Quick Start: Your first widget with remote deployment

 

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This quick start guides you through the steps to create and test a widget locally, then remotely upload the widget to IBM WebSphere MashupHub.

You then publish it to IBM Lotus Mashups. It is good practice to develop and test against a locally-installed Lotus Mashups server before deploying to a remote server. Follow the steps in this document if you are unable to install a local Lotus Mashups server, or when you are done testing locally and ready to deploy to a remote Lotus Mashups server.

IBM WebSphere Portlet Factory works in conjunction Lotus Mashups to create the widgets that become part of the mashups page. Typically, developers create the widgets on their local systems, deploy them, and test them locally. However, in some cases, developers work in an environment where they do not have the resources to run a local Lotus Mashups server or perhaps multiple members of the development team must deploy widgets to a common Lotus Mashups server.

When local development and testing is done, the team deploys the newly-created widgets to a remote server. The remote server’s function could be as a production server, an integration server, or quality assurance server.

 

Installed servers

If you have already installed Lotus Mashups locally, the installation application of IBM WebSphere Portlet Factory detects the presence of a Lotus Mashups server. The installation creates a deployment configuration for deploying package files or WARs.

Additionally WebSphere Portlet Factory installs an IBM WebSphere Application Server Community Edition (CE) application server. WebSphere Application Server CE is an open source Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) application server based on Apache Geronimo. WebSphere Application Server CE provides lightweight testing capabilities for WebSphere Portlet Factory.

You can test and run the widgets standalone in this environment.

In some development environments, many users must have access to a common server. As WebSphere Portlet Factory is integrated with Lotus Mashups and InfoSphere MashupHub, it supports deployment of widgets to a remote server.

 

Process

The process of creating a widget that is useful in creating mashups involves the use of multiple products.

1. WebSphere Portlet Factory

   1. Create the widget in WebSphere Portlet Factory.

   2. Run and test against a locally installed Lotus Mashups server if possible. If not, then test standalone on the locally installed WebSphere Application Server CE.

   3. Generate a production WAR file.

2. InfoSphere MashupHub

   1. Upload the WAR file as an iWidget package file through the InfoSphere MashupHub

   2. From the details page of the widget in the InfoSphere MashupHub, choose Add to Lotus Mashups to deploy the widgets to the Lotus Mashups server and publish the widget to the Lotus Mashups Toolbox.

3. Lotus Mashups

 

From WebSphere Portlet Factory create a widget

Create a widget.

1. Create a WebSphere Portlet Factory project.

   1. Go to File > New > WebSphere Portlet Factory Project.

   2. Enter a name for the widget in the Project name field.

   3. Click Finish.

   4. Click Yes when asked to deploy the project.

2. In the project, create a Model.

   1. Go to File > New > WebSphere Portlet Factory Model .

   2. Select the project for which you want to create the model.

   3. Click Next.

   4. Select the model type. In this case, select Excel Widget.

   5. Click Next.

   6. Enter the widget title and select the Mashups Toolbox category under which you want the widget to appear. Next.

   7. Optionally, enter the paging settings. Click Next.

   8. Optionally, enter the column settings. Click Next

   9. Optionally enter the Details Page settings. Click Next

   10. Enter the model name and click Finish.

3. Run and modify the widget locally until you are satisfied.

4. Right-click on the Project name. Go to Application Server War > Build WAR for Production deployment.

5. Click Finish. WebSphere Portlet Factory creates the WAR file in your workspace. The widget must be in a package file that is located on an accessible file path or on a URL, either locally or on a common sever. To deploy to Lotus Mashups, the package file must be a WAR.

 

From InfoSphere MashupHub upload the widget

Follow these steps to upload the widget to the InfoSphere MashupHub.

1. On the InfoSphere MashupHub Home tab, in the Create panel, click on Upload Widget.

2. From the Upload Widget tab

   1. Select the type of widget you want to upload, in this case iWidgets. Click Next.

   2. Select Upload File. The package file must be a WAR file

   3. Location of the widget package file.

   4. Click Next.

3. Following information about the widget you are uploading:

   1. Specify a title, a description, and a version for the widget.

   2. Optionally, specify tags that are associated with your widget. You can use the list of existing tags as a guide for the tags that you apply.

   3. Optionally, select the permissions that you want to apply to your widget.

   4. Optionally select the categories that you want the widget to be associated with. The categories provide a general classification for the widget.

   5. Optionally, in the Related Entries section, specify the objects in the catalog that can be used with the widget you are uploading.

   6. Optionally, specify the URL to any technical documentation for the widget.

   7. Click Finish. A confirmation appears indicating that the widget was saved. The widget is now listed in the InfoSphere MashupHub catalog and available to other users as indicated by the permissions you selected in step c.

4. From the widget uploaded tab or from your widget tab if you closed the finished page and came back through the list widgets link:

   1. Click View iWidget details. The widget details are displayed. This Window also contains an Action menu lets you add the widget directly to Lotus Mashups.

   2. Click Actions > Add to Lotus Mashups.

   3. Enter the User ID and the password to access the Lotus Mashups server.

   4. Click Next.

5. Enter the title and description of the widget to be added to Lotus Mashups.

6. Select the category of the widget. The category appears on the Toolbox of the Lotus Mashups page. All the widgets that were defined in the WAR appear in the same category with the model names.

7. Click Finish.

 

From Lotus Mashups build your mashup

1. Login to Lotus Mashups to check if the widget appears under the specified category in the Toolbox.

   Note: If you are already logged into , log out and log in again. The only time that Lotus Mashups refreshes the toolbox is at login.

2. Test the widget on the Lotus Mashups palette to see if it performs as expected.

3. If the widget requires modification, IBM recommends that you return to the developer environment to modify the widget.

4. Create a new Production WAR.

5. Remove the old WAR from InfoSphere MashupHub using the WebSphere Application Server admin console.

6. Redeploy the revised WAR file to InfoSphere MashupHub.

7. Delete the old widget from Lotus Mashups toolbox.

8. From InfoSphere MashupHub push the revised widget to Lotus Mashups.

Parent topic: Learning about WebSphere Portlet Factory

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