Graphical association of elements for portal and webserver administration

• US 20050257154A1
• Filed: 05/13/2005
• Published: 11/17/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: BEA Systems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: BEA Systems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Patadia, Jalpesh, Mueller, Jeffrey, Bales, Christopher E., Dawe, Melissa
• Application Number:
  US11/128,583
• Publication Number:
  US 20050257154A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/734
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces

Abstract

The present invention relates to systems, methods, and computer media for administering portals. A portal provides a way to aggregate content and integrate applications, allowing a visitor to a Web site to access everything via a user interface. Portals can be composed of a collection of portlets, each of which typically presents an application. Portlets are arranged on pages, which in turn are part of a book. The present invention provides for a set of tools that modify portal settings in response to user input.

Claims

1. A method for administering a portal, the method comprising:

displaying elements associated with the portal as a hierarchy of visual representations of the elements;

accepting a selection of a visual representation of a first element from among the hierarchy of visual representations of the elements;

accepting an action which moves the visual representation of the first element to a location on the hierarchy occupied by visual representations of elements associated with a second element; and

associating the first element with the second element in response to the action.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying elements associated with the portal as a hierarchy of visual representations of the elements comprises:

displaying visual representations of component portions of the portal in hierarchical form.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein accepting a selection of a visual representation of a first element from among the hierarchy of visual representations of the elements comprises:

receiving input indicating a first element.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein accepting an action which moves the visual representation of the first element to a location on the hierarchy occupied by visual representations of elements associated with a second element comprises:

receiving input indicating a location in the hierarchy occupied by visual representations of elements associated with a second element.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein associating the first element with the second element in response to the action comprises:

persisting at least one relationship between the first element and the second element determined from the action.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first element comprises a page and the second element comprises a book.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first element comprises a portlet and the second element comprises a page.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first element comprises a user and a second element comprises a group.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first element comprises a group and the second element comprises a group.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the action comprises dragging the graphical representation of the first element with a pointing device.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the elements associated with the portal comprise web pages.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the elements associated with the portal comprise users.

13. A machine readable medium storing machine readable instructions that when executed by a processor cause a system to:

display elements associated with a portal as a hierarchy of visual representations of the elements;

accept a selection of a visual representation of a first element from among the hierarchy of visual representations of the elements;

accept an action which moves the visual representation of the first element to a location on the hierarchy occupied by visual representations of elements associated with a second element; and

associate the first element with the second element in response to the action.

14. The machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions for displaying elements associated with the portal as a hierarchy of visual representations of the elements comprise instructions that cause the system to:

display visual representations of component portions of the portal in hierarchical form.

15. The machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein accepting a selection of a visual representation of a first element from among the hierarchy of visual representations of the elements comprise instructions that cause the system to:

receive input indicating a first element.

16. The machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions for accepting an action which moves the visual representation of the first element to a location on the hierarchy occupied by visual representations of elements associated with a second element comprise instructions that cause the system to:

receive input indicating a location in the hierarchy occupied by visual representations of elements associated with a second element.

17. The machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions for associating the first element with the second element in response to the action comprise instructions that cause the system to:

persist at least one relationship between the first element and the second element determined from the action.

18. The machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein the first element comprises a page and the second element comprises a book.

19. The machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein the first element comprises a portlet and the second element comprises a page.

20. The machine readable medium of claim 13,wherein the first element comprises a user and a second element comprises a group.

21. The machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein the first element comprises a group and the second element comprises a group.

22. The machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein the action comprises dragging the graphical representation of the first element with a pointing device.

23. The machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein the elements associated with the portal comprise web pages.

24. The machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein the elements associated with the portal comprise users.

25. An interactive tool for administering a portal, the tool comprising:

a first interface component configured to display elements associated with the portal as a hierarchy of visual representations of the elements; and

a second interface component configured to;

accept a selection of a visual representation of a first element from among the hierarchy of visual representations of the elements;

accept an action which moves the visual representation of the first element to a location on the hierarchy occupied by visual representations of elements associated with a second element; and

associate the first element with the second element in response to the action.

26. A method for administering a portal, the method comprising:

displaying elements associated with the portal as a hierarchy of visual representations of the elements;

accepting an action which moves the visual representation of a first element to a location on the hierarchy occupied by visual representations of elements associated with a second element; and

associating the first element with the second element in response to the action.