Intro
The Social Business Toolkit SDK (SBT SDK) is a set of libraries and code samples that you use for connecting to the IBM Social Platform. As a developer you can choose which web development skills fits you best: Java, (client side) JavaScript or XPages. Your social platform may reside in the cloud or on premise.
In this post I will give you guidelines and practical examples to get you started. I choose XPages as development environment.
Terminology
In the document terms are thoroughly used:
| Term |
Description |
| SBT |
Social Business Toolkit |
| SDK |
Software Development Kit |
| DDE |
Domino Designer on Eclipse |
| XPages |
XPages is a rapid web and mobile application development technology |
| OpenNTF |
Open Source Community for (IBM) Collaboration Solutions |
| OAuth |
Open standard for authorization |
| Managed Bean |
Java Beans representing system objects and resources |
| Endpoint |
Encapsulates the access to a service provider, like Connections or Sametime |
Installation of the SDK
Prerequisites
Before you can start with development in Domino Designer on Eclipse you need to install the SBT SDK. It can be downloaded from the following address: http://ibmsbt.openntf.org/. The files you need to work with the SBT SDK and Domino are located in folder ‘redist\domino’ in the downloaded ZIP file.
Extension Library
Another condition to be able to run the Social SDK within your XPages you need to have installed the Extension Library, available on OpenNTF: http://extlib.openntf.org/. You need to have the library installed on both Domino server and DDE.
Installation for Domino Server
You can find a set of instructions how to install the SBT SDK on an IBM Domino server on the address:
http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/appdevwiki.nsf/xpDocViewer.xsp?lookupName=IBM+Social+Business+Toolkit+SDK+documentation#action=openDocument&res_title=Installing_on_Domino_Server_SDK1.0&content=pdcontent. I recommend the installation via an Eclipse Update site. As a result your Update site should display the following plugins:
Installation for DDE
The Domino Designer deployment of the IBM Social SDK can use the same imported update site from the Update Site NSF. On Domino Designer verify that the checkbox for “Enable Eclipse plugin install” is checked in the Domino Designer preferences. You can find a set of instructions how to install the SBT SDK on DDE on the same address:
http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/appdevwiki.nsf/xpDocViewer.xsp?lookupName=IBM+Social+Business+Toolkit+SDK+documentation#action=openDocument&res_title=Installing_on_Domino_Server_SDK1.0&content=pdcontent.
Setting up a Notes application
Create a new Notes application from scratch. I called mine ‘bornsocial.nsf’. Open the Xsp Properties file in DDE. Include the following libraries:
- com.ibm.xsp.extlib.library
- com.ibm.xsp.sbtsdk.library
Authentication
The Social Business Toolkit leverages a credential store for single sign on. For OAuth for example the user tokens are stored in this repository so that users don’t have to authenticate and grant access to services like IBM Connections for every session. The OAuth application tokens are also stored in this repository so that all tokens can be managed in one central place. You can read more on the credential store here: http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/appdevwiki.nsf/xpDocViewer.xsp?lookupName=IBM+Social+Business+Toolkit+SDK+documentation#action=openDocument&res_title=Configuring_token_stores_SDK1.0&content=pdcontent&sa=true. And it is also explained in the following video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CWD70XarX8#t=100.
In basic: the implementation of the credential store is performed by the use of a managed bean. The usage of this credential store is then defined in an endpoint. An endpoint encapsulates the access to a service provider, like Connections or SameTime.
In the Package Explorer open the faces-config.xml file:
Add the following lines:
<!– Token Store memory implementation –>
<managed-bean>
<managed-bean-name>CredStore</managed-bean-name>
<managed-bean-class>com.ibm.sbt.security.credential.store.MemoryStore</managed-bean-class>
<managed-bean-scope>session</managed-bean-scope>
</managed-bean>
<!– Password Store memory implementation –>
<managed-bean>
<managed-bean-name>PasswordStore</managed-bean-name>
<managed-bean-class>com.ibm.sbt.security.credential.store.MemoryStore</managed-bean-class>
<managed-bean-scope>session</managed-bean-scope>
</managed-bean>
Endpoint
In the first example(s) we are only going to demonstrate to connect to IBM Connections. Add the following lines:
<managed-bean>
<managed-bean-name>connections</managed-bean-name>
<managed-bean-class>com.ibm.sbt.services.endpoints.ConnectionsBasicEndpoint</managed-bean-class>
<managed-bean-scope>session</managed-bean-scope>
<managed-property>
<property-name>url</property-name>
<value>https://your-connections-url.com</value>
</managed-property>
<managed-property>
<property-name>authenticationService</property-name>
<value>communities/service/atom/communities/all</value>
</managed-property>
<managed-property>
<property-name>authenticationPage</property-name>
<value>/bornsocial.nsf/_BasicLogin.xsp?endpoint=connections</value>
</managed-property>
</managed-bean>
For value of managed property ‘url’ you must enter the address of your connections installation or in case you are using IBM Greenhouse for demonstration purposes you can choose ‘https://greenhouse.lotus.com’.
Login page
A custom login page will presented when a user initially tries to connect to IBM Connections:
The elements for the login page are in the XPagesSBT.nsf application which comes with the SBT SDK. The nsf is located in folder redist\domino. The login page consists of the following design elements:
| Name |
Type |
| _BasicLogin.xsp |
XPage |
| sbtLoginPage |
Custom Control |
| sbtLoginPanel |
Custom Control |
You can simply copy the design elements from the sample application in your application and modify them e.g. for branding.
Connecting to Connections
Your application is now ready to connect to Connections. Where you place the code to connect to Connections is up to you. A recommended approach could be to establish connections via Managed Beans.A managed bean is nothing more fancy than a registered a JAVA object.
Managed Bean
In our first example we are going to read the content under My Files in Connections. These are the files that you have uploaded and shared.
- Create a new Java design element (Java Class).
- Enter the following code:
package com.quintessens.bornsocial.sbt;
import java.io.Serializable;
import com.ibm.sbt.services.client.connections.files.FileService;
import com.ibm.sbt.services.client.connections.files.FileServiceException;
import com.ibm.sbt.services.client.connections.files.FileList;
public class ServiceBean implements Serializable{
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
public FileList getMyFiles() {
FileService service = new FileService();
try {
return service.getMyFiles();
} catch (FileServiceException e){
return null;
}
}
}
Code explanation
The function getMyFiles gets handle to the FileService object. Then the getMyFiles function is called to get all the files (both private and shared) the user has uploaded in Connections. Then a FileList object is returned to the caller.
The FileList object can then be used in a suitable XPage control e.g. the DataTable or the DataView control.
Registration
In order to access the Managed Bean you have to register it. This is done in the faces-config.xml file. Open the file and add the following lines:
<managed-bean>
<managed-bean-name>ServiceBean</managed-bean-name>
<managed-bean-class>com.quintessens.bornsocial.sbt.ServiceBean</managed-bean-class>
<managed-bean-scope>session</managed-bean-scope>
</managed-bean>
You will access the bean via its name ServiceBean.
XPages
Finally we have come to a point where we can display the files that the managed bean returns from IBM Connections. I have choosen the XPages environment to do so.
Custom Controls
A best practice in XPages development is to divide functionality in individual blocks known as Custom Controls. This make it easier to re-use the functionality across your application.
Custom Control for a ‘My Files’ overview
- Create a new Custom Control design element.
- Add the following code to the control:
<xe:widgetContainer id=”widgetContainer1″ itleBarText=”#{javascript:return compositeData.widgetTitle;}”>
<xp:panel>
<xe:dataView id=”dataView1″ var=”file” rows=”5″ columnTitles=”true” styleClass=”filesDataView”>
<xe:this.extraColumns>
<xe:viewExtraColumn columnTitle=”Filetype”></xe:viewExtraColumn>
<xe:viewExtraColumn columnTitle=”Created”></xe:viewExtraColumn>
<xe:viewExtraColumn columnTitle=”Size”></xe:viewExtraColumn>
</xe:this.extraColumns>
<xe:this.summaryColumn>
<xe:viewSummaryColumn columnTitle=”Filename”></xe:viewSummaryColumn>
</xe:this.summaryColumn>
<xp:this.value>
<![CDATA[#{javascript:ServiceBean.getMyFiles();}]]>
</xp:this.value>
<xp:this.facets>
<xp:panel xp:key=”noRows” id=”topicsPanel2″>
<xp:div styleClass=”lotusWidgetBody”>
<xp:text>
<xp:this.value>
<![CDATA[#{javascript:return (viewScope.myFilesAvailable ? “No files found.” : “My Files unavailable.”);}]]>
</xp:this.value>
</xp:text>
</xp:div>
</xp:panel>
<xp:panel id=”summaryPanel” xp:key=”summary” style=”width:50%;white-space:nowrap;”>
<h4><xp:link styleClass=”dataViewLink” escape=”true” id=”link7″ target=”_blank” text=”#{javascript:return file.getTitle();}”>
<xp:this.value><![CDATA[#{javascript:return file.getContentUrl();}]]></xp:this.value>
</xp:link></h4>
</xp:panel>
<xp:panel id=”typePanel” xp:key=”extra0″ style=”width: 20%;white-space:nowrap;”>
<xp:text>
<xp:this.value>
<![CDATA[#{javascript:return file.getType();}]]>
</xp:this.value>
</xp:text>
</xp:panel>
<xp:panel id=”sizePanel” xp:key=”extra2″ style=”width: 15%;white-space:nowrap;”>
<xp:text>
<xp:this.value>
<![CDATA[#{javascript:var size = file.getSize();
var kilobyte = 1024;
var megabyte = kilobyte *1024;
if(size < kilobyte) {
return (size + ” B”);
}else if(size < megabyte) {
return (Math.round(size/kilobyte) + ” KB”);
}else {
return (Math.round(size/megabyte) + ” MB”);
}}]]>
</xp:this.value>
</xp:text>
</xp:panel>
<xp:panel id=”panel1″ xp:key=”extra1″ style=”width: 15%;white-space:nowrap;”>
<xp:text escape=”true” id=”computedField3″ value=”#{javascript:file.getCreated()}”></xp:text>
</xp:panel>
</xp:this.facets>
</xe:dataView>
</xp:panel>
</xe:widgetContainer>
As a result the files in IBM Connections for the authenticated user will be listed e.g.:
Code explanation
The DataView control is using the getMyFiles function from Managed Bean ServiceBean for data binding:
<xe:dataView id=”dataView1″ var=”file” rows=”5″ columnTitles=”true” styleClass=”filesDataView”>
<xp:this.value><![CDATA[#{javascript:ServiceBean.getMyFiles();
}]]></xp:this.value>
…
</xe:dataView>
It iterates through the returned FileList object and for each column values from each entry in the ‘file’ collection the value is computed e.g.:
<xp:panel id=”summaryPanel” xp:key=”summary” style=”width:50%;white-space:nowrap;”>
<h4><xp:link styleClass=”dataViewLink” escape=”true” id=”link7″ target=”_blank” text=”#{javascript:return file.getTitle();}”>
<xp:this.value><![CDATA[#{javascript:return file.getContentUrl();}]]></xp:this.value>
</xp:link></h4>
</xp:panel>
API Explorer
Use the SBT API Explorer which method each object provides:
Link: http://greenhouse.lotus.com/llapiexplorer/.
Summary
As you have seen getting started with the Social Business Toolkit is not that difficult for XPages developers. As alternative you could also choose JavaScript or JAVA if those skills fit you better. The SDK will help you understanding Connections piece by piece from a developer perspective.
In the example information is read from Connections but you can also post data. The SDK allows you to create great ‘social enabled’ applications. This can be applications that solely work with Connections or integrate with other platforms e.g. IBM Notes.
I hope to write more on the Social Business Toolkit in another post. Thank you for reading.
Patrick Kwinten
Kwintessential Notes 