11.2 Web Application Integrator

Back to main topic 11. IBM WebSphere Portal Server

Introduction

Web Application Integrator for IBM WebSphere Portal (WebAppIntegrator) is a solution that allows you to integrate external Web applications with WebSphere Portal version 6.0 or later. It allows organizations to centralize access to external Web applications within the enterprise.

In this topic, we show how to use WebAppIntegrator to integrate Lotus Connections 2.0 and WebSphere Portal 6.1.

The WebAppIntegrator solution does not require any portlet development because it does not use portlets at runtime. The integration can be performed by Portal administrators and the Web application owner. Additionally, the WebAppIntegrator solution does not use an iFrame. Such an approach is desirable because the viewing area of the Web application is not constrained in any way (that is, there are no iFrame scroll bars). Also, all JavaScript and links within the integrated Web application continue to function as expected.

How WebAppIntegrator works

WebAppIntegrator integration is achieved by "injecting" Portal navigation markup into the external Web application when the Web application is rendered. The solution implementation uses the existing Portal URL page feature and makes use of a new Portal entry point, the WebAppIntegrator theme template, which returns JavaScript that generates Portal page navigation markup (for example page tabs, launch menu, and bread crumbs). This markup can be "injected" into an external Web application by adding exactly one HTML <script> tag to the Web application.

The user experience suggests that the user is still within the Portal environment even though the user is, in reality, natively browsing the external Web application.

Adding WebAppIntegrator to Lotus Connections 2.0

Assuming that you have installed WebAppIntegrator, you can add WebAppIntegrator to any Web application by following these steps:

1. Create a standard Portal URL page.
2. Use the Web Application Integrator portlet to generate an HTML <script> tag.
3. Add the <script> tag to the header component of the Web application.

Step 1: Creating a standard Portal URL page

To create a standard Portal URL page, follow these steps:

1. Log in to WebSphere Portal as an administator.
2. Go to Administration -> Manage Pages.
3. Navigate to where you want the link to Lotus Connections to be. For this sample, go to Content Root -> Applications.
4. Click New URL.
5. Enter Connections 2.0 as the title and the URL to the Connections home page (see Figure 1).
   
   
   Figure 1: New URL
   
6. Click OK.

The newly created URL displays in the list of pages (see Figure 2).


Figure 2: Manage Pages Portlet

Step 2: Generating the HTML <script> tag

To generate the HTML <script> tag, follow these steps:

1. Copy the unique name/identifier of the URL that you just created (highlighted in Figure 2).
2. Paste the unique name/identifier to the Web Application Integrator portlet (see Figure 3).
3. Click Generate HTML <script> tag.
   
   
   Figure 3: Web Application Integrator Portlet

Step 3: Adding the <script>

After you complete step 2, you have the script that you can paste to your external Web applications as shown in Figure 4. To add this script to Lotus Connections, you need to modify the .jsp pages that control the appearance of each component (Home, Blogs, Activities, Dogear, and Communities). See the following topics for details:

11.2.1 Home
11.2.2 Profiles
11.2.3 Communities
11.2.4 Blogs
11.2.5 Dogear
11.2.6 Activities

Figure 4: HTML <script> tag

(Edited by DW)

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