Sun Java System Portal Server 7.1 Technical Reference

Chapter 23 Display Profile Properties: Content Provider Properties

This section provides definitions and examples for the following content providers that ship with the Portal Server software.

AddressBookProvider, LotusNotesAddressBookProvider, and MSExchangeAddressBookProvider

The address book provider works with the Sun Java System Messaging Server to provide simple personal address book functionality.

The list of properties specific to AddressBookProvider, LotusNotesAddressBookProvider, and MSExchangeAddressBookProvider and their description are:

String name="sunPortalABSortBy": Specifies the value of the entries displayed to sort by.
String name="sunPortalABSortOrder": Specifies the sort order of the entries displayed.
String name = "ssoAdapter": Specifies the SSOAdapter configuration used by this provider/channels.
Integer name="maxEntries": Specifies the limit for the number of address book entries to display.
Integer name="numEntries": Specifies the number of entries to display.
Boolean name="displayEntries": Specifies if the entries should be shown.
Collection name="applicationHelperEdit": Specifies the mail application helpers that you can edit settings on.
String name="applicationHelperURL": Specifies the default mail application helper.
Collection name="ssoEditAttributes": Specifies the attributes that will appear on the 1st edit page for the provider. These are usually server settings and have nothing to do with display profile attributes.
Collection name="dpEditAttributes": Specifies the attributes that will appear on the edit page for the application helper. These are usually display attributes and there can be multiple attributes based on number of clients, and so on.
Collection name="sunPortalABSortBySelectOptions": Used to generate the drop down select boxes on the edit page. This specifies None and Full name.
Collection name="sunPortalABSortOrderSelectOptions": Used to generate the drop down select boxes on the edit page. This specifies Ascending, Descending, and None.

AppProvider

AppProvider enables a user to add or remove applications from a list of applications.

The list of properties specific to AppProvider and their description are:

String name="windowPref"

Specifies how to launch a link. The possible values are:

all_new (New window is opened for every link)
one_new (All links open on the same new window)
same (Desktop window)

Collection name="targets"

Specifies the list of application links in name | URL format, where name should match should match the entry in the userApps collection.

Collection name="userApps"

Specifies the list of applications that appear in the applications channel.

BookmarkProvider

BookmarkProvider enables a user to add or remove URLs from a list of bookmarks.

The list of properties specific to BookmarkProvider and their description are:

String name="windowPref"

Specifies how to launch a link. The possible values are:

all_new (New window is opened for every link)
one_new (All links open on the same new window)
same (Desktop window)

Collection name="targets"

Specifies the list of bookmarks that is shown in the channel in the following format:

BookmarkName|URL

CalendarProvider, LotusNotesCalendarProvider, and MSExchangeCalendarProvider

The CalendarProvider works with the Sun Java System Calender Server so that you can view tasks and events and launch Calendar Express without having to sign in. The LotusNotesCalendarProvider works with the Lotus Notes Server so that you can view tasks and events and launch the web application without having to sign in. The MSExchangeCalendarProvider works with the Microsoft Exchange Server so that you can view tasks and events and launch Exchanges web application.

The list of properties specific to CalendarProvider, LotusNotesCalendarProvider, and MSExchangeCalendarProvider and their description are:

String name="view": Specifies the view (day, week, or month) used.
String name="calendar": Specifies the calendar to display.
String name="ssoAdapter": Specifies the ssoAdapter configuration to use.
Boolean name="loadSubscribedCalendars": If set to true, it will try to load all of the subscribed calendars and display them.
Boolean name="disableTaskEventURLs": If set to true, it will not display links for tasks and events.
Collection name="calendarSelectOptions": Specifies a list of all subscribed calendars.
Collection name="applicationHelperEdit": Specifies the mail application helpers that you can edit settings on
String name="applicationHelperURL": Specifies the default mail application helper
Collection name="ssoEditAttributes": Specifies the attributes that will appear on the 1st edit page for the provider. These are usually server settings and have nothing to do with display attributes
Collection name="dpEditAttributes": Specifies the attributes that will appear on the edit page for the application helper. These are usually display attributes and there can be multiple attributes based on number of clients, etc.
Collection name="viewSelectOptions": Specifies the different Calendar views displayed in the Calendar edit page.

IMProvider

The IMProvider includes:

Information needed to help the user decide whether to launch the IM (Instant Messenger) client.
The ability to launch the IM client using single-sign-on.

The information is gathered by accessing the Instant Messaging server through the use of the Instant Messaging APIs.

The list of properties specific to IMProvider and their description are:

mux: Specifies the name of instant messaging multiplexor to use (used by IM client.)
muxport: Specifies the port on which the instant messaging multiplexor listens.
codebase: Specifies where to find the instant messaging client.
netletRule: Specifies where to find the instant messaging client when using the netlet. By default, the value is IM.
clientRunMode: Specifies how the Instant Messaging server client must be run. The client can be run as either a plugin or jnlp. By default, the value is plugin.
authMethod: Specifies the authentication method. Clients can authenticate either via idsvr (for Sun Java System Access Manager) or ldap. By default, the value is idsvr.
authUsernameAttr: Specifies the LDAP attribute where instant messaging username is found. By default, the value is uid.
username: Specifies the username for LDAP authentication. This is not applicable if authMethod is set to idsvr.
password: Specifies the password for LDAP authentication. This is not applicable if authMethod is set to idsvr.
contactGroup: Specifies the contact group to display, or blank for all.

LoginProvider

LoginProvider enables the Login channel to show up in the anonymous user’s Desktop. You can configure LoginProvider to enable users to log in and out using the Login channel. The system administrator can select one out of the three methods to enable users to log in: LDAP, Membership, or UNIX.

For the sample portal, if you specify the following URL in a browser, you see the authlessanonymous user’s Desktop, which contains the login channel.

http://hostname:port/portal/dt

By default, LoginProvider uses Membership authentication. No additional setup is required to use this channel. From the authlessanonymous user page, valid users can use the login channel, and new users can register using the Sign me up link in the channel. You can change the authentication module for the login channel.

The properties, which are specific to the LoginProvider and their description are:

Boolean name="persistentCookie"

Specifies if a persistent cookie is used to remember the user ID and password.

Boolean name="federationEnabled"

If set to true, the libertyLogin.Template is inserted.

String name="preLoginURL"

The value specified in the channel. This property is typically of the form:

http://www.siroe.con:80/amserver/preLogin?
metaAlias=www.siroe.com&
goto=http://www.siroe.com:80/portal/dt

NotesProvider

NotesProvider enables the administrator or users the administrator has authorized to post a note to all users’ Desktops in the Notes channel.

The list of properties specific to NotesProvider and their description are:

String name="location": Specifies the path to the text file, which contains the notes, in the file system.
String name="lines": Specifies the number of lines of notes that is displayed in the channel.
String name="maxLines": Specifies the maximum number of lines that can be displayed in the channel.
Integer name="timeout": Specifies the time zone of the time stamp at which the notes were logged, either as an abbreviation such as PST, a full name such as America/Los_Angeles, or a custom ID such as GMT-8:00. Support of abbreviations is for JDK™ 1.1.x compatibility only and full names should be used.

Notes are stored and read in a text file in the following format:

userid | date | message

where | is the delimiter and date is the long value that denotes the time elapsed in milliseconds since January 1, 1970.

Example of a sample notes file:

User1|1007159465858|Message to Portal Desktop Team : Lets meet today at 2PM
User2|1007159465858|Information related to project is availble at home page

SimpleWebServiceProvider

SimpleWebServiceProvider, an extension of JSPProvider, makes simple web services available to an end user channel. SimpleWebServiceProvider dynamically constructs a user interface given a Web Services Description Language (WSDL) URL and a web service method name.

Using the URL, SimpleWebServiceProvider fetches the WSDL document, parses and validates it. Based on its content, SimpleWebServiceProvider generates input parameters to the method that return the information from the web service. The information is then displayed in the channel content window.

SimpleWebServiceProvider can generate channels that use the same web service, and the same method, so default parameter values can be stored using the Edit function.

SimpleWebServiceProvider supports basic data types such as String, int, and float as defined in the WSDL specification. It supports Complex Types if they are made up of only basic types (one level of nesting). There is no support for arrays.

SimpleWebServiceProvider can provide WSDL parsing for any other provider that needs it. SimpleWebServiceProvider is designed for stock quote or currency exchange rate content.

The list of properties specific to SimpleWebServiceProvider and their description are:

String name="wsdlURL": Specifies the URL to web service WSDL.
String name="methodName": Specifies the web service method name that is going to be executed.
Boolean name="isDefaultShowOutput": Specifies the default value. If true, the channel uses the default input value. If false, the channel uses the user input value.
String name="contentPage": Specifies the JSP that is used to generate the channel content (by using the getContent() method).
String name="editPage": Specifies the JSP that is used to generate the Edit page content (by using the getEdit() method).
Boolean name="showExceptions": If true, makes SimpleWebServiceProvider show exceptions generated while processing the JSP as the channel output for the getContent() and getEdit() methods. This can be useful for developing and troubleshooting your portal.
Boolean name="isDefaultAvailable": If true, the default value is available from the profile database.
Collection name="defaultInput": Specifies the default input value.

SimpleWebServiceConfigurableProvider

SimpleWebServiceConfigurableProvider is similar to SimpleWebServiceProvider, except that it permits users to use the Edit function to change URLs and methods, hence, it is configurable.

The list of properties specific to SimpleWebServiceConfigurableProvider and their description are:

String name="wsdlURL": Specifies the URL to web service WSDL.
String name="methodName": Specifies the web service method name that is going to be executed.
Boolean name="isDefaultShowOutput": Specifies the default value. If true, the channel uses the default input value. If false, the channel uses the user input value.
String name="contentPage": Specifies the JSP that is used to generate the channel content (by using the getContent() method).
String name="editPage": Specifies the JSP that is used to generate the Edit page content (by using the getEdit() method).
Boolean name="showExceptions": If true, makes SimpleWebServiceConfigurableProvider show exceptions generated while processing the JSP as the channel output for the getContent() and getEdit() methods. This can be useful for developing and troubleshooting your portal.
Boolean name="isDefaultAvailable": If true, the default value is available from the profile database.
Collection name="defaultInput": Specifies the default input value.