:element name="STATUS" type="xsd:string" />

<xsd:element name="DATE_SHIPPED" type="xsd:string" />

<xsd:element name="QUANTITY" type="xsd:string" />

<xsd:element name="AMOUNT" type="xsd:string" />

<xsd:element name="BILLING" type="xsd:string" />

<xsd:element name="SHIPPED" type="xsd:string" />

<xsd:element name="STATE" type="xsd:string" />

</xsd:schema>

Schema

Rich Data Definition for

schema

ORDER_ID

DATE_ORDERED

STATUS

STATE

Rich Data Definition Shared Library

base_Date

base_Currency

base_US_State

Demo: using Rich Data

Definition

Controlling the UI: overall style and look and feel

New in Portlet Factory 6.1.2: Themes

Themes allow you to centrally control and modify the look and feel:

Styles (CSS) Page layouts Table and form layout rules Table highlighting and paging controls

A theme can be applied for a model, or automatically for a whole project

You can also override specific theme elements at any level

Demo: using themes

●Controlling the UI: page layouts

Overall page layout is controlled with imported HTML pages

Imported pages include placeholders (named tags) where content will be inserted

Field layout, grouping, and visibility can be controlled with builders

For complete customization of field layout, use an HTML page with all the field locations (named tags) for a schema

Use “Export HTML” command to create HTML file with named tags Select the generated file in builder such as View & Form Iteratively modify the HTML file using an HTML editor to position fields as desired

Controlling the UI: navigation and other added elementsThere is a large set of builders that add elements to pages:

Navigation (buttons, links, tabs, etc.)

Inserted pages and models

Ajax functionality Builders generate all the needed client-side and server-side code

Dojo features Drag and drop Popup “tooltip” windows Rich Text Editor

Demo: using Dojo

and Ajax




●Choosing the right builder Portlet Factory has over 150 builders, and it's not always easy to know the best builder for a task

This next section lists some common tasks, showing the builder that is best used to accomplish the task

It is derived from the “Getting Started Guide” located at: http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/pfwiki.nsf/dx/getting-started-with-portlet-factory-6.1

You aren't expected to remember everything from these slides! Get a sense of what's available Refer to the Getting Started Guide when you do your work

Choosing builders – creating services

Task Builder

Get access to data store •Use data access builder from following slide

Define a service •Service Definition

Add an operation to a service •Service Operation

Generate a test harness for a service

•Use the “testing support” inputs of Service Definition builder

Create a stub service model •In Service Definition builder, use the “Generate Stub” button

Create a WSDL/SOAP service provider

•In Service Definition builder, use the “Generate WSDL” checkbox

Create a REST service provider

•REST Service Enable

Choosing builders – data access builders

System or Data Source Builder

Relational database SQL Call

Lotus® Domino® Domino Data Access

Microsoft® Excel® Excel Import

Java™ class Linked Java Object

PeopleSoft® Peoplesoft Component Interface

SAP® SAP Function Call

Siebel® Siebel Business Component

Web Service Web Service CallWeb Service Multiple Operations

REST service, including Lotus Connections and Lotus Quickr

REST Service Call

XML Data Variable or Import to XML

Human tasks from WebSphere Process Server

Builders from Business Process Integration Extension (SOA Catalog)

Demo: accessing Lotus

Connections usingREST

services

Choosing builders – creating the initial user interface

Task Builder

Access a service model •Service Consumer

Create portlet pages based on service data •View & Form•Input Form

Create a page with a graphical chart of data •Imported Page and Web Charts

Make a model available as a portlet •Portlet Adapter

Add some structured data to a page, for viewing, input, or update

•Data Page

Choosing builders – working with columns and data layout

Task Builder

Hide columns in a table •Data Column Modifier•Rich Data Definition

Add sorting capabilities •Data Column Modifier

Reorder the columns in a table or add new columns

•Data Column Modifier

Add grouping to fields on a page •Data Hierarchy Modifier

Create multiple columns for form data •Form Layout

Add buttons to expand and collapse data by category

•Category View

Display and hide detail information •Collapsible Section

Choosing builders – validation, formatting, and field UI

Task Builder

Format and validate data in fields

•Rich Data Definition – for maximum automation•Data Field Modifier – for individual fields

Change the UI behavior for a field (e.g., change to checkbox or radio button, mark read-only, or create a link)

•Rich Data Definition•Data Field Modifier

Create user-friendly labels for fields

•Data Column Modifier•Rich Data Definition•Create resource bundle using “Export Resource Bundle”

from page, then reference from builders such as View &

Form

Translate internal values into meaningful names

•Lookup Table•Rich Data Definition (create Lookup from RDD XML file)•Apply a lookup table to pages with Data Field Modifier,

Select, Text, or Radio Button Group

Choosing builders – actions and events

Task Builder

Create a list of actions •Action List

Assign a value to a variable •Action List (select Assignment under “special” actions)

Use some Java code •Linked Java Object•Method

Add portlet-to-portlet communication •Cooperative Portlet Source and Cooperative Porlet Target (for Property Broker Events or Wired Portlets) •Event Declaration and Event Handler (for simple events)

Add error handling to a portlet •Error Handler

Add caching to improve performance

•Cache Control•Service Operation builder – caching option

Choosing builders – navigation and page actionsTask Builder

Add action controls to a page •Button•Image Button•Link

Run an action when a form is submitted

•Form Submit Action

Run an action when a user clicks or types on a page

•HTML Event Action

Put pages onto separate tabs with navigation between tabs

•Page Tabs

Add paging controls to a table •Use the paging options in View & Form builder•Data Column Modifier with Paging Buttons or Paging

Links

Link to another portlet on same or different page

•Cooperative Portlet Source/Target

Add a drop-down menu to a page •Contextual Menu

Choosing builders – controlling page elements

Task Builder

Show/hide an element based on a condition

•Visibility Setter

Set an HTML attribute for a specified page element

•HTML Attribute

Localize the text strings for a portlet

•Localized Resource

Insert one page in another •Inserted Page

Display some read-only text on a page

•Text

Add some client-side JavaScript to a page

•Client JavaScript™

Demo: creating a multi-language portlet

Choosing builders – using schemas and variables

Task Builder

Create an XML variable •Variable

Use an existing schema •Use Schema builder to reference existing XSD file•Use Variable builder to create a variable based on the

schema

Create a simple schema •Use Variable builder to create an XML variable with the desired structure•Use Simple Schema Generator to make a schema from

Variable

Use an existing Java Bean •Linked Java Object•Java/XML Converter can be used to convert to XML

Transform data between schemas

•Use Service Operation builder for simple mapping•Transform builders•For more complex XML manipulation, use Java code that

manipulates Ixml•Transform builders

Choosing builders – portal integration featuresTask Builder

Make a model available as a portlet •Portlet Adapter

Wire your portlets together and communicate between them

•Cooperative Portlet Source and Cooperative Porlet Target

Add support for Edit and Configure mode

•Use Edit and Configure settings in Portlet Adapter builder, after profiling builder inputs

Create a customizer for a business user or administrator

•Use Portlet Customizer in a customizer model•Specify your customizer as a “custom model”

choice in the Portlet Adapter builder of your portlet

Integrate ‘people awareness’ or Sametime chat capabilities

•People Awareness (part of Lotus Collaboration Extension feature set)

Retrieve user credentials from Credential Vault, to support single sign-on with external back end applications

•WebSphere Portal Credential

Choosing builders – using Ajax and Dojo

Task Builder

Use partial page refresh for a region of a page or for an entire model

•Ajax Region Builder

Use partial page refresh for a specific action

•Use page action builders such as Link or Button•Set the “Post Action Behavior” to “Refresh specified page location after running action”

Use client side events •Event Declaration Builder•Client Event Handler Builder

Enable Drag and Drop on your page

•Dojo Drag Source •Dojo Drop Target

Add popup “hover” information to a page element

•Dojo Tooltip

Other Ajax related builders to explore

•Ajax Type-Ahead, Dynamic Validation, Dojo Enable, Dojo Inline Edit, Timed Action, Highlighter, Global Ajax Enablement, XML/JavaScript Converter

Choosing builders – sharing model functionality

Task Builder

Use some common builders in a number of models

•Imported Model

Include another model visually on a page, with support for navigation in the contained model

•Model Container

Reuse the actions or methods of another Model

•Linked Model




●Building multiple application variations with profiling

Dynamic profiling can be used to generate multiple application variations from a single source model

Variations can be tied to user roles, groups, or other attributes

For different customers, partners, regions, etc.

Profiling also supports customization by administrators or end users

Configure, Personalize, and Edit Shared Settings in Portal Enables business users to customize the application – without requiring additional coding by developers

Any aspect of application can be varied by profile: look and feel, level of functionality, services, logic, etc.

Demo: dynamic profilin

g




●Best practices for performance and scalability

Avoid retrieving large data sets● Try to retrieve small or moderate size data sets● Use paging to back end if possible

1 Enable cross-user caching when feasible● Enabled with Service Operation or Cache Control builders

2 Use Portlet Factory's built-in performance logging and tracing tools

● See next slide

3 Avoid deploying a large number of Portlet Factory WAR files

● A single WAR can include any number of portlets

4 Use automated load test tools to validate performance

5 Use the latest version of Portlet Factory

6 See recommendations from the tuning guide for WebSphere Portal

Built-in performance logging and tracing tools

System tracing or model action tracing The quickest way to pinpoint any slowness for particular actions

Instantly shows where the time is spent Easily enabled when running from Designer or with property file

Server stats A log file that periodically captures statistics about usage and performance on a running server under load

See the WEB-INF/logs/serverStats.txt file in deployed WAR Captures numerous statistics, such as request actions and their latency and requests to external systems

Session size diagnostics Reports estimated size of session variables

Demo: using system tracing



Controlling and customizing the user interface Choosing the right builder Building multiple application variations with profiling Optimizing performance Building for multiple platforms Top 10 development practices Q & A

43

●Building for multiple platforms Portlet Factory can be used to build applications for:

WebSphere Portal Server 6.0, 6.1

WebSphere Application Server 6.0, 6.1, 7.0 (as servlet or portlet)

Lotus Mashups 1.0, 1.1 (as widget) - New in Portlet Factory 6.1.2

Lotus Notes 8.x or Expeditor 6.1.1+ (as portlet)

44

WebSphere Portal

A Factory for all platforms

Use one common set of tools, techniques, and

application code…

Process Servertasks

Quickr and Connectionsservices

Databases

Domino

MashupHub Feeds

Web services andREST services

SAP

…and deploy to many platforms

Portlet Factory

WebSphereApplication Server

Notes 8 / Expeditor

Lotus MashupsPeopleSoft

Siebel Demo: running

onLotus Mashups

45

Considerations for multiple platforms The vast majority of builders work on all platforms

Data integration, services, page automation, theme, etc.

A few builders need special consideration Eventing: no Cooperative Portlet on Mashups or WebSphere Application Server (use widget events or basic Portlet Factory events instead)

Portal-specific builders or APIs such as Credential Vault, Portal Group profile selection, and People Awareness cannot be used on non-Portal platforms

Profiling can be used to dynamically enable/disable platform specific builders

E.g., “Portal Execution Mode” profile selection handler




Top 10 development best practices

1 Use a service provider/consumer model architecture

2 Use the highest-level builder available for the job

3 Use Page Automation builders for display and input of data (View & Form, Input Form, Data Page)

4 Use Rich Data Definition to simplify and centralize field formatting, validation, and UI

5 Try to keep model size under 50 builders

Top 10 development best practices

6 Don't write lots of code in Method builder - use Linked Java Object instead

7 Use the Theme support in Portlet Factory 6.1.2 to control UI style

8 Use system tracing feature to examine program flow and to look for performance issues

9 Use the samples on the wiki to get going quickly with new techniques

10 Utililize the developerWorks forums for specific questions or problems

Additional information and resources

Portlet Factory wiki http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/pfwiki.nsf Includes numerous samples and articles, best practices documents, and links to other resources

Portlet Factory forums on developerWorks http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=3044&uid=swg27011853

These are very active and are monitored closely by the Portlet Factory team

Portlet Factory zone on developerWorks http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/websphere/zones/portal/portletfactory/

®

Q & A

Legal disclaimer © IBM Corporation 2008. All Rights Reserved.

The information contained in this publication is provided for informational purposes only. While efforts were made to verify the completeness and accuracy of the information contained in this publication, it is provided AS IS without warranty of any kind, express or implied. In addition, this information is based on IBM’s current product plans and strategy, which are subject to change by IBM without notice. IBM shall not be responsible for any damages arising out of the use of, or otherwise related to, this publication or any other materials. Nothing contained in this publication is intended to, nor shall have the effect of, creating any warranties or representations from IBM or its suppliers or licensors, or altering the terms and conditions of the applicable license agreement governing the use of IBM software.References in this presentation to IBM products, programs, or services do not imply that they will be available in all countries in which IBM operates. Product release dates and/or capabilities referenced in this presentation may change at any time at IBM’s sole discretion based on market opportunities or other factors, and are not intended to be a commitment to future product or feature availability in any way. Nothing contained in these materials is intended to, nor shall have the effect of, stating or implying that any activities undertaken by you will result in any specific sales, revenue growth or other results.

IBM, the IBM logo, Lotus, Lotus Notes, Notes, Domino, Quickr, Sametime, WebSphere, UC2, PartnerWorld and Lotusphere are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Unyte is a trademark of WebDialogs, Inc., in the United States, other countries, or both.

IJava and all Java-based trademarks are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States, other countries, or both.

I

®

Extra slides

Documents

® Best Practices for Creating Applications with IBM WebSphere Portlet Factory Jonathan Booth | Senior Architect, WebSphere Portlet Factory | IBM AD504