DEV-1430 IBM Connections Integration
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This document discusses options for integrating applications with IBM Connections, both in the cloud and on-premises. It demonstrates techniques used by the ProjExec application to authenticate users single sign-on and use OAuth tokens to access Connections APIs. The document also covers customizing the user interface by adding items to the navigation bar and using different widget technologies. It recommends developing applications to work across platforms by loading content in an iframe and supporting multiple integration options.
DEV-1430 IBM Connections Integration
- 1. DEV-1430 IBM Connections Integration Exploring the Long List of Options
- 2. Disclaimer 2 2/24/17 • Some of the techniques exposed in the session might not be documented by IBM and thus do engage IBM in anyway • Some of these techniques might not work after an upgrade of either IBM Connections cloud or IBM Connections on premises • USE OF THIS INFORMATION IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. TRILOGGROUP AND DARWINO INC BEAR NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CONSEQUENCES OF RELIANCE ON, OR ANY INACCURACY IN, ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED IN OR SUBMITTED TO THIS SITE. THESE MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED.
- 3. About the Speakers 3 2/24/17 • Jesse Gallagher CTO of I Know Some Guys Board Member of OpenNTF • Philippe Riand CTO of Trilog Group & Darwino Inc. Former application development chief architect for IBM Collaboration Services Chief architect, and inventor, of IBM Domino XPages
- 4. Who Are We? 4 2/24/17 • TrilogGroup offers a Social Project Management solution called ProjExec IBM partner for 20+ years Fully integrated within the IBM platform Connections cloud and on-premises Often referenced by IBM as an integration example • Darwino is an application development platform targeting mobile, cloud, and IoT Darwino is well-integrated with IBM platforms, including IBM Connections, IBM Domino, IBM Bluemix and IBM Watson darwino.org, a branch of OpenNTF, is the open source organization providing the Connections integration code shown in this session We are in the showcase, booth 630
- 5. Objectives of the Session 5 2/24/17 • Demonstrate the techniques used by a real application to integrate with IBM Connections, cloud & on-premises • Show the differences between cloud and on-premises platforms and how to adapt to them • Introduce the open-source Darwino libraries abstracting the differences, along with the sample code
- 6. Open Source project 6 2/24/17 • All the code shown here is *real* and available as an open source project on Darwino.Org • The source code is on Github: https://github.com/darwino-org/Darwino-Connections • It is currently made of 2 projects: A reusable library A demo application showing the capabilities • It is using the darwino-commons library for convenience, which is available as a community edition The library is actually a subset of the full Darwino library
- 7. Authentication Avoid multiple logins and share the same user identity 7 2/24/17
- 9. Authenticating on the Cloud 9 2/24/17 • ProjExec uses the IBM Connections Cloud authentication mechanism SAML is not an option because the identity provider has to be Connections Single sign-on is not an option because the servers are running from different domains (no LTPA token) Should not use basic authentication as it forces your server to store the user/password • The solution is to use OAuth: Authentication through Authorization ProjExec triggers the OAuth dance to get an access token for the current user Any call to Connections Cloud services use the same token A call to the people service to get the identity of the current user /manage/oauth/getUserIdentity
- 10. Pros and Cons of using OAuth 10 2/24/17 • Works similarly on the cloud and on-premises Well, almost – there are inconsistencies in the code that force the application to use 2 code streams (use IBM SBT or Darwino core libs!) connections/opensocial/oauth/rest/people/@me/@self • The user has to grant access to the application the very first time Once done, there is no way for the user to change that! On-premises has a UI to manage OAuth access, but not on the cloud • The dance is always run, but it is often seamless If already authenticated to Connections, the login page does not appear The user does have grant access for every single session
- 11. Authenticating On-Premises – Single Sign-On 11 2/24/17 • Uses IBM Single Sign-on technology – LTPA Works on top of IBM servers, ideally the same WAS server Runs in the same domain • The authentication is seamless but you need to configure your app to use the Connections login page /profiles/login WAS uses a cookie to redirect to the initial page (WASReqURL) • There is also a Mobile login page when connecting from mobile devices /mobile/admin/Login Create your own login page that redirects to one or the other (by checking the cookie above)
- 12. Custom Code Demo 12 2/24/17
- 13. Calling Services 13 2/24/17 • The OAuth Token, or the LTPA2 token can be used to call REST services on the behalf of the user • Be careful: some services requires the auth mode to be part of the URL /connections/opensocial/{basic|oauth}/rest/people/{userI d}/{groupId}
- 14. Integrating into the NavBar Make your application visible in Connections 14 2/24/17
- 16. Integrating with the Cloud NavBar 16 2/24/17 • The integration should be done by an organization administrator through the Administration page Has to be done on a per organization basis This integration is basic as there is no way to hide/show the option • A partner can work with IBM to get its application available as an “integrated 3 rd party” The process is currently heavyweight This might change in the near future thanks to an application catalog
- 17. Integrating with the On-Premises NavBar 17 2/24/17 • Done by customizing the IBM Connections JSPs This has to be repeated after a new Connections installation • Documented by IBM in the Customization Guide https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSYGQH_5.5.0/admin/custo mize/t_admin_common_customize_main.html Add your application to template/menu/apps.jsp In the directory CONNECTIONS_CUSTOMIZATION_PATH There is a ‘debug mode’ so you can do the changes without having to restart the applications • As it is done with JSPs, it is easy to hide/show an application for a user http://blog.riand.com/2014/07/filtering-connections-applications.html
- 18. Custom Code Demo 18 2/24/17 Darwino --%><tr><%-- --%><th scope="row" class="lotusNowrap"><%-- --%><img style="width:16px;height:16px;" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw..." alt="" role="presentation"><%-- --%><a href="/darwino-connections"><%-- --%><strong>Darwino Demo</strong><%-- --%></a><%-- --%></th><%-- --%><td class="lotusNowrap"><%-- --%><a href="https://localhost:8443/darwino-connections"><%-- --%>Darwino Demo Local<%-- --%></a><%-- --%></td><%-- --%></tr><%--
- 19. Get the Connections Look & Feel Let the user feel that the application is part of IBM Connections 19 2/24/17
- 21. Integrate the NavBar: Connections Cloud 21 2/24/17 • This is the easiest and documented https://www- 10.lotus.com/ldd/appdevwiki.nsf/xpDocViewer.xsp?lookupName=Toolkit+do cs#action=openDocument&res_title=Adding_the_IBM_SmartCloud_for_Soc ial_Business_banner_to_partner_applications_sbt&content=sdkcontent • Just insert a JavaScript tag to your application <script src="https://<connections_server>/navbar/banner/<appName>/<divElementId>"></script> • The banner recently evolved in June 2016 and then September 2016 Use an extra parameter to get the new version: <script src="...navbar/banner/partner/<divElementId>?PNB=1"></script>
- 22. Make your Application Look Like Connections 22 2/24/17 • The look and feel consistency is achieved by using the same style sheet Since V1, Connections used OneUI that has been documented until v3.0.3 http://infolib.lotus.com/resources/oneui/3.0/docPublic/index.htm Now, it is called Hikari but the same style names seem to apply But it is not documented anymore What is next is unclear! • On premises, the CSS are loaded with the header as explained before • On the cloud, you have to load the CSS yourself from the Connections server Inspect the CSS loaded by a Connections app and load them explicitly
- 23. Custom Code Demo 23 2/24/17
- 24. Customizing the UI Widgets, Gadgets, Community Applications 24 2/24/17
- 26. Comparing the Technologies 26 2/24/17 iWidgets - Defined using an widget-config.xml files - Renders inline HTML in the page - Not secure for cloud deployment - Added from the Connections admin UI or using script OpenSocial Gadgets - Defined using a gadget.xml file - Renders within a controlled iFrame in the page - Designed for pure client, single page apps - Proprietary JavaScript API - Platform-agnostic API, although poorly implemented in Connections - Registered though script commands Community Applications - Defined using a JSON file - Render a simple iFrame pointing to your URL - No APIs available - Communicate the context (community id, user, …) using a simple postMessage(…) to the iFrame - Registered from the Connections admin UI or using REST services For Connections On-Premises For the Embedded Experience (includes the Notes client) For Connections Cloud (maybe Verse?)
- 27. Optimize your Development 27 2/24/17 • Three technologies for the same purpose: render your app in IBM’s UI! But don’t write the same applications 3 times • The rules Write your “thing” to be embedded in a iFrame Works in the cloud Isolated context from the page/other components (CSS, JavaScript…) Wrap the API calls into a common API, delegating to the underlying technology Use the iFrame directly as an community application (or a gadget) Create a generic iWidget definition inserting an iFrame
- 28. The Techniques 28 2/24/17 • On the cloud, a static HTML page is gathering the community information Can redirect to another page The parameters can then be sent to the server for processing Ex: community ID • On premises, the widget generates an <iframe> tag that loads the real page Information can be gathered from the main page and sent to the iframe (not implemented in the demo) A resizing mechanism can also be implemented • In both case, the body comes from the same code
- 29. Custom Code Demo 29 2/24/17
- 30. What Else? Many other capabilities are available 30 2/24/17
- 31. Other Extensions to Consider 31 2/24/17 • Connections cloud Add organization extensions, per service BSS API, to access to use registration and guest users Display the business card • Connections on-premises Customize the UI besides iWidgets – act on the JSPs Display the business card Participate in JavaScript aggregation Since C5.0, pure client aggregation does not work Create a Jazz OSGi plug-in and contribute your JS SPIs
- 32. IBM Guest Speaker How this will evolve in a near future 32 2/24/17
- 33. The Future of Connections Application Development 33 2/24/17 • Maureen Leland Connections App Dev Chief Architect Session to follow: DEV-1048 : The Future Is PINK: IBM Connections Your Way Program : Development, Design and Tools Topic : Enterprise collaboration Session Type : Breakout Session Date/Time : Wed, 22-Feb, 11:00 AM-11:45 AM Location : Moscone West, Level 2 - Room 2007 Presenter(s) : Andre Hagemeier, IBM; Maureen Leland, IBM