Portal Express, Version 6.0
Operating systems: i5/OS, Linux, Windows

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Developing portlets

This section takes you through the process of creating portlets, introduces the concepts of the APIs used to develop portlets, and provides samples to get you started. It also provides information on integrating features such as single sign-on, cooperative sharing of information using the property broker, and migrating Struts applications to the portlet environment.

WebSphere Portal Express can support portlets written to the standard portlet API as well as portlets written to the legacy IBM portlet API.

In version 6.0. the IBM Portlet API is deprecated but still supported. No new functionality will be added and it is recommended you use the standard portlet API .

• If you are not an experienced Java developer...

  you can quickly integrate many of your existing resources into WebSphere Portal Express without developing a portlets. See Integrating your business for more information.

• If you are not an expert in Java or JSP...

  the IBM WebSphere Portlet Factory provides a quick and easy way to build portlets. This Eclipse-based development tool speeds and simplifies portlet construction by making it easy to create complex portlets without coding.

• If you have Java and servlet development experience but are new to portlet development...

  you should start by reading Portlet concepts and Standard portlet API. When you are ready to start developing portlets, see Portlet development basics for samples that demonstrate common features of the API.

• If you have developed portlets with the IBM Portlet API...

  Standard portlet API describes the new standards and provides links to topics that describe the difference between the two APIs and how to migrate to the standard.

• If you have experience with Struts applications...

  Struts Portlet Framework explains how to take an existing Struts application and convert it to a portlet.

• If you are already familiar with portlet development using either the standard portlet API or the IBM portlet API...

  Cooperative portlets describes how you can enable portlets to share information with other portlets on the page, using the property broker service. Collaborative Services API explains how you can integrate collaborative functionality into your portlets, such as online status, chat, and e-mail.

Rational Application Developer includes tools designed to help you develop portlet applications for WebSphere Portal Express. See Setting up the development environment for further information.

 

Related information

• Portlet concepts

• Sample portlets

• Standard portlet API

• IBM Portlet API

• Portlet development basics

• Portlet services

• Collaborative Services API

• Portlet development reference

• Additional resources for development

• Troubleshooting portlet development

• Introducing the WebSphere Portal programming model

• Advanced URL generation

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