Guidelines for customizing the console JSP user interface

Compare JSPs

As part of the extensibility, you can extend JSP files of the current release.

When releases service packs or major releases and, in some cases, a user interface hot fix, you need to complete a JSP comparison and reconciliation. During the JSP comparison process you must compare the following files:

• The original JSP shipped with your original product version
• The extended JSP for the same original JSP
• The same JSP shipped as part of the new release

In order to facilitate the reconciliation process, IBM® recommends that you consider purchasing a difference tool capable of performing a three-way comparison. For example, an inexpensive tool is Araxis. Please note that IBM does not resell this difference tool, nor do we warranty or guarantee it. It is merely provided as an example of an inexpensive tool. You are advised to do your own research on three-way comparison tools and choose the one appropriate for your needs.

Prepare for smooth upgrades and easy maintainability

• Do not change the resource definitions of any of the resources shipped as part of the standard default configuration. Always make a copy through the Applications Manager and then change the copy.
• Do not change any of the JSP files, JavaScript files, or icon JAR files supplied with the application. If you do your changes may be lost during upgrades.
• When creating new views, consider issues regarding ease of maintenance as well as ease of creation. When you create a new view, inner panel, and so forth, it is possible to link to the JSPs supplied by your application. But in future releases, IBM may add more resources to these JSPs, which means you must monitor software changes and update your configuration to account for the changes.

For example, if you create a new inner panel and link it to the Order Detail Header JSP, (/om/order/detail/order_detail_header.jsp), this JSP file expects specific APIs to be called. Specifically, it expects the getOrderDetails() API to be called with certain fields in the output template and the getScacAndServiceList() API to be called for the SCAC And Service drop-down field.

If you use this inner panel, you must configure the two APIs with the necessary fields in the output template. Then, if IBM adds fields to the JSP file in future releases, you may need to modify your configuration to account for the changes.

Build in usability

Any new views you develop should look and behave like the product views, so before you begin developing, gain an understanding of how the default views behave.

Prepare your development environment

To start the customization process, you must prepare the development environment to accommodate for your changes.

Understand how to find reference materials

The Presentation Framework consists of several JSP, JavaScript, and class files. These files contain several functions declared as public. However, only some of these functions are exposed. While performing user interface extensions, only the exposed functions should be used. See the following locations to determine whether a function is exposed:

• Java™ Classes - see the Javadoc
• JavaScript - see "JavaScript Functions"
• JSP - see "JSP Functions for the Console JSP Interface"
• JSP Tags - see "JSP Tag Library for the Console JSP Interface"