Viewing Channels and Containers

The desktop for a user is rendered by starting a desktop parent container. You can customize the parent container attribute at every organization, role and user DNs. The content for a desktop at a particular DN is provided by iterating the child containers and channels that are selected to be displayed inside the desktop parent container.

Usually, the desktop parent container contains a few tab or table containers. Each tab container under the list of selected nodes of the parent container will display a tab on the user desktop. The channels that appear under the tab are the channels inside the tab container.

The bottom left frame of the Channels and Container Management in the portal management console has two components:

• View Type menu

• Channels and Container tree

Items in the View Type menu and the nodes displayed in the tree are dependent on content of the merged Display Profile XML.

The tree contains container and channel nodes. There are three types of channels that deliver content to the desktop:

• Provider (native) channels

• Portlet channels

• Remote portlet channels

You can click on any of the node links in the tree to display properties and actions on the right frame.

There are two types of items in the View Type menu:

• Display Profile XML Tree

• Desktop Views

See To View Display Profile XML Tree and Desktop Views

Display Profile XML Tree

The tree displays a complete set of channels and containers in the merged Display Profile (DP) XML. The root element in the DP XML Tree is DP_ROOT, which is the parent of all the channels and containers of the display profile. You can create a channel directly under DP_ROOT, or in a container under DP_ROOT.

The nodes listed under the DP XML Tree is not always displayed on the desktop. Some nodes in the display profile are never referenced or included in the hierarchy of the desktop container.

For example, the desktop default container JSPTabContainer has two containers, tab1 and tab2. If tab1 contains ch1 and ch2, and tab2contains ch3 and ch4, then there are five channels defined in the DP XML Tree. The DP XML Tree references ch1 to ch4 in the container hierarchy, but ch5 is not. So, only ch1 to ch4 will display on the desktop.

Desktop Views

Desktop views are top level containers available in the merged display profile. You can set each desktop views as the parent container for the desktop at the DN. When you select a desktop view, the tree provides a visual hierarchy of the channels and containers that has a role in rendering content to the desktop.

Channels and containers displayed under the desktop views have two states:

• Selected and visible on the desktop

• Available for selection

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  Note –

  In this state, channels and containers icons are displayed in grey color.

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You can change the state of channels and containers in a desktop view by clicking the task link on the right frame. To display a tool tip about the state, place the mouse over a container or channel icon. The tool tip also displays the fully qualified name of the node.

To View Display Profile XML Tree and Desktop Views

1. Log in to the Portal Server management console.

2. Select the Portals tab.

3. Select a portal server under Portals, then any DN from the Select DN drop-down menu.

   • You can also select the organization from Select DN menu in the Manage Containers and Channels page.

4. Under Tasks, click Manage Containers and Channels.

5. From the View Type drop-down menu select DP XML Tree or a Desktop View.