This document provides an overview of a presentation on developing applications using the IBM Portlet Factory. The presentation covers: 1) How the Portlet Factory allows developing web applications and portlets without writing code through its rapid application development environment. 2) A demonstration of creating a basic portlet in under 20 minutes using the Portlet Factory. 3) Details on key Portlet Factory concepts like models, builders, profiling, and the code generation process. The presentation aims to explain how the Portlet Factory can help developers work smarter by automating much of the development process.

2. BP113
Zero to Portlet in 20 minutes or less
Paul T. Calhoun | CTO | NNSU
®

3. Your Presenter – This Is Me!
Paul T. Calhoun
Chief Technology Officer
NetNotes Solutions Unlimited
pcalhoun@nnsu.com
www.nnsu.com
I'm a Speaker, Trainer and Consultant who provides customer-
focused knowledge transfer and consulting to businesses
worldwide. I currently develop solutions using Domino, Web, Java,
and XML for customers using Domino, Portlet Factory, WebSphere
and Eclipse.
I co-authored the IBM Redbook “XML Powered by Domino,” and
have developed several online courses for both Application
Development as well as System Administration. I have spoke at
technical conferences worldwide and published over a dozen
articles in leading publications.

4. Agenda
 Work Smarter Not Harder – The Portlet Factory Demystified
 Zero to Portlet – Don't Blink !!
 The Details – The Nitty Gritty
 References – Places to get more info
 Q&A

5. Work Smarter Not Harder
 How do you develop applications today ?
 Write
 Compile
 Test
 Repeat (Until the project is finished or the End of Time, whichever comes first)
 How much of your code is re-usable ?
 Can you re-factor that application you wrote for the sales department to be used
by the HR department ?
– How quickly ?
 What if there was a tool that allowed you to work SMARTER not
HARDER ?
 Insert Drum Roll here

6. Introducing the IBM Portlet Factory
The IBM Portlet Factory is a Rapid Application Development
environment that allows for the creation of Web Applications
and Portlets without having to write any code. These
applications can then be massively customized to provide
different user experiences with the use of profiled input.

7. So What Exactly is the Portlet Factory ?
 Creates WEB APPLICATIONS that can be PORTLET enabled very
easily
 Designer client that plugs into existing IDE’s
 Rational Application Developer
 Eclipse
 Rapid Application Development Environment
 Zero Code Development
 Portlet Factory generates ALL the code for you
 No, you CAN NOT alter the GENERATED code
 No, to the best of my knowledge, you will never be able to modify the generated
code
 Allows for the MASSIVE customization of applications via
PROFILING at runtime

8. Terminology
 Portlet Factory – The application design environment enabled as a
plug in to IDE’s like Rational and Eclipse
 Factory Project – Top level container for Portlet Factory elements
(Models, supporting HTML, XML, CSS files
 A project can contain “N” number of models
 Model – Container for all application functionality represented as an
XML structure of the complete Web Application
 Models are made up of Builders

9. Terminology
 Builder – Component that provides specific application functionality
to the Model
 Profiling – The ability to dynamically alter the Application at runtime
 Profile Sets – Container for the dynamic values that alter the
Application at runtime
 Profile Entry – Specific profiled builder input

10. Deployment Architecture
 Applications are deployed as standard JEE WAR files
 To the Web Application Server
 Websphere
– Application Server (5.x, 6.x)
– Community Edition (1.1, 2.0)
 Tomcat
 To the Portal Server
 Websphere (6.x)
 All necessary code is deployed with the WAR file
 No additional configuration is required on the WAS/Portal server

11. Versions
 Latest and Greatest
 6.1
– Fixpak 1
 Historical
 6.0
– 6.0.1
– 6.0.2
– 6.0.3
 5.x

12. Historical Note
 IBM acquired “The Factory” from an IBM Business partner by the
name of BowStreet
 You will still find many of the back end underlying objects use the
com.bowstreet namespace

13. Zero to Portlet
 Get Ready...
 Get Set...
 GO !!!!!!
12
11 1
10 2
9 3
8 4
7 5
6

14. The Nitty Gritty
 That was really fast !!!!
 Then again, that's the whole point !!
 Let's look at what we did
 IDE
– Eclipse
 Project
– Container for all Factory Resources
 Models
– Container for application specific functionality contributed by builders
 Testing
– As a web application (WebSphere Application Server or WASCE)
– As a portlet (WebSphere Portal Server)

15. Integrated Development Environment
 Rational Developer
 If you already have Rational Installed and use it for all development then this is an
option
 Less flexible than using Eclipse
 Eclipse (Recommended)
 When installing The Factory, choose the Option “With Eclipse” to install with it's
own copy of Eclipse
 More flexible
– Allows for multiple instances of The Factory to be installed on the same
computer

16. Projects – A place to put your stuff
 Projects contain all of the resources for a portlet factory application
 Models
 Profile Sets
 Java Source code
 Web Content
– HTML
– CSS
– Graphics
– Javascript
– XML
– XSD – XML Schemas

17. Projects use Server Deployment Configurations
 When creating your first project you define the Deployment
Configurations for
 Application Server
 Portal Server
 Servers need to be
up and running before
you create the
deployment
configuration

18. Application Server
 Tests your code as a WEB APPLICATION in the defined web browser
 Code is auto-deployed to the defined server
 Can be
 Rational WAS Test Server
 Apache Tomcat
 WAS CE (Recommended)
 WebSphere Application Server

19. Portal Server
 Tests your code as a PORTLET
 Deployment
 Auto-deployed
– Code is auto deployed to configured Portal Server
 Create Local WAR (Recommended)
– Code is written to a local WAR file and deployed via the Portals Admin Console

20. Models – Where all the fun takes place
 All the application functionality exists in Models
 Functionality is added to models via Builders
 Builders add specific application functionality to a Model
 Actions and Events
 Data Integration
 Formatting and Visibility
 JSP
 Java
 Navigation and Page Actions
 Page Elements
 SQL
 Rich UI – AJAX
 Services
 Variables

21. Builders are your API
 Models are comprised of “N” number of builders
 Builders are The Factory's API
 Learn these first
– Use the WIKI's and on-line help
 Like any other language you will use 20% of the builders 80% of the time

22. The Builder Picker
 As you learn The Factory add the builders you use the most often to
your favorites
 This will make creating your next model much easier

23. Accessing Data
 Using the core builders that ship with The Factory you can access
any JDBC data source
 Must be defined as a JNDI resource on the WAS/PORTAL server
 Project deployment configuration must point to that server in order to read JNDI
names in builders
 Use the testDataSourceConnection.jsp in the WebContent/factory/util folder
– This allows you to test the JNDI name prior to accessing it with builders

24. Using the Service / Consumer Architecture
 Accessing RDBMS data is best done using a Service / Consumer
architecture
 This separates the access of the data from the display of the data
 The foundation for Service Oriented Architectures (SOA's)
 A single service model can provide data to single or multiple
consumer models
Service
Consumer
Model
Service Service Service Service
Provider Consumer Provider Consumer
Model Model Model Model
Service
Consumer
Model

25. Service Model
 Create a Service Model that accesses the data using the following
builders
 SQL Datasource
– Connects the factory to the Servers JNDI data source
 SQL Call
– There will be “N” number of SQL calls
– One for each unique call type
 Service Definition
– Exposes this model to service consumer models
– Allows for implementing a “Test Harness” to test the service operations
 Service Operation
– Define one service operation for every SQL call
●
These become the public “callable” interface to the consumer models

26. Consumer Model
 Create a Consumer Model that calls the “public” methods of the
Service Model using the following builders
 Service Consumer
– Expose all of the public methods defined in the Service model or just a sub-set
 Then use the page and data modifier builders to display the results of the public
methods from the service model
– View and Form
– Data Column Modifier
 Portalize the Consumer Model by adding a single additional builder
– Portlet Adapter

27. What about Domino ?
 To access a Domino Server from The Factory
 The DIIOP sever task needs to be running
 Enable “Allow HTTP clients to browse databases”
 A generic user id with an internet password

28. Enable the Domino Builders
 The Domino Builders are enabled via a Feature set either during or
after project creation

29. Set the Domino Server access in the properties file
 Copy the default properties file and edit the copy
 Use the FQN of the Domino Server and a service ID with an internet password
# For SeverName, specify the Domino hostname and port that can be
# used to fetch the CORBA IOR.
ServerName=nnsuportal.nnsu.com
# Username and Password are required for either version.
UserName=Professor Notes
Password=password

30. Use the Domino View and Form builder
 The Domino View and Form builder
 Allows you to access a Domino View
 Allows access to documents with the ability to
– Create
– Read
– Edit
– Delete
 Use the same modifiers used when accessing RDBMS data
 Data Column Modifier
 Field Modifier
 Etc.
 Add the Portlet Adapter builder to “Portalize” the application

31. Testing – Does it Work ?
 A default run configuration called “Active Model” is created during
the Portlet Factory installation
 This will allow you to run the currently open model from a single run configuration
 Test your application using the Web Server first
 The majority of your functionality testing does NOT require the
Portal Server
 The only time you need to deploy to the Portal server is when testing
Portlet specific functionality
 Edit Mode
 Config Mode
 Interactive Portlets (Cooperative Portlets)

32. Final Thoughts
 The Portlet Factory is A tool, not THE tool
 The more you know about the following the better Factory developer
you will be
 Java
 XML
 XSD Schemas
 HTML
 CSS
 Javascript
 You can leverage existing code you have
 The Factory generates the majority of the code, that does not mean you will never
need to write some code
 Finally – Think of what you could do if you had more than 20 min !!!

33. Wrap up
 Other Portlet Factory Sessions
 AD503 - Using IBM WebSphere Portlet Factory and IBM Rational Application
Developer for Portlet and Portal Site Development
 AD504 - Best Practices for Creating IBM WebSphere Portal Applications with
WebSphere Portlet Factory
 AD505 - Dashboards - The "Superhero" of Portal Tools
 AD506 - IBM Dashboard Accelerator -- Build Once, Deploy Anywhere

34. Resources
 Portlet Factory WIKI
 http://www.lotus.com/ldd/pfwiki.nsf
 Developerworks
 Portlet Factory Zone
 http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/websphere/zones/portal/portletfactory
 Forums
 http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/wikis/display/PortletFactoryID/Portlet
+Factory+forums+on+developerWorks
 Product Documentation
 http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/websphere/zones/portal/portletfactory/
proddoc.html

35. Resources
 Davelan Top Gun Portlet Factory Courses
 http://www.davalen.com/websphereportletfactory.php
 Booth # 713
 The Learning Continuum Corporation
 http://www.tlcc.com

36. Resources
 Learning Portlet Factory
 Official IBM Curriculum
 WP416 – IBM WebSphere Portlet Factory V6.0.1: Developer Fundamentals
 WP516 – IBM WebSphere Portlet Factory V6.0.1: Advanced Developer Topics
 WP520 – Using IBM WebSphere Dashboard Framework 6
 Familiarize your self with ALL of the builders via the Builder help and WIKI's
 Samples and Tutorials
 Download and review all the samples and tutorials available from the
Documentation and wiki sites
 Review Sample code added as part of a Feature Set
 Review and participate in the Portlet Factory forums

37. Q&A
 This is where you get to ask the questions.
pcalhoun@nnsu.com

38. Legal disclaimer
© IBM Corporation 2008. All Rights Reserv ed.
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