Re: [wsrp] Alternative for supporting a control set style

[Subbu Allamaraju <subbu@bea.com>]

Mike,

Could you clarify what you mean by "the specification forces the portlet 
to render these controls"? Do you mean that WSRP forces portlets to 
always render these decorations? I can see that some portlets MAY want 
to render these (depends on the use case), but I don't see how the spec 
requires that portlets render these controls always?

Subbu

Michael Freedman wrote:
> As the conversation this morning was generally negative concerning 
> adding additional CSS styles that could represent  a set of mode 
> controls I offer the following solution in lieu of working through a 
> detailed design for something that will likely be rejected anyway. 
>  Basically, the solution focuses on communicating to the portlet 
> "layout" information that a portlet could then use to make UI decisions. 
>  Passing such information is optional.  Using the information is 
> optional.  However, portals that choose to pass such information can at 
> least be ensured that the subset [hopefully large] that take it into 
> consideration will yield a consistent UI within the portal.  The 
> argument for including this "special" layout information continue to be 
> that our specification forces the portlet to render these controls 
> however the consumer/portal has a vested interest in establishing a 
> consistent L/F for these controls.
> 
> Solution:
> Add the following optional field to MarkupParms:
> [O] ModeControlLayout  modeControlLayout
> 
> where ModeControlLayout is:
> 
> ModeControlLayout
>      [R]  Controls controls[]
>      [O]  ControlOrientation  controlOrientation
>      [O]  ControlAlignment controlAlignment
> 
> Where Controls, ControlOrientation and ControlAlignment are restrictions 
> on the string type that are contrained to specific values:
>     Controls: "apply", "cancel", "ok", "reset", "previous", "next"
>     ControlOrientation: "top", "bottom"
>     ControlAlignment: "left", "center", "right"
> 
> Members:
> 
>     * /controls: /This array defines the type and order of controls the
>       portlet should use to be consistent with the Look/Feel for this
>       consumers Mode controls.  Portlets wishing to be consistent will
>       render such controls, inconjunction with the other layout rules,
>       preferrably by using WSRP predefined styles corresponding to these
>       controls.
>     * /controlOrientation/: The value of this field tells the portlet
>       the consumers preferred orientation for the controls mentioned
>       above.  An orientation of "top" indicates a desire that the
>       controls appear at the top [or first] of the modes rendition.  An
>       orientation of "bottom" indicates a desire that the controls
>       appear at the bottom [or last] of the modes rendition.
>     * /controlAlignment:  /The value of this field tells the portlet how
>       the consumer prefers the portlet align the controls mentioned
>       above.  A "left" alignment indicates a desire the controls be
>       rendered flush left with respect to the overall content/form.  A
>       "center" alignment indicates a desire the controls be rendered
>       centered with respect to the overall content/form.  A "right"
>       alignment indicates a desire the controls be rendered flush right
>       with respect to the overall content/form.
> 
> 
>