WebSphere Business Space powered by WebSphere, Version 6.2.0


Cooperative connections

Items on a dashboard are cooperative or wired when they interact with one another by sharing information or properties. These items become cooperative when a wire is created, using the WebSphere® Portal administrative capabilities, between a source and a target. A wire is a technique for connecting two or more cooperative portlets so that changes in the source portlet automatically update the target portlets.

How wired connections work

Wired or cooperative connections provide a coordinated and consistent behavior between widgets on a dashboard. After a connection is established, the source sends data that the target receives. The sent data is created as a result of an action performed in the source. The target then reacts to the data it receives and is updated automatically. WebSphere Business Monitor source and target widgets must reside on the same dashboard page.

You can establish multiple wires between the same two items so that several different types of data can be sent and received for each connection.

Configuring wires for WebSphere Portal

To configure wires between cooperative items, a dashboard administrator uses the Portlet Wiring Tool provided in WebSphere Portal and accessible from portlet-based dashboards. This tool can be used to create wires from a single source to one or more targets. Existing wires can also be deleted using this tool. For information about the Portlet Wiring Tool, see the related links.

Sources and targets

A target in a particular connection can be used as a source in another connection. For example, an Instances widget can be the target in a connection with Alerts and, at the same time, be the source in a connection with Diagrams, provided that all widgets are on the same dashboard page. Although the Instances widget is used in two different connections, the interaction for each connection is handled independently. Changing the source (Alerts) would cause a change in Instances in the first connection, but does not affect the source (Instances) or the target (Diagrams) of the second connection.

The following table lists the WebSphere Business Monitor widgets that support wires.

Supported wires
Source Target Description
Instances Diagrams

You can display a diagram that represents a particular process instance. To display an instance diagram, you must establish a wire from Instances that targets Diagrams. When an instance is selected from Instances, Diagrams displays the diagram of the selected instance.

Alerts Diagrams

By establishing a wire from Alerts that targets Diagrams, you can automatically display a diagram that is based on the particular alert you select from Alerts.

Alerts Instances

You can establish a wire from Alerts that targets Instances. When you click the alert source icon in Alerts, the associated process instance is displayed in Instances with the associated business measures.

KPIs Instances KPIs is wired to Instances.
Dimensions Instances Dimension is wired to Instances.
Reports Instances Reports is wired to Instances.
Diagrams Human Tasks ***********New in 6.2: Diagrams is wired to Human Tasks (Ask Thomas Burke about this. We haven't seen it working yet.)****
     
Related information
Setting up wires
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