Before you start

About this tutorial

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create portlets using the new visual development functions in WebSphere Studio Application Developer V5.1.2 and Portal Toolkit V5.0.2.2. In particular, we'll look at the following features:

• JavaServer™ Faces, for portlet user interfaces
• WebSphere Data Object, for accessing a database
• Click-to-Action, for communication between portlets

JavaServer Faces (JSF) is a new standard (JSR 127) that can help you build Web application user interfaces (for more on JSF technology, see Resources). WebSphere Studio V5.1.2 now supports the final release of the JSF 1.0 specification, and Portal Toolkit V5.0.2.2 enables the creation of JSF application as portlets running on WebSphere Portal.

WebSphere Data Object (WDO) makes it easier to access data objects, such as database tables, from Web applications. WDO is not supported in WebSphere Portal V5.0, but WebSphere Studio V5.1.2 allows you to use WDO with portlets for prototyping purposes only, so you can evaluate how WDO works in harmony with JSF to build portlets quickly. WDO will be replaced by a new standard, called Service Data Objects (SDO, JSR 235), in a future release of the WebSphere platform. However, learning about WDO now will help you prepare to implement SDO when it is available.

WebSphere Studio V5.1.2 and Portal Toolkit V5.0.2.2 also enable portlet communication using the WebSphere Portal Click-to-Action feature.

The programming models and runtime frameworks discussed here, along with new easy-to-use tools based on them, can improve the productivity of developers building applications running on WebSphere Portal. You may apply the methodology outlined in this tutorial to your custom portlet development projects.

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Prerequisites

To create portlets in this tutorial, you'll need the following software installed on your computer:

• WebSphere Studio Application Developer V5.1.2
  • Portal Toolkit V5.0.2.2
  • WebSphere Portal V5.0.2.1 (installed as the Portal Test Environment by the Portal Toolkit installation program)

  Portal Toolkit V5.0.2.2 and WebSphere Portal V5.0.2.1 are packaged in WebSphere Studio 5.1.2.

• Download DB2 UDB V8.2

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Who should take this tutorial?

This tutorial is for anyone who builds custom-made portlet applications and wants to leverage new programming models and tools to build them quickly.

To get the most out of this tutorial, you should have basic knowledge of:

• Portlet applications running on WebSphere Portal
• Database applications, particularly J2EE™ applications that access DB2
• WebSphere Studio Application Developer and Portal Toolkit

This tutorial does not require advanced Java programming skills.

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Table of contents

• Before you start
• Getting started
• Creating the Online Item portlet
• Creating the Item Detail portlet
• Enabling Click-to-Action
• Creating a page in the Item Detail portlet
• Summary
• Resources
• About the authors

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