Development of a custom Step Processor can range from relatively simple changes,
such as customizing the user interface to modify the look and feel
of a supplied sample Step Processor, to more complex changes that modify
the Step Processor's layout and controls for specific business logic requirements,
to extensive changes including content integration, accessing different
data sources, modifying access and authentication. You can also build your own Step Processor.
For information on HTML Step Processors for ASP/ASP.NET environments, see the accompanying documentation for the FileNet® Web Services and FileNet Open Client distributions.
The following table provides a description of the fundamental approaches to Step Processor development:
Customize |
Changes |
Description |
User Interface |
Modify the look and feel of the
user interface. |
- HTML Step Processors
Modify/customize the View
UI JavaServer Pages (JSP), UI Module (JavaBean), XSL stylesheet, and CSS (Cascading Style
Sheet). Remember to verify that the Event JSP redirects
control to the appropriate corresponding UI JSP page. You can copy and modify the sample HTML Step Processor provided in Basic Step Processor Sample. To download this guide from the IBM support page, see Accessing IBM FileNet Documentation.
- Java Step Processors
Copy and modify the sample Java Step Processor
provided with the Process development environment, or develop your own Java
Step Processor user interface. See Using the Sample Java Step Processors.
|
|
Modify the page layout or structure of the Step
Processor. |
- HTML Step Processors
Create/use an object (in the HTML header
section) for the HTML page. In the layout section, the WcmUI.render
method is called for each UI module that generates HTML output from
XML. The WcmUI.render method in turn calls the individual render methods
of the UI modules. Override the base UI module methods to customize
the presentation. In addition, you can create custom tab bars, tool
bars, and other UI elements and place them into a containment module
using the appropriate UI module's methods.
- Java Step Processors
Copy and modify the sample Java Step Processor
provided with the Process development environment, or develop your own Java
Step Processor user interface. See Using the Sample Java Step Processors.
|
|
Add new user controls, modify or hide existing controls. |
|
Content
Integration |
Modify integration with the Content Engine to access
Content Engine objects. |
- HTML Step Processors
The Web Application Toolkit data providers
are JavaBeans that pass data between UI modules and the Process
Engine and Content Engine Java APIs. Each data provider caches its data
to the data store bean, providing a common connection point for one
or more UI modules. In addition, you can create new data providers to retrieve
data from other backend sources, such as from a database server, mainframe,
or other legacy system.
- Java Step Processors
Use the Process APIs to integrate
with the Process Engine. For information on configuration-related
API calling sequences, see Administration
and Configuration API Relationships. For information on API calling
sequences used to for such operations as querying a queue and retrieving Step elements, see
Runtime API Relationships.
|
Build Your
Own |
Create your own Step Processors using a framework
that incorporates a custom user interface and integrates Content data and
Process Engine services. |
|