Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Liferay Site/Organization Virtual Hosting

Nagul Meera Mahankali

Generally in Liferay administration we create sites and organizations and each site and organization have unique URL to access these sites/organizations. Generally we will have friendly URL to access these sites/organizations in Liferay.

Each site/organization has its own friendly URL and it consist pattern like /web and site/organization name. When we see /web in the URL then we can consider that is Site/Organization in Liferay.

Site Example

*Site Name:*	LiferaySavvy
*Site Friendly URL*	/web/liferaysavvy
*Complete URL Pattern*	Host Name+ Site Friendly URL
*Complete URL*	http://localhost:8080 /web/liferaysavvy

Organization Example

*Site Name:*	LiferaySavvyORG
*Site Friendly URL*	/web/liferaysavvy
*Complete URL Pattern*	Host Name+ Organization Friendly URL
*Complete URL*	http://localhost:8080 /web/liferaysavvyorg

Generally in real time we won’t use friendly URL to access site/organization we will use unique domain name and that will be pointing to Liferay site/organization.to achieve this we will use Liferay virtual host configuration.

Liferay Virtual Host is way of accessing site/organization with real world domain names. In Production we use apache web server, domain vendor control panel configurations and finally we use Liferay virtual host configuration.

In development environment to replicate same kind of configuration in our local system we will follow some sequence of steps.

Assume we wanted to access our Liferay site/organization with URL like www.liferaysavvy.com in our local system.

Steps:

Create Site/Organization
Configure Site URL with desired domain name www.sitename.com
In host file map 127.0.0.1 with your domain name

Liferay Site Virtual Hosting

Create Site

Access Liferay portal and login as Liferay Administration.

Go Control Panel from Admin Docbar.

Control panel we can see site section there click on sites link

Now in the sites page we can see Add button click on Add and select Blank Site

Once we click on Blank site we can see site creation form and it will ask basic details related to site like name and description. Please fill all details and click on save button then site will be created.

After successful site creation then it will navigate to site settings page there we can see many option related to site settings

In site setting page Right site section we can see Site URL link click on site URL then we can have provision to specify our site URL and this is the place we need to provide our desired domain name/site host name.

We have two kinds of pages in Liferay Site Public pages and Private pages. Public pages is can be accessed by all the site users but private pages can be accessed by only the user who is created it means site admin and site owner can access.

We can provide two distinct Virtual Hosts (URL/Domain Name) for each set of pages. For accessing public pages we can give one Virtual Host (URL/Domain Name) and for private pages we can give other Virtual Host (URL/Domain Name).

When we click on Site URL link then we can have provision to give public pages Virtual Host and Private pages Virtual Host.

We need to provide valid URL/Host Name in Virtual Host input fields then click on save button. Now Our Site can be accessed by given site URL.

As we know that at time of site creation we have chosen black site so that it does not have any pages.

Liferay site should have at least one page to access with URL now we need to create one site page for our newly created site (LiferaySavvy)

Now in the site Options page Left Site Section you can find Pages menu tab there you can see site pages link. Click on that so that we can create pages for site.

Now select public pages and under this we can create new page by clicking one Add Page option .when we click on Add Page it will open popup there it will ask required page details. Once we fill detail then click on adds page button in the popup then page will be crated under site public pages section.

New page (home) will be created in the public pages section

Mapping Virtual Host Name with local system IP

This is final step in Liferay Site Virtual Host and here we need to map given Site URL with our Local System IP address (127.0.0.1)

Generally our local system IP is 127.0.0.1 and we need to map IP with Site URL in the system host file.

In every system OS we have host file there we will configure host names related to our local system. Based on Operating System we can find host file in different locations. Generally it will be under etc directory (etc/host)

For windows this file location as follows

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc

Now open host file in editor and map your Site URL with 127.0.0.1 in the new line in file and finally save the file then mapping will be completed.

127.0.0.1 www.liferaysavvy.com

Now open your desire browser, in the address bar ping your given Site URL then it will open your Liferay site.

Example: www.liferaysavvy.com:8080

Note:

In Development environment we are using only Application servers so we need to append Port number for Site URL when we access from browser.

If Site is already created then we need to access site setting page then follow the above steps to complete Liferay site virtual hosting.

Go to list of sites and select your desired site then click on Actions menu there we can find Site Administration.

Once we click on site administration then we can see configuration in Left side Menu when we click on that we can find site settings. In the Site Setting right side section you can see site URL there you need to enter your desired site URL name. Rest of the steps same as above.

Same way we can also configure virtual host for site private pages. You also follow same steps for Liferay Organizations to configure virtual host.

Meera Prince

Liferay Contributor of The Year 2014

Liferay Top Contributor Award Winner 2013

http://www.liferaysavvy.com

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Working with Expando API in Liferay

Nagul Meera Mahankali

Liferay have introduced Expando API to extending existed Liferay tables to add additional columns rather than creating new tables in the database.

Logically its look like new tables in Liferay but originally it won’t be created in the Liferay database.

All Expando mechanism is organized by following four tables which are already created in the Liferay database.

ExpandoTable

This will manage the brand new table information its means virtual tables information

ExpandoColumn

It manages the columns information related to respective Expando table.

ExpandoRow

It will used to manage table rows related to respective Expando table

ExpandoValue

Originally data will be stored in this table and it will mapped with Expando table and Expando row.

From above four tables we can create many tables logically and which act like original tables in database.

Advantages:

We can extend existed Liferay tables

Liferay have implemented custom fields for User, Site, Role and Organization it will use the Expando mechanism to create additional fields so that it will be extending the original User_, Role_, Organization_ and Group_ tables.

http://www.liferaysavvy.com/2014/02/introduction-to-liferay-custom.html

http://www.liferaysavvy.com/2014/02/working-with-liferay-custom-fields.html

We can Logically Create brand new tables and columns

We can also create new tables and columns in our real time requirement and when we created tables and columns using Expando we don’t need to write any service layer implementation to data storage and retrieval and with help of Expando API classes we can store and retrieve data.

Best example for above is Webform Portlet. This will use Expando API to create brand new tables and columns to each form based on fields we have created for webform.

The data will be managed in brand new Expando table here for each form they will created tables and all form data will be stored in the respective Expando table.

Brand new table information available in ExpandoTable,

All columns information ExapndoColumn with mapping of Expando Table Id

For each form submission it will create new row in ExpandoRow table

Form data will be stored in ExpnadoValue and here for each input field data will create new record in ExpnadoValue table and stored with reference ids like ExpandoRow Id.

Liferay Expando API Implementation Example

Assume we are going to create employee form and employee consists of different fields.

Now we will use Expando API to store employee information and display in Portlet.

Employee Form Fields

First Name,

Last Name

Employee Designation

Email Address

Age

Phone Number

The following is Required Expando Artifacts in Implementation

Expando Table Name: Employee

Expando Columns

Column Name	Type
First Name,	String
Last Name	String
Employee Designation	String
Email Address	String
Age	Integer
Phone Number	String

Required Steps in Implementation

Need to create Expando Table and Name is Employee

Need to create Expando Columns for Employee with reference of Expando Table Id

Need to store data in Expando Value table with reference of Table Id, Expando Row Id

Note:

We need to remember that Expando Tables and Its columns only for one time creation and each employee form submission we will create ExpandoRow and Add values in ExpandoValue Table. For each filed in Employee form we will create new ExpandoValue record and store field data in it.

Here we need not to create ExpandoRow explicitly for each employee form submission, at the time of add values in ExpandoValue table rows will be crated automatically in ExpandoRow Table.

The following are Expando API classes we will use in Code Implementation

ExpandoTableLocalServiceUtil

ExpandoColumnLocalServiceUtil

ExpandoRowLocalServiceUtil

ExpandoValueLocalServiceUtil

From above classed we will use different API methods and the following are some of important method signatures

ExpandoTableLocalServiceUtil.addTable(companyId, XXXX.class.getName(), tableName);

ExpandoColumnLocalServiceUtil.addColumn(tableId,fieldName,ExpandoColumnConstants.STRING);

ExpandoColumnLocalServiceUtil.addColumn(tableId,fieldName,ExpandoColumnConstants.Integer);

ExpandoValueLocalServiceUtil.addValue(

companyId, XXXX.class.getName(), databaseTableName,

fieldLabel, classPK, fieldValue);

ExpandoColumnConstants provide values for column types such as int, long, String, long, double and Boolean.

Note:

ClassPK is kind of primary key we can generate as follows

long classPK = CounterLocalServiceUtil.increment(XXXX.class.getName());

long classPK = CounterLocalServiceUtil.increment();

Database Reference for Expando API

Expando API Example Portlet View Page

Expando API Example Portlet Add Employee Page

Expando API Example Portlet Display Employees Page

Download Liferay Expando API Example Portlet

https://sourceforge.net/projects/meeralferay/files/LiferayExpandoAPIExample/

Complete Code Example

view.jsp (/html/jsps/view.jsp)

<%@ taglib uri="http://liferay.com/tld/portlet" prefix="liferay-portlet" %>

<%@ taglib uri="http://liferay.com/tld/theme" prefix="liferay-theme" %>

<%@ taglib uri="http://liferay.com/tld/ui" prefix="liferay-ui" %>

<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/portlet_2_0" prefix="portlet" %>

<portlet:defineObjects />

<liferay-theme:defineObjects />

<h1>Liferay Expando API Example</h1>

<portlet:renderURL var="addEmployee">

<portlet:param name="mvcPath" value="/html/jsps/add_employee.jsp"/>

</portlet:renderURL>

<portlet:renderURL var="dislayEmployees">

<portlet:param name="mvcPath" value="/html/jsps/display_employeed.jsp"/>

</portlet:renderURL>

<br/>

<a href="<%=addEmployee.toString()%>">Add Employee</a><br/>

<a href="<%=dislayEmployees.toString()%>">Display Employees</a><br/>

add_employee.jsp (/html/jsps/add_employee.jsp)

<%@page import="com.liferay.portal.kernel.servlet.SessionErrors"%>

<%@page import="com.liferay.portal.kernel.servlet.SessionMessages"%>

<%@ taglib uri="http://liferay.com/tld/portlet" prefix="liferay-portlet" %>

<%@ taglib uri="http://liferay.com/tld/theme" prefix="liferay-theme" %>

<%@ taglib uri="http://liferay.com/tld/ui" prefix="liferay-ui" %>

<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/portlet_2_0" prefix="portlet" %>

<portlet:defineObjects />

<portlet:renderURL var="homeURL"></portlet:renderURL>

<portlet:actionURL var="addEmployeeActionURL" windowState="normal"

name="addEmployee">

</portlet:actionURL>

<% if(SessionMessages.contains(renderRequest.

getPortletSession(),"employee-add-success")){%>

<liferay-ui:success key="employee-add-success" message="Employee information

have been added successfully." />

<%} %>

<% if(SessionErrors.contains(renderRequest.getPortletSession(),

"employee-add-error")){%>

<liferay-ui:error key="employee-add-error" message="There is an

Error occured while adding employee and please try again" />

<%} %>

<h2>Add Employee</h2>

<form action="<%=addEmployeeActionURL%>" name="employeeForm" method="POST">

<b>First Name</b><br/>

<input type="text" name="<portlet:namespace/>employeeFirstName" id="<portlet:namespace/>employeeFirstName"/><br/>

<input type="text" name="<portlet:namespace/>employeeLastName" id="<portlet:namespace/>employeeLastName"/><br/>

<b>Employee Designation</b><br/>

<input type="text" name="<portlet:namespace/>employeeDesignation" id="<portlet:namespace/>employeeDesignation"/><br/>

<b>Email Address</b><br/>

<input type="text" name="<portlet:namespace/>emailAddress" id="<portlet:namespace/>emailAddress"/><br/>

<input type="text" name="<portlet:namespace/>employeeAge" id="<portlet:namespace/>employeeAge"/><br/>

<b>Phone Number</b><br/>

<input type="text" name="<portlet:namespace/>phoneNumber" id="<portlet:namespace/>phoneNumber"/><br/>

</form>

display_employeed.jsp (/html/jsps/display_employeed.jsp)

<%@page import="com.liferay.portlet.expando.NoSuchTableException"%>

<%@page import="com.liferay.portlet.expando.model.ExpandoTable"%>

<%@page import="com.liferay.portlet.expando.service.ExpandoTableLocalServiceUtil"%>

<%@page import="com.liferay.portal.kernel.util.StringPool"%>

<%@page import="com.liferay.portlet.expando.service.ExpandoValueLocalServiceUtil"%>

<%@page import="com.liferay.portlet.expando.model.ExpandoRow"%>

<%@page import="com.liferay.portal.kernel.dao.orm.QueryUtil"%>

<%@page import="com.meera.liferay.expandoapi.LiferayExpandoAPIAction"%>

<%@page import="java.util.List"%>

<%@page import="com.liferay.portlet.expando.service.ExpandoRowLocalServiceUtil"%>

<%@ taglib uri="http://liferay.com/tld/portlet" prefix="liferay-portlet" %>

<%@ taglib uri="http://liferay.com/tld/theme" prefix="liferay-theme" %>

<%@ taglib uri="http://liferay.com/tld/ui" prefix="liferay-ui" %>

<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/portlet_2_0" prefix="portlet" %>

<portlet:defineObjects />

<liferay-theme:defineObjects />

<portlet:renderURL var="homeURL"></portlet:renderURL>

<h1>Liferay Expando API Display Employees</h1>

<tr>

<th>FirstName</th>

<th>LastName</th>

<th>Designation</th>

<th>EmailAddress</th>

<th>PhoneNumber</th>

</tr>

ExpandoTable expandoTable=null;

String message=null;

try {

expandoTable = ExpandoTableLocalServiceUtil.getTable(

themeDisplay.getCompanyId(), LiferayExpandoAPIAction.class.getName(),LiferayExpandoAPIAction.expandoTableName);

}

catch (NoSuchTableException nste) {

message="Table not existed to show the data. please add data first and comeback to to see the data";

}

if(expandoTable!=null){

List<ExpandoRow> rows = ExpandoRowLocalServiceUtil.getRows(

themeDisplay.getCompanyId(), LiferayExpandoAPIAction.class.getName(),

LiferayExpandoAPIAction.expandoTableName, QueryUtil.ALL_POS, QueryUtil.ALL_POS);

for (ExpandoRow row : rows) {

String data = ExpandoValueLocalServiceUtil.getData(

themeDisplay.getCompanyId(),