Interactive Portlets

Presentation for WSRP MeetingMarch 18, 2002

Eilon ReshefVP Products and Co-FounderWebCollage

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Outline WebCollage

Who are we, why are we here? Interactive Portlet Example

Corporate credit card account The Need for Interactive Portlets

Data APIs are not enough WSIA Use Cases WSIA/IWS Functionality Elements

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WebCollage Web Application Integration Platform

Turning standard Web applications into reusable Interactive Web Services … and into interactive Portlets Republish Web applications in multiple ways

Focus on B2B Scenarios Travelers Checks, Boutiques, Configurators A.k.a. “Application Syndication”

Interest in WSRP Platform for transforming standard Web

applications into Portlets

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The Need for Interactive Portlets Data APIs are Not Enough

Development effort to incorporate Existing applications Rich applications

Configurators, advisors, … SAP, Siebel, Oracle, …

Data APIs are Often Inadequate for B2B Brand Dynamic cross-sell, up-sell, … Privacy

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High Level Requirements Portlets that include interactive multi-

step processes Benefits: “Drag-and-Drop”, coarse grain,

loose coupling No Portlet-specific code

…with explicit adaptation points to fit Portal Look and feel, data, flow

…and which fits existing paradigms Existing know-how, existing applications

and code-base

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OASIS WSIA – Main Use Cases “Embedded”

Side by side Portlets “Customized”

Adaptation of look and feel In and out parameters

“Coordinated” Event wiring between Portlets

“Orchestrated” Composed flow between Portlets

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WebCollage IWS

Portal PortletGetPresentation(…)

Presentation [HTML/WML/XML]

End User

Action

“Interactive Web Services” (IWS)

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WSIA/IWS Functionality Elements Definition (WSDL, …) Instantiation (with Initial Data) Navigation (URL Rewriting) Adaptation (HTML Transformations) State Management Data Export (Exit Points)

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WSIA/IWS Definition WSIA

Not yet addressed

WebCollage IWS A Portlet has a standard

WSDL interface Multiple SOAP

operations Designated operations

are “interactive” and have a specific “signature”

Same across Portlets Two types of integration

points into a Portal Navigation and

presentation (generic) Operation invocation

(specific)

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WSIA/IWS Instantiation WSIA

Not yet addressed

WebCollage IWS Any SOAP operation

can instantiate a Portlet Data can be

transferred State is returned

Or start directly with “interactive” operations GetPresentation()

No explicit termination

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WSIA/IWS Navigation WSIA

Is URL rewriting done by Portlet or by Portal?

Portlet Portal sends the

container URL as part of the operation

Portlet rewrites URLs Portal

Portlet needs to specify URLs to rewrite

Markup XPATH?

JavaScript?

WebCollage IWS Portal transfers a

“controller” URL (Portal URL) as part of the call

Portlet responsible for rewriting relevant links Some may “leak”…

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WSIA/IWS Adaptation/Customization WSIA

Property-based versus stream-based

Property-based Portal sends property

values as part of call Portlet returns

adapted output

Stream-based Portlet defines

“locators” into the output (XPATH,…)

Portal implements logic for manipulating output

WebCollage IWS Property-based

adaptation Properties defined via

XML Schema as part of WSDL definition Arbitrary type Name, description, …

Property sheets can be stored persistently by Portlet or by Portal

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WSIA/IWS State Management WSIA

Not yet addressed

WebCollage IWS Transient state

Returned by Portlet, resent by Portal on every call

Persistent state Returned by Portlet,

resent by Portal on every call

Also saved by Portal (persistency)

“Remember me”

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WSIA/IWS Data Export WSIA

Not yet

WebCollage IWS Any SOAP operation

can return data Must send state

Pre-defined denotes termination of navigation E.g., “Export Expense

Report”

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Points to Consider Basic Model for “Interactive

Components” Relationship between WSIA and WSRP

Portal-Specific Requirements Administration, user management, …?

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Summary Looking forward for a standard for

interactive Portlets Standard is strategic for WebCollage No technical preferences

Will happily contribute knowledge and experience “Interactive Web Services” specification

and reference implementation Looking for consolidated efforts with WSIA

Thank You!