49 Extending WebCenter Spaces Using JDeveloper

49.2.1 What You Should Know About WebCenter Spaces Shared Library Deployment

WebCenter Spaces has a dependency on a special shared library named extend.spaces.webapp.war. The purpose of the extend.spaces.webapp shared library is not to accommodate your custom code, this shared library only contains weblogic.xml in which you can configure your custom WebCenter Spaces shared library requirements.

For example, if you want to use custom code or task flows deployed in several shared libraries from multiple sources you can list them in the extend.spaces.webapp shared library, as illustrated here:

WebCenter Spaces
   | --> weblogic.xml
      | -->extend.spaces.webapp
         | --> weblogic.xml
            | -->custom.webcebcenter.spaces            **11.1.1.3 Shared Library
            | -->com.acme.custom.webcenter.spaces      **Customer Shared Library
            | -->com.oracle.partner1.spaces.extension  **Partner Shared Library
            | -->com.oracle.partner2.spaces.extension  **Partner Shared Library

This development model provides an easy way to utilize additional shared libraries in WebCenter Spaces from multiple contributors, including developers, customers, partners. See also, Section 49.2.3, "Rebuilding the WebCenter Spaces Shared Library List".

Whenever you deploy a new shared library that includes WebCenter Spaces extensions you must modify the WebCenter Spaces shared library dependency list and redeploy extend.spaces.webapp.war. Figure 49-1 illustrates the process.

Figure 49-1 Overview - Including Additional Shared Libraries in WebCenter Spaces

49.2.2 Deploying Your Own Custom Code and Task Flows in Shared Libraries

Developers can build extensions for WebCenter Spaces, package them in ADF Library JARs, and then deploy them as shared libraries for use in WebCenter Spaces. For example, you can:

• Develop custom code in JDeveloper and make it available in WebCenter Spaces.

• Develop specialized task flows in JDeveloper and make them available to WebCenter Spaces

49.2.3 Rebuilding the WebCenter Spaces Shared Library List

Whenever you deploy a new shared library that includes WebCenter Spaces extensions you must modify the WebCenter Spaces shared library dependency list and redeploy extend.spaces.webapp.war.

This section describes:

• Editing the Shared Library List

• Setting Build and Deployment Options (config.properties)

• Building and Deploying the Shared Library List (extend.spaces.webapp.war)

• Troubleshooting Shared Library Deployment

• Reverting to a Previous Shared Library List

49.3.1 Using the WebCenterSpacesResources Project for Round-Trip Development

WebCenter's round-trip development features provide a simple, convenient way to modify WebCenter Spaces resources without redeploying the entire application. Round-trip development refers to features and techniques that allow you to download resources from a deployed application and upload them to JDeveloper for maintenance or enhancement. Once modified, you can upload the resource back to WebCenter Spaces for immediate use or for testing.

Out-of-the-box, WebCenter Spaces provides some default resources, such as skins and page templates, for people to use or modify. To keep WebCenter Spaces easy to use, the built-in functionality for creating and editing resources within WebCenter Spaces is purposely somewhat limited. If your resource requirements extend beyond the editing capabilities of WebCenter Spaces, you can further develop resources using a JDeveloper project that is especially designed for that purpose—WebCenterSpacesResources.

Oracle recommends that you use this project to build and manage custom skins, page templates, page styles, navigations, content display templates, and resource catalogs. The project provides some sample resources, as well as other files and folders you might need. You do not have to develop resources from scratch, you can export existing resources from WebCenter Spaces and edit them in JDeveloper, or use one of the samples as your starting point.

When you are ready to deploy new resources, you can upload them directly from JDeveloper to a live WebCenter Spaces application simply by providing JDeveloper with the name of the host and port where WebCenter Spaces is running.

Note: You do not need to deploy customized resources to a shared library.

Alternatively, you can login to WebCenter Spaces and upload new resources through the Resource Manager. If you decide to use this method you must save the resource to an export archive (.ear).

Figure 49-5 Designing Resources Using the WebCenterSpacesResources Project

49.3.2 Opening and Exploring the WebCenterSpacesResources Project

1. Download and unzip the WebCenter Spaces workspace.

   See Section 49.1, "Downloading a Workspace for WebCenter Spaces Development".

2. Navigate to the unzip directory, and open DesignWebCenterSpaces\DesignWebCenterSpaces.jws in JDeveloper (Figure 49-6).

   This workspace contains a project dedicated to resource development called WebCenterSpacesResources.

   Figure 49-6 Projects in the DesignWebCenterSpaces Workspace

   
   

3. Expand the WebCenterSpacesResources project.

   The WebCenterSpacesResources project contains several files and folders (Figure 49-7):

   Figure 49-7 Exploring the WebCenterSpacesResources Project in JDeveloper

   
   

   Table 49-3 describes the files and folders in the WebCenterSpacesResources project.

   Table 49-3 Files and Folders in the WebCenterSpacesResources Project

   Configuration Property	Description
   \Application Sources	Supporting files and folders.
   \Web Content	Contains WebCenter Spaces resources.
   \oracle\webcenter\siteresources	Directory containing WebCenter Space resources. You can develop and manage all your resources under this folder.
   \scopedMD	Contains application-level and Space-level resources. Application-level resources are stored under the "default scope" directory s8bba98ff_4cbb_40b8_beee_296c916a23ed Out-of-the box, this directory contains several sample application resources. Space-level resources are stored under Space-specific directories with the same name as the Space's internal ID. No Space-level resources are provided out-of-the-box.
   \<Default Scope ID>	Contains sample application-level resources.
   \contenttemplates	Includes a sample content display template (single1.jsff).
   \navigation	includes a sample navigation (Navigation.xml) - SampleNavigation.
   \pagestyles	Includes a blank page style (SampleBlank.jspx and SampleBlankPageDef.xml)
   \resourceCatalog	Includes a sample, blank catalog (ResourceCatalog.xml) - SampleCatalog
   \siteTemplate	Includes four sample page templates (Template.jspx): SampleSideNavigation-Flow, SampleTopNavigation-Flow, SampleTopNavigation-Stretch, SampleSideNavigation-Stretch
   \skin	Includes a sample skin (Skin.css) - sampleDew
   \shared	Directory for content used by resources.
   \Page Flows	Supporting files and folders.

   
   

49.3.3 Enabling Direct Uploads to WebCenter Spaces

If you build or modify skins, page templates, and so on, for a WebCenter Spaces application that is live or running in a test environment you can upload your updates directly to the application from JDeveloper. To enable direct updates from the JDeveloper WebCenterSpacesResources project you must:

• Specify the name of the host and port where WebCenter Spaces is running in config.properties.

• Have the appropriate roles and permissions to upload resources to WebCenter Spaces:

  • WebLogic Server role - monitor

  • WebCenter Spaces permissions - Create, Edit, Delete <resourcetype>

Configuring the WebCenter Spaces hostname and port, enables the Upload Portal Resource option in your project. The first time you use this option, within a JDeveloper session, you must enter your WebCenter Spaces login name and password. For security reasons, your credentials are not saved for future sessions but they are stored in memory for the current JDeveloper session.

Once you are logged in to WebCenter Spaces you can upload resources, providing, of course, that you have the appropriate permissions to manage WebCenter Spaces resources.

To set connection properties in config.properties and grant permissions:

1. Open config.properties, available at:

   <Unzip_Directory>\DesignWebCenterSpaces\config.properties

2. Enter details relating to JDeveloper and your WebCenter Spaces installation, as shown in Table 49-4:

   The config.properties file describes each property and offers examples. The defaults provided are only samples and must be replaced with your own, installation-specific values.

   Table 49-4 config.properties Settings to Enable Direct Uploads

   Configuration Property	Description
   jdeveloper.install.home.directory	Base directory where JDeveloper is installed. In addition to \jdeveloper, the directory you specify must contain \wlserver_10.3, \modules, and so on.
   wls.host	Name of the host machine where WebCenter Spaces is running.
   wls.port	Port number on which the WLS Administration Console is running.

   
   

3. Save your updates to config.properties.

4. Verify and, if necessary, request permissions shown in Table 49-5.

   Table 49-5 Permissions to Upload and Manage Resources THrough JDeveloper

   Type	Role or Permissions	Description
   WebLogic Server	monitor	This role enables you to run the WLST scripts which upload resources from JDeveloper to WebCenter Spaces. See also, "Add users to roles" in Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Help.
   WebCenter Spaces
   Application-level	Create, Edit, Delete <resourcetype> Manage Configuration	This permission enables you to create and manage application-level resources for WebCenter Spaces. This permission gives you access to the WebCenter Spaces resource administration page. See also, "Managing Application Roles and Permissions" in Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Spaces.
   Space-level Standard Space-level Advanced	Create, Edit, Delete Resources Create, Edit, Delete <resourcetype> Manage Configuration	These permissions enable you to create and manage resources for a particular Space. Either standard or advanced permissions will apply, depending on the Space. This permission gives you access to the Space's resource administration page. See also, "Managing Roles and Permissions for a Space" in Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Spaces.

   
   

5. Upload a sample resource, to test the connection, and verify that the resource is available in WebCenter Spaces:

   For details, see Section 49.3.5, "Uploading Resources Direct to WebCenter Spaces".

49.3.4 Editing WebCenter Spaces Resources in JDeveloper

Oracle recommends that you extend WebCenter Spaces resources in the JDeveloper project, WebCenterSpacesResources. This project provides everything you need to create, modify, and upload the following WebCenter Spaces resources:

• Page Templates

• Navigations

• Page Styles

• Skins

• Content Display Templates

• Resource Catalogs

• Mashup Styles

• Task Flows

Where To Start...

You do not have to develop WebCenter Spaces resources from scratch. Most developers will download an existing resource from WebCenter Spaces and edit it in JDeveloper, or use one of the sample resources as a starting point.

For more information, on both these techniques, see:

• How to Download a WebCenter Spaces Resource (from WebCenter Spaces)

• How to Import a WebCenter Spaces Resource into JDeveloper

• How to Use a Sample WebCenter Spaces Resource

Application-Level vs Space-Level Resources

The difference between application- and Space-level resources is one of scope. In WebCenter Spaces:

• Application-level resources are available to all Spaces.

  You must develop all application-level resources under the WebCenterSpacesResources project directory oracle/webcenter/siteresources/scopedMD/s8bba98ff_4cbb_40b8_beee_296c916a23ed.

  To upload application resources to WebCenter Spaces you must have WebCenter Spaces permissions: Application-Manage Configuration plus Create, Edit, Delete <Resource_Type>.

• Space-level resources are only available within a particular Space.

  You must develop a resource for a specific Space under the appropriate namespace, so that it can be uploaded to that Space:

  oracle/webcenter/siteresources/scopedMD/<space_internal_id>

  Similarly, resources downloaded from an existing Space and imported into JDeveloper, can only be uploaded back to the same Space. You cannot upload such resources to a different Space.

  To upload resources to a particular Space you must have the Space-Manage Configuration permission, plus one of:

  Create, Edit, Delete Resources (standard permission model) Create, Edit, Delete <Resource_Type> (advanced permission model)

If you want to upload resources directly from JDeveloper, you must also have the WebLogic Server monitor role. See Section 49.3.3, "Enabling Direct Uploads to WebCenter Spaces".

49.3.4.1 How to Import a WebCenter Spaces Resource into JDeveloper

When you import a WebCenter Spaces resource archive (.ear) into the WebCenterSpacesResources project the resource is uploaded to the appropriate project directory.

• Application-level resources are imported to:

  WebCenterSpacesResources\oracle\webcenter\siteresources\scopedMD\application_ID\resource_type\resource_ID

  For example, an application-level skin with the resource ID gsr5a8c2fcc_bc7f_4cba_9254_36df58d66e60 is created under the application directory s8bba98ff_4cbb_40b8_beee_296c916a23ed:

  WebCenterSpacesResources\oracle\webcenter\siteresources\scopedMD\s8bba98ff_4cbb_40b8_beee_296c916a23ed\skin\gsr5a8c2fcc_bc7f_4cba_9254_36df58d66e60

• Space-level resources are imported to:

  WebCenterSpacesResources\oracle\webcenter\siteresources\scopedMD\Space_ID\resource_type\resource_ID

  For example, a Space-level skin with the resource ID gsre9cbef77_28b2_4f46_a69a_25beac543382 is created under the Space directory sc48d77f4_ca06_4fa9_8d51_0e23bed74eac:

  WebCenterSpacesResources\oracle\webcenter\siteresources\scopedMD\sc48d77f4_ca06_4fa9_8d51_0e23bed74eac\skin\gsre9cbef77_28b2_4f46_a69a_25beac543382

Its important to know the internal IDs of WebCenter Spaces resources and the parent Space (Space-level resources only) so that you can locate the appropriate resource folders in JDeveloper. In WebCenter Spaces, internal IDs are published in the resource's About dialog (Figure 49-8). For details, see "Viewing Information About a Resource" in Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Spaces.

Figure 49-8 Checking Resource IDs in WebCenter Spaces

Internal IDs are not easy to remember like display names. If you want to identify an imported resource you can check its display name using the Update Resource option. Navigate to the resource directory, drill down to the resource file (for example, mynavigation.xml, myskin.css, mypagetemplate.jpsx, mycatalog.xml), and then click Update Resource from the right mouse menu (Figure 49-9).

Figure 49-9 Checking Resource Display Names in JDeveloper

To import a WebCenter Spaces resource from an archive:

1. In the Application Navigator, right-click the WebCenterSpacesResources project, and choose Import Portal Resource.

2. In the Import Portal Resource dialog, enter the name or browse for the archive file (.EAR) that contains the resource that you want to import.

   If the archive does not exist yet, login to WebCenter Spaces and download the resource to an .EAR file. See "Downloading a WebCenter Spaces Resource" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Spaces.

3. Click OK.

49.3.5 Uploading Resources Direct to WebCenter Spaces

If WebCenter Spaces is up and running you can deploy new or updated resources directly to the application from your JDeveloper environment.

You must have appropriate resource management permissions in WebCenter Spaces to upload resources in this way. If you do not have the correct privileges, you are not allowed to upload resources. See also Section 49.3.3, "Enabling Direct Uploads to WebCenter Spaces".

1. If you have not done so already, configure WebCenter Spaces connections details in config.properties and request the appropriate resource management permissions.

   See also, Section 49.3.3, "Enabling Direct Uploads to WebCenter Spaces".

2. In JDeveloper, open the WebCenterSpacesResources project, and navigate to the resource you want to upload.

   For example, to upload the sample application-level page template SampleSideNavigation-Flow, navigate to (Figure 49-10):

   WebCenterSpacesResources\Web Content\oracle\ webcenter\siteresources\scopedMD\s8bba98ff_4cbb_40b8_beee_296c916a23ed\siteTemplate\gsr0ab3c39b_7e53_4d75_88f8_7f1ac55fabea

   Figure 49-10 Navigating to WebCenter Spaces Resource Folders

   
   

3. Right-click the resource you want to upload to WebCenter Spaces, and choose Upload Portal Resource.

   If the menu option does not display, check that the WebCenter Spaces host name and port you entered in step 2 are correct.

4. If prompted, enter your WebCenter Spaces username and password and click OK.

   An information message displays to indicate that the upload process is complete and also provides the name and location of the upload log file—upload_<resource_type_id>.log.

   Figure 49-11 Resource Upload Complete Message

   
   

5. Review the upload log file.

   The following message indicates that the upload was successful.

   Imported <temp_log_directory>\<resource_type_id>.ear

6. Log in to WebCenter Spaces and verify that the resource is available through Resource Manager as expected.

   1. Log in to WebCenter Spaces.

   2. Navigate to the Resource Manager as follows:

      To verify an application-level resource, navigate to the following URL:

      http://host:port/webcenter/spaces/admin/resources

      To verify a Space-level resources, navigate to the following URL:

      http://host:port/webcenter/spaces/spaceName/admin/resources

   3. Select the appropriate resource type from the panel on the left, and verify that the resource you just uploaded is available.

49.3.6 Exporting WebCenter Spaces Resources to an Archive

When your resource is ready for use in WebCenter Spaces you can upload it directly to WebCenter Space or you can export the resource to an .EAR file format which you (or someone else) can upload at any time using WebCenter Spaces Resource Manager.

To export a WebCenter Spaces resource:

1. In the Application Navigator, navigate to the resource directory, drill down to the resource file (for example, myskin.css, mypagetemplate.jpsx, mycatalog.xml), and then click Update Resource from the right mouse menu.

2. In the Export Portal Resource dialog, enter or browse for the path and file name for the export file. For example: C:\myskin.ear

3. Click OK.

The steps to upload resource archives to WebCenter Spaces are available in "Uploading a WebCenter Spaces Resource" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Spaces.