Finding and replacing portlets

As portlets change, you may need to replace existing portlets with newer versions or different portlet implementations. Use the Find/Replace Portlet window to perform this update.

This functionality is particularly useful to replace broken portlets in your production environment.

Using Find/Replace for any portlet with CGI parameters is limited to finding the same portlet with a different version. For example, if portlet A has CGI parameters, you can find or replace another portlet with the same name, portlet A, but the portlet must have a different version to find it using Find/Replace.

Enabling find and replace portlet functionality

Enterprise Portal lets you enable the find and replace portlets functionality for Web Studio users with the PortalAdmin role, as described in the global.properties.xml portal configuration file:

<Property name="PortalAdministrationRole"
value="PortalAdmin" description="The J2EE role 
required to administer the Portal performing export/import and update operations." menugroup="-1" />

To grant a Web Studio user the Portal Admin role, you must be the PSO or have the StudioAdmin role.

Select the organization in which the user resides to whom you want to give find and replace access.

Select Users in the Organization Manager menu.

Right-click the user in the detail view and select Edit Roles.

When the Edit User Roles window displays, grant the user the PortalAdmin role, then click OK.

Finding and replacing portlets

Users that have the PortalAdmin role and want to find and replace portlets, should follow this procedure.

Enter this URL in an Internet Explorer browser to access Web Studio:

http://HOSTNAME.PORTALDOMAIN:8080/onepage/index.html

For example, if your machine name is “tahiti”, and your portal domain is “sybase.com,” enter:

http://tahiti.sybase.com:8080/onepage/index.html

If you are running the EP Demo version, enter:

http://demo.sybase.com:4040/onepage/index.html

At the Login page, enter your user name and password, then click Login.

When the Web Studio main window displays, select Build | Portlets from the left pane on the left, then select Replace from the toolbar above the detail pane.

Complete these fields:

Find Name / Version / ID – select the portlet you want to replace and click Add. You return to the Find / Replace Portlet window with the information filled into the text areas.
Replace with Name / Version / ID – select the replacement portlet and click Add. You return to the Find / Replace Portlet window with the information filled into the text areas.

Before executing the find and replace operation, the portal checks whether the portlets you specified are using CGI parameters. If the portlets use CGI parameters, both the find and replace portlet must have the same name.
(From) Active Catalogs – select this option to find and replace the specified portlets in all active catalogs. Active catalogs in Portal Interface display portlets that users can select and add to their own personal pages. If any active catalogs are modified with a new portlet, Portal Interface users catalogs are immediately updated.
(From) Non-Active Catalogs – select this option to find and replace the specified portlets in all non-active catalogs.
(From) Portal Pages – select this option to find and replace a portlet for all page types—guest, default, and catalog.
- Update Portal User Pages – when you select the previous option (Portal Pages), select this option to have Portal Interface user page groups automatically updated for all changed portal pages.
Agent’s Rule – agent rules evaluate a portlet’s content and determine if the agent should continue. Select this option to find and replace the portlet specified in the agent’s rule. Agents can use one portlet in the processing rule. If a criteria is selected for the rule, no portlet is included in the agent and no update is needed. Chapter 12, “Using Enterprise Portal Agents,” for more information.
Agent’s Action – select this option to find and replace the specified portlet in the agent’s delivery action. Agents can deliver or write portlets to a location. These portlets are listed in the agent’s actions.

To view a log of the changes that would occur as a result of your selections, click Preview.

Click OK.

Once you click OK, the Details button is enabled. Click Details to see a detailed log of the changes that would occur:

Once you preview the changes, click Replace to permanently implement the changes.

You see an alert message similar to the one that displays when you click Preview.