Guidelines for Advanced Sectionalized Homepages in a Cluster

For homepages and sections to appear correctly in a clustered environment, you must ensure that the custom style sheets (defined using the PS_STYLESHEETS content reference attribute) and section images are available on all application nodes participating in the cluster. You should manually copy the custom style sheets and section images on all application nodes that are part of the cluster.

The rules that govern the merging of homepages in a cluster also apply to the advanced sectionalized homepages and sections.

In a merged homepage, the following guidelines apply:

  • If the Uses Custom Layout setting is specified for any of the homepages, the Uses Custom Layout setting is automatically applied to the merged homepage.

  • If the Hide Notification Panel setting is specified for any of the homepages, the Hide Notification Panel setting is automatically applied to the merged homepage.

  • The custom style sheets (defined using the PS_STYLESHEETS content reference attribute) from all the homepages are collected and appended to the HTML <head> tag of the merged homepage HTML document.

  • The custom style classes (defined using the PS_STYLECLASSES content reference attribute) from all homepages are merged together and set in the HTML <div> tag of the merged homepage. Duplicate style classes are automatically removed.

  • PeopleTools automatically adds a style class called node-<name of the node>, for example, node-HRMS, depending upon the application node where the first homepage was processed. In a merged homepage where the participating application nodes are HRMS, ERP, CRM and the acting portal node is HRMS, then the style class name is node-HRMS because the first homepage was processed on this node.

Similar to the process of merging homepages, the sections with the same label are also merge.

The following guidelines apply for merged sections in a merged homepage:

  • If any of the sections has the Hide Section Header attribute set, the Hide Section Header attribute is automatically applied to the merged section.

  • If any of the sections has the Disable Collapse attribute set, the Disable Collapse attribute is automatically applied to the merged section.

  • In a merged section, the first section image encountered during the merge process is displayed in the merged section based on these conditions:

    • If the section on the acting portal node has the section image set, then that section image is displayed.

    • If the section on the acting portal node does not have the section image set, then whichever remote section image is encountered first during the merge process is displayed.

  • The custom style sheets (defined using the PS_STYLESHEETS content reference attribute) from all the sections are collected and appended to the HTML <head> tag of the merged homepage HTML document.

  • The custom style classes (defined using the PS_STYLECLASSES content reference attribute) from all sections are merged together and set in the HTML <div> tag of the merged section. Duplicate style classes are automatically removed.

  • Dynamic Section: This is the section that has an associated application package peoplecode class that loads the dynamic tiles. Admin can also add cref based tiles in this dynamic section. If Tools encounter dynamic sections with the same labels, only cref based tiles are merged together. Dynamic tiles are not merged together. Only the local dynamic loader application package class is run. The remote loader app package class is not run.

  • Remote Dynamic Section: If Tools encounter a dynamic section that is not locally defined or not defined in the local homepage, then this remote app package loader class will be run and the remote dynamic tiles are loaded.

The acting portal node retrieves remote homepages from application nodes.

The following guidelines are used when retrieving remote homepages:

  • If a homepage has a dynamic section, its associated application package dynamic loader class is run to obtain the dynamic tiles.

  • The custom style sheet of the homepage is appended to the HTML <head> tag of the fluid homepage HTML document.

  • Any custom style sheet set for the section or tiles of the homepage is appended to the HTML <head> tag of the fluid homepage HTML document.

  • PeopleTools automatically adds a style class called node-<name of the node>, for example, node-HRMS. The style class name indicates the application node of the remote homepage. In this example, the homepage is from the HRMS application node.

The following guidelines are used when retrieving content reference tiles:

  • The custom style sheets (defined using the PS_STYLESHEETS content reference attribute) are appended to the HTML <head> tag of the overall fluid homepage HTML document.

  • The custom style classes (defined using the PS_STYLECLASSES content reference attribute) are set in the HTML <div> tag of the tile. Duplicate style classes are automatically removed.

When an application node running at least PeopleTools 8.62 receives a request to get its homepages and tiles, some homepages and tiles are not pushed out to remote nodes if the remote nodes are running PeopleTools versions prior to PeopleTools 8.62.

The following guidelines are applied when retrieving homepages and tiles on lower PeopleTools versions:

  • Homepages and dashboards with sections are never pushed out to application nodes running PeopleTools versions 8.60 or lower.

  • Application nodes running PeopleTools release 8.61 will display regular section normally, but no custom style sheets and no style classes will be applied. Custom style sheets and style classes defined in CREF tiles will also not apply in PeopleTools 8.61. Dynamic sections will display like a regular section. Dynamic tiles will look like regular tiles. No styles sheet and style classes are applied.

  • In PeopleTools 8.62, the PT_MIN_VERSION CREF attribute can be used in the homepage or dashboard CREF, section CREF, and tile CREF to define the minimum PeopleTools version this object (that is, homepage, dashboard, section, or tile) can be pushed out to. If the requesting application node is running at a lower PeopleTools version than the specified PT_MIN_VERSION, then this application node will not receive this object.

    Consider the following scenario of a cluster and the use of the PT_MIN_VERSION CREF attribute. Application nodes HRMS and CRM form a cluster. While HRMS is running on PeopleTools 8.62, CRM is running on PeopleTools 8.61. Homepage A CREF of HRMS has the PT_MIN_VERSION attribute set to 8.62. On CRM, Homepage B CREF contains Section C and Section D, but Section D has the PT_MIN_VERSION attribute set to 8.62. If a user logs in directly to CRM (CRM is acting as portal gateway), the user will only see Homepage B with only Section C. Section D is not displayed because CRM is running on PeopleTools 8.61 and Section D requires PeopleTools version at 8.62. Homepage A is not displayed because it requires PeopleTools version at 8.62.

  • Fluid dashboards can be made available to other remote environments through Add To Dashboard (or PinTo) where a user may be able to choose which fluid dashboard to pin a tile. The PT_MIN_VERSION CREF attribute can also be used to filter this dashboard out so remote nodes of lower PeopleTools release do not get this dashboard listed as an option on the Add To... dialog page (or Pin To).