Portal Architecture:

PeopleSoft portal technology provides basic web-based navigation for application pages. The default portal homepage contains the navigation pagelet and the search area, as shown in the following example:

The main portal architecture are : Templates and Template Pagelets Ability to register peoplsoft transactions. The portal servelet. Navigation Favorites Related Information Single-signon support for PeoplSoft Applications.

Node Definitions: A node is a source of HTML content . A node is a URL string that defines entire database and server. It is used when a portal servelet attempts to retrieve content, whether internal peopleSoft or external references, and assemble pages. The use of nodes simplifies Peoplecode programming, since long URLs can be referred to by the appropriate node name. Some node names, such as HRMS, EPM, SA, FDM and CRM, are preset in your portal. You can add additional nodes.

Portal Templates and Template Pagelets: Developer create templates in PeoplSoft application designer. At runtime , a template is constructed into a web page by peopletools portal technology. Each template is made from various template Pagelets. Each template and each template pagelet is designed individually and stored as a HTML object in portal database. PeoplSoft delivers default portal template for each installed peoplsoft database- such as HRMS,ERP so on. In addition to template Pagelets, portal templates also contain peopleSoft tags which indicate that where template Pagelets are to be inserted in the template. Each portal template reserves the space for a target page, which contains the specific HTML page that a user requested. For example a page requested by user in financial application, the page that user is accessing appears in target region. The target region is typically the largest area of template. The template in the following example comprises three separate template pagelets: one for the navigation header, one for related links, and one for the target content region. At runtime, the target content region is filled by the HTML returned by the target page, as are the other template pagelet regions.

Different parts of a portal template

Navigation: Menu navigation is provided through template Pagelets that enable the user to move through portal registry visually, using folders. Users can view the registry from number of vantage points, including menu groupings and a favorite list.

Portal Registry: Each portal is defined by a portal registry. The portal registry is a set of dedicated PeopleSoft databases tables that store every content reference, typically a URL, available through the portal. A portal registry has tree-like structure in which content references are organized, classified and registered. A portal registry contains folders and content references. Content references are objects that have been registered in portal registry. Each content reference has URL field, which points to portal content. The content can be PeoplSoft components, Iscripts, or external web pages. Content references fall into three categories: target content, templates and template Pagelets. Every portal registry contains a root folder and a Portal Objects folder. The Portal Objects folder includes the following folders: Templates, Pagelets, and Homepage. In addition to these standard folders, there is typically one folder per PeopleSoft application located directly below the root folder. These application folders contain the folders and content references associated with each PeopleSoft application that you have licensed. All application pages in PeopleSoft product line databases are registered, secured, and described in the portal registry.

Portal Servlets: A portal servelet is the java servelet that runs on portal web server. It intercepts a user request for an HTML page , retrieves the requested page, wraps the additional content around it, and then sends the resulting page to the user browser. It enables portal to integrate the content from a wide variety of sources and present the content on a single page in a coherent, consistent fashion.
The portal servelet performs these functions: Retrieves user-requested content. The content can be either target content, such as a PeopleSoft application page, for display in the large target region of the browser, or content for the smaller-sized pagelets. Provides a consistent user interface. The portal servelt checks properties associated with each content reference, including the name of a portal template. When a user accesses content through the portal, the portal servlet wraps the target page with the portal template specified in the content reference. This template provides a consistent user interface. Ensures that PeopleSoft-specific tags are processed correctly.

Basic Portal URL format : URL provide address for the content, so that it can be located and correctly identified. The portal servlet needs three pieces of information in order to present a page to the user. These are integral parts of PeopleSoft portal URL: The name of the portal through which the contents are being accessed The node that hosts the content The type and ID of the content

The portal servlet uses the node name in the URL to look up the location of the servlet for that node (stored as part of the node object). If the content is hosted by the local database, the portal servlet talks to the content servlet directly (Java method calls), not through HTTP (using the portal content servlet URL). The ID format is different for each content type. Components are identified by menu, component, and market; scripts are identified by the program name, and so on. The portal registry determines the content reference for this content, and for the template and the pagelets that appear around it. The following diagram shows how the URL lists the required information from left to right: portal (EMPLOYEE), node (PSFT_HR), content type (c), content ID (MAINTAIN_SECURITY.USERMAINT.GBL):

Navigation Collections: Navigation Collections provide you flexible tools for building alternative taxonomies of the contents stored in your portal registry. These alternative taxonomies, or groupings of links to portal content, can then be deployed to different users or groups of users, creating navigation that specifically addresses your users' business needs. Once created, a Navigation Collection can be published as a navigation page or navigation pagelet for use on a user homepage.