Presented by Jim Farmerat
The Pan-European Portals ConferenceThursday, April 24, 2003
University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
JA-SIG and uPortal
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The larger JA-SIG community
• JA-SIG (North America)
• JA-SIG United Kingdom
• Codex-SE Sweden “sharing common goals and technology”
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JA-SIG
• Conferences and communications – the exchange of information and learning
• Collaboration – within the community and between the community and standards agencies and vendors
• Contributions – open source software developed by members of the community
• Clearinghouse – exchange of software
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JA-SIG collaborations
• XLIFF (OASIS localisation)• WSRP (OASIS remote channel)• RSS (news feeds)• Mozilla (MathML rendering)• Apache Jetspeed (portal)• Liberty Alliance (security)and• Commercial portal vendors
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New features version 2.2
• Internationalization• Framework language preference• XLIFF file support• Translation channel
• Aggregated layout• “Grouped” channels (layout fragments)• Shared User/Publisher layout
preferences and priorities• “Pushed” content (layout fragments)
• Additional channel types
The following examples are from the im+m test site:
Peter Kharchenko, Chief Architect
Jon Allen, graphics and channels
Michael Ivanov, aggregated layout
Justin Tilton, lead XSLT and design
April 22, 2003
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Text and icon detail version 2.2
Current uPortal 2.0 New uPortal 2.2
•Fixed Tab Height
•Fixed Channel Header Height
•Fixed Icon Sizes
•Fully Compliant with i18n
•All Text and Icon Areas and Borders are Fully Expandable Horizontally and Vertically
•Backwards Compatible with Current CSS, Skins and Themes
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Current uPortal 2.0 interface
Preferences Page
•Detached, Representative Interface
•Largely Text Based Actions
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Preferences “mode” version 2.2
•Framework Built Around the Current User Interface
•Largely Iconic Actions
•Channel Icons Change to Reflect Preferences Mode Actions
•All Buttons are Fully Expandable to Accept Any Font or Icon
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Preferences and aggregated layout
•Selecting a Channel, Column or Tab to be moved will activate the marking nodes showing the places to where that element may be moved.
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Aggregated layout in action
•This Demo of Aggregated Layouts Shows the Marking Nodes Active to Move the Selected Tab.•Open Aggregated Layout Development at http://64.32.235.138:8080/uPortal/render.userLayoutRootNode.uP Login: Demo Password: Demo
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Layout fragment configuration
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <fragments>
<fragment id="3" name="The pushed one"> <description>Vsem fragmentam fragment!</description><groups>
<group>Students</group> <group>Developers</group>
</groups><restrictions>
<restriction name="priority" value="1-10" /> <restriction name="depth" value="1" />
<restriction path="parent" name="priority" value="1-0">
</restrictions><folder name="Odin Folder" immutable="Y" unremovable="Y" hidden="N">
<folder name="column1" immutable="Y" unremovable="Y" hidden="N"> <channel id="11" immutable="Y" unremovable="Y" hidden="N" /> <channel id="12" immutable="Y" unremovable="Y" hidden="N" /> </folder><folder name="column2" immutable="Y" unremovable="Y" hidden="N">
<channel id="13" immutable="Y" unremovable="Y" hidden="N" /> </folder>
</folder>
</fragment> </fragments>
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Enterprise Information Services
Directory
Authentication
AuthorizationAdministration (ERP)
Virtual Learning Environment(Learning Management System)
Library
PortalInterface
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Enterprise Information Standards
Directory
Authentication
AuthorizationAdministration (ERP)
Virtual Learning Environment(Learning Management System)
Library
PortalInterfac
e
EduPerson, HR-XML
DSMLSAML
HR-XML,PESC
NISO
IMS
WSRP,WSUI,RSS
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XML/SOAP/XSLT Architecture
• The XML content is delivered to the portal as a SOAP message
• and portal-based XSL stylesheet transformations are used to develop the XHTML used for presentation.
The user’s role can be used by the portlet (channel) to select the appropriate XSLT and presentation for that class of user.
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Preferred portal interface
Technology Typical UseSOAP/XSLT Preferred for new applications
WSRPNew applications where portal installation of code or stylesheet is not possible or desirable
HTML For legacy applications
iChannelWhen the application must run under the portal or requires capability not available in WSRP or SOAP/XSLT
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Data integration standards
Administration (ERP)
Virtual Learning Environment(Learning Management System)
Library
IMS
NISO
NISO, NDSL
Scott Wilson, Joint Information Systems Council, 18 Nov 2002
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Permissions
JA-SIG publications are in the public domain, but may contain material reproduced with permission of the Copyright owner. Users are requested to comply with any copyright restrictions and to appropriately reference any materials that are used in their own works.
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JA-SIG
• Java ArchitectureSpecial Interest Group• www.ja-sig.org
• Conferences biannually• Clearing house
• https://www.mis4.udel.edu/JasigCH/
• Collaborative projects
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Goals
The JA-SIG's goals are to:
Nurture communication of best practices, new technologies, and innovative methodologies and projects related to Java
Increase peer review, collaboration, and group discussion related to institution-developed Java administrative applications
Broaden Java technology cross-fertilization between firms and schools on both a functional and geographic basis
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JA-SIG Activities• Conferences
• Annual conferences• Winter – Java Technology• Summer – uPortal• United Kingdom – JA-SIG UK• Europe – Portals Europe
• Technology Training program (in conjunction with the annual conferences in North America)
• Participant Projects • Collaborative facilities
• Developers list• Portal list• Web site
• The JA-SIG Clearinghouse - a place on the Web to facilitate the sharing of Java components.
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JA-SIG Participant Projects [1]• uPortal – University of Delaware*• Content Management System – Columbia
University*• Library Catalog Access (Z39.50 2001) – Oxford
University• Security: Central Authentication System (CAS) –
Yale University• Security: Athens and Shibboleth – University of
Hull• WSRP (Web Services Remote Portal)
Compliance – Interactive Business Solutions and Unicon, Inc.*
• RSS 1.0 + Modules – instructional media + magic, inc.*
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JA-SIG Participant Projects [2]• Meteor Student Loan Information Prototype –
National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs
• eTranscript exchange – California community colleges
• eMail – University of British Columbia• Web proxy – Memorial University of
Newfoundland
Note: The projects listed are available as uPortal channels (portlets). Because of open standards, they also can be used by for other standards-compliant portals and, with adaption, installed on traditional Web pages.This list does not include commercial portlets (channels) for uPortal such as those of Unicon Inc., or products that have been adapted locally.*Projects contributing to the uPortal framework as well.
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JA-SIG, The Reality
• Several hundred programmers working collaboratively at more than 100 colleges and universities on projects important to higher education.
• A community that shares knowledge and experience; resolving problems, sharing design suggestions, and testing and improving each others work.
• IT managers who are working aggressively to make the most effective use of available resources.
• And, with a converging perspective on enterprise architecture, representing a substantial part of higher education in discussions of new and changed systems, especially those that share information in real-time.
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JA-SIG, The Future
• Projects, such as uPortal, that advance the use of open-standards as well as serve the colleges and universities. • Support of such efforts as WS-Interoperability,
Liberty Alliance, W3C and OASIS by implementing the standards at a number of colleges and universities.
• Make available to developers recommendations on available standards and their applicability to higher education. Coordinate with other groups such as HEKATE.
• Evolve an enterprise application integration strategy, based on Web services, and demonstrate its feasibility and effectiveness
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JA-SIG, The Future
• In conjunction with the Joint Information Systems Committee, implement standards, such as IMS, that facilitate the exchange of learning objects across national boundaries.
• Recognize and encourage the internationalization of software serving higher education.• Create an international version of uPortal. (Efforts
now underway for Celtic, Chinese, English, French, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Vietnamese, and Welsh).
• Demonstrate the use of the XLIFF standard in developing multiple-languages portlets (channels) with advice from the OASIS Translations Technical Committee.
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JA-SIG, The Future
• Encourage the adoption of information technologies that meet the diverse needs of higher education, especially Java, XSLT, and Web Services• Continue the JA-SIG NA training program• Facilitate the exchange of experience and
expertise• Demonstrate by example implementation, the
effectiveness of these technologies• Communicate the experience within the
community and to others
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JA-SIG uPortal
Location of uPortal InstallationsPreliminary Survey October 2002
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
United States
Canada
United Kingdom
Australia
Sweden
Japan
Hong Kong
Number of Installations
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JA-SIG uPortal
JA-SIG uPortal InstallationsPreliminary Survey October 2002
0 20 40 60 80 100
Primary
Secondary
Postsecondary
Commercial
Government
Number of Installations
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The Cal-Poly Experience
“We've used a mix of staff, contract, and volunteer/external developers to achieve the level of content we now enjoy. We've grown over the past two years from about 1.5 to about 3.5 FTE engineers (counting part-time contractors and student assistants).”
“Considerable additional development has been done by other groups such as the Library and Admissions; perhaps totaling another 1 FTE annually.”
“… these are not "new“ positions per se, but instead the reallocation of developer resources who's priority is now portal development as opposed to stand-alone Web application development..”
e-mail Chris Stavros to Mike Jones, Cardiff University, 29 April 2003.
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The Cal-Poly Experience
Students Headcount Fall 2002
17,880
Registered users 25,000
Additional temporary users
10,000 – 15,000
Logins per day 4,000 – 10,000
Concurrent users 500-1,500
“uPortal rocks and we would not change our strategy for the world.”Chris Stavros in his 24 April 2003 e-mail response on the JA-SIG developers list