IBM Connections and IBM Domino are popular platforms that organizations adopt as their base platform for their Social Business, and organizations often want to maintain the two technologies.
This kind of synthesis is most often seen because a number of multiple, users will leverage both the system taking advantages of the both worlds using IC plugins for Notes/Domino. Connections integration with the IBM Notes sidebar is a powerful extension, providing features beyond the Web application using the benefits of the rich client platform of Notes.

But when it comes to search, there is no plugin that could bring integrated search across IBM Connections and Domino’s knowledge based Collaborative applications like Team Room and IBM Content Analytics (ICA) is way forward. However, role of ICA is more than a just a search engine and most often organization may not be ready for it. This article embrace an alternative custom approach of leveraging individual search capabilities and providing better user experience with associated Digital experience as part of WebSphere Portal.

Tapping the power respective Search

Let us first explore how search can be performed remotely over these platform individual

Connections

IBM Connections 4.5 provides atom/xml based results eg

search/atomfba/search/results?scope=allconnections&query=%s

In case of Domino Search for application, it provides search results in html which can be modified using xslt or custom search templates . For scope of this articile, we shall use html output using url

teamroom.nsf/329fa03bf9ac45d4802577f3003a012a?SearchView&Query=%s

Cross /Domain Platform aggregation

IBM WebSphere Portal provides AJAX-based architecture which lets you develop your own search-related integration that can seamlessly work with the customers wide spread technology platform.

IBM WebSphere Portal has the HTTP proxy for AJAX applications or the AJAX proxy. Using this AJAX proxy, you can configure either the global proxy settings for all the AJAX-based applications running on your Portal or define application-specific proxy configuration for a single application. The AJAX proxy enables you to restrict access to trusted domains in a very flexible way by editing an xml configuration file, the proxy-config.xml file. For global proxy configuration, you must edit the proxy-config.xml file in the WEB-INF directory of the wp.config.proxy.war WAR file. For defining application-level proxy configuration, you must have the proxy-config.xml file in the WEB-INF directory of your portlet WAR file and the portlet code must have the provision to implement the proxy settings you define in the proxy-config.xml file.

The policy element defines an access policy for a specific URL pattern. Use the url attribute of the policy element to specify the URL pattern, for example, http://127.0.0.1:9082/*, as in the above example.

In this file,  you can configure both Connections and Domino url for Ajax proxy

You may refer to http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/portalwiki.nsf/xpDocViewer.xsp?lookupName=IBM+WebSphere+Portal+8+Product+Documentation#action=openDocument&res_title=HTTP_proxy_for_AJAX_applications_wp8&content=pdcontent  to see how to configure in detail.

Aggregation of Search

Using javascript framework like jquery, you can parse and convert the search results Atom/html feed retrieved from the respective server to an array of JavaScript objects. In his example, user over WebSphere Portal is searching for a keyword called 'HR"  to retrieve HR related content.

At the presentation layer, you can further enhance this with the usage of Pinterest-like layouts with framework freewall. You can find more details @ http://vnjs.net/www/project/freewall/

The visualization for above implementation included in this article can be done using freewill  JavaScript APIs. It implements the required Algorithm to create square-like rectangles that responsive.

When it is presented over the tablet or smart mobile device with lesser real estate, results automatically readjust to the reduced screen size as below.

 

Steps break down for your reference

• Convert the search results Atom feed retrieved from the server to an array of JavaScript objects.
• Assign each result with a base color (based on the category of the result) if it is from files, Communities, Forum or wikis or team room
• Create a link for each cell, this embedding links to the actual search result.

Summary

In this article, you have learned you can leverage other platform search capabilities while providing better user experience with associated Digital experience as part of WebSphere Portal. Please follow below reference for WebSphere Portal and ICA that comes with more powerful search capabilities.

 

References

1. WebSphere Portal Search Quick Starter Guide - http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/portalwiki.nsf/dx/apoSearchapo_Quick_Starter_Guide_for_WebSphere_Portal

2.  IBM Content Analytics with Enterprise Search (ICA ) -  http://www-03.ibm.com/software/products/en/contentanalyticssearch/