Oracle Portal Building Portals Release 3.0.8 Part Number A87570-01 |
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This chapter describes how to use Oracle Portal to build a repository of information that contains all types of information, including text, documents, and images.
In this chapter, you will use a content area to create an information repository that provides Healthy Living employees with access to all the information they need in their day-to-day lives within the company.
To complete this chapter, you or your portal administrator needs to create a content area for you to work in. Instructions for this are provided in Section A.6, "Create an Inside Healthy Living Repository". You need to be a content area administrator of this content area.
If you want to complete the final section of this chapter, you also need to be able to publish content area objects as portlets. Ask your portal administrator to grant you these privileges. Instructions are provided in Section A.1.1, "Create a user".
Some of the exercises in the chapter involve using the following files that are provided on the Oracle Technology Network (http://technet.oracle.com/docs/products/iportal/doc_index.htm):
The completed content area (Inside Healthy Living Repository) is available in the installation package that contains the demo schema. For more information, contact your portal administrator.
This chapter contains the following sections:
Feature | Location |
---|---|
Upload existing content to a content area |
Section 6.1, "Upload content and folder structure as a zip file" |
Create categories to classify content |
|
Create perspectives to further classify content |
|
Create custom types to customize the type of content that can be added to a content area |
|
Organize how content is displayed in a folder |
|
Control access to content |
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Make content area objects available for inclusion in a portal |
The steps in this section show you how to upload existing content and structure to a content area. This is extremely useful if you already have content structured within your file system, and don't want to have to create the folder structure in your content area from scratch.
Note: This exercise shows you how to add multiple files to a content area. Any user with the appropriate privileges can also upload individual files to a content area.
For more information: Visit the Oracle Portal Online Help. In the navigation bar Search field, enter 'adding a file item'
and click Go.
hlw_repository.zip
) from the Oracle Technology Network (http://technet.oracle.com/docs/products/iportal/doc_index.htm) to your local hard drive, download it now.
You can see that they are already structured within sub-directories.
Note: If you are not sure of the name of your content area, contact your portal administrator.
Repository content
.
Next to the newly added zip file item, click Unzip.
Tip: The name of the root folder is the same as the name of the content area.
Note: If you need to unzip a very large file, you can run the unzip in the background so that you can continue with other tasks while the file is unzipping.
Because you cleared the Run Unzip in Background check box, you remain on this page until the file extraction is completed.
Folders and items have been added to your content area. The folders are created with the same name as the directories in the zip file. Because the contents of the zip file were htm files, the item names are taken from the text between the <TITLE> tags. The folders and items are assigned the same category as the zip file item from which they were extracted.
You can use categories to classify your content and make it easier for users to determine whether the item is likely to contain the type of information that they are looking for.
Most of the documents added to the repository fall into the following types of information:
The steps in this section show you how to create categories for each of these types of information.
Tip: If you are currently inside the content area, click Administration in the folder dashboard, and click Navigate Content Area.
HLW_CONTACTS
.
Contacts
.
Name | Display Name |
---|---|
HLW_FAQ |
FAQ |
HLW_POLICY |
Policy |
HLW_SCHEDULE |
Schedule |
Now that you have created your categories, you can associate each of the items in your content area to one of those categories.
Note: An item can belong to only one category.
In the Category list, choose FAQ.
The item now displays under a banner that identifies it as belonging to the FAQ category.
If this was your real corporate repository, you would repeat this exercise for each item. However, as this content area is just a sample, you can stop here and leave the rest of the items under the General category.
You can use perspectives to further classify content. While categories identify the type of information, perspectives identify the themes of the information, or who would be interested in the information.
The easiest way to identify who would be interested in the information in the repository is to think in terms the user's position within the company. These might include:
You also need a perspective for documents that are useful to all employees. You can also use perspectives to identify the file type of the document, so that users can quickly determine whether they have the appropriate software or plug-in to view it.
HLW_ALL
.
All Employees
.
Name | Display Name |
---|---|
HLW_HRREP |
HR Rep |
HLW_HTML |
HTML Document |
HLW_MANAGER |
Manager |
HLW_NEW |
New Employee |
HLW_SALESREP |
Sales Rep |
If you want to add a bit more color to your content area, you can associate icons with your perspectives that display alongside items and allow users to see at a glance which perspectives an item belongs to.
hlw_repository_images.zip
) from the Oracle Technology Network (http://technet.oracle.com/docs/products/iportal/doc_index.htm) to your local hard drive, download it now.
people.gif
. This image can be used to identify the All Employees perspective.
people.gif
file and click Open.
Now you have created your perspectives, you can associate each of the items in your content area to one or more of those perspectives.
Note: An item can belong to multiple perspectives.
The perspectives to which the item belongs display next to the item's display name.
Note: Because you associated an icon with the All Employees perspective in the previous exercise, that icon is displayed instead of the text.
By default, you can add the following types of items to a content area:
The base item types listed above enable you to store a default set of information about each item. To store more specific information about the items in your content area, you can create your own custom item types. First you create attributes to store the information, then create item types to include those attributes.
For example, the Healthy Living Repository includes information about the training courses offered by the Education department. It would be useful to be able to specify information about a specific course, such as its duration and the language in which it is taught, when adding a course description. You can achieve this by creating a Course Description custom item type.
The first thing you need to do when creating a custom item type, is create attributes in which the additional information can be stored. The Course Description item type needs two attributes: one to store the duration of the course, and one to store the language in which the course is taught.
HLW_EDDUR
.
Duration
.
HLW_EDLANG
.
Language
.
At the top of the page, click Language.
We have provided this List of Values (LOV) for you in the Casebook30_Application. When you want to display an attribute as an LOV, you can create one yourself, or ask an application developer to create one for you.
For more information: Visit the Oracle Portal Online Help. In the navigation bar Search field, enter 'list of values'
and click Go.
Now that you have created the attributes in which to store the additional information, you can create the item type that enables users to provide this information.
HLW_EDDESC
.
Course Description
.
We have provided the full course description as an HTML file. So, you can base the custom item type on the existing File item type to leverage the base attributes required for files.
At the top of the page, click Course Description.
1 day(s)
.
Entering a default value means that the Duration field will be prepopulated with this value. Users can accept the default value, or enter a value of their own.
Selecting the Primary check box means that this attribute will be displayed on the second page of the wizard when users are adding a Course Description item (or the Primary tab when editing).
Notice that the Language field is displayed as a list of languages.
Let's test out your new item type by adding a course description to the content area.
word_processing.htm
.
word_processing.htm
file and click Open.
<YourName> Word Processing Skills
.
1 day(s)
, as you specified when you created the item type.
The actual duration of this course is 2 days, so in the Duration field, change 1
to 2
.
In the Language list, choose English.
In addition to using custom item types to store information about items, you can include calls to HTTP and PL/SQL procedures. For example, the HR department wants to include definitions for some benefits terms. It would be useful if, as well as including the definition provided by HR, the definition could also provide the facility to call an external search engine (such as the one for the financial services provider Fidelity) for more detailed information. You can do this by creating a custom item type and adding a call to the search engine.
The Fidelity search engine call is constructed as follows:
HLW_HRFIXED
.
Fidelity Search Fixed
.
Next to Item Types, click Create.
HLW_HRDEFN
.
Benefits Definition
.
At the top of the page, click Benefits Definition.
In the Default Value field, enter 0
.
http://www.northernlight.com/fidelity/nlquery.fcg
.
Search Fidelity
.
Note: You can also upload an image to use as an icon. If you specify an icon, the icon is used instead of the link text.
In the first Attribute list, choose Fidelity Search Fixed Parameters.
orl=2:1&dx=8001&cb=26&cs
.
qr
.
This means that whatever text is entered in the Basic Search Keywords field for an item of this type will be passed as the search term to the Fidelity search engine.
Let's add a benefits definition to see how the call to the Fidelity search engine works.
A 401(k) is a type of retirement plan that allows employees to save and invest for their own retirement.
401(k): Definition
.
In the Basic Search Keywords field, enter 401(k)
.
You can see a link next to the item. This is what users will click to launch the Fidelity search engine.
A page is returned that lists the contents of the Fidelity Web site that include the term 401(k).
So, now you've sorted out the structure of the Healthy Living Repository, created the classification model, and customized the item types to match the content that will be added to the content area. Now it's time to work on the layout of the content area, and make sure that information is easy to locate on the page, and interesting to look at.
A folder is divided into five different regions. You can change how these regions are displayed in the folder. By default the regions are displayed as five rows. Let's change this to something more interesting.
Note: Make sure you edit the style for the content area folders (which has the same name as your content area), and not the style for the content area navigation bars.
The first tab displayed is the one in which you can change the colors and fonts used in the folder. This exercise concentrates on changing the layout of the folder. For information about how to change the colors and fonts to match the Healthy Living look and feel, refer to the Oracle Portal Tutorial, which includes step by step instructions on how to do this.
In the previous exercise, you changed how the folder regions are laid out in the folder. You can also define how items are arranged within each region, which item attributes are displayed, and various other display options.
Click
to the left of Quickpicks.
FAQ and Hints
.
Select the Display Region Banner check box.
In the Available Attributes list, select Description.
In the Displayed Attributes list, select Description.
1
.
Click
to the left of Announcements.
Welcome
.
Click
to the left of Sub-folders.
More...
.
Click
to the left of Regular Items.
Click the Properties tab.
Notice that the banner for the sub-folders now displays the text More... instead of Sub-folders. Also, the document size attribute for the About the Inside Healthy Living Repository item is displayed beneath it, in italics.
Notice that the Duration and Language attributes are displayed beneath the Word Processing Skills item you added earlier.
Now that you have changed the layout of the folders in the content area, you can add new items directly to the appropriate regions.
You created a Welcome region, so let's add a welcome message for the root folder of the Repository.
Welcome to the Inside Healthy Living Repository!
Welcome!
The Welcome message is displayed at the top of the folder, in the Welcome region.
The Healthy Living Repository already contains several documents. You will need to move these documents into the appropriate regions. For example, you created a region in which to display FAQ documents and there is a FAQ document in this folder: about_repository.htm. So, let's move this document into the correct region.
Want to know what the Repository is all about? Take a look at
.
The item is now displayed in the FAQ and Hints region. Also, notice that the description of the item is displayed before the item name, just like you specified in the list of displayed attributes when you edited the region properties.
Note: The document size no longer displays next to this item because you did not select to display that attribute in the FAQ and Hints region.
The next thing you need to consider is who should be able to view the information in the Repository. With content areas you can restrict access to folders, and even to specific items, to particular users or user groups. This is extremely useful for making corporate information available to as wide an audience as possible, while keeping it secure.
Make sure the Make Public check box is selected.
Make sure the Add Privileges To All Sub-folders radio button is selected.
Notice that the Make Public check box is already selected because you cascaded the root folder privileges.
In the Name field, enter HR_REPRESENTATIVES
.
Note: If this group does not exist, contact your portal administrator, or follow the instructions in Section A.5.2, "Create the HR Managers and HR Representatives groups" to create the group.
This enables members of the HR_REPRESENTATIVES group to add, edit, and delete any item in this folder.
Next to HLW_RECRUITFOLDER, click Edit.
Now only users with specific View privileges will be able to view the contents of this folder. All other users will not be able to access the folder at all.
HR_REPRESENTATIVES
.
You can make certain content area objects available so they can be used in a portal. Because content areas are part of Oracle Portal, publishing objects as portlets is a very simple process. Let's publish the HR Rep perspective as a portlet, so that it can be added to a Healthy Living portal, providing HR Representatives with instant access to those documents of specific relevance to their job.
Note: If you cannot see this check box, you do not have privileges to publish portlets. Ask your portal administrator to grant you these privileges, using the instructions in Section A.1.1, "Create a user".
You can also publish folders, categories, and navigation bars as portlets in a similar way.
If you want to learn how to add these objects to a portal, take a look at Chapter 5, "Creating a Human Resources portal with security".
Congratulations! You have successfully used a content area to create an information repository. You now know how to:
For more information about content areas, see the Oracle Portal Online Help.
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