Oracle Portal Development Kit
 Installing the My Yahoo External Application Portlet Using URL Services 

Welcome to the PDK URL Services.  Now that you have successfully installed the URL Services framework and samples, you may want to use the URL Services to create URL-based portlets.  The PDK Services for Java has extended the JPDK to support portlets created in any Web-based language.  This article describes how to install and configure the URL Services My Yahoo External Application Portlet. 

ASSUMPTIONS

  1. You have already installed the samples downloaded with the most recent JPDK and and understand the steps required to display a URL Services Portlet on a portal page. For more information on installing the sample, please review the Installing the JPDK and Samples article.  

  2. You are using this sample with Portal 3.0.8 and up.

  3. You are using JPDK 1.4 and up.

SETUP

Note: This section will update an Oracle HTTP Server configuration file, zone.properties. We recommend that you backup file before making the changes specfiied.  zone.properties is located at %ORACLE_HOME%\Apache\Jserv\servlets on NT. This file is  located at $ORACLE_HOME/Apache/Jserv/etc on UNIX.

Updating the zone.properties

  1. Stop the Oracle HTTP Server.

  2. Open zone.properties.

  3. Under the Servlet Aliases section add the following: 
    servlet.myyahoo.code=oracle.portal.provider.v1.http.HttpProvider
  4. Under the Aliased Servlet Init Parameters section, add the following: 
    servlet.myyahoo.initArgs=provider_root=C:\urlservices\provider\urlsample,sessiontimeout=1800000

  5. Save and close the file.

  6. Start the Oracle HTTP Server.

  7. Now, test that you can execute the Adapter by calling the newly added alias. For example, type in the URL:
    http://host.domain:port/servlet/myyahoo
  8. You should receive a sample page.

EXTERNAL APPLICATION

To ensure that you can access your individual My Yahoo page you will need to create a new external application in portal for the My Yahoo Portlet, this can be carried out by following the simple steps below.

  1. Click on the "Administer" tab.  The Portal Administration page should pop up. Scroll down the page; under the "Services" heading you will find a link to the "Login Server Administration" page.  Click on this link; the Login Server Administration page will pop up. 

     

  2. Once you are on the Login Server Administration page, click on "Administer External Applications". 

     

  3. This will display a list of external applications already configured, including Hotmail and OracleMobile.

     

  4. To add MyYahoo, click on the "Add External Application" link.  The Create External Application page will pop up

     

  5. Under External Application Login, you will need to enter the name of the application and some other information:

  1. In the "Application Name" box, type the name of the external application as you want it to appear to the user (e.g., MyYahoo!)

  2. In the "Login URL" box, enter the URL for the login page of the external application.  You can find this by going to the external application login page, typing control-U to show the html source for page, and scrolling through the page until you find the login URL.  In the case of MyYahoo!, this value is
    http://    login.yahoo.com

  3. In the "User Name/ID Field Name" box, type the name of the login field in the application login page.  In the case of MyYahoo! the value of this field is login.

  4. In the "Password Field Name" type the name of the password field in the application login page.  In the case of MyYahoo! the value of this field is passwd.  

  5. Under "Authentication Method" specify whether the application uses GET or POST authentication. MyYahoo! uses   POST.

 
    g.   Once you have completed these steps, click "OK" to add the external application.

 

VIEW PORTLET

  1. Now that you have successfully tested your new alias and created an External Application for  the My Yahoo Portlet.  You will need to register a new provider that calls this alias.

  2. Register your new Provider.

    1. Name:  MyYahooProvider

    2. Display Name:  My Yahoo Provider

    3. Provider ID: Leave blank, it will automatically be generated

    4. Timeout:  100

    5. Timeout Message:  My Yahoo Portlet Timed Out

    6. Implementation Style:  Web

    7. Register on Remote Nodes: No

    8. Check the following Radio button: User: User specific information should be passed to the provider. Specify the frequency by which the login operation will be performed for this provider. For Database implementations, the login frequency determines the frequency of calls made to the do-login API. For Web implementations, the login frequency determines the frequency of calls made to the initSession. 

    9. Provider Login Frequency: Always

    10. Check box: Require session specific information such as session id, user, and login time. This field is relevant only for Web providers.

    11.  URL:  http://host.domain:port/servlet/myyahoo

    12. Check the following radio button: The user's identity needs to be mapped to a different name in the Web provider's application, and/or the Web provider requires an external application login for establishment of a browser session. If selecting this option, specify the external application ID below.

    13. Click on the list of values box next to the External Application ID. Select My Yahoo External Application

  3. Click on OK.

  4. Now add your new portlet to a page.  Take note to view the title and description.

Now that you have successfully installed your own  My Yahoo External Application portlet using URL services, please look for future articles that will guide you through adding services to your portlet such as session storage, nls handling, customization etc. Review the following URL services articles for detailed information about the URL services architecture:

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