A Portal to a Portal

Following on from my last post I've spent a most excellent few days really getting into WebSphere Integration Developer (WID) and WebSphere Process Server (WPS).

I'm not as far forward as I'd like, but I've made some good progress, including: -

• Getting WID installed and patched ( the latter took a while on my home ADSL )
• Deploying sample applications, as well as some generated by my German colleague
• Configuring my WPS instance to use security from a pair of property files
• Figuring out how to start/stop WPS from the command line as well as within WID
• Generated a JSF-based user interface application from within WID
• Exporting a process as a web service using WSDL
• Importing the WSDL into WebSphere Portlet Factory
• Creating a portlet that initiates a human task ( loan request ) from within a Portal page ( this is the role of the end-customer )
  
• Using the JSF UI to work with, and approve, the loan request (task) - the JSF UI reflects the role of the loan adviser

I've made loads of notes, and need to collate them in the next few days.

I still need to get a separate set of Portlet Factory models working - they "talk" to WPS via Service Component Architecture (SCA) components via Web Services. This doesn't quite work, but I'm getting there.

In essence, this would allow me to write a portlet that can work with existing tasks, as well as initiating new ones.

The thing that impressed me most ? Getting WebSphere Integration Developer, WebSphere Portal, WebSphere Process Server and WebSphere Portlet Factory to run on my 3 GB laptop, alongside Radio 4 (!), Lotus Notes and this blog ( via Firefox ).

Right, I'm going (back) in .......