Portlets are web components that are deployed inside of a container, known as a portal, in order to generate dynamic content. The portal handles requests and communicates with a web server to generate and display portlets. The portal mentioned here should not be confused with Portal as it is used in the name of this software application (Proficy Portal).
Proficy Portal displays can now be used in portlets, which will allow for the presentation of displays as static images. Portlets can be used in a number of ways, but one particular advantage of using portlets is when a user wants to see a Proficy Portal display on a regular basis, but does not have adequate bandwidth to connect to the remote Proficy Portal web server. In this case, loading a static display in a web portal provides the user with relevant information that is not presented in real time; however, low bandwidth is no longer problematic without having to transfer data from the Proficy Portal server. The static displays are presented in the portlet as either images (.png files) or reports (.pdf files).
To set up Proficy Portal displays in a portlet, you must have the following:
A third-party portal application that is compliant with JSR-168 (Java Specification Request 168: Portlet Specification). Portal applications are frequently available as freeware.
Portlet code (provided). The file DisplayViewer.war contains the portlet code. You can find this file in the following location where Proficy Portal is installed: InstallDirectory\webapps\infoAgentSrv\WEB-INF\bin. To integrate the DisplayViewer.war file into the portal, consult the portlet deployment instructions available with your chosen portal application.
Scheduled saved images and reports for the displays you want shown in a portlet. By using scheduling, you can automate the process of generating displays as images or reports. For more information on scheduling, see Setting up URLs for use with Portlets and Scheduling Image/Report Generation.
Although each portal may provide a different user interface, all portals provide two basic controls: Edit and View modes. When you access the Edit mode, you are prompted to enter a user name and password. These are the credentials that are used to connect to the Proficy Portal server. After entering a valid user name and password, you are presented with a list of all the static displays that you have access to in Proficy Portal. When a display name is selected and committed, the new image or report is retrieved from the Proficy Portal server and presented in the portlet in View mode.
If the portlet you are using is running on a machine separate from Proficy Real-Time Information Portal, you need to modify the portlet.xml file after deploying the portlet. There are potentially two values that may need to be replaced, as shown in the following example text from a portlet.xml file.
<init-param>
<name>hostname</name>
<value>localhost</value>
</init-param>
Replace localhost with the name of the Proficy Portal server.
<init-param>
<name>virtualdir</name>
<value>ProficyPortal</value>
</init-param>
Replace ProficyPortal with the virtual directory name. This is applicable only if the virtual directory name was changed from its original default (ProficyPortal).
It is important to keep in mind when using displays in portlets, that space may be limited. The portal will likely display other portlets, and the viewer size may differ from one portal to another. When you set up your displays for use in portlets, it is recommended that you size the display accordingly, so that when the display image is shown in the portlet it will be readable. For more information on how to configure the size of a display, see To configure general preferences for the current display.
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Displays