Re: [wsrp-interfaces] Questions regarding getPortletDescription()

[Michael Freedman <Michael.Freedman@oracle.com>]

First off on the question of  "This makes me wonder if I should completely
ignore what’s found in the ServiceDescription to avoid using incorrect information."
 I would advise the opposite.  getServiceDescription() defines the complete
function of a portlet.  If you are choosing to pass the additional context
information to getPortletDescription() then you are in effect checking with
the producer what subset of this complete function this particular context
can use.  Because all producers must be defensive an assume they will be
called to do things in inappropriate contexts a consumer can safely try any
operation directly [without checking first] and then deal with the resulting
fault/denial.  And given getPortletDescription is an extra roundtrip in general
its more advisable to not call it and just try the operation.  That being
said there may be some circumstances in some consumers where its considered
important to prevent the user from invoking function that isn't available
-- for example one might want to restrict the view of a toolbox of portlets
that can be added to a "page" to only those portlets this user can access/see.
 This feature allows us to meet this type of [hopefully limited] use case.

As for the comments about cumbersome, can you describe the use cases that
are making this cumbersome?  I recall we expected the consumer would [generally]
be caching this information hence getServiceDescription would not be called
very often.  
     -Mike-

Coco, Christopher wrote:
> I agree that this process is cumbersome and not necessarily desirable.
>
> Christopher
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Subbu Allamaraju [mailto:subbu@bea.com]
> Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2004 2:21 PM
> To: wsrp-interfaces@lists.oasis-open.org
> Subject: Re: [wsrp-interfaces] Questions regarding
> getPortletDescription()
>
>
> This is a good point, and I agree that there is scope for confusion.
>
> On a related note, based on the implementation experience, I wish there 
> is a getPortletDescription operation on the Service Description 
> interface. Right now, if a consumer wants to find out the description of 
> a POP, it must get the complete service description and look for the 
> particular portlet. This is cumbersome for both the consumer and the 
> producer. Did we ever discuss this during 1.0?
>
> Regards,
>
> Subbu
>
> Goldstein, Scott wrote:
> > Thanks, again, for the info Rich.
> >
> >  
> >
> > It might be worth considering changing the language of the 
> > getPortletDescription() section to clarify expected behavior.  The 
> > existence of the UserContext parameter together with the statements:
> >
> >  
> >
> > “This operation allows a Producer to provide information about the 
> > Portlets it offers in a contextsensitive
> >
> > manner.”
> >
> >  
> >
> > and
> >
> >  
> >
> > “Consumers may choose to alter how they interact with a Portlet based on 
> > the metadata
> >
> > contained in the returned PortletDescriptionResponse.”
> >
> >  
> >
> > leads me to believe, as a Consumer developer, that the content returned 
> > from this operation will be different than that in the 
> > ServiceDescription.  This makes me wonder if I should completely ignore 
> > what’s found in the ServiceDescription to avoid using incorrect information.
> >
> >  
> >
> > Scott
> >
> >  
> >
> >  
> >
> >  
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > *From:* Rich Thompson [mailto:richt2@us.ibm.com]
> > *Sent:* Thursday, June 03, 2004 3:26 AM
> > *To:* wsrp-interfaces@lists.oasis-open.org
> > *Subject:* RE: [wsrp-interfaces] Questions regarding getPortletDescription()
> >
> >  
> >
> >
> > Agreed.
> >
> > Rich
> >
> > *"Coco, Christopher" <Christopher.Coco@vignette.com>*
> >
> > 06/02/2004 08:10 PM
> >
> > 	
> >
> > To
> >
> > 	
> >
> > "Goldstein, Scott" <Scott.Goldstein@vignette.com>, Rich 
> > Thompson/Watson/IBM@IBMUS, <wsrp-interfaces@lists.oasis-open.org>
> >
> > cc
> >
> > 	
> >
> >  
> >
> > Subject
> >
> > 	
> >
> > RE: [wsrp-interfaces] Questions regarding getPortletDescription()
> >
> >  
> >
> >  
> >
> > 	
> >
> >  
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >  From my understanding, as long as the call is for a POP as CCPs aren't 
> > listed in the ServiceDescription.
> >  
> > Christopher
> > -----Original Message-----*
> > From:* Goldstein, Scott *
> > Sent:* Wednesday, June 02, 2004 5:08 PM*
> > To:* Rich Thompson; wsrp-interfaces@lists.oasis-open.org*
> > Subject:* RE: [wsrp-interfaces] Questions regarding getPortletDescription()
> >
> > Thanks for the info, Rich.
> >  
> > So, just to be completely clear, in the case that the metadata is not 
> > updated in any fashion by the producer, if I were to call 
> > getPortletDescription() with a UserContext containing all of the 
> > Producers’ user categories, I would be guaranteed to receive the same 
> > structure as if I had called getServiceDescription().  Correct?
> >  
> > Scott
> >  
> >  
> >
> >  
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >
> > *From:* Rich Thompson [mailto:richt2@us.ibm.com] *
> > Sent:* Wednesday, June 02, 2004 8:57 AM*
> > To:* wsrp-interfaces@lists.oasis-open.org*
> > Subject:* Re: [wsrp-interfaces] Questions regarding getPortletDescription()
> >  
> >
> > Thanks for your persistence ... sometimes as we get busy we hope that 
> > others will supply the answers :}
> >
> > The data in GetPortletDescriptionResponse is the same that is included 
> > in the array returned by getServiceDescription() with a few caveats. The 
> > data is allowed to change (portlet data updated, user access rights, 
> > etc) and most Producers will only return data from 
> > getServiceDescription() for their POPs while getPortletDescription() can 
> > be invoked against any portletHandle.
> >
> > Rich
> >
> > *"Goldstein, Scott" <Scott.Goldstein@vignette.com>*
> >
> > 06/02/2004 11:31 AM
> >
> > 	
> >
> >  
> >
> > To
> >
> > 	
> >
> > <wsrp-interfaces@lists.oasis-open.org>
> >
> > cc
> >
> > 	
> >
> >  
> >
> > Subject
> >
> > 	
> >
> > [wsrp-interfaces] Questions regarding getPortletDescription()
> >
> >
> >  
> >
> >  
> >
> >  
> >
> > 	
> >
> >  
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > I haven’t received a reply to my message I sent out last week, so I 
> > thought I would try to resend it.  If you have any answers to the 
> > questions below, please reply.  Thanks.
> >  
> >  
> >  
> > I have the following questions regarding the getPortletDescription() 
> > operation:
> >  
> > 1.        How does the data returned in the PortletDescriptionResponse 
> > relate to the portlet description contained within the 
> > ServiceDescription?  Must they be identical?  Or, can the producer 
> > change the data based on the user context.  For instance, could the 
> > producer not specify a particular supported mode if the user is not an 
> > admin?
> > 2.        If the answer to #1 is that they can be different, then is 
> > there a way to ensure, when calling this method, that the 
> > PortletDescription returned would be equal to that in the 
> > ServiceDescription?  Perhaps by sending all of the possible User 
> > Categories?
> > 3.        If the answer to #1 is that they must be the same, then is the 
> > only use of the UserContext attribute to allow the producer to throw an 
> > AccessDenied Fault?  Will passing all user categories avoid this?
> >  
> > Essentially, I’m trying to understand the intended use of 
> > getPortletDescription() and if it can be used as an optimization to 
> > update portlet meta data without having to retrieve the full service 
> > description.
> >  
> > Thanks for the information.
> >  
> > Scott
> >
> >