Portlet action URL

[John Lincoln]

Hi,

I have a login.jsp, which uses Form based authentication from the container (i.e j_security_check).

I want to have to two anchor links in jsp, which should trigger a portlet

Is it possible to do ? Following is the sample code. The problem is login is not a portlet . Please throw some light

<Form name="somename" action="j_security_check">
 <label for="username">Username:</label><input type="text" name="j_username" id="username" size="30" value=""/><br/>
               <label for="password">Password:</label><input type="password" name="j_password" id="password" size="30" value=""/><br/>
 
<br><br>
<a href='<portlet:actionURL/>' Link1 </a>
<a href='<portlet:actionURL/>' Link2 </a>
 
</Form>

[Ryan Wilson]

John what portal/version are you running?

The actionURL tag will create a link to the action phase of the current portlet. If this form is not being called inside the portlet itself then you will need to use the vender specific APIs to generate the URLs to the portlet.

In Websphere this can be done using the advance URL generation APIs.
http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/websphere/library/techarticles/0603_behl/0603_behl.html

[Cameron Wallace McKenzie]

I think it comes down to what you mean by "trigger a portlet."

You can't actually trigger a portlet. The best you can do is trigger a page, that has a portlet on it. But even then, a user can always remove a portlet from a page unless you've cut off their hands and locked the portlet on the page.

The portal requires a bit of a mindshift when using it. You don't invoke portlets, but instead, pages, that can have any diverse number and types of portlets on it.

To achieve what you want in WebSphere, you can have named pages, and call on one of those named pages. Of course, this requires some coordination between admins and developers, as admins name the page, and developers will reference it.

Again, try to think portal. I'm worried that you've invested in a portal environment, but are still thinking like one of those dinosaur Servlet/JSP programmers. Get out of the Jurrasic era!

And Ryan, that link about advance WebSphere page generation scared the pants off me! The EngineURL extending the DisposableURL? That's some crazy stuff!


-Cameron mcKenzie

  
 public interface EngineURL extends DisposableURL {
    /** Returns a read-write interface to the state carried by this URL */
    StateHolderController getState();
    /** Specifies whether the URL should point to public /protected area */
    void setProtected(Boolean bFlag);
    /** Specifies whether a secure connection is requested */
    void setSecure(Boolean bFlag);
    /**
     * Streams the URL to the given writer. Maintains the state of the URL
     * i.e. this method can be called multiple times.
     */
    Writer writeCopy(Writer out)
       throws IOException, OutputMediatorException, 
              PostProcessorException, DocumentModelException;
    /**
     * Streams the URL to the given writer and finally releases the state
     * of the URL. The EngineURL object must not be accessed after 
     * invoking this method
     */
    Writer writeDispose(Writer out)
       throws IOException, OutputMediatorException, PostProcessorException;
}  

[ April 23, 2007: Message edited by: Cameron W. McKenzie ]