1. Sri Vatsav Konreddy CIS 764 FALL 2007
Portlets
Sri Vatsav Konreddy
CIS 764
FALL 2007

2. Contents What is a Portlet Comparison of Servlet and Portlet
Portlet Architecture
Portlet Lifecycle
Portlet Features
Portlet Modes
Portlet Window States
Portlet Container
How to develop and deploy a Portlet

3. What is a Portlet Web component based on Java Technology.
A small window on a portal page.
Pluggable user interface Components.

4. Example

5. Elements of a portal page

6. Comparison: Servlet and Portlet
Similarities:
Both are Java technology based web components
Life-cycle is managed by a specialized container
Both generate dynamic content
Both interact with web client via a request/response paradigm
Request and Response are similar

7. Comparison (ctd..) Differences:
Servlets can provide complete web pages, whereas Portlets only provide fragments.
Portlets only generate markup fragments, not complete documents.
Portlets are not directly bound to a URL
Web clients interact with portlets through a portal system
Multiple instances of a single portlet can be placed onto the same page

8. Comparison

9. Architecture

10. Portlet Life Cycle

11. Portlet Features Persistence User Profile Attributes Portal context
Security
Portlet URL

12. Portlet Modes
View
Help
Edit

13. Portlet window states
Normal
Maximized
Minimized

14. Portlet Container Portlets are deployed in a Portlet container.
The container can:
Provides runtime environment for Portlets
Manage life cycle of Portlets
Provide persistent storage for storing Portlet preferences
Cache the Portlets
Receive requests from the Portal to execute requests on the Portlet
Not responsible for contents aggregation

15. Developing & Deploying Portlet
Write a Portlet
Implement Portlet Interface
Implement important methods
init(), processAction(), doView(), doEdit(), doHelp(),render(), destroy()
Compile

16. Developing & Deploying Portlet (ctd..)
Configure Portlet Application and add the Portlet(s) to it
Deployment descriptor – portlet.xml
Package the classes and deployment
descriptor within a .war
Portal servers: Pluto, Liferay, Jboss Portal, Exo (JSR 168)

17. References
portlet.html?page=1
Sun JSR 168 Portlet: art/jsr168/pb_whitepaper.pdf
Sang Shin article: df