WebSphere Portal and HATS

IBM WebSphere Portal gives you a single, secure point of access to diverse information and applications that can be customized and personalized.

HATS integration with WebSphere Portal Server lets data flow freely between HATS, WebSphere Portal, and other Portal applications. All of the relevant features of WebSphere Portal are also available for exploitation within HATS by built-in tooling or straightforward Java development. The majority of HATS functionality is preserved when running HATS in the WebSphere Portal environment. See HATS portlet considerations and limitations for more information.

HATS applications can now run directly within WebSphere Portal as portlets, enabling WebSphere Portal and HATS to interact directly. HATS Business Logic classes are able to use the WebSphere Portal APIs, and HATS JSPs are able to include WebSphere Portal JSP tag libraries. For more information on programming portlets and advanced portal features, refer to the HATS Programmer's Guide.

A HATS portlet project is targeted at transformation oriented application. For adapting model 1 Integration Object based applications to run in WebSphere Portal, please refer to the HATS Programmer's Guide. For converting struts Integration Object based application to run in WebSphere Portal, please refer to the WebSphere Portal Information Center.

Converting HATS projects into portlets

In order to allow a HATS project to run as a portlet, the structure and content of the HATS project must be altered to meet the portlet specification. The HATS studio automates the process of converting a regular HATS project into a portlet. The WebSphere Portal Toolkit is a prerequisite for this conversion process.

There a 2 ways in which you can generate a HATS portlet:

1. You can create a new one using the HATS Create a Project wizard and designating that the project should be created as a portlet.

2. You can generate one from an existing HATS application. This ensures that the time spent on creating your HATS application will not be wasted when you move it to WebSphere Portal.
   Note:

   If you have an existing HATS V4 or V5 application, you will need to migrate your application to HATS V6 before generating your portlet. For more information on migrating from HATS V4 or V5 to HATS V6 see Migrating to HATS Version 6.0

Generating portlets from HATS applications

To generate your portlet from an existing HATS project, right click on your project in the HATS Project View and select Generate Portlet Project. A dialog will be presented, allowing you to designate the name for the new project and select the types of files that will be automatically converted during the creation. A HATS portlet project will be created from the selected project. Once the portlet is created, additional customization can be done. For more information on modifying HATS projects, see Modifying a HATS project.

To generate a portlet when creating a new HATS application, select HATS > New > Project on the HATS Studio toolbar to launch the Create a Project wizard. Select the Create as portlet project check box on the first panel of the wizard then finish creating your project as normal. This will generate a single HATS portlet project although the HATS .ear will not be created in this case. This function is available so that you do not have to create a regular HATS application, then generate a portlet from it.

Working with a HATS portlet

A HATS portlet project is still a HATS project meaning all the HATS wizards and editors can continue to be used on the project. A HATS portlet project is also a portlet project which also means all the WebSphere Portal Toolkit editors and runtime configuration can be used on the project. A HATS portlet project appears in the tree with a different icon

. When working with a HATS portlet, there are a few things you should consider:

• A HATS portlet project can no longer run in the server configured for the regular HATS Run On Server because it was using the WebSphere Application Server runtime. The WebSphere Portal Toolkit comes with its own methods for debugging a portlet as it is being developed in a WebSphere Portal runtime (such as test environment and preview portlet function).

• A HATS project from which a portlet was generated is developed independently from the portlet; after generating, changes in one project will not be reflected in the other. You can always generate a new HATS portlet from a HATS project to reflect changes made in the latter.

• You cannot convert a HATS portlet project back into a regular HATS project.

Exporting your HATS portlet

To export a HATS portlet for deployment, you can use the built in Rational Studio Export wizard. Select File > Export > WAR file and click Next.

Select the desired portlet project from the Web Project drop-down list and enter the target file name for the exported WAR in the Destination drop-down. Click Finish.

Once you have exported your HATS portlet, you will need to install it into WebSphere Portal using the Administrative Portlets.

Administering HATS portlets from the HATS Administrative Console

To administer HATS portlets, follow the steps below to install a stand-alone administration project in the WebSphere Portal server:

1. Create a HATS Administration project in the HATS Studio by selecting File > New > Project > HATS > HATS Administration Project. The HATS Administration project only appears in the HATS Studio on the Navigator tab.

2. Deploy the .ear file you created for the portal using the WebSphere Application Server Administrative console by pointing your browser to http://portalhostname:9091/admin. Make sure it is installed to the Portal Server, and remember to perform the Web Server plugin action.

3. On the Administrative console, go to Server > Portal server and find the BOOTSTRAP_ADDRESS End Point for the Portal server. The default is 9810.

4. Open the HATS Administrative Console by pointing your browser to http://portalhostname/adminprojectname/hatsadmin/admin.

5. Go to Management scope in the left window and add the new node "Portalhostname 9810".

6. Choose the newly added node and click OK. You should now be able to see a list of HATS portlets.

Running a HATS portlet project on WebSphere Portal version 5.0 internal test server

To Run On Server on an internal Portal 5.0 test environment first create a new portlet project.

1. Select File > New > Portal > Portlet Project (this portlet project must be a non-HATS portlet project).

2. Accept all the defaults during the creation.

Now create a new server:

1. Select File > New > Server and choose Portal 5.0 test environment

2. Add the HATS portlet to the .ear associated with the portlet project you just created by doing the following:

   1. Expand the .ear in the HATS Navigator view

   2. Open the application.xml and select the module tab in the right panel

   3. Add the .war file under modules.

You are now ready to run your HATS portlet project on the Portal internal test server.

HATS portlet considerations and limitations

The following is a list of considerations and limitations when dealing with HATS portlets:

• HATS applications which use JSP flow of control will not work properly in WebSphere Portal. Portlets are servlet-driven entities and require the use of actions encoded into URLs to drive the navigation. Because of this, the Forward to URL action will not work in a Portal environment.

• A HATS portlet application can not be run outside of WebSphere Portal. For example, you cannot run a HATS portlet application on WebSphere Application Server.

• The WebSphere Portal Administration Portlets only allow installation of portlet applications as Web application archives (.war). HATS only has one project per .war therefore, you cannot export a set of HATS applications as a portlet application

• Cookies are required to authenticate within WebSphere Portal, so you need to run HATS in WebSphere Portal with cookies enabled.

For more information and help regarding the WebSphere Portal Toolkit, select the Help drop-down menu on the HATS Studio toolbar and pick Help Contents. Click Developing portal applications or Developing portlet applications from the help list on the left to access documentation for portlet developers.