I'm reading the 2nd edition, which says on the cover, "Fully updated for V5.1". I think some of the reviews appearing here may be referring to the 1st edition when they complain that it only covers V4.Furthermore, there is confusion among reviewersbetween the versioning of WPS (Web Portal Server)versus the versioning of WAS (Web Application Server).The latest version of WPS is 5.1 while the latest version of WAS (now renamed to "Rational") is 6.0.The book covers WPS 5.1 as well as both WAS 5.1.x and WAS 6.0.So, it is completely up to date as far as I can tell.In my opinion the complaints that the book only covers v4 or v5 are based on a misunderstanding of versioning and should not be considered.Chapters 1 and 2 were at a high level and very well written, considering the enormous complexity involved in putting so many different products under the same umbrella and making them appear unified. It makes one a little sympathetic for the IBM architects who have to make a logical, consistent set of diagrams out of all the disparate products IBM offers including Lotus and Domino.
Chapter however 3 was not pleasant to read.It gives instructions for installingWebsphere Portal on Windows, Unix, and Linux with all sorts of variations.Many concepts that it would have been nice to have had explained, weren't.For example, why is the author all of a sudden saying an http server is required and that the IBM http server will be used in the examples?Isn't there an http server embedded somewhere already in the Websphere Applications Server?A paragraph of explanation would have helped to clear that up.And the expertise in LDAP servers that chapter three presupposes is not necessarily true of all readers.
Chapter 3 as it continued, increasingly dispensed entirely with explanations and became, essentially, long lists of commands to type in with little explanation of why the commands were necessary or what they actually did.By the time the chapter ended, one could not help but feel intimidated as to the incredible amount of memorization and knowledge and experience required to understand the complete installation of the product in a corporate setting.
Chapter 4, entitled "Customizing the Portal", is very readable and important because it explains the basics of portals such as skins, themes, pages, columns, rows, etc.There is a terrible problem with pages 135 to 144 unfortunately.Those pages contain nothing but faulty pictures of the themes and skins that come with the default installation.All of the pictures look the same and can barely be seen.This is not the authors' fault but the fault of whoever typeset the book.Shame on that person.They have ruined what would have been a very helpful portion.Still, chapter 4 is a valuable and useful chapter, entirely appropriate for a "primer".
Chapter 5, "Personalizing The Portlal", is mind-numbing but essential reading.It introduces all the concepts necessary to personalize a portal/portlet and then steps you through from start to finish the creation and deployment of a personalized portlet.It requires that you have WSADS 5.x installed because they step you through installing a jsp/html editing feature that has beem removed from WSADS but is needed to create personalized portlets.So, they explain how to manually re-activate it from the command line.It can only be re-activated in WSADS 5.x.They say once you see how it's done in WSADs 5.x you can then do it yourself without the enhanced editor in Rational v6.If you are like me and have both of those installed on your pc, you hit the lottery and will find this chapter very useful.If you only have Rational v6 it will be very frustrating.It's a scary chapter and makes you wonder if anyone on planet earth could ever actually use this monster of a product.But if you work in a corporation that uses IBM Websphere Portal you *know* it does actually work, so just take a deep breath and read the entire chapter.It's very well written, especially considering how hard it is to try to make it seem as if a business analyst could do many of the tasks in this chapter that seem to require quite a bit of knowledge of java.
Chapter 6 explains how to write, configure, and deploy a portlet.The first 34 pages cover the proprietary IBM portlet API, and the last 13 pages cover cover the JSR-168 portlet API. There is a lot of information to cover, and it all presupposes the reader is familiar with the J2EE servlet creation methodology.Realistically, it is this chapter that is the most important for a java programmer who actually has to write portlets, and conversely this might be the least important chapter to operations staff who probably don't know java and don't need to for their job function.It's too much to read this chapter in one sitting, lest the concepts of the proprietary IBM portlet API get confused in one's mind with the concepts of the JSR-168 portlet API.All in all, it's a very good chapter. There was only one misprint that really vexes, which is on page 239 where reference is made to a code example in figure 6.8 that supposedly shows instantiating a DefaultPortletMessage object.There is no such instantiation in that figure, alas, and in such a difficult chapter that is annoying because realizing the mistake breaks mental concentration.
The second part of chapter 6 on the JSR-168 portlet API is helpful both in explaining the JSR-168 API as well as forcing the authors to better explain the IBM proprietary portlet API by comparing and contrasting the two.Considering the complexity and the subtleties of portlet programming, this chapter did an excellent job.The final paragraph states, "The subject of portlet programming alone could fill a book."It then recommends a book called, "Programming Portlets" by Ron Lynn, Joey Bernal, and Peter Blinstrubas (2005; MC Press).
Chapter 7, "Portal Gatekeeper", is devoted to security. It is too dense to be read in one sitting.It begins with the big picture/architecture of how security can be maintained in various LDAPs or in a combination of LDAP and rdbms, etc. and just when it seems like the chapter should end, it begins with a very specific example of configuring an example company with three departments. There is one minor misprint in the example, which is easy to pick out with a clear head but in the thick of reading the chapter can make the reader lose confidence the chapter is comprehensible. (A second reading after a good night's sleep is recommended). In between these two sections there are several pages of raw listings of two XML configuation files.All in all it's a mentally difficult chapter to comprehend.The chapter continues with more detail on vaults and vault segments, etc., etc., but by the end of the chapter when everything that can be said has been said, one feels much, much more informed on the subject of websphere portal security.
Chapter 8, "Portal and Beyond," begins with twenty pages covering portal search capabilities.It's a nearly impossible task to cover the subject that quickly, and you have to hand it to the author for, gamely, making the attempt.The next 24 pages cover Site Analytics, which is a vast subject. It feels like a different author wrote this second section of the chapter.The detailed examples with screenshots culminate by showing a report that is spectacular until you look closer and realize it only shows statistics on one "hit" on a test web site. The third section of chapter 8, "Process Portals", is the worst written section of the entire book, so far. It's like something a jaded technical writer might compose in a Dilbert cartoon for an incomprehensible technical feature that the marketing department insisted on adding. The forth section of chapter 8, "Websphere Portal Application Integrator", takes the mantle from section three and is definately the worst, most cynically written section of the book, so far.The closing one page essay of the chapter, "Door Closing", is brilliant, a marketing masterpiece.It was obviously polished and rewritten many times by a senior writer.
Chapter 9, "Portal Content and Collaboration", continues in the tradition of Chapter 8 by exploring more "checkmark" features.The chapter 9 features seem to have been added by the IBM marketing department, Lotus/Domino division.It becomes increasingly apparant as one reads further into this book that production use of IBM WebSphere Portal requires hiring IBM consultants and programmers to actually get the beast installed and configured. The final paragraph of chapter 9, "Door Closings", is more openly transparant and far less clever than it's brilliant chapter 8 counterpart.
Chapter 10, "Portal Crossing", begins with 24 pages of detailed, step bystep instructions on how to configure simple, sample portlets.Maddeningly, none of the sample portlets come with their source code, they only come with the class files. The author is annoyingly glib. For example, the author mentions that the sample Webpage Portlet is nearly useless because it cannot maintain state, then adds glibly, "Still, this portlet is a good way to integrate existing Web applications into a portal in proof-of-concept situations".This chapter is written at practically a kindergarden level of understanding in comparison to the prior chapters.It reads kind of like a series of powerpoint slides to be presented by sales to non-technical managers, to try to convince them how easy the product is to use.
The next 15 pages of chapter "10" are so complicated and difficult to follow that they require being re-read at least three times.They assume an expert level of J2EE programming ability and are quite discouraging to anyone who thinks portals might have a long term place in the world of programming. The *next* 7 pages, on Virtual Portals, is useful and important. It concludes, "The topic of Virtual Portals is huge-- more than can be adequately covered here."Next is 10 pages on Web Services for Portlets. The chapter and the book end with 6 pages on internationalization.The obligatory"Door Closings" for the last chapter states the chapter covered the features of WebSphere Portal "that set it above the rest."It adds, "they might not be available to the general portal user community."
The bottom line is that this is a book from IBM press that through thick and thin has a mandate to try to get people to use IBM Websphere Portal, even if the authors have to jump through hoops to make this monstrously complicated product seem attractive. If your corporation has WPS then you need this book. Sigh.
There is an online tutorial on the IBM website covering some of the same material as this book that should get five stars and then some.Run don't walk to the amazing, cutting edge, state of the art, A plus plus tutorial at the following link.If you read the book and view the following tutorial as well, you are well on your way to mastery.They complement each other nicely even though the book is 2 stars and the online tutorial is 5 stars. http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/websphere/education/enablement/wbt/sw756.html?ca=drs-
Product Description
Whether a programmer is starting out developing simple portlets and Java Server Pages or is well versed in using JavaBeans, this book guides users to develop expertise in portal technology. Topics such as installation, setup, administration, tuning, and usage of IBM WebSphere Portal for Multiplatforms V4.1 are all covered. Servlets, security, single sign-on, transactions, session management, web searching, web content management, and scaling as it relates to WebSphere Portal Server are also discussed. Information about portlets, open portlet APIs, and securing and managing large web portals with their own distinctive look is provided, as are tips on managing and supporting B2B, B2C, or B2E e-commerce. Also presented are the topologies that WebSphere Portal supports, including WPO 4.1, WAS 4.0, DB2 7.2, IHS 1.3.19, SecureWay Directory Server 3.2.2, on Windows, AIX, Solaris, and Linux.
About the Author
Ashok K. Iyengar is a member of the WebSphere enablement team and is the coauthor of WebSphere V3.5 Handbook and IBM WebSphere V4.0 Advanced Edition Handbook. He lives in Encinitas, California. Venkata V. Gadepalli is a member of the WebSphere enablement team. His current focus is enabling and consulting for WebSphere products with primary emphasis in the areas of WebSphere Application Server, portals, and personalization. He lives in Cary, North Carolina.
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