PLSQL Portlets General Suitability

2-6 Oracle Fusion Middleware Developers Guide for Oracle Portal according to Oracle Portal Developer Kit PDK specifications and register the provider with Oracle Portal. Developers can use the Oracle PDK to develop portlets to suit their needs. Examples of portlets you can build using PLSQL You can build the following portlets using PLSQL: ■ Content upload portlet ■ Site map portlet ■ Sophisticated data entry and report portlet

2.3 Expertise Required

While some of the portlet building tools do not require portlet development skills, others assume a strong technical background. This section describes each tool in terms of the level of knowledge required to use it effectively.

2.3.1 Web Clipping

Web Clipping is a tool that does not require any technical background at all. However, if you want to parameterize the Web page content that you clipped, you need to have an understanding of public portlet parameters and page parameters.

2.3.2 OmniPortlet

OmniPortlet requires you to have basic knowledge of the data source you want to leverage in your portlet. Table 2–2 lists the types of data sources that can be used with OmniPortlet and describes the type of information required to work with each type.

2.3.3 Java Portlets

To build Java portlets, you must know at least a subset of J2EE. Knowing HTML, Java servlets, and XML is a must, and JSP experience is recommended. Additional Java Table 2–2 OmniPortlet Data Sources Data Source Required Information Spreadsheet The URL that points to the spreadsheet containing the data that you want to display in the portlet. SQL The connection information to the data source and the SQL query that retrieves the data from the database. XML The location of the XML source and optionally the address of the XSL filter and the XML schema. Web Service The Web Services Description Language WSDL URL, the method of the Web service, and optionally the XSL filter URL and the XML schema URL. Web page The Web page data source uses the same environment as Web Clipping. No technical background is required. J2EE Connector Architecture Although not displayed on the OmniPortlet Wizard’s Type page, a J2EE Connector Architecture JCA 1.0 adapter is also available. JCA provides a mechanism to store and retrieve enterprise data such as that held in ERP systems Oracle Financials, SAP, PeopleSoft, and so on. Portlet Technologies Matrix 2-7 knowledge is optional, depending on the task you want to perform. Using Java portlets you can access any data source supported by the Java language.

2.3.4 Portlet Builder

If you want to use Portlet Builder, you must have a good understanding of relational database concepts. Depending on what you want to achieve, SQL and PLSQL knowledge may be required, as well. Using Portlet Builder, you can consume data from the local Oracle Application Server infrastructure database or remote databases using database links.

2.3.5 PLSQL Portlets

To build PLSQL portlets, you must know how to write SQL statements, code and debug PLSQL program units using SQLPlus or similar development tool that enables you to connect to the Oracle database. You should also know HTML and PLSQL Web Toolkit to generate the portlet content. Experience of coding the PLSQL Server Pages PSP is optional.

2.4 Deployment Type

Before a portlet can be consumed by an application, you must first deploy it, then register the provider you have deployed the portlet to. As shown in Figure 2–1 , portlets can be deployed to Oracle Portal through three provider types: ■ Web providers ■ WSRP producers ■ Database providers. Web providers are deployed to a J2EE application server, which is often remote and communicates with Oracle Portal through Simple Object Access Protocol SOAP over HTTP. Web Services for Remote Portlets WSRP, an OASIS standard, is supported in the Developers Preview of Oracle Portal. Database providers are implemented in PLSQL and deployed in the Oracle database where Oracle Portal is installed. Figure 2–1 Portlet Provider Overview