Omniportlet-declaratively publish data in a portal without code

• US 20050055634A1
• Filed: 09/30/2003
• Published: 03/10/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/08/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Fisher, Robin, Burns, Stephen
• Granted Patent: US 8,612,852 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/251
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/972 Access to data in other repository systems, e.g. legacy data or dynamic Web page generation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/186 Templates

Abstract

Techniques for generating a page from a declarative specification are provided. An interface is provided that enables a user to declaratively specify a data source. Also, an interface is provided that allows a user to declaratively specify layout information for data from the data source. A page is then generated based on the declarative specification for the data source and the layout information.

Claims

1. A method for generating a page, the method comprising:

determining a data source specification and a layout specification for the page, the data source specification and layout specification being declaratively specified by a user, the data source specification including access information for a data source;

retrieving data for the data source based on the data source specification and the access information;

determining a layout for the data based on the layout specification; and

generating the page using the data and the determined layout.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the data source specification comprises a data type for the data source.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the data type comprises at least one of a spreadsheet data type, XML data type, SQL data type, web service data type, and a web page data type.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the access information comprises a path to the data source.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the path comprises a URL.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the data source specification comprises a filtering specification that filters data retrieved from the data source.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the layout specification comprises at least one of a tabular layout, chart layout, news layout, form layout, and bullet layout.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the layout comprises formatting the retrieved data into the layout.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the page comprises a web-based page.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the page comprises a portlet.

11. A method for generating a graphical user interface (GUI), the method comprising:

providing a data source interface that enables a user to declaratively specify access information for a data source;

determining a declarative specification for the data source;

retrieving data for the data source using the access information;

providing a layout interface that enables the user to declaratively specify a layout for the determined data;

determining a layout specification for the determined data; and

generating a graphical user interface based on the declarative specification for the data source and the layout specification for the determined data.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the data source interface comprises one or more data types that enables a user to specify a data type for the data source.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the one or more data types comprise at least one of a spreadsheet data type, XML data type, SQL data type, web service data type, and a web page data type.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein determining the data comprises using the specified data type and the access information to retrieve the data for the specified data source.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the access information comprises a URL.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising providing a filtering interface including filtering options for the retrieved data that enables a user to declaratively specify-which data to use in the generated GUI.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the layout interface comprises one or more layout options that enables the user to declaratively specify a layout type.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the layout type comprises at least one of a tabular layout, chart layout, news layout, form layout, and bullet layout.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising providing a layout type interface that enables the user to specify how the retrieved data should be laid out in the GUI using the specified layout type.

20. The method of claim 11, wherein the data source interface does not include the access information for the data source before it is declaratively specified by the user.

21. The method of claim 11, wherein the GUI comprises a web-based page.

22. The method of claim 11, wherein the GUI comprises a portlet.

23. A method for declaratively generating a page using an interface, the method comprising:

receiving a declarative specification of access information for a data source, wherein the access information is input by a user;

retrieving data using the access information for the data source;

determining layout information for data from the data source; and

generating a page using the retrieved data and the layout information.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the declarative specification comprises a specification of a data type for the data source.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the access information comprises a path to the data source.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the path comprises a URL.

27. The method of claim 23, wherein the declarative specification comprises a filtering specification that filters data retrieved from the data source.

28. The method of claim 23, wherein the page comprises a web-based page.

29. The method of claim 23, wherein the page comprises a portlet.