Using WSRP to Consume and Produce Remote Portlets

This chapter discusses how to:

Set up the local gateway URL. (Consumer)
Use the WSRP Consumption Wizard. (Consumer)
Display remote portlets on a homepage. (Consumer)
Produce remote portlets. (Producer)

Note. Use the link to the wsrp-primer for more information about WSRP.

Setting Up the Local Gateway URL (Consumer)

This section discusses how to set up the local gateway URL.

The local gateway is used for administrative tasks , such as registering producers.

Page Used to Set Up the Local Gateway URL

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Gateways	IB_GATEWAY	PeopleTools, Integration Broker, Configuration, Gateways Select Local Gateway.	Set up a web server to use for administration tasks, such as registering producers.

Page Name

Object Name

Navigation

Usage

Gateways

IB_GATEWAY

PeopleTools, Integration Broker, Configuration, Gateways

Select Local Gateway.

Set up a web server to use for administration tasks, such as registering producers.

Setting Up the Local Gateway URL

Access the Gateways page.

To set up a web server for WSRP administration tasks:

Change the URL to: http://<web server name:port>/PSIGW/PeopleSoftListeningConnector

Note. If you omit the port number, the system presumes a value of 9000.
Click Save.
Click Load Gateway Connectors.

The connectors will appear in the Connectors grid.
Click Save.

Using the WSRP Consumption Wizard (Consumer)

This section provides an overview of the WSRP Consumption Wizard and discusses how to:

Import producer information.
Register producers.
Create content references.

Understanding the WSRP Consumption Wizard Data

The Consumption Wizard is a tool used to easily import producer information, register producers, and create content references (CREFs) for the producer offered portlets. Once a producer has been registered, the offered portlets become available for use by any of your portals. Although the automatically created CREFs are only available to users of the current portal, an administrator can log into a different portal and manually create CREFs for any of the producer offered portlets.

Common Elements Used in This Section

	Click a number to go to the corresponding page within portal wizard. 1: Import Producer Information. 2: Registration. 3: Producer Offered Portlets. The different background signifies: Pale Blue: The page has been updated. Orange: Current page. Dark Blue: The page has not been updated.
Previous and Next	Click to navigate page by page.
Producer Title and Description	Enter meaningful titles and descriptions. Note. The producer title is also used as the default folder label for the content references created based on this producers offered portlets.
Creation Date/TimeandLast Update Date/Time	Indicates the date and time that the remote portlet information was first entered in the PeopleSoft system and most recently updated.

Pages Used to Navigate WSRP Consumption Wizard

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Define Producers	PT_WSRP_PRO_LIST	PeopleTools, Portal, WSRP Consumption, Define Producers	Add a new producer, edit an existing producers information, or delete a producer.
Import Producer Information	PT_WSRP_IMPORT	Click Edit or Add a Import Producer Information	Enter the producers WSDL URL to import required information.
Registration	PT_WSRP_REGISTER	Click Save on the Import Producer Information page.	Input producer registration information.
Producer Offered Portlets	PT_WSRP_PORT_LIST	Click Next on the Registration page.	View and edit portlet information. Create PeopleSoft portlets based on these portlets.
Producer Details	PT_WSRP_PRODETAIL	Click the Producer Details link on the Producer Offered Portlets page.	View the producers actual Service DescriptionResponse.
Portlet Content References	PT_WSRP_PORT_CREFS	Click the View button for the desired portlet on the Producer Offered Portlets page.	View the Content Reference of the newly created portlet.
Portlet Details	PT_WSRP_PORTDETAIL	Click the Details button for the desired portlet on the Producer Offered Portlets page.	View the XML that was returned from the producer for this portlet.

Importing Producer Information

Access the Import Producer Information page.

Producer Name

Enter a meaningful name for this producer.

The value entered here is also used as part of the default folder name for content references created based on this producers offered portlets.

Security Node (Optional)

Select the node definition that was created for WS-Security.

See Configuring WS-Security For WSRP Consumption and Production.

Web Service Endpoint URL

URL	Enter the web service WSDL URL for this producer. Note. The producer provides this information.
Import	Click to import the required producer information.
Status	If the WSDL URL is correct the status will automatically update from No Data Imported to Import Complete.If the URL is incorrect, or the producer is unavailable, you will receive a warning message with information on how to make corrections.
Save	Click to save the producer information and jump to the Registration page.

Registering Producers

Access the Registration page.

Registration Type

Choose a registration type:

In Band: In this process, the consumer sends a request to register with the producer, along with any properties required by the producer.

Out of Band: In this process the producer and consumer specify manual processes such as email or phone conversations to establish registration.

None: Registration is not required. No further information is required. Continue to the next page.

Status

Handle

Out of band: Enter the handle value conveyed to you by the producer.

In Band: Read-only. The value will display automatically when you click Register.

Validate

Click to check the validity of the handle.

Note. This button appears only when the registration type is Out of band.

Handle Status

Indicates the validity of the handle.

Note. This field appears only when the registration type is Out of band.

Note. Messages regarding registration status are also displayed within this group box.

Consumer Properties

Consumer Name and Consumer Agent

Displays the consumer information, (URL and software version), which is required by and sent to the producer.

Registration Properties

This group box appears only when the registration type is In-Band.

Note. The fields contained in this group box may vary according to each producers requirements.

Register

Click to register the producer.

If registration is successful, the registration message in the Status group box is updated and the Deregister button appears.

Important! When you deregister a producer, the handle becomes invalid and all user portlet personalizations are removed. You will need to obtain a new handle before attempting a reregistration.

Creating Content References

Access the Producer Offered Portlets page.

Update Portlet List

Click to refresh the list of offered portlets.

Important! When previously listed portlets are no longer offered by a producer, the Delete button associated with those portlets becomes active.

Producer Details

Click to go to the Producer Details page and view the producers actual ServiceDescriptionResponse.

Create Pagelets for All Selected Portlets

Click to create content references for the selected portlets.

These content references can be located in a folder created automatically using the values entered for this producer name and title for its name.

This will make the portlets available when end users are personalizing their homepages.

Note. You can also create the content references manually in any portal using the Structure and Content page.

See Administering Content References.

Producer Offered Portlets

Selected	Select the portlets you want to consume, then click the Create Pagelets for All Selected Portlets button to create content references. You can also use the Select All and Deselect All buttons.
View	Click to go to the Portlet Content References page to view the newly created content reference in a new browser window. The page displays the portal where the new portlet resides, the name and label of the portlet, and a link to the content reference. Note. This button is disabled until a content reference is created.
Details	Click to go to the Portlet Details page to view the XML returned from the producer for this portlet.
Delete	Click the Update Portlet List to refresh the list of portlets that are being offered by this producer. The Delete button will become active for portlets that are no longer being offered. Click the Delete button to remove the portlet and associated content reference.

Displaying Remote Portlets on a Homepage (Consumer)

This section discusses how to:

Review content references.
Display remote portlets on a homepage.

Pages Used to Display Remote Portlets

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Content Ref Administration	PORTAL_CREF_ADM	PeopleTools, Portal, Structure and Content, Portal Objects, Pagelets Click the desired folder name, then click Edit for the desired portlet. PeopleTools, Portal, WSRP Consumption, Define Producers Click Edit for the desired producer, then navigate to the Producer Offered Portlets page. Click View on the Producer Offered Portlets page for the desired pagelet, then click the navigation link on the Portal Content References page.	Review content reference data or manually create a content reference for an offered portlet.
Tab Content	PORTAL_TAB_CON_ADM	PeopleTools, Portal, Structure and Content, Portal Objects, Homepage, Tabs Click the Edit button associated with the My Page content reference. Click Tab Content.	Select the portlets that can be used for this homepage tab definition.
Personalize Content	PORTALHPCOMP	Click the Personalize Content link on the Homepage.	Choose the remote portlets that you want to appear on your homepage.

Reviewing Content References

Access the Content Ref Administration page for a remote portlet.

The field values that are automatically entered are based on the values entered for the producer via the portal wizard. These include:

Name	Defaults to WSRP_<portlet handle>. This field is read-only and cannot be changed.
Label	Enter a meaningful label description for this portlet. Defaults to the remote portlets short title.
Parent Folder	Defaults to the producers title. Click the Select New Parent button to move the content reference to a different folder.
Usage Type	Defaults to Pagelet.
Storage Type	Defaults to Remote by URL. This field is read-only and cannot be changed.

URL Information

URL Type	Defaults to Remote Portlet.
Producer	Defaults to the producers name.
Portlet	Defaults to the portlets handle.
Producer Details	Click to go to the consumption wizards' Import Producer Information page for this producer.

Note. When you create content references manually for offered portlets update fields by using the same default values explained in this section.

See Defining Content References.

Displaying Remote Portlets on a Homepage

Access the Tab Content page.

Note. This procedure is performed by the administrator.

To make newly created remote portlets available to end users:

Access the Tab Content page.
Select the required portlets, or select the Include all? check box to display all portlets from the portal registry for remote content group box.
Click Save.

The selected portlets are now available for end users to display on their homepages.

To display the newly created remote portlets on a homepage:

On the homepage, click Personalize Content.
Choose the remote portlets that you want to appear on your homepage.
Click Personalize Layout to organize your portlets.
Click Save to save your selections and return to your homepage.

Producing Remote Portlets (Producer)

This section discusses how to:

Specify PeopleSoft content for WSRP production.
Offer WSRP portlets.
Work with WSRP content references.
Set WSRP display mode.
Map PeopleSoft styles to WSRP styles.
Validate WSRP-compliance.
Use PeopleSoft WSRP-produced content.

Pages Used to Produce Remote Portlets

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Specify Publishing Options	PTPPB_WIZ_PUBOPT	PeopleTools, Portal, Pagelet Wizard, Pagelet Wizard Click the Next button on the Specify Display Options page, or click the icon for step 6.	Specify the manner in which your portlet is published.
Producer Offered Portlets	PT_WSRP_PRO_PORT	PeopleTools, Portal, WSRP Production	Select the portlets you want to offer to third party consumers.
Producer Details	PT_WSRP_PRODUCEDTL	Click the Producer Details link on the Producer Offered Portlets page.	Displays the service description XML that is sent to the consumer for all portlets in the selected portal.
Portlet Details	PT_WSRP_PROPORTDTL	Click the Details button for the desired portlet on the Producer Offered Portlets page.	Displays the generated XML for this portlet that will be sent to a consumer.
Content Ref Administration	PORTAL_CREF_ADM	Click the Path link for the desired portlet on the Producer Offered Portlets page.	Review the content reference that was created automatically for this portlet.
Content Ref Security	PORTAL_CREF_SEC	Click the Security tab on the Content Ref Administration page.	Review the security information for this portlet.

Specifying PeopleSoft Content for WSRP Production

This section discusses how to:

Specify pagelets for WSRP production.
Specify content references for WSRP production.

Specifying Pagelets for WSRP Production

Access the Pagelet Wizard - Specify Publishing Options page.

Use Pagelet Wizard to create pagelets that you want to publish as WSRP portlets. On the Specify Publishing Options page, you have the option of selecting WSRP Portlet for Hompage pagelets and Template pagelets. This enables the pagelet's WSRP Producible option and causes the pagelet to appear on the Producer Offered Portlets page so that an administrator can expose it for remote, WSRP portal consumption. Also consider the Enable Caching option on the Specify Publishing Options page. If you select to enable caching, also choose the Caching Type and the Minutes to Cache.

Note. When you create a pagelet using the Pagelet Wizard and select the WSRP Portal option, the system automatically enables the pagelet for consumption by Oracle portals using the JPDK specification.

Specifying Components for WSRP Production

To enable a component for WSRP production, select the WSRP Compliant option on the Internet tab of the Component Properties dialog box.

See Setting Internet Properties.

Specifying Content References for WSRP Production

Access the Content Ref Administration page.

While you can also specify pagelets for WSRP production using the Pagelet Wizard, you specify PeopleSoft components and iScripts intended for WSRP production using content reference options.

Note. Content references for pagelets (portlets) also control wether the pagelet can be WSRP produced. For example, selecting the WSRP Producible option for a pagelet's content reference is equivalent to selecting the WSRP Portlet option on the Specify Publishing Options page in the Pagelet Wizard. This applies also to component-based and iScript-based pagelets

Access the Content Ref Administration page.

The WSRP Producible option only appears for content references with the Usage Type set to Target or Pagelet, with the URL Type set to one of these values:

PeopleSoft Component.
PeopleSoft Generic URL.
PeopleSoft Script.
PeopleSoft Worklist URL.

The WSRP Producible check box appears just to the right of the Storage Type drop-down list box, and, by default, it is not selected. Selecting this option causes the current content reference to appear on the Producer Offered Portlets page so that an administrator can choose to expose it for remote, WSRP portals. In turn, deselecting the option causes the current content reference to be removed from the list on the Producer Offered Portals page.

Because WSRP producible content must originate from the local node, if a content reference is modified to reference a remote node, the WSRP Producible check box will not appear, and the content reference will not be able to be exposed to remote, WSRP portlets.

WSRP producible content references posses a set of optional, WSRP-specific attributes, differentiating them from other content references. The following table contains descriptions of the WSRP content reference attributes:

Attribute	Attribute Label	Description	Values
WSRP_TITLE	WSRPTitle	Allows the exposed WSRP Title to be exposed to remote WSRP portals.	Entered text.
WSRP_DESCR	WSRPDescription	Allows the exposed WSRP Description to be different than the default content reference description.	Entered text.
WSRP_WINDOWSTATE	WSRPWindowState	Allows the ability to override the default window state behavior for portlets or target pages. The default window state without the content reference attribute override for portlets is normal. The default window state without the content reference attribute override for target content is maximize.	normal maximize

Content reference links created from content references displaying the WSRP Producible check box also display the WSRP Producible check box. By default, the option is not selected when you create a new content reference link, even if the WSRP Producible check box is selected for the associated content reference. As with the content reference, if you select the WSRP Producible option on the content reference link, it will appear on the Producer Offered Portlets page.

When working with WSRP producible content references, also consider the following:

Portal registry folders do not display the WSRP Producible check box.
Context Manager template pagelets, considered by the system to be a type of portlet, are WSRP producible. If keys or parameters expected by a supporting transaction are unavailable, the content will appear the same way as keys being unavailable in the PeopleSoft portal.
If a WSRP producible content reference is moved to a different location in the portal registry, it still retains its ability to be WSRP produced.
The Test Content Reference link only tests how the content reference will appear in the PeopleSoft portal, not WSRP.
If you have a content reference that should only be available for WSRP and not through the PeopleSoft portal, hide the content reference from the PeopleSoft navigation system.

Offering WSRP Portlets

Access the Producer Offered Portlets page.

The Producer Offered Portlets page displays PeopleSoft provider content that has been selected for WSRP production. That is, any pagelet appearing on this page has the WSRP Portlet option selected in the Pagelet Wizard, and any content reference that appears on this page has the WSRP Producible option selected on the Content Ref Administration page.

Portal Name

Choose the portal where the content you want to offer is located, and click Search.

Note. To display portlets within all portals, select All Portals, and leave the Portlet Title value empty.

Portlet Title

Enter the portlet title or a portion of it for increased search options. Use the "%" character for wild card values.

Web Service Endpoint URL

Displays the URL that the WSRP consumer portal requires to import the offered content.

Oracle Portal Web Provider URL

Displays the URL that the JPDK-compliant Oracle Portal requires to import the offered content.

Note. This value applies only for Pagelet Wizard pagelets.

Portlets

This section of the page is named "Portlets," despite the content being exposed could be components, pages, or iScripts. Regardless, the content is exposed and discovered by WSRP consuming portals as "portlets."

Selected	Select the portlets you want to offer to consumers. Click the Select All button to offer all of the portlets listed. Click the Deselect button to remove all of the selections. If a content item in the list is not selected, it cannot be exposed to consumer portals. Note. By default, each new item appearing in the portlets list will have the Selected check box selected.
Details	Click to go to the Portlet Details page to view this portlet's generated XML that will be sent to a consumer.
Path	Click to go to the Content Ref Administration page to view the CREF information for this portlet.
Producer Details	Click this link to go to the Producer Details page to view the service description XML that is sent to the consumer for all portlets in this portal.

Note. If a WSRP producible content reference is deleted from the portal registry, the system removes it from the Producer Offered Portlets page.

Working With WSRP Content References

Use the Content Ref Administration page to view WSRP Content reference information.

Important! Use the Content Ref Administration page only to select a new parent folder or update the security for the pagelet.

Setting WSRP Display Mode

You can set the WSRP display mode using the system-wide, WSRP Display Mode option on the PeopleTools Options page (PeopleTools, Utilities, Administration, PeopleTools Options). 'This option enables you to control how PeopleSoft content is rendered when user interaction is initiated from within a WSRP consuming portal. This may override the WSRP Compliant setting within the component. You can select these settings:

Display as Portlet. Renders content accessed from a link in a portlet inline, as a portlet, provided the component has the WSRP Compliant property enabled. As with PeopleSoft applications and new windows, opening a new window, versus replacing the window, is not possible due to session and state management issues.
Replace Existing Window. All content navigated to from a portlet will render in the same browser window but take the user out of the consuming portal and into the PeopleSoft portal to render the content.

If a pagelet is WSRP-produced, and the end user clicks a link on the pagelet to take the user to a different page from PeopleSoft, the following describes the logic flow that determines whether:

The link is displayed inline in the portlet window of the WSRP consuming portal.
The end user is taken out of the WSRP-consuming portal and into the PeopleSoft portal to render the PeopleSoft content.

Determine WSRP display mode.
- If set to Display as Portlet, display the PeopleSoft content in the PeopleSoft portal within the same window.
- If set to Replace Existing Window determine if content is WSRP compliant.
Determine WSRP compliance status.
- If WSRP compliance is not selected, display PeopleSoft content in the PeopleSoft portal within the same window.
- If WSRP compliance is selected, display the PeopleSoft content inline as a portlet.

Mapping PeopleSoft Styles to WSRP Styles

For WSRP content, PeopleSoft style classes are mapped to corresponding WSRP styles. PeopleSoft provides PeopleSoft WSRP produced markup references only WSRP style names, not PeopleSoft styles. If a particular PeopleSoft style is not mapped to a corresponding WSRP style, the style can not be generated in the WSRP markup. The look and feel of the style in the WSRP consuming portal is determined by the WSRP CSS style sheets on the consuming portal.

PeopleSoft-to-WSRP styles exist adhere to WSRP specification 1.0(10.6). To modify the WSRP mapping, use the WSRP Style drop-down list box on the Miscellaneous tab for a style definition in Application Designer.

Note. Compared to PeopleSoft style options, WSRP style options are limited.

Validating WSRP-Compliance

To ensure that PeopleSoft pages, iScripts, and portlets comply with WSRP standards, use the WSRP validation options in PeopleSoft Application Designer. You can validate a single project or an entire database. Results of the validation appear in the Validate output tab, as with any other validate operation. The first line of the WSRP validation results is "Begin Validate WSRP Compliance," with the last line being "End Validate WSRP Compliance."

The system validates WSRP compliance against the following definitions:

HTML areas within pages.
HTML objects.
JavaScript objects.
Templates.
Application classes.
PeopleCode.
PeopleCode iScripts.

The validation generates errors after identifying the existence of any of the following keywords. The use of these keywords is not recommended:

href="http://
frameset
src="http://
.location
action="http://
top.
parent.
parent.frames
window.
IFRAME
ILAYER

Performing WSRP Validation For a Project

To perform WSRP validation for a project:

In Application Designer, open the project containing the WSRP definitions.
Select Tools, Options and click the Validate tab.
On the Validate tab, select the Validate WSRP compliance check box, and click OK.

Note. By default, this option is not selected.
Select Tools, Validate project.

Performing WSRP Validation For a Database

To perform WSRP validation for a database:

Launch Application Designer, and signon to the appropriate database.
Select Tools, Validate Database for WSRP.

Using PeopleSoft WSRP-Produced Content

This section discusses the differences between the behavior of PeopleSoft content within the PeopleSoft portal and a consuming WSRP portal:

The main PeopleSoft menu portlet does not provide navigation of WSRP consumed content. The PeopleSoft WSRP content needs to be discovered through the consumer portlet's navigation.
Hot keys (such as, CTRL + J for the System Information page) are available as long as they do not conflict with any hot keys defined on the consuming system.
Pagebar functionality is not included in PeopleSoft WSRP produced content.

For example, the New Window hyperlink or the Multi-Language drop-down list will not display (so, multi-language functionality is not supported for WSRP content). The Copy URL functionality is available on the System Information page only.
Personalizations, such as "Tab-Over," made through the My Personalizations page apply to WSRP content.
Only PeopleSoft portlets and iScripts support Edit capability, not components.

Note. PeopleSoft portlets including an Edit URL do not support multiple instances of the of the portlet in the consuming portal.

Portal Name	Choose the portal where the content you want to offer is located, and click Search. Note. To display portlets within all portals, select All Portals, and leave the Portlet Title value empty.
Portlet Title	Enter the portlet title or a portion of it for increased search options. Use the "%" character for wild card values.
Web Service Endpoint URL	Displays the URL that the WSRP consumer portal requires to import the offered content.
Oracle Portal Web Provider URL	Displays the URL that the JPDK-compliant Oracle Portal requires to import the offered content. Note. This value applies only for Pagelet Wizard pagelets.