Chapter 20. Gadgets in Portal
A gadget is a mini web application, embedded in a web page and running on an application server platform. These small applications help users perform various tasks. Red Hat JBoss Portal Platform supports gadgets, such as Todo, Calendar, Calculator, Weather Forecasts, and RSS Reader.
In the context of the portal, gadgets are defined by the Google OpenSocial specifications. The portal framework includes Apache Shindig 2.0, which supports version 0.9 and 1.0 of OpenSocial.
Within a portal, it is possible to embed any OpenSocial gadget in a page, or in a user's dashboard.
Gadgets can be added to the application registry, and links can be added to the mini-composer (see the User Guide for more information about this feature).
20.1. Sources to Develop Gadgets
OpenSocial gadgets are built using standard HTML and JavaScript. The container offers an API. API documentation is available at http://opensocial-resources.googlecode.com/svn/spec/1.0/Core-Gadget.xml
A gadget has limited knowledge of its context (the portal) so the gadget integration within the portal is limited, for example, visual integration.
Google Web Toolkit (GWT) applications can be used as gadgets. GWT simplifies the process of creating user friendly applications.
Important
GWT applications usage is not recommended as they are not part of the standard Red Hat JBoss Portal support program.
For more information on gadget configuration and usage see Administration and Configuration guide.