Changing shell, look & feel dynamically in desktop backing file

Question

(I apologize if this post is showing up twice - I tried posting with
google groups but it doesn't appear at forums.bea.com, so I wanted to
post again using xnews to make sure it shows up.)
I have a backing file that I am using with my desktop and I need to be
able to change the shell and look & feel dynamically, based on the page
that is currently active. I am doing the following in the preRender()
method:
String newLAF = "myLookAndFeel";
String newShell = "myShell";
// here is where I would determine the appropriate LAF and shell based on the current page
customizationContext = new CustomizationContext(Locale.getDefault(), request);
customizationContext.setVisitorMode(true);
DesktopView desktopView =
PortalBeanManager.getPortalCustomizationManager().getDesktopView(customizationContext, webAppName, new PortalPath(portalPath), new DesktopPath(desktopPath));
DesktopInstanceId dii = desktopView.getDesktopInstanceId();
DesktopInstance di = PortalBeanManager.getPortalCustomizationManager().getDesktopInstance(customizationContext, dii);
LookAndFeelDefinitionId lookAndFeelId = null;
for(int i = 0, n = lookAndFeelDefinitions.length; i < n; i++) {
if(newLAF.equals(lookAndFeelDefinitions.getDefinitionLabel())) {
lookAndFeelId = lookAndFeelDefinitions[i].getLookAndFeelDefinitionId();
break;
di.setLookAndFeelDefinitionId(lookAndFeelId);
ShellDefinitionManager shellManager = PortalBeanManager.getShellDefinitionManager();
ShellDefinitionId shellId = null;
ShellDefinition[] shellDefinitions = getShellDefinitions(webAppName, request.getLocale(), request);
for(int i = 0, n = shellDefinitions.length; i < n; i++) {
String shellName = shellManager.getShellView(customizationContext, shellDefinitions[i].getShellDefinitionId()).getMarkupView().getMarkupDefinition().getName();
if(newShell.equals(shellName)) {
shellId = shellDefinitions[i].getShellDefinitionId();
break;
di.setShellDefinitionId(shellId);
PortalBeanManager.getPortalCustomizationManager().updateDesktopInstance(customizationContext, di);
This works just fine, but I once the portal renders itself in my
browser, I usually have to refresh the page before the changes to the
shell and look & feel are visible. I would like to do this in the
init() method of the backing file but I do not know how to determine
the current active page from within init.
I would appreciate any help you all could give me in finding a solution
so I do not have to refresh the page in order to see the shell and look
& feel changes. Thanks in advance!
Andy

Answer 1

We essentially have 2 "portals" running inside 1 .portal file. We'd
like to be able to use single sign on and entitlements to allow/restrict
access to various parts of the 2 portals (where certain books are
consider part of portal "A" and others part of portal "B"). If you are
logged in as a super-user, you will be able to access everything. If
you are logged in as user type "A" you can only access portal "A," and
similarly for user type "B" and portal "B."
Portals A and B have each have a distinct header, footer (i.e. shell),
and look and feel (skeleton and skin). If a super-user is looking at
portal A, the portal should have portal A's header, footer, and look and
feel, and similarly for portal B.
How would you recommend we accomplish this? Would it make more sense
(and is it possible) to have the header and footer jsps determine what
content to render based on the current book or page, and then use the
code you suggested below to change the look and feel dynamically?
Thanks,
Andy
jolleyc wrote:
in order to pick up the changes for that request you will need to do a redirect back to the server (our login examples shwo you how to do this). this is because the control tree has already been retrieved from the database (so you need to go back and get a new version).
I quick note: If you plan on doing this a lot this is quite a heavy process. if you just need to change the lookAndFeel on the fly you can look at the following ( i t think this is in the tutorial portal)
A) Modify the shell to include a jsp and backing file
<netuix:header>
<netuix:jspContent backingFile="com.acme.DynamicLookAndFeelHeaderBacking" contentUri="/portlets/lookAndFeel/dynamicLookAndFeelHeader/dynamicLookAndFeelHeader.jsp"/>
</netuix:header>
B) backing file looks like
public void init(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)
// Get the session from the request
HttpSession session = request.getSession();
// Get the LookAndFeel object from the PrimaryTheme in the request
LookAndFeel lookAndFeel = LookAndFeel.getLookAndFeel(request);
if (request.getParameter("defaultButton") != null)
session.setAttribute("skin", "default");
if (request.getParameter("textButton") != null)
session.setAttribute("skin", "text");
if (request.getParameter("classicButton") != null)
session.setAttribute("skin", "classic");
String selectedSkin = (String) session.getAttribute("skin");
if (selectedSkin != null)
lookAndFeel.setSkin(selectedSkin);
lookAndFeel.setSkeleton(selectedSkin);
lookAndFeel.reinit();