iWidgets on IBM Mashup Center via WebSphere Portlet Factory

WebSphere Portlet Factory (or WPF for short) 6.1.5 can be used to develop widgets (or iWidgets as they are also known) and sent to IBM Mashup Center (or IMC for short) 2.0 for end users to use in their mashups.

All on 64-bit Ubuntu 9.10 (also known as Karmic) using 32-bit Eclipse and the same 32-bit Java 6 as used by IMC’s application server.

Develop widgets

A previous post explained how to get setup with WPF. A good test is to start with the samples:

1. start Eclipse
2. ensure WebSphere Portlet Factory is the perspective
3. go File > New > WebSphere Portlet Factory Project
4. enter “TestKarmic” as the Project Name, and click Next
5. expand Tutorials and Samples, tick Widgets, and click Finish

Send widgets (deploy, or publish) to IBM Mashup Center

1. go Window > Preferences, expand WebSphere Portlet Factory, select Widgets
2. enter username and password that IMC was set up with (this step is optional)
3. enter 9080 as the port (as the IMC is installed non-supervisor, otherwise this step is not necessary as the default is 80)
4. click OK
5. right-click on the “TestKarmic” project, go Widgets > Publish Widgets to Lotus Mashups toolbox
6. select the widgets to send, and click OK

Test widgets

1. go to the Lotus Mashups page: http://localhost:9080/mum/resources/bootstrap/login.jsp
2. click on “Go to edit” on the top-right
3. click the Favourites drop-down list, and there the widgets should show for the end users to drag onto pages

No issues – it’s a brilliant integration that works well on 64-bit (and presumably 32-bit) Ubuntu 9.10.

Ben

WebSphere Portlet Factory 6.1.5 on 64-bit Ubuntu 9.10

I used 64-bit Eclipse 3.4.2 and 64-bit Java 6 from IBM on 64-bit Ubuntu 9.10.

It just works. I had the following changes in place:

• the general 64-bit Ubuntu 6.10 additions as outlined in the “Preparation” section
• the 64-bit Eclipse 3.4.2 fixes

before proceeding with the installation of WebSphere Portlet Factory (or WPF for short) 6.1.5.

I would note also the following.

In preparation:

• consult the Detailed system requirements – WebSphere Portlet Factory 6.1.5 page to ensure the system has:
  • a compatible Eclipse environment to install WPF into (for me, Eclipse 3.4.2 – the 64-bit Java EE version, which had the pre-required web stuff)
  • a compatible Java Runtime Environment (JRE) for the Eclipse environment (for me, I used IBM’s 64-bit Java 6 for Linux – alternative option for me was to use Mashup Center 2.0 ‘s 32-bit Java 6 in /opt/ibm/MashupCenter/2.0/AppServer/java which I found to work also)
  • optionally, a compatible application server to publish widgets to (for me, Mashup Center 2.0′s)
• understand that the installer does not present options to install an application server or an Eclipse environment – have to be installed separately
• understand that the application server doesn’t have to be installed before the WPF installation – can be done at a later time as the installer doesn’t touch or need it
• understand that the installation can be done without supervisor privileges (i.e., no sudo is needed) if this is the case with the existing Eclipse environment

During installation:

• when asked to set install folder for WebSphere Portlet Factory Designer 6.1.5, understand that the whole WFP stuff would be installed under a “Designer” directory under this folder – i.e., with the default /home/bjfletcher/IBM where bjfletcher was my system username, it would be /home/bjfletcher/IBM/Designer
• when asked to specify Eclipse location, understand that the installation simply places a link in the existing Eclipse (in Eclipse folder, it is links/com.bowstreet.designer.link) that references to the installed WPF stuff from above – ingenuity
• understand the “Bowstreet” reference is because WPF was initially developed by Bowstreet until it was acquired by IBM in December 2005
• understand that the installation process is very quick, it was about 10 seconds after prompts

WebSphere Portlet Factory 6.1.5 can then be accessed in the Eclipse environment through the “WebSphere Portlet Factory” perspective.

Ben

P.S. easiest way to try different JRE’s with Eclipse is to start Eclipse with the -vm argument pointing to the Java installation’s bin folder