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Oracle® BPEL Process Manager Developer's Guide
10g Release 2 (10.1.2)
B14448-02
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20 Oracle BPEL Portlets

Oracle BPEL Portlets consist of Oracle BPEL Console report portlets and Oracle BPEL Worklist Application portlets. This chapter describes how to deploy the Oracle BPEL Portlets and configure the Oracle Application Server Portal (OracleAS Portal) to provide access to data from these portlets.

This chapter contains the following topics:

20.1 OracleAS Portal Introduction

OracleAS Portal is a component of Oracle Application Server used for the development, deployment, administration, and configuration of enterprise class portals. OracleAS Portal enables you to present information from multiple, unrelated data sources in a single organized view. This view, a portal page, can contain one or more components called portlets that can each get their content from different data sources.

A portlet parameter provides a configurable way of passing a value to a portlet. Using portlet parameters, the information displayed in a portlet can be specific to a particular page or user. Portlet parameters are created by the portlet developer and exposed to the page designer through the user interface. After adding a portlet to a page, page designers can assign values to the public portlet parameters to make the information displayed in the portlet specific to the page.

Web providers enable you to deploy portlets to OracleAS Portal. They may reside on the same application server as OracleAS Portal, on a remote application server, or anywhere on the network. Web providers use open standards, such as XML, SOAP, HTTP, or J2EE for deployment, definition, and communication with OracleAS Portal.

Figure 20-1 provides an overview of this integration.

Figure 20-1 Oracle Application Server Portal and BPEL Process Integration Overview

Description of Figure 20-1 follows
Description of "Figure 20-1 Oracle Application Server Portal and BPEL Process Integration Overview"

You can configure OracleAS Portal to access the following portlets:


Note:

If you install the identity service demo user community and run the workflow service samples shipped with Oracle BPEL Process Manager, you can display data about these users in the Oracle BPEL Worklist Application portlets.

20.2 Step 1: Installing the Required Oracle Application Server Components

OracleAS Portal uses Oracle Internet Directory, an LDAP-compliant directory that provides a single repository and administration environment for user accounts. Oracle BPEL Worklist Application also requires the use of Oracle Internet Directory; Oracle BPEL Console does not require this component. Therefore, to use both of these Oracle BPEL Portlets, you must install the following installation types to use OracleAS Portal:


Note:

OracleAS Portal cannot be configured for use with the BPEL Process Manager for Developers installation type. This is because BPEL Process Manager for Developers does not use Oracle Internet Directory (required by OracleAS Portal).

20.3 Step 2: Deploying the Portlets

You must install Oracle BPEL Process Manager and deploy the Oracle BPEL Portlets .ear file. Use one of the following methods to deploy the .ear file:

20.3.1 Deploying Portlets with dcmctl

Follow these procedures to deploy the portlets with the dcmctl utility.

  1. Change directories to the following location: 

    Oracle_Home\dcm\bin

  2. Enter the following command to deploy Oracle BPEL Portlets: 

    dcmctl deployApplication -f Oracle_Home\integration\orabpel\system\services\lib\BPELPortlet.ear -a  
BPELPortlet -co OC4J_BPEL -pa orabpel

    When deployment completes successfully, a message similar to the following appears: 

    Application:    bpelportlet
Component Name: OC4J_BPEL
Component Type: OC4J
Instance:       mark.my-pc.us.oracle.com

    See Also:

    Oracle Application Server Administrator's Guide for additional information about the dcmctl utility

20.3.2 Deploying Portlets with Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Application Server Control Console

Follow these procedures to deploy the portlets with Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Application Server Control Console.

  1. Go to the following URL: 

    http://hostname:port/

    where:

    • hostname is the name of the host on which the Portal and Wireless and Oracle BPEL Process Manager middle tier instances are installed.

    • port is the number assigned during Oracle BPEL Process Manager installation. The following sources also identify the port number used to access the Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Application Server Control Console:

      • The setupinfo.txt file in the install subdirectory of the Oracle home for your middle tier installation

      • The End of Installation page that displayed during installation


    Note:

    On Windows platforms, you can also start Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Application Server Control Console from the Start Menu by selecting Start, then All Programs, then Oracle - home_name Enterprise Manager, and then Application Server Control Console.

  2. Enter the following login details when prompted:

    Field Value
    Username Enter ias_admin
    Password Enter the password you specified during Portal and Wireless installation and Oracle BPEL Process Manager installation for the ias_admin user.

    The Oracle Application Server home page appears.

  3. Select OC4J_BPEL from the Name column of the System Components table.

  4. Click the Applications tab.

  5. Click Deploy EAR file.

    The Deploy Application window appears.

  6. Enter the following details:

    Field Description
    J2EE Application Select the Oracle_Home\integration\orabpel\system\services\lib\BPELPortlet.ear file.
    Application Name Enter BPELPortlet
    Parent Application Select orabpel

  7. Click Continue.

    The Deploy Application: URL Mapping for Web Modules window appears.

  8. Accept the default BPELPortlet for Oracle BPEL Process Manager value or enter a different name in the URL Mapping field.

  9. Click Next.

    The Deploy Application: User Manager window appears.

  10. Select Use JAZN LDAP User Manager.

    The LDAP Location field displays the Oracle Internet Directory instance associated with the Oracle Application Server Infrastructure.

  11. Click Next.

    The Deploy Application: Review window appears.

  12. Review a summary of the selections you made on previous windows:

    • The EAR file to deploy

    • The deployment destination instance

    • The URL mapping for Web modules

  13. Click Deploy.

    Messages display indicating that deployment is in progress. When complete, the following message appears: 

    Application "BPELPortlet" was successfully deployed.

20.4 Step 3: Registering Web Providers with OracleAS Portal

Web providers provide portlet data to OracleAS Portal. You must first register the Oracle BPEL Process Manager Web provider with the specific OracleAS Portal instance. This enables you to use the Oracle BPEL Console report portlets and Oracle BPEL Worklist Application portlets in OracleAS Portal pages.

Once you have registered these Web providers, you can access the data provided by the portlets.

  1. Go to the OracleAS Portal home page. For example: 

    http://hostname:port_number/pls/portal

    where hostname is the host on which the Portal and Wireless middle tier is installed and port_number is typically 7777. If you are unsure, see the setupinfo.txt file in the Oracle_Home\install directory for your Portal and Wireless installation. You can also access OracleAS Portal from a link on the Oracle Application Server Welcome page.

  2. Log in to the OracleAS Portal instance using the portal user name and ias_admin password. This is the same password that you specified during Portal and Wireless middle tier installation and BPEL Process Manager for OracleAS Middle Tier installation.

  3. Select the Administrator tab, then the Portlets subtab to access the Portal Builder window to register the provider.

  4. Click Register a Provider in the Remote Providers section.

  5. Enter the following details on the Provider Information page:

    Field Description
    Name Enter a unique and recognizable name.
    Display Name Enter a name to display on the portlet page header.
    Timeout Enter the amount of time a page takes to render if the portlet is not responding.
    Timeout Message Enter message to display when a timeout occurs.
    Implementation Style Ensure that Web is selected.

  6. Click Next.

  7. Enter appropriate details on the General Properties page. For the URL of the Web provider, ensure that you enter the following details for Oracle BPEL Process Manager: 

    http://bpel_host:bpel_port/BPELPortlet/providers

    where bpel_host is the host on which Oracle BPEL Process Manager is installed and bpel_port is the port. For BPEL Process Manager for OracleAS Middle Tier installations, the port is typically 7777 or 7778. If you are unsure of the port, see the Oracle_Home\install\bpelsetupinfo.txt file that was created after BPEL Process Manager for OracleAS Middle Tier installation.

  8. Select Once Per User Session from the Login Frequency list.

  9. Click Next.

  10. Enter your user or group name in the Grantee field of the Control Access page, click Add, and then click Finish. If you are not sure about the user or group name, click the appropriate browse icon.

    If provider registration was successful, you receive a success message.

  11. Click OK.

  12. Click Builder, then Build to display the Portal Builder page.

  13. Go to the Page Groups section of the Portal Builder page.

  14. Select the group from the Page Group list. If a page group does not exist, create one.

  15. Click Create a Page and following the steps that appear.

    The new page appears with the display name header you entered when creating the page.

  16. Click the + icon (second icon from the left) to add an instance of the portlet to the page.

    Description of portal_page3.gif follows
    Description of the illustration portal_page3.gif

    The Add Portlets To Region page appears.

    Description of portal_page4.gif follows
    Description of the illustration portal_page4.gif

  17. Click Portlet Staging Area in the Portlet Repository section.

  18. Click the portlet you previously created in the Available Portlets section.

    This displays the Oracle BPEL Portlets in the Available Portlets section.

    Description of portal_page.gif follows
    Description of the illustration portal_page.gif

  19. Click the portlets you want.

    The selected portlets are added to the Selected Portlets section.

    Description of portal_page11.gif follows
    Description of the illustration portal_page11.gif

  20. Click OK.

  21. See "Step 4: Defining Portlet Parameters and Accessing Portlet Data Sources" for information on setting portlet properties.


See Also:

See Oracle Application Server Portal User's Guide for additional details about using OracleAS Portal

20.5 Step 4: Defining Portlet Parameters and Accessing Portlet Data Sources

When you access a portlet for the first time, some default settings already appear for Oracle BPEL Worklist Application. No default settings appear for Oracle BPEL Console reports. For example, if you selected Instance Execution Time in Step 19, the page appears with the following message.

Description of portal_page6.gif follows
Description of the illustration portal_page6.gif

  1. Click the Edit Defaults icon (first icon on the left above the message) to set the parameter values of the Oracle BPEL Console reports portlets or change the default settings for Oracle BPEL Worklist Application portlets.

  2. See the following section based on your portlet selection in Step 1.

    If You Selected... Go to Section...
    Instance State

    Instance Execution Time

    Performance

    Activity Sensor

    Fault Sensor

    		"Defining Oracle BPEL Console Report Portlet Parameters and Accessing Portlet Data Sources"
    BPEL Worklist Portlet "Defining Oracle BPEL Worklist Application Portlet Parameters and Accessing Portlet Data Sources"

20.5.1 Defining Oracle BPEL Console Report Portlet Parameters and Accessing Portlet Data Sources

Report portlets provide access to Oracle BPEL Console reports that describe the behavior of the instances of a selected BPEL process.

Description of reports_params.gif follows
Description of the illustration reports_params.gif

Each of the report portlets must be associated with a specific time period. Table 20-1 describes the parameter values to specify for each report type. This window provides a method for specifying the same parameter values across all report type portlets in a given page.

  1. Enter the following parameter values.

    Table 20-1 Oracle BPEL Console Report Portlet Parameters

    Parameter Description

    Title

    Enter a report title name or accept the default name. The title that appears by default is based upon the type of report you selected in Step 1.

    Domain

    Select the domain in which the BPEL process is deployed.

    Business Process

    Select the BPEL process for which to create reports of its instances.

    Time Interval

    Select Daily, Hourly, or Weekly as the time interval for generating data.

    End Date

    Enter the date at which to stop generating report data.

    End Hour

    Enter the time at which to stop generating report data.

    Number of Time Intervals

    Enter the time period for creating reports. This is the number of days, weeks, or hours (according to the Time Interval list selection) starting from the end date going backwards in time to determine the start date.


    For example, if you enter 7/29/05 as the end date, 22:00 as the end hour, Weekly as the time interval, and 3 as the number of time intervals, the report is created for the three weeks between 7/08/05 at 10 PM and 7/29/05 at 10 PM.

  2. Click Apply to apply your values and click OK to create portlet data.

  3. See the following sections based on the portlet type you selected:

    Portlet See Section...
    Instance State "Instance State"
    Instance Execution Time "Instance Execution Time"
    Performance "Performance"
    Activity Sensor "Activity Sensor"
    Fault Sensor "Fault Sensor"

20.5.1.1 Instance State

The instance state report portlet shown in Figure 20-2 provides details about the number of faulted, completed, and currently running instances of the BPEL process for the selected time period.

Figure 20-2 Instance State Report

Description of Figure 20-2 follows
Description of "Figure 20-2 Instance State Report"


Note:

You can edit parameter settings by clicking the Edit icon (first icon on the left above the portlet title bar).

20.5.1.2 Instance Execution Time

The instance execution time report portlet shown in Figure 20-3 provides details about the maximum, minimum, and average execution times aggregated across all closed instances of the business process during the selected time period.

Figure 20-3 Instance Execution Time Report

Description of Figure 20-3 follows
Description of "Figure 20-3 Instance Execution Time Report"

20.5.1.3 Performance

The performance report portlet shown in Figure 20-4 provides aggregated information about the percentage of BPEL process instances that meet the service level agreement (SLA) value associated with a specific BPEL process.

Figure 20-4 Performance Report

Description of Figure 20-4 follows
Description of "Figure 20-4 Performance Report"

See "Creating Performance Reports" for a description of the SLA parameter and how to set it.

20.5.1.4 Activity Sensor

The activity sensor report portlet shown in Figure 20-5 provides details about the activity sensors associated with the BPEL process over a selected time period. This enables you to analyze activity trends. Activity sensor reports show the activity name, sensor name, activity type, aggregated values of the minimum, maximum, and average execution time of the activity, and the number of occurrences of the activity. This report shows activity information only if activity sensors are defined for the BPEL process.

Figure 20-5 Activity Sensor Portlet

Description of Figure 20-5 follows
Description of "Figure 20-5 Activity Sensor Portlet"

20.5.1.5 Fault Sensor

The fault sensor report portal shown in Figure 20-6 provides details about the data collected by fault sensors associated with a specific BPEL process over the specified time period. This enables you to analyze trends in faults. The report shows the date and time of the fault occurrence, the fault message, the activity in which the fault occurred, and a link to the faulted instance. This report shows activity information only if fault sensors are defined for the BPEL process. For this example, no fault sensor data was found.

Figure 20-6 Fault Sensor Reports

Description of Figure 20-6 follows
Description of "Figure 20-6 Fault Sensor Reports"

20.5.2 Defining Oracle BPEL Worklist Application Portlet Parameters and Accessing Portlet Data Sources

These portlets integrate Oracle BPEL Worklist Application with OracleAS Portal. There are two types of portlets:

  • Listing portlet

  • Analysis portlet

Details about the parameter values to specify for these portlets are provided below.


See Also:

Chapter 17, "Worklist Application" for additional details about Oracle BPEL Worklist Application

20.5.2.1 Listing Portlet Customization

The listing portlet displays a list of tasks that satisfy the data filtering criterion. This portlet provides considerable flexibility in terms of which tasks to display and how to display them.

Figure 20-7 BPEL Worklist Portlet Filter and Display Customization Options

Description of Figure 20-7 follows
Description of "Figure 20-7 BPEL Worklist Portlet Filter and Display Customization Options"

The listing portlet exposes two portlet parameters: Task Category and Task Status. The values for these can be set from the page. If no value is set, then the default values of My & Group and Any are used. Figure 20-8 shows the Page Parameter Properties page where these default values are set. See "Step 5: Mapping Portlet Parameters with Page Parameters" for instructions on editing this page.

Figure 20-8 Page Parameter Properties

Description of Figure 20-8 follows
Description of "Figure 20-8 Page Parameter Properties"

The portlet task filter and display customization options shown in Figure 20-7 are described in Table 20-2. The first part provides data filter customization options and the second part provides display customization options.

  1. Enter the following parameter values.

    Table 20-2 BPEL Worklist Portlet Task Filter and Display Customization Options

    Parameter Description

    Task Filter Customization


    • Category

    Select one of the following:

    • My & Group—tasks assigned to the user and the groups to which the logged-in user belongs

    • Reportees—tasks assigned to the users who report to the logged-in user

    • Owner—tasks that are owned by the logged-in user by way of process ownership

    • Creator—tasks that were created or initiated by the logged-in user

    • Previous—tasks that the logged-in user has updated

    • Status

    Select the status state: Assigned, Completed, Errored, Expired, Withdrawn, Suspended, and Any.

    • Created

    Select the previous x days: (leave blank (that is, no restriction), 1 day, 7 days, 14 days, and 30 days).

    • Expiration

    Select the next x days: (leave blank (that is, no restriction), 1 day, 7 days, 14 days, and 30 days).

    • Priority

    Select from Any or 1 through 5, where 1 is the highest priority.

    • Business Process

    Select one of the deployed business processes or Any.

    Display Customization


    • Title

    Select the portlet title.

    • Layout

    Select the size of the portlet as a ratio of the maximum size (Small, Medium, Large, or Full).

    • Show Header/Footer

    Set this flag to Yes (default option) if the header (category and user name) and footer (page generation time) are to be displayed.

    • Column Layout (Columns 1 through 8)

    Select the columns to display and the order in which to display them. There can be up to eight columns: Title, Number, Assignee, Status, Priority, Expiration, Last Modified, Created, Conclusion, Last Modifier, Creator, Acquirer, Task Key, and Business Process. Note that the first column is always Title.

    • Sort Column

    Select the order in which to sort and display the following columns: Title, Number, Priority, Expiration, Conclusion, Last Modified, and Last Modifier.

    • Sort Order

    Select Ascending or Descending.

    • Page Size

    Select 5, 10, 20, or 50

    • Locale Source

    Select the locale for the portlet based on the specified source: Portlet (resolved from the browser and set language portlet) or Directory Service.

    • Style Source

    Select the style (background color, font color, and font style) for the portlet based on the specified source: Portlet (based on page style used in the portal page) or Default (Oracle BPEL Console or Oracle BPEL Worklist Application style).


  2. Click Apply to apply your values and click OK to create portlet data.

20.5.2.2 Listing Portlet View

Figure 20-9 shows the task listing portlet. The category of tasks and the current user name displays at the top. The table displays the columns chosen in the Display Customization options described in Table 20-2. The actual set of tasks that display depends on the Task Filter Customization options chosen in Table 20-2. The title column contains a link for clicking down into the worklist application for the task details. Paging information and the last page refreshed time are displayed at the bottom.

Figure 20-9 Worklist Portlet View

Description of Figure 20-9 follows
Description of "Figure 20-9 Worklist Portlet View"

Figure 20-10 shows the worklist application that you access by clicking a task entry under the Title column in Figure 20-9. The worklist application recognizes that the user is clicking down from the portlet and sets the header information and home link accordingly. The search option is skipped and the home link points back to the portal page. All other behavior is the same as if the user had logged into the worklist application.

Figure 20-10 Accessing the Worklist Application

Description of Figure 20-10 follows
Description of "Figure 20-10 Accessing the Worklist Application"

20.5.2.3 Analysis Portlet Customization

Figure 20-11 shows the analysis listing portlet. The analysis portlet provides a status breakdown chart based on the category of tasks chosen and other filter options. It also provides the ability to group the results based on the assignee, business process, or the creator of tasks. The Listing Portlet exposes a portlet parameter for Task Category. The value for this can be set from the page. If no value is set, then the default value of My & Group is used. Figure 20-8 shows the Page Parameter Properties page where this default value is set. See "Step 5: Mapping Portlet Parameters with Page Parameters" for instructions on editing this page.

Figure 20-11 BPEL Worklist Analysis Portlet Filter and Display Customization Options

Description of Figure 20-11 follows
Description of "Figure 20-11 BPEL Worklist Analysis Portlet Filter and Display Customization Options"

Table 20-3 shows the analysis portlet task filter and display customization options. The first part provides data filter customization options and the second part provides display customization options.

  1. Enter the following parameter values.

    Table 20-3 BPEL Worklist Analysis Portlet Filter and Display Customization Options

    Parameter Description

    Task Filter Customization


    • Category

    Select one of the following:

    • My & Group—tasks assigned to the user and the groups to which the logged-in user belongs

    • Reportees—tasks assigned to the users who report to the logged-in user

    • Owner—tasks that are owned by the logged-in user by way of process ownership

    • Creator—tasks that were created or initiated by the logged-in user

    • Previous—tasks that the logged-in user has updated

    • Created

    Select the previous x days: (leave blank (that is, no restriction), 1 day, 7 days, 14 days, and 30 days).

    • Expiration

    Select the next x days: (leave blank (that is, no restriction), 1 day, 7 days, 14 days, and 30 days).

    • Priority

    Select from Any or 1 through 5, where 1 is the highest priority.

    • Business Process

    Select one of the deployed business processes or Any.

    Display Customization


    • Title

    Select the portlet title.

    • Layout

    Select the size of the portlet as a ratio of the maximum size (Small, Medium, Large, or Full).

    • Show Header/Footer

    Set this flag to Yes (default option) if the header (category and user name) and footer (page generation time) are to be displayed.

    • Show Statuses with Zero Count

    Select Yes to compact the portlet by skipping statuses for which there are no qualifying tasks

    • Group By

    Select to group by Assignee, Business Process, Creator, or All (status summary of all tasks).

    • Show options for various statuses

    Select only those statuses you want to see: Assigned, Completed, Expired, Errored, Suspended, Withdrawn, and Requested.

    • Locale Source

    Select the locale for the portlet based on the specified source: Portlet (resolved from the browser and set language portlet) or Directory Service.

    • Style Source

    Select the style (background color, font color, and font style) for the portlet based on the specified source: Portlet (based on page style used in the portal page) or Default (Oracle BPEL Console or Oracle BPEL Worklist Application style).


  2. Click OK.

20.5.2.4 Analysis Portlet View

Figure 20-12 shows the analysis portlet. The category of tasks and the current user name display at the top. The table displays the group by column, the corresponding statuses, and count. If there are multiple assignees (reportee category, for example), the status breakdown is repeated for each assignee. If the business process is chosen as the Group By column, the status breakdown is repeated for each deployed business process. The last page refreshed time displays at the bottom.

Figure 20-12 Analysis Portlet View

Description of Figure 20-12 follows
Description of "Figure 20-12 Analysis Portlet View"

20.6 Step 5: Mapping Portlet Parameters with Page Parameters

Time-related properties of the portlets are also exposed as parameters and can be mapped to page parameters. This enables you to override the parameter values you set:

  1. Click Page: Properties at the top of a report portlet. For this example, the Instance State report of the Oracle BPEL Console reports portlets is shown.

    Description of portal_page7.gif follows
    Description of the illustration portal_page7.gif

    The Edit page appears.

  2. Click the Parameters tab.

    1. If the Parameters tab does not display, return to the portlet reports page shown in Step 1 to enable it.

    2. Click Page Group: Properties at the top of the report portlet.

    3. Click the Configure tab.

      The Edit Page Group page appears.

    4. Click Edit in the Parameters and Events section.

      Description of portal_page9.gif follows
      Description of the illustration portal_page9.gif

    5. Select Enable Parameters and Events.

    6. Click OK.

    7. Return to the Edit page shown in Step 1.

    8. Click the Page: Properties tab.

    9. Click the Parameters tab on the Edit page.

  3. Add the page parameters and map the page parameters to the portlet parameters.

    When you save these changes, the portlet picks up the property values from the page parameters instead of the ones set during the edit process.

20.7 Summary

This chapter describes how to deploy the Oracle BPEL Portlets and configure OracleAS Portal to provide access to data from these portlets.

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