Appendix B Channel Menus

Channel Menu Design

The channel menu is implemented using DHTML layers. The Javascript API for creating and manipulating menus is implemented in popup.js which can be found at PortalServer-DataDir/portal/portal-ID/web-src/enterprise/js directory. This is the deployed copy of the Javascript file. Any changes to this file should be made here. Then redeploy Portal Server using PortalServer-base/bin/psadmin redeploy (Solaris) command.

The menu Javascript API provides methods to create new menus, add menu items, and specify actions for each menu item.

Customizing the Channel Menu

The channel menu for the Enterprise Sample can be customized to add new menu items or remove menu items. Customizing the channel menu requires modification of JSP files shipped in the JSPTableContainerProvider located, by default, in the PortalServer-DataDir/portal/portal-ID/desktop/enterprise_sample/JSPTableContainerProvider directory. The menu for channels displayed in the desktop is created in channelMenubar.jsp file. The menu for the channels in the popup window state is created in popupChannelMenubar.jsp file. Any modifications to the channel menu should be made in both the above files so that the changes are reflected in regular desktop channels as well as in the popup channels.

• To create a new pull down menu from a JSP file

  window.<%=channelName% >= new Menu();

  ---

  Note –

  The variable, channelName, is a string that contains the unique name of the channel. This is required so that each channel menu has a unique identifier. Menu items can be added using the addMenuItem(String name, String action) method.

  ---

• To add items which are not links

  window.<%=channelName%>. addMenuItem("&#8212;&nbsp;Channel Menu&nbsp;&#8212;");

• To add menu items with an associated action

  window.<%=channelName%>.addMenuItem("Update Channel", "location=’<dtpc:getDesktopURL pathinfo="$pathInfo"/>’");

  ---

  Note –

  The above line shows how to add a menu item that redirects the browser to a different location when clicked.

  ---

• To add a menu item that will open a popup window when clicked

  window.<%=channelName%>.addMenuItem("Attach Channel",onClick="openUrlInParent(<dtpc:getDesktopURL/>?action=process&provider=<%=containerName%>&<%=containerName%>channelAction=attach&<%=containerName%>.targetProvider=<%=leafChannel%>’, true); windowClosed(window.name); window.close();");

Similar Javascript actions can be associated with each menu item. Actions are invoked when you click on the menu item. Here are some examples.

• To add menu item separators use addMenuSeparator() method. For example:

  window.<%=channelName%>.addMenuSeparator();

• To modify the appearance and operations, customize the following properties:

  window.<%=channelName%>.fontColorHilite = "#FFFFFF"; window.<%=channelName%>.menuHiliteBgColor = "#F68947"; window.<%=channelName%>.disableDrag = true;

• To invoke the menu:

  <a href="javascript://" onClick="showMenu(window.<%=channelName%>);" title=" Click to view or modify channel options"><img src="<dt:scontent/>/enterprise/images/channel-button.gif" ></a>

In the above example, when you click an image, the pull down menu displays. You may have to delete the compiled JSP class cache under PortalServer-DataDir/portal/portal-ID/desktop/compiled directory to force recompilation of the changed JSPs.