7 Working with the Portal Browser Task Flow

This chapter describes how to add a Portal Browser task flow to a page, and how to work with the task flow.

This chapter includes the following topics:

Permissions

To perform the tasks in this chapter, you must be a portal manager or a portal member with the portal-level permission Basic Services: Edit Page Access, Structure, and Content (standard permissions) or Pages: Edit Pages (advanced permissions).

For more information about permissions, see About Roles and Permissions for a Portal.

7.1 About the Portal Browser Task Flow

WebCenter Portal provides two portal task flows that you can add to a page:

Portal Members task flow: Shows the portal members and provides controls to add new members, send a mail message to all members, filter the list by role, and search for members. For more information about this task flow, see Working with the Portal Members Task Flow.
Portal Browser task flow (Figure 7-1): Adds an area that operates identically to the portal browser, providing users with the ability to work with their portals on the page, rather than navigating to portal browser. For information about working with this task flow, see Viewing and Accessing Available Portals in Using Oracle WebCenter Portal.

Figure 7-1 Portal Browser Task Flow

Description of "Figure 7-1 Portal Browser Task Flow"

7.2 Adding a Portal Browser Task Flow to a Page

Adding a Portal Browser task flow to a page is the same as adding any other component to a page. See Adding a Component to a Page.

Note:

The Portal Browser task flow is not available in the Default Portal Catalog provided with WebCenter Portal, so you will only see an entry for it if it has been added to a custom resource catalog that has been made available to the page.

For more information, see Adding a Resource from the Resource Registry (in the Add Resource Catalog Item dialog, select Task Flows, then Design Time, then Portal Browser). To use the custom resource catalog for editing portal pages, make sure it is Available, and set for use by pages in the portal, as described in Changing the Resource Catalogs in a Portal.

7.3 Working with Portal Browser Task Flow Properties

The Portal Browser task flow has associated properties, which users with sufficient privileges can access through the task flow's View Actions menu. For example, select Parameters to display the Parameters dialog (Figure 7-2).

Figure 7-2 Portal Browser Task Flow Component Properties

Description of "Figure 7-2 Portal Browser Task Flow Component Properties"

7.3.1 Setting Portal Browser Task Flow Properties

In the page editor, the View Actions menu in the toolbar of the Portal Browser task flow (Figure 7-3) provides access to the properties dialogs: Parameters, Access, Display Options, Style, and Content Style.

Figure 7-3 Portal Browser Component Toolbar: View Actions Menu

Description of "Figure 7-3 Portal Browser Component Toolbar: View Actions Menu"

To set the Portal Browser component properties:

Open the page in the page editor (see Opening a Page in the Page Editor).
In the Portal Browser component toolbar, click the View Actions menu and select the properties you want to set:
- Parameters control the default task flow content. For descriptions of each parameter, see Portal Browser Task Flow Parameters. Parameters can be wired to events, and can be used facilitate the wiring of the task flow to page parameters and page definition variables. For more information, see Wiring Pages and Components.
- Access settings show or hide the component to specific roles, users, or groups. For more information, see Setting Component Access.
- The Display Options, Style, and Content Style properties affect the appearance and behavior of the task flow for all users. These properties are common to all task flows. For more information, see Modifying Component Properties.
The Parameters and Display Options dialogs provide access to an Expression Language (EL) editor, which you can use to select or specify a variable value instead of a constant value. Click the icon next to a property, then select Expression Builder to open the editor.

Note:

When you enter EL in the Display Options dialog, the parser reports an error only if it detects invalid syntax, such as a missing closing bracket. Validation is performed only on syntax, not on the expression value. Generic Display Options are those cataloged in Table 10-1.

EL validation is not performed on non-generic display options.

If you need EL assistance, an application developer can provide an EL expression; see Expression Language Expressions in Developing WebCenter Portal Assets and Custom Components with Oracle JDeveloper.
Save your changes.

7.3.2 Portal Browser Task Flow Parameters

Table 7-1 describes the parameters that are unique to the Portal Browser task flow.

Table 7-1 Portal Browser Task Flow Parameters

Parameter	Description
`Advanced Query`	Specifies an EL expression to retrieve a list of portals based on custom criteria. The expression may include the population from which to choose, a `WHERE` clause, and sort criteria. Do not wrap the expression in `#{` and `}`. Optionally, use a backslash as an escape character for quotes and backslashes (expression syntax is valid with or without an escape character). Examples: To sort the results based on certain criteria (in this example, discoverable portals sorted alphabetically, then by date last updated): `spaceContext.spacesQuery.unionOf.ALL_QUERIABLE.sort['sp.discoverable']['asc'].sort['sp.lastUpdateDate']['desc']` Note: If you wish to filter the retrieved data, the EL expression used for the advanced query needs to include any filtering required. Any value specified by the `Filter` parameter is ignored when the `Advanced Query` parameter is set. For example, if you want to retrieve two portals `MyPortal1` and `MyPortal2` and only show them if you are a portal member (filter option) then the `Advanced Query` parameter may be set to: `spaceContext.spacesQuery.unionOf.USER_JOINED.where[wCond['sp.displayName']['=' ]['MyPortal1']['or'][wCond['sp.displayName']['=']['MyPortal2']]]` For additional examples: In the Expression Editor, select Portal Info, then select from the list of examples to show the associated EL expression. To use an expression, remember to remove any enclosing `#{` and `}`, and any backslash escape characters. If you need EL assistance, an application developer can provide an EL expression; see Expression Language Expressions in Developing WebCenter Portal Assets and Custom Components with Oracle JDeveloper and the JavaDoc for `oracle.webcenter.spaces.query.SpacesQueryParameters.`
`Display Tool Bar`	Specifies whether the tool bar displays: `#{true}` (default): Display the toolbar. `#{false}`: Hide the toolbar.
`Display View`	Specifies the type of layout in which to display portals in the Portal Browser. `Card Layout`: Display portals in a card view. `Tiled Layout` (default): Display portals in a tiled view.
`Filter`	Specifies which portals should display in the Portal Browser task flow. `Show All` (default) `Show Joined` `Show Moderated` `Show Public` `Show Discoverable` (all Public and Private portals) Note: This setting is ignored if the `Advanced Query` parameter is used. In this case, the EL expression used for the advanced query needs to include any filtering required. See the `Advanced Query` parameter description for an example.
`Portal Launched on Selection`	Specifies whether to navigate to a portal when selected in the Portal Browser task flow: `#{true}` (default): Clicking a portal opens the portal on the Home page. `#{false}`: Clicking a portal does not navigate to the portal. Instead, allows user to select the portal, staying on the same page with the selected portal highlighted.