Portlet Factory, Version 6.1.2
About Building IBM WebSphere Portlet Factory-based Web Application Bundles (WAB) for Rich Client Platforms (RCP)
In WebSphere Portlet Factory many WebSphere Portlet Factory portlets can now run on rich client platforms such as IBM® Lotus® Expeditor 6.1.1 and later, and IBM Lotus Notes® 8 Standard and later versions. Web Application Bundles (WAB) let you extend a portlet for use with Rich Client Platforms. This topic outlines how to build these bundles for Rich Client Platforms (RCP) using WebSphere Portlet Factory.
Rich client platforms use an Eclipse/OSGI (Open Service Gateway Initiative) based runtime environment that enables Java/SWT and WebSphere Portlet Factory based applications to run directly on client machines. As with all eclipse based platforms, you extend the platform using eclipse/OSGI plugins also called bundles. For SWT based components, extensions are provided using eclipse plugins, just as the Eclipse extensions that implement WebSphere Portlet Factory Designer are provided with Eclipse plugins. For portlets, the eclipse extension is provided using a Web Application Bundle (WAB). A WAB is similar to a portlet WAR, but also includes a plugin.xml that describes the extension, and a manifest that describes OSGI bundle configuration information such as plugin dependencies and classloading settings.
Note: See theIBM Lotus Expeditor or IBM Lotus Notes 8 platform documentation for information on administering those platforms and managing update sites for the individual platforms. The capabilities of the two platforms are based on the same Eclipse/OSGi extension point and update manager capability and the same IBM Lotus Expeditor provisioning mechanisms, but IBM Lotus Notes 8 adds administration of update site capabilities that are beyond the scope of this WebSphere Portlet Factory-specific document, and your IBM Lotus Notes 8.x platform may have additional update site management capabilities not available at the time this document was authored.
Parent topic: Overview of IBM WebSphere Portlet Factory support for rich client platforms
- IBM Lotus Notes 8 install and setup
See IBM Lotus Notes 8 documentation for installation and setup.
- Adding a IBM WebSphere Portal WAB to your IBM Lotus Notes 8 installation with the Lotus Notes Composite Application Editor (CAE)
See the Lotus Notes 8 documentation on the Composite Application Editor for information on creating Lotus Notes composite applications before proceeding.
- Additional information
More up to date information, question and answer threads and samples may be found on the following WebSphere Portlet Factory related sites and forums. Check back regularly, as samples may be added over time for the new platforms and new functionality.
- Building IBM WebSphere Portal composite applications and provisioning to IBM Lotus Expeditor/IBM Lotus Notes 8
One of the features of IBM Lotus Expeditor 6.1.1/IBM Lotus Notes 8 is the ability to provision a Composite Application from WebSphere Portal (we recommend WP6.0.1 or later) to the XPD/IBM Lotus Notes platform
- IBM WebSphere Portlet Factory build script and templates for generating the RCP WAB/Feature/UpdateSite
Within a WebSphere Portlet Factory project, under projectname/WebContent/WEB-INF/bin/deployment/rcp/, there are a set of templates for the various property and deployment descriptor files used to generate a Rich Client Platform Web Application Bundle (WAB), Feature and Update Site.
- Deploying IBM WebSphere Portlet Factory-built WABs directly to IBM Lotus Expeditor
During development, you may want to deploy a WebSphere Portlet Factory-built WAB, and the portlets within it directly to an IBM Lotus Expeditor client, for testing individual portlets, outside of a composite application.
- Deploying IBM WebSphere Portlet Factory-built WABs and other local updates directly to IBM Lotus Notes 8 standard clients
For provisioning the supplemental Web Translation bridge which is required for supporting dynamically generated JSP pages on the IBM Lotus Expeditor and IBM Lotus Notes platforms, see the IBM Lotus Notes 8 support technote on how to provision IBM Lotus Notes 8 supplemental (optional) features.
- Enabling the update manager UI in IBM Lotus Notes 8 to develop or test directly against it
You can enable the update manager user interface (UI) in IBM Lotus Notes 8 to develop or test directly against it.
- IBM WebSphere Portlet Factory generated update site for the Rich Client WAB and feature
This describes the characteristics of an Eclipse/OSGi update site and suggests update mechanisms.
- IBM WebSphere Portlet Factory Project Build menu action
This information describes the WebSphere Portlet Factory Project Build menu action.
- IBM WebSphere Portlet Factory project properties for RCP – enable RCP WAB generation for a project
You must enable rich client platform support for a WebSphere Portlet Factory project to enable the project menu option to generate an RCP WAB, and the RCP inputs to the Portlet Adapter builder.
- Troubleshooting
Refer to this information when troubleshooting WABs.
- IBM Lotus Expeditor 6.1.1 install and setup
Use the Web Translator feature to enable IBM Lotus Expeditor (XPD) 6.1.1 to support dynamic JSPs.
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