A pagelet is a web application that produces a self-contained, reusable UI element. A portlet is a pagelet designed for use with AquaLogic Interaction portal. This page provides an introduction to pagelets and portlets and how they are used in ALI portal and Ensemble. For a detailed explanation of the differences between pagelets and portlets, see Pagelet vs Portlet.
Every pagelet and portlet executes its functionality in a separate process. Most pagelets connect to a back-end application for data or functionality. The example below is a Collaboration portlet that searches for projects based on a user’s selections.
All pagelets are designed to be displayed with other pagelets. AquaLogic Interaction (ALI) portal and AquaLogic Ensemble both act as a gateway, processing and combining pagelets from multiple applications to create a single, unified page with a range of functionality. Pagelets from the same back-end application can interact with each other within the mashup page.
The same pagelets can be used in both Ensemble and ALI portal, but a different process is used to implement the mashup page.
Modeled after the “window” metaphor from desktop user interfaces, the ALI portal displays portlets as a series of windows or boxes arranged in columns on a page with borders, title bars, buttons, headers and footers rendered by the portal framework. The page layout is defined through the portal's administrative UI. Each My Page or community page is made up of many portlets, selected and arranged using portal editors. For example, the portlets on the Support Center community page shown below provide access to a range of resources:
The Support Center header and custom navigation are implemented using portlets.
The left column includes a portlet that provides navigation links to the subsections (Resources) within the Support Center site, portlets with links to profile configuration pages, and another that provides access to support contact information.
The center column includes a portlet that lists recent Support Alerts and a Knowledge Base search portlet.
The right column includes portlets with links to product downloads and information.
In Ensemble, a pagelet consumer page defines the layout and includes specific pagelets in the page using adaptive tags. All the portlets in the page above could also be used as pagelets in Ensemble. The portal header is not included by default, but portal header navigation can be added using tags.
The pages in this section provide detailed information on how to implement pagelets and portlets from basic to advanced.
Cross-Product Pagelet Development: The pages in this section provide information on creating pagelets that work in both AquaLogic Ensemble and AquaLogic Interaction portal. AquaLogic development tools provide cross-product APIs that allow you to write a single pagelet for both Ensemble and ALI portal, as well as product-specific APIs to implement advanced functionality.
Pagelet vs. Portlet provides an introduction to cross-product development and a detailed explanation of the differences between pagelets and portlets from a development perspective. This page includes instructions on how to deploy an ALI portlet in Ensemble or an Ensemble pagelet in the ALI portal.
IDK Proxy and Pagelet APIs provides details on IDK methods for pagelets and portlets, including a comparison of the proxy (pagelet) and portlet APIs.
Adaptive Pagelets: These tools allow you to create a coordinated portal page comprised of cross-platform services that represent multiple applications.
Adaptive Tags: The portal provides a collection of useful XML tags that can be included in the markup returned by pagelets.
ALI Scripting Framework: The ALI Scripting Framework allows pagelets to store and share session state through browser level variables, leverage page-level events, and refresh pagelet content without reloading the page.
Remote APIs: The Programmable Remote Client (PRC) provides an object-oriented way to call into the portal's SOAP API. The PRC can be used to write applications that access the portal, Collaboration and Publisher, including pagelets, command-line tools, and virtually any Web application. For examples, see PRC Use Cases.
Ensemble Pagelet Development: The pages in this section provide general information about Ensemble-specific pagelet development and configuration.
IDK Quickstart: Hello World Pagelet (Java | .NET) provides instructions on creating new pagelets for Ensemble. This simplified example uses attributes and an XML payload.
Pagelet Configuration explains how to deploy and configure a pagelet in AquaLogic Ensemble.
Securing Pagelets and Proxied Applications provides instructions on using authentication and roles in pagelets and proxied pages.
Creating Custom Login Pages provides information and sample code for creating custom Ensemble login pages.
ALI Portlet Development: The pages in this section provide general information about ALI portlet-specific development and configuration.
IDK Quickstart: Hello World Portlet (Java | .NET) provides instructions on creating portlets for the ALI portal. This simplified example illustrates how to use the IDK to access a setting in the ALI database and display it in a portlet.
Portlet Alignment and Size: Portlets can be placed in a wide range of locations on the portal page.
Portlet Style: The portal CSS files include tags for customizing portlet style and layout.
Portlet Settings and Preferences: As defined in the ALI Settings Model, portlets can use six types of settings (preferences) to provide personalized functionality.
Internationalization: These best practices should be followed for all portlets that will be translated into multiple languages.
ALI Portlet Configuration: The following portal objects are associated with portlets: Remote Server, Web Service, Portlet Template, and Portlet.
Portlet Security: Portlets can be used to manipulate secure content. This section discusses how to send content securely in portlets using IDK encryption and the portal credential vault.
Portlet Caching: This page explains how caching should be implemented in portlet development.
Integrating Existing Web Applications: In many cases, an existing Web application can be displayed in a portlet with no changes to the back-end code. This page addresses common configuration steps required for these integrations.
Portlet Testing Checklist: This checklist summarizes key tests that should be performed on every portlet.
Debugging Portlets: This page introduces ALI's collection of tools for debugging portlets.