Portlet APIs
Rational® tools supports the development of portlets using the JSR 168 portlet API, the JSR 286 portlet API, and the IBM® portlet API. All three types of portlets can be deployed to WebSphere® Portal. Only portlets using the JSR 168 or the JSR 286 portlet API can be deployed to WAS 6.1 or later.
This section provides you with information that can help you decide which API to use when you develop portlets.
JSR 168 portlet API
JSR 168 is a Java™ specification from the Java Community Process that addresses the requirements of aggregation, personalization, presentation, and security for portlets running in a portal environment. Portlets that conform to the JSR 168 specification are more portable and reusable, because they can be deployed to any JSR 168-compliant portal. Rational tools supports portlet development based on the JSR 168 specification.
Note: Click-to-Action cooperative behavior and portlet messaging are not supported in JSR 168 Faces portlets.
JSR 286 portlet API
JSR 286 is a Java specification from the Java Community Process that has improved upon the JSR 186 portlet API by providing additional capabilities, such as filters, events, and public render parameters. These improvements have necessitated changes to the XSD for the Portlet Deployment Descriptor (PDD) that adds new elements to it. You can edit these new elements by clicking on the Portlet Deployment Descriptor that is created when you create a new portlet project.
IBM portlet API
IBM portlet API is the portlet API that was initially supported for WebSphere Portal V4.x, and in subsequent versions of WebSphere Portal v5.x. and V6.x.
Deciding which API to use
The IBM portlet API extends the servlet API and many of the main interfaces (request, response, session). JSR 168 API does not extend the servlet API, but shares many of the same characteristics. JSR 168 leverages much of the functionality provided by the servlet specification, such as deployment, class loading, Web applications, Web application life cycle management, session management, and request dispatching.
For new portlets, consider using JSR 286 to take advantage of its additional capabilities. If you can't use JSR 286 for some reason, consider JSR 168 when the functionality it provides is sufficient for the portlet's needs or when the portlet is expected to be published as a Web Service for Remote Portlets (WSRP) service. WSRP is another portal-based standard used to integrate the presentation of remote portlets provided as Web services into the local portal page. The concepts in JSR 168 and WSRP have been aligned to allow JSR 168 portlets to be published as Web services. Some of these concepts include portlet modes and states, URL and namespace encoding, and the handling of transient and persistent information.
Converting portlets to different API specifications
Rational tools help you to convert your IBM portlet API portlets to the JSR 168 specification. For more information, refer to Converting portlets to JSR 168 portlet API
Related tasks
Testing and debugging portlets
Accessing portlet API objects from JSP files
Creating portlet projects (IBM portlet API)
Related reference
WebSphere Portal Information Center
Comparing the JSR 168 Java Portlet Specification
with the IBM Portlet API
Web Services for Remote Portlets
A Standard Tag Library for JavaServer Pages