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Use WebDAV file store for mashup integration

You can use WebDAV to work with mashup content in the portal.


WebDAV overview and entry point URL

WebDAV is defined by RFC2518 as an HTTP extension framework with a plug point for the access and management of hierarchical data, for example, in content management systems. WebDAV stores the data in collections. It allows you work with the data in a user interface view that is similar to a to that of a file system. Various tools are available for integrating WebDAV resources into the client file system. Users can use these tool to view and modify resources that they can access via WebDAV. For more details about the WebDAV specification refer to the RFC2518 document at the Web link given below. For more information about WebDAV in the portal refer to the topics about Using WebDAV with WebSphere Portal. You can obtain the entry point URL to the WebDAV file store from the service document under the URL /wps/mycontenthandler/!ut/p/model/service-document .

The service document contains the top level access point as follows:

<app:collection href="/webdav/!ut/p/dav/fs-type1/">
     <atom:title>fs-type1</atom:title>
     <app:categories fixed="yes">
          <atom:category term="webdav"/>
          <atom:category term="filestore"/>
          <atom:category term="mashups"/>
     </app:categories>
</app:collection>

The access point for user specific data is provided as follows:

<app:collection href="/webdav/!ut/p/dav/fs-type1/users/wpsadmin">
     <atom:title>fs-type1-user</atom:title>
     <app:categories fixed="yes">
          <atom:category term="webdav"/>
          <atom:category term="filestore"/>
          <atom:category term="mashups"/>
          <atom:category term="user"/>
     </app:categories>
</app:collection>
Verify the URL is obtained by using the service document so that potential future changes to the URL do not cause problems. Examples of URLs for mashup integration are as follows:

http://www.my_company.com:10040/webdav/dav/fs-type1/users/wpsadmin/

For virtual portals examples of entry URLs to all portal pages are as follows:

For more details about the WebDAV specification refer to the RFC2518 document at the Web link given below. 


Folder structure and reserved folder names

The folder structure that mashup integration uses is shown in the following. Each folder represents a WebDAV collection.

/public

All authenticated users have read and write access to this folder. Portal access control mapping: Manager@Public-Node.

Anonymous users have read access only. Portal access control mapping: User@Public-Node

/users

All authenticated users have read access only to this folder. Portal access control mapping: User@UserNode.

Anonymous users have read access only. Portal access control mapping:

User@UserNode.

/users/user_name

Only the user user_name has access to these files. This folder is created for the individual user user_name when the user accesses the WebDAV file store for the first time. Portal access control mapping: Manager@PrivateNode. User rights are block propagated on all children of this node.

To have human readable folder names, the portal uses the user IDs of the individual users as the names for the users' folders user_name. However, internally the portal uses the VMM ID of the user, so that the data does not need to be moved when the user name is changed.

/users/user_name/public

The user user_name has read and write access to this folder. This folder contains content that the user user_name shared with other users. Portal access control mapping: inherited.

All authenticated users have read access to this folder. Portal access control mapping: User@UserPublicNode.

Anonymous users have read access to this folder. Portal access control mapping: User@UserPublicNode.

Only the user user_name can browse to this folder. All other users have to jump to this directory to access it.

All other subfolders of /users/user_name can only the accessed by the user user_name.

/system

Administrators can view this folder in WebDAV. Other portal users cannot view this folder. Portal access control mapping: None.

The folders directly under the root folder, that is the folders /public, /users, and /system, are created by the system user ID.

The folders /user_name and their subfolders are created under the user IDs the individual users, including folders that the users create new.Notes:

  1. WebDAV prevents the deletion of the folders public, users, and system. Even users with administrator rights cannot delete these folders and the data in them.

  2. The following folder names are reserved for WebDAV or mashup integration. Therefore you cannot use these as folder names:

    • /public

    • /public/widget-def

    • /users/user_name

    • /users/user_name/public

    • /users/user_name/public/widget-def


Supported HTTP methods

WebDAV file store supports the following HTTP methods:

PROPFIND

This allows portal users to find out details about the resource hierarchy, such as the WebDAV collection structure, and details about resources, such as their names, sizes, and dates of last modification.

MKCOL

This allows users to create new folders, that is WebDAV collections.

GET

This allows users to retrieve resources on which they have at least View role access rights.

HEAD

This allows users to retrieve HTTP headers of resources on which they have at least View role access rights.

POST

This allows users to upload new resources.

DELETE

This allows users to delete resources or folders, that is WebDAV collections.

PUT

This allows users to update resources, such as documents or images in a folder.

COPY

This allows users to copy resources or folders, that is WebDAV collections.

MOVE

This is used to move or rename resources or folders, that is WebDAV collections.


Known limitations

The following are known limitations of the WebDAV file store feature for mashup integration:


Parent topic:

Mashup integration


Related tasks


Use WebDAV with WebSphere Portal


Related information


WebDAV specification RFC2518:   http://www.webdav.org/specs/rfc2518.html