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Purpose

This IT process describes the steps performed by administrators on a SAP NetWeaver consumer portal to incorporate remote-based content into the portal and to assign it to local users.

SAP NetWeaver Portal provides different ways for consumers to use remote content exposed by producers in the federated portal network:

Content usage mode Description

remote role assignment

A user administrator on a SAP NetWeaver consumer portal assigns users directly to portal roles residing on a remote SAP NetWeaver producer portal.

The main advantage of this mode is that content management, maintenance, and configuration on the consumer is kept to an absolute minimum-the entire role structure is defined and configured solely on the producer. A user administrator is sufficient to perform the remote role assignment.

remote delta link

A content administrator on a SAP NetWeaver consumer portal copies remote content (iViews, pages, worksets, and roles) as delta links from a SAP NetWeaver producer portal to the consumer, and customizes the content locally.

The main advantage of this mode is that the copied content can be customized locally according to the needs of the consumer, while unmodified content is kept synchronized with the source content on the producer. Note that standard delta link behavior of objects in a single-portal environment also applies to remote delta link objects.

WSRP application sharing

A content administrator on a SAP NetWeaver consumer portal integrates remote WSRP portlets/iViews exposed by a non-SAP or SAP NetWeaver producer portal as standard iViews in the consumer portal.

The main advantage of this mode is that it enables portlet interoperability across different WSRP-compliant vendors.

The method used depends on many factors, such as the vendor of the producer portal, the type of remote content, and what the consumer intends to do with the content once it has been created.

Use of the Process

This process is part of the following IT scenarios:

IT Scenario Scenario Variant

Running an Enterprise Portal

Implementing a Federated Portal Network

Prerequisites

  • The producer and consumer have configured their portals (see Configuring the Federated Portal Network ).
  • You are logged on to the portal as an administrator. The workflow described below defines which administrator role is required to complete each step.
  • You have the necessary portal permissions to work with the required portal objects.

Process Flow

The following process flow relates to a single producer-consumer relationship. Repeat the steps for each additional producer-consumer pairing.

  1. Based on the desired content usage mode, an administrator on the consumer does any of the following:
    1. The user administrator assigns users to remote roles residing on a producer portal.
    2. The content administrator copies remote SAP NetWeaver content from a producer portal and creates delta link objects on the consumer portal.
    3. The content administrator chooses remote portlets (from a non-SAP producer portal) or iViews (from a SAP NetWeaver producer portal) and creates proxy-to-portlet iViews on the consumer portal.
  2. The user and content administrators on the consumer portal configure the local content. The steps performed depend on the content usage mode used:

    Remote role assignment

    No further work needs to be done on the consumer. The roles are ready to be used by their assigned business users.

    Remote delta link
    1. The content administrator customizes the copied objects as necessary.
    2. The content administrator assigns the content to local roles (required only if role structures are not copied).
    3. The user administrator assigns copied roles or self-created roles to users.

    WSRP application sharing
    1. The content administrator assigns proxy-to-portlet iViews to pages, worksets, or roles.
    2. The user administrator assigns local roles to users.
      Note

Note that local content can also be created and developed directly on the consumer portal (for more information, see Creating Portal Content in the Providing Uniform Content Access scenario variant).

Usage type Developer Infrastructure (DI) is required to develop applications and content for the portal.

Result

The consumer has copied or generated local content based on remote content residing on a producer portal. Depending on the content usage mode employed, administrators customize the copied content to suit the needs of the consumer, and business users are assigned to local or remote roles. Content based on remote applications is integrated with any local content that may have been created and developed solely by the consumer portal.

Business users are able to log on to the consumer portal and seamlessly access portal information, services and applications distributed on portals over the entire organizational network. See Using the Federated Portal Network.

While business users working in the portal to complete their daily tasks, portal administrators can maintain the portals in the federation. For more information, see Maintaining the Federated Portal Network.