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| Novell Portal Services Overview and Gadget Development | ||
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| April 2003 | ||
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| DeveloperNet University Course | ||
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NPS Integration with a Directory
NPS requires a directory to function properly. The directory is the underlying integration point for NPS. The directory maintains and stores most of the following:
- Configuration
- Access Control
- Relationships
- Layout Information
In addition to these items, user information (name, password, privileges, and preferences) are stored in the directory. NPS leverages the directory to authenticate and build a personalized "page" of data for the user.
Who you are in the directory matters! All assignments for what can be viewed in the portal are based on directory assignments:
- User
- Groups
- Containers
- Attributes
Gadgets
Gadgets are the basic building blocks of NPS. Gadgets are applications that reside within the portal framework and serve to interact with other (external) resources such as directories, databases, and web pages. Gadgets communicate to any back-end system to gather data for the user. NPS provides single sign-on functionality to these back-end systems. A Gadget is represented in the LDAP directory as a gadget object. NPS offers a wide variety of gadgets with the product, including:
| Collaboration | System | Application |
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NPS Gadgets can be easily viewed in ConsoleOne. Figure 8 illustrates this.
Figure 8: NPS Gadgets Displayed in ConsoleOne.
Novell provides an array of Gadget Development Tools. The exteNd Directory Gadget Developer Kit provides tools to develop, test, and deploy gadgets. Check out the offerings at Novell's Developer Site: http://developer.novell.com/ndk/npssdk.htm.
The exteNd Directory Gadget Developer Kit includes documentation, extensive sample code and the SDK libraries.
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