In an effort to leverage new portlet standards within the Web services movement and within the Java Community Process (JCP) group that advocates Java, database giant Oracle has placed two new tools for portlet
developers on its Web site.
The move comes as part of an adoption effort behind the Java Specification Request (JSR)-168, which promotes Java integration within Web Service Remote Portlet standards for portlet creation within the
vendor community. (WSRP stands for Web Services for Remote Portals, an OASIS-approved standard for integrating Web service interfaces.)
The JSR is aimed at helping independent software developers design portlets that interoperate with different portal platforms.
In the past, anyone making a portlet — a window pane to an application
in the enterprise — would have to ensure the software was compatible
with a vendor’s specific portal application before it could be used.
Oracle’s contribution to the new standards is a set of Java tools that
help developers create portlets with even more ease: a portlet
container using the JSR-168 API
defines characteristics like initialization, caching and display modes.
In addition to the two Java tools, Oracle is offering code samples and
documentation on 15 portlets using the JSR-168 specification in WSRP-compliant containers
Oracle said the tools are available as a free download at the company’s
technology network site.
Oracle is one of many companies jumping on the portlet standard
bandwagon. Sun Microsystems got off to an early
start with its intention to provide JSR-168 compatibility in the beta version of its SunONE Portal Server back in July.
Others quickly followed suit. BEA Systems ,
Documentum and Plumtree
joined
forces with Sun earlier this month to open up
a portlet community on the SourceForge developers site, to foster
increased collaboration on portlet development.