Defining Portal Display Rules 

Use

This topic describes how you create and edit rule collection objects. Rule collections allow you to define how portal desktops are assigned to portal users at runtime.

You use the Portal Display Rules Editor to create rule collection objects.

 Note the following:

§         Conditions are prioritized according to their top-to-bottom order of appearance in the rule collection. If a user fits more than one condition, then the first condition that is true for that user, determines which portal desktop is displayed. See the example below for details.

§         An IF-THEN condition may contain unlimited nested IF expressions.

§         An IF-THEN condition may contain only a single THEN expression.

§         A rule collection object may contain conditions that reference other rule collection objects. For example:

IF Browser Type = Microsoft Internet Explorer
THEN Rule collection = pcd:Display_Rules/MSIE_Rules 

 

Prerequisites

·        You have access to the Portal Display Rules Editor (by default, it is assigned to the system administration role).

·        You have at least read/write permissions on the Portal Catalog folder in which you are creating or editing a rule collection object.

·        You have at least read administrator permissions on the relevant portal desktop and rule collection objects in the Portal Catalog.

·        If you intend to use portal URL aliases in your display rules, you need to configure your portal gateway accordingly. See Portal URL Aliases.

 

Procedure

Creating a Rule Collection

...

       1.      In the portal, navigate to System Administration ® Portal Display ® Desktops & Display Rules.

       2.      In the Portal Catalog, right-click a folder in which you want to create a rule collection object. A context menu is displayed.

       3.      In the context menu, choose New ® Rule Collection. The Portal Display Rules Editor appears.

       4.      In the Rule Collection ID box, enter a unique ID for the rule collection object.

       5.      In the Rule Collection Name box, enter a friendly name for the rule collection object.

       6.      Define the conditions of the display rules using a combination of IF and THEN expressions:

Action	Description
Adding a new IF‑THEN condition	...        1.      In the rule collection list, choose any existing IF or THEN expression (it does not matter which one you choose, since the new condition will be added to the beginning of the list).        2.      Click Add IF Expression. A new IF-THEN condition is added to the end of the rule collection list (use the Move Up and Move Down buttons later to correctly position the new condition). By default, the new expression is defined as: IF User = * THEN Portal Desktop = pcd:portal_content/every_user/general/defaultDesktop. Change the default values for each expression, as needed.        3.      Perform the following steps twice to define each of the IF and THEN expressions separately:                             a.      In the rule collection list, choose the relevant IF or THEN expression. Its currently assigned parameters are displayed in the editing area above the rule collection list.                             b.      In the editing area, define the parameter, operator, and value of the expression in the appropriate drop-down menus and text boxes. Note the following: §         When choosing an operator, select = for “equals” and NE for “not equals”. §         Roles, groups, users, portal desktops, and rule collections require you enter their full path and object ID. Precede the path with pcd: (without the slash) and follow with the full PCD path name and object ID. For example: pcd:portal_content/every_user/general/eu_role §         Instead of manually typing in the name of a role, portal desktops, or rule collection, you can choose the target object by right-clicking it in the Portal Catalog and then choosing Add <object_type> to Expression in the context menu. §         You may use a wildcard value in the form of an asterisk (*) where necessary. §         When entering a portal URL alias, enter only the alias segment of the URL. For example: light or guest.                             c.      When you have completed the expression, click Apply in the editing area. The updated expression is added to the rule collection list.                             d.      Assign the new condition to the appropriate position in the rule collection list using the Move Up and Move Down buttons.
Adding a nested IF expression	...        1.      Choose a THEN expression in an existing condition. Note that the nested IF expression will be added directly above the selected THEN expression and below the last IF expression in the current IF-THEN condition.        2.      The parameters of the THEN expression are displayed in the editing area above the rule collection list.        3.      In the editing area, choose IF as the expression type in the first drop-down menu. A new IF expression is added to the rule collection list.        4.      In the editing area, define the parameter, operator, and value of the IF expression in the appropriate drop-down menus and text boxes, as described above.        5.      When you have completed the expression, click Apply in the editing area. The updated IF expression is added to the selected IF-THEN condition.
Changing priority of IF-THEN conditions	In the rule collection list, choose the root IF expression in the IF-THEN condition you want to move, and then click either Move Up or Move Down. This action moves the entire IF-THEN condition of the selected IF expression, including any nested IF expressions.
Deleting an IF-THEN condition	In the rule collection list, choose the root IF expression in the IF-THEN condition you want to delete, and then choose Delete. This action deletes the entire IF-THEN condition.

       7.      Click Save. The rule collection object is created in the selected folder. You may access it later from the Portal Catalog for further editing.

 

Editing a Rule Collection

...

       1.      In the portal, navigate to System Administration ® Portal Display ® Desktops & Display Rules.

       2.      In the Portal Catalog, right-click a rule collection object which you want to edit. A context menu is displayed.

       3.      In the context menu, choose Open ® Object. The Portal Display Rules Editor is opened and displays the conditions of the selected rule collection object.

       4.      Add, remove or modify conditions as described in the table above.

       5.      Click Save to save your changes.

 

 

Example

The diagram below illustrates how conflicting conditions are resolved; for example when a user matches more than one condition. At logon, the system begins with the first condition at the top of the list and works its way down until it reaches a match. Once a match is made, the user is given the portal desktop assigned to that condition, regardless of any matching conditions that may follow.

User Configuration

A particular company has the following setup:

·        Two roles: External and Internal

·        The role Internal contains users who also belong to two user groups: N.America and Asia

·        User A belongs to both the role Internal and the user group N.America

·        User B belongs to both the role Internal and the user group Asia

·        User C belongs to the role External

Conditions Defined in Portal Display Rules

1. If Group = N.America
   Then Portal Desktop = Orange Flavor

2. If Role = Internal
   Then Portal Desktop = Green Flavor

3. If Group = Asia
   Then Portal Desktop = Blue Flavor

4. If Role = External
   Then Portal Desktop = Red Flavor

Note that (i) user A matches conditions 1 and 2; (ii) user B matches conditions 2 and 3; and (iii) user C matches condition 4.

Results

According to the list of priorities, these are the results:

·        User A receives portal desktop "Orange Flavor" (according to condition 1 which has priority over rule 2)

·        User B will receive portal desktop "Green Flavor" (according to condition 2 which has priority over rule 3)

·        User C will receive portal desktop "Red Flavor" (according to condition 4)