20 Integrating the People Connections Service

The People Connections service provides social networking tools for use in enhancing connection and communication within a project team and throughout an enterprise. It does this through a set of features that include:

This chapter explains how to integrate the People Connections service with a custom WebCenter application and provides information about the REST APIs available for use in connecting to the People Connections service from outside the application framework.

This chapter includes the following sections:

20.1 Introduction to the People Connections Service

The People Connections service provides social networking tools for creating, interacting with, and tracking the activities of one's enterprise connections. Its features enable users to manage their personal profiles, access the profiles of other users, provide ad hoc feedback, post messages, track activities, and connect with others.

In a production environment, an enterprise can leverage its back-end identity store as a means of providing People Connections with a population of potential connections. In a development environment, developers can add test-users to the jazn-data.xml file.

See Also:

For information about connecting to a back-end (LDAP) identity store for the production version of your application, see the chapter, "Managing Security," in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter. For information about creating test users in jazn-data.xml, see Section 11.2.2, "How to Define Roles and Grant Privileges in the jazn-data.xml File."

This section provides an overview of the People Connections service. It contains the following subsections:

20.1.1 Understanding the People Connections Service

The features of the People Connections service fall into five categories. Each category includes a set of task flows that expose People Connections features to your end users. The section introduces the five People Connections categories. It contains the following subsections:

See Also:

For information about the People Connections service at runtime, see the chapter, "Working with the People Connections Service," in the Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle WebCenter.

For information about People Connections task flows, see Section 20.2.2.1, "People Connections Service Task Flows."

20.1.1.1 Activity Stream

The Activity Stream feature tracks application activities. Table 20-1 lists the types of activities that may be tracked by the Activity Stream.

Table 20-1 Activities Tracked by Activity Stream

Service Tracked Activities

Announcements

  • Create announcement

  • Edit announcement

  • Delete announcement

Discussions

  • Create forum

  • Delete forum

  • Create topic

  • Delete topic

  • Reply to topic

  • Delete reply

Documents

  • Create document

  • Edit document

  • Delete document

  • Add tag

  • Remove tag

Page

The following activities are tracked when they are performed within the service framework scope (for example, if a user creates pages under /myapp/mypages/, the page operations are not tracked):

  • Create page

  • Edit page

  • Delete page

  • Add tag

  • Remove tag

People Connections

  • People are connected

  • Message Board post

  • Feedback post

  • Photo updated

  • Profile updated

  • Personal status note updated

Wiki and Blog

  • Create wiki

  • Edit wiki

  • Add wiki comment

  • Delete wiki

  • Create blog entry

  • Edit blog entry

  • Add blog entry comment

  • Delete blog entry

Note: An Oracle WebCenter Wiki and Blog Server scheduled job (ActivityPublishJob) must be run in order for wiki and blog activities to be published to the Activity Stream. For more information, see the section, "About Administration Mode," in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter.

Activity Stream compares somewhat to the Recent Activities service, which also tracks and reports on application activities (for more information, see Section 25, "Integrating the Recent Activities Service"). Both track the application activities of integrated services, though Activity Stream tracks a broader range of services. For example, Recent Activities tracks the Documents, Announcements, Discussions, and Page services. Activity Stream tracks these services as well as People Connections and Wikis and Blogs. Recent Activities tracks activities no matter who performs the action. Activity Stream tracks activities performed by a user's connections and includes information about who performed the activity. Recent Activities does not include names.

The basic difference between these two services can be summarized as follows: Recent Activities provides an overview of what is happening in an application. Activity Stream provides an overview of what is happening with a user's connections.

See Also:

For more information about Activity Stream, see Section 20.2.2.1.1, "Activity Stream Task Flows."

20.1.1.2 Connections

Connections provides users with a means of managing their own connections and viewing the connections of others. Use Connections to collect business friends and contacts into one or more smaller social groups. Use connections lists to manage the display of your connections.

See Also:

For more information about Connections, see Section 20.2.2.1.2, "Connections Task Flows."

20.1.1.3 Feedback

Feedback provides users with a means of viewing, posting, and managing feedback. By default, users can view feedback in their own Feedback views. Users can view and post feedback in other users' Feedback views.

See Also:

For more information about Feedback, see Section 20.2.2.1.3, "Feedback Task Flows."

20.1.1.4 Message Board

Message Board provides users with a means of viewing, posting, and managing messages to themselves and to other users.

See Also:

For more information about Message Board, see Section 20.2.2.1.4, "Message Board Task Flows."

20.1.1.5 Profile

Profile provides users with a variety of views into their own and other users' personal profile information. Such information can include a user's email address, phone number, office location, department, manager, direct reports, and so on. Profile takes the bulk of its information from the back-end identity store that provides your WebCenter application with its users. Additionally, Profile may offer opportunities for altering some of this information and for providing additional data not included in the identity store.

See Also:

For more information about Profile, see Section 20.2.2.1.5, "Profile Task Flows."

20.1.2 Requirements for the People Connections Service

For a successful integration of People Connections with your custom WebCenter application, ensure that the following steps have been taken:

  1. Create a WebCenter application (for more information, see Section 3.2, "Creating a WebCenter Application").

  2. Set up the WebCenter schema, and create a database connection to it (for more information, see Chapter 4, "Preparing Your Application for Oracle WebCenter Services").

  3. Create a JSF (.jspx) page (for more information, see Section 3.3, "Creating WebCenter Application-Enabled Pages").

  4. Secure your application and create some test users (for more information, see Section 11.2.2, "How to Define Roles and Grant Privileges in the jazn-data.xml File").

  5. Drag and drop a People Connections task flow onto your page (for more information, see Section 20.2.2.2, "How to Add People Connections Service Task Flows to a Page").

  6. Provide required values for task flow bindings (for more information, see Section 20.3.2.2, "People Connections Task Flow Binding Parameters").

  7. Run the page.

  8. When required, provide the user name and password of a test user you created at Step 4.

20.2 Basic Configuration for the People Connections Service

This section describes steps required for adding the People Connections service to your application. It includes the following subsections:

20.2.1 How to Set Up a Database Connection for the People Connections Service

The People Connections service requires a connection to a database that has the WebCenter schema installed. The script to create the WebCenter schema is included with the product. This section assumes you have installed the WebCenter schema and have created a JSF (.jspx) page in your WebCenter application.

See Also:

To create the database connection:

  1. In the Application Navigator, expand the Application Resources panel.

  2. Right-click Connections, then select New Connection and then Database to open the Create Database Connection dialog (Figure 20-1).

    Figure 20-1 Create Database Connection Dialog

    Create Database Connection dialog

  3. Enter the following information for your database connection:

    • Connection Name: WebCenter

    • Connection Type: Oracle (JDBC)

    • Username: username (a user with established access to the database)

    • Password: password (the specified user's password)

    • Host Name: <host where you will install the WebCenter schema> (for example, localhost)

    • JDBC Port: <port> (for example, 1521)

    • SID: <system identifier for the database with the same JDBC port> (for example, ORCL)

    You must enter the Connection Name exactly as WebCenter.

    Note:

    There are cases when you may want to leverage an existing database connection for WebCenter services, and it may not be possible to change the database connection name to WebCenter. To enable WebCenter services to use a database connection with a name other than WebCenter, you must add the following <data-source> tag as a child of the <wpsC:adf-service-config> element in the adf-config.xml file. (adf-service-config is a child of adf-config, and data-source is a child of adf-service-config or a sibling of extension-registry-config.)

    For example:

    <adf-config xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/adf/config"
            xmlns:mdsC="http://xmlns.oracle.com/adf/mds/config"
            xmlns:wpsC="http://xmlns.oracle.com/webcenter/framework/service"
            xmlns:jndiC="http://xmlns.oracle.com/adf/jndi/config">
 
    <wpsC:adf-service-config xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/webcenter/framework/service">
        <data-source jndi-name="java:/comp/env/jdbc/NewDatabaseConnDS"/>
   </wpsC:adf-service-config>
</adf-config>

    The syntax of the example name, java:/comp/env/jdbc/NewDatabaseConnDS, is derived from the example name NewDatabaseConn used to create the database connection in the Create Database Connection dialog.

  4. Click OK.

Note:

While you can set up the connections to back-end servers at design time in Oracle JDeveloper, you can later add, delete, or modify connections in your deployed environment using Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control. For more information, see the Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter.

20.2.2 Adding the People Connections Service at Design Time

This section provides descriptions of People Connections task flows and steps you through the addition of the People Connections service to your application. It includes the following subsections:

20.2.2.1 People Connections Service Task Flows

This section describes and illustrates the task flows available through the People Connections service.

This section includes the following subsections:

20.2.2.1.1 Activity Stream Task Flows

Two Activity Stream task flows are available through the Resource Palette:

  • Activity Stream—Provides users with the main view of the most recent activities of their connections (Figure 20-2).

    Figure 20-2 Activity Stream Task Flow

    Activity Stream task flow

  • Activity Stream - Quick View—Provides users with a truncated view of streamed activities, where only the most recent of their connections' activities are shown. Users who want to see all activities can click a More link to navigate to the main view (Activity Stream) of the task flow (Figure 20-3).

    Figure 20-3 Activity Stream - Quick View Task Flow

    Activity Stream - Quick View task flow
20.2.2.1.2 Connections Task Flows

Three Connections task flows are available through the Resource Palette:

  • Connections—Provides users with a means of viewing and managing their connections, creating connections lists, and sending and responding to invitations to connect (Figure 20-4).

    Figure 20-4 Connections Task Flow

    Connections task flow

  • Connections - Card—Provides a choice of three views:

    • Card Style displays a connection's photo, status message, and instant contact option (through the Presence service, for more information, see Chapter 18, "Integrating the Instant Messaging and Presence Service").

    • Iconic displays a connection's photo and user name, which links to a summary view of the user's profile.

    • List Style displays connections in a list, with each list row showing the profile photo, user name (linked to a summary profile view), mail address, job title, status message, and actions icons and links.

    Select one of these views through task flow bindings (for more information, see Section 20.3.2, "Customizing People Connections Task Flows Using Task Flow Binding Parameters") (Figure 20-5).

    Figure 20-5 Connections - Card Task Flow (Card Style)

    Connections - Card task flow

  • Connections - Quick View—Provides users with a view of their connections' uploaded profile photos and a link to instant contact options (Figure 20-6).

    Figure 20-6 Connections - Quick View Task Flow

    Connections - Quick View task flow
20.2.2.1.3 Feedback Task Flows

Two Feedback task flows are available through the Resource Palette:

  • Feedback—Provides users with the main view of the Feedback task flow. The main view contains controls for viewing, posting, sorting, and filtering Feedback—both given and received—and for hiding received Feedback (Figure 20-7).

    Figure 20-7 Feedback Task Flow

    Feedback task flow

  • Feedback - Quick View—Provides users with a truncated view of the Feedback task flow, where only the most recent posts are shown. When there are more posts than can be displayed in the initial view, users can click a More link to navigate to the main view of the Feedback task flow. When user A accesses user B's view of Feedback - Quick View, user A additionally sees an Add Feedback option (Figure 20-8).

    Figure 20-8 Feedback - Quick View Task Flow

    Feedback - Quick View task flow
20.2.2.1.4 Message Board Task Flows

Two Message Board task flows are available through the Resource Palette:

  • Message Board—Message Board provides users with the main view of Message Board messages and a means of adding, viewing, and managing Message Board messages. Management tasks include editing, deleting, and hiding messages (Figure 20-9).

    Figure 20-9 Message Board Task Flow

    Message Board task flow

  • Message Board - Quick View—Provides users with a truncated view of Message Board messages and a means of adding and viewing such messages. Users can click a More link to navigate to the Detailed View (Figure 20-10).

    Figure 20-10 Message Board - Quick View Task Flow

    Message Board - Quick View task flow
20.2.2.1.5 Profile Task Flows

Three Profile task flow are available through the Resource Palette:

  • Profile—Exposes a user's profile details, such as a user's email address, phone number, office location, department, manager, direct reports, and so on. It also exposes any personal image a user may have provided and the user's personal status message (Figure 20-11).

    Figure 20-11 Profile Task Flow

    Profile task flow

  • Profile - Snapshot—Exposes any personal image a user may have uploaded and provides an Edit link for entering a personal status message (Figure 20-12).

    Figure 20-12 Profile - Snapshot Task Flow

    Profile - Snapshot task flow

    Note:

    To enable users to upload anything to your ADF-based application at runtime, the page on which you have placed the upload task flow must have the usesUpload attribute set on the form. Additionally, for profile images, you must set the task flow binding parameter photoUploadAllowed to true. For more information, see the Note at the end of Section 20.2.2.2, "How to Add People Connections Service Task Flows to a Page," and see Section 20.3.2.2, "People Connections Task Flow Binding Parameters."

  • Profile Gallery—Provides a summary view of each People Connections task flow. For example, it includes Activity Stream - Quick View, Connections - Quick View, and so on (Figure 20-13).

    Figure 20-13 Profile Gallery Task Flow

    Profile Gallery task flow

20.2.2.2 How to Add People Connections Service Task Flows to a Page

The section describes how to add a People Connections task flow to an application page. The steps provided here are largely the same for all People Connections task flows. Differences are noted.

To add People Connections task flows to your WebCenter application:

  1. Prepare your application as described in Section 20.1.2, "Requirements for the People Connections Service."

  2. Open the page on which to add a People Connections task flow.

  3. In the Resource Palette, open My Catalogs, then WebCenter Services Catalog, then the Task Flows folder.

  4. Drag and drop a task flow (for example, Connections - Quick View) onto the JSF (.jspx) page.

  5. Select Region from the resulting context menu.

    It may ask whether you want to add the People Connections library to the project. Confirm by clicking Add Library.

  6. In the Edit Task Flow Binding dialog, specify parameter values for the task flow.

    For example, for Connections - Quick View, the parameter userid represents the name of the current user at runtime. You can specify an EL expression for the parameter that will evaluate to the currently logged-in user. For example, for userid, enter #{securityContext.userName}. For more information, see Section 20.3.2.2, "People Connections Task Flow Binding Parameters."

  7. Click OK.

    The task flow is added to the page, and the ViewController project's libraries are configured to run the task flow.

  8. Save and run your page to the browser.

Note:

To enable users to upload anything to your ADF-based application at runtime, the page on which you have placed the task flow must have the usesUpload attribute set on the form. For example, to enable the upload of a document to the document library or a photo to a profile, add the following to the relevant page: 
<af:form usesUpload="true">
 …
 <af:region value="#{bindings.profile1.regionModel}"/>
 …
</af:form>

Additionally, to enable the upload of a profile snapshot, the task flow binding parameter photoUploadAllowed must be set to true. For more information, see Section 20.3.2.2, "People Connections Task Flow Binding Parameters."

20.2.3 Setting Security for the People Connections Service

Because People Connections features are centered around users, application security must be set up for successful use of the service. Ideally, test users are also in place to enable you to interact in a meaningful way with each feature. Each feature in the People Connections service can be secured separately.

20.3 Advanced Information for the People Connections Service

This section describes advanced features available with the People Connections service. It includes the following subsections:

20.3.1 Establishing Site-Level Settings for People Connections Features

Two scripts are available to configure and revise People Connections site-level settings:

  • RCUHOME/rcu/integration/webcenter/sql/oracle/settings-insert.sql

  • RCUHOME/rcu/integration/webcenter/sql/oracle/settings-update.sql

The variable RCUHOME refers to your install location of the Resource Creation Utility (RCU). The RCU may be used in setting up the WebCenter schema and is packaged with the Oracle JDeveloper ship home. RCUHOME is the root folder where the RCU is installed.

This section describes the scripts and provides information about the types of settings they control. It contains the following subsections:

20.3.1.1 Understanding the People Connections Site-Level Setting Scripts

All site-level settings for People Connections features are stored in the WebCenter schema table WC_PPL_COMMON_SETTING. Out-of-the-box, this table does not contain any setting values. In the absence of values, the application assumes default values. To change the value of any setting, the setting must first be inserted into this table and then updated with the desired value. Two SQL scripts enable you to perform these steps in their proper sequence.

This section describes how to prepare and run the People Connections site-level settings scripts. It contains the following subsections:

20.3.1.1.1 Preparing and Running settings-insert.sql

Before you can change People Connections site-level settings, you must run the settings-insert.sql script once. The script has INSERT statements for all supported settings. All INSERT statements are commented out by default. Before you run the script, you must prepare it by uncommenting all the settings you plan to change.

See Also:

For an example of the settings-insert.sql script in action, see Section 20.3.1.3, "Example: Configuring Connections to Accept Invitations Automatically."

To prepare and run the settings-insert.sql script:

  1. Open the script in an editor.

  2. For the settings you plan to change, uncomment the corresponding INSERT statement.

    Tip:

    To uncomment an INSERT statement, remove the leading double dash (--) on the lines the statement spans.

  3. Once you have uncommented all the INSERT statements for the settings of interest, save and run the script.

    The uncommented settings are populated with default values.

Note:

You can run the settings-insert.sql script only once for a given set of settings on a given schema. If you must run it more than once—for example, if you must update a different set of settings—then the previously uncommented INSERT statements must be commented before you can run the script again. Otherwise, a SQL error is thrown during the re-execution of the INSERT statement.
20.3.1.1.2 Preparing and Running settings-update.sql

To change People Connections site-level settings, you must run the settings-update.sql script after you run settings-insert.sql once. The settings-update.sql script has UPDATE statements for all supported settings. All UPDATE statements are commented out by default.

You can run the settings-update.sql script as many times as required for a given set of settings on a given schema, provided you have run settings-insert.sql once for those settings.

See Also:

For an example of the settings-update.sql script in action, see Section 20.3.1.3, "Example: Configuring Connections to Accept Invitations Automatically."

To prepare and run the settings-update.sql script:

  1. Open the script in an editor.

  2. For the settings you plan to change, uncomment the corresponding UPDATE statement.

    Tip:

    To uncomment an INSERT statement, remove the leading double dash (--) on the lines the statement spans.

  3. For each uncommented statement, change the value of the SETTING_KEY column to the desired value.

    For information about settings and values, see Section 20.3.1.2, "Supported Site-Level Settings for People Connections Features."

  4. Once you have revised all UPDATE statements of interest, save and run the script.

    The table WC_PPL_COMMON_SETTING is updated with the revised values.

  5. If your custom WebCenter application is running, restart it for the changes to take effect.

20.3.1.2 Supported Site-Level Settings for People Connections Features

This section lists and describes the supported site-level application settings for the People Connections service. It includes the following subsections:

20.3.1.2.1 Activity Stream Site-Level Settings

Table 20-2 lists and describes the site-level settings for the People Connections service Activity Stream feature.

The service ID for Activity Stream is oracle.webcenter.activitystreaming. For a list of service IDs, see Table 20-3.

Table 20-2 Site-Level Settings for Activity Stream

Setting Key Description Valid Site-Level Values

accesscontrol.value.accessControlLevel

For determining who can view a user's Activity Stream

SELF, CONNECTIONS, USERS (that is, authenticated users), PUBLIC

accesscontrol.endUserConfigurable

For indicating whether individual users can override in their own application views the application-level setting for who can view their Activity Stream

This setting is honored only when the application exposes the override control in a user preferences screen.

+, -

+=TRUE

-=FALSE

connectionsActivities.value

For specifying the users for which to show personal space activities in a user's Activity Stream

Users can override this setting on a task flow instance.

NONE, ALL

NONE=No Personal Space activities are shown.

ALL=Personal Space activities of all the user's connections are shown.

groupSpaceActivities.value

For specifying the group spaces for which to show activities in a user's Activity Stream

Users can override this setting on a task flow instance.

GSNONE, GSALL, GSSELECTED

GSNONE=No group space activities are shown

GSALL=Activities are shown for all of the group spaces of which the user is a member and on which the user has view access.

GSSELECTED=Activities are shown for a predefined list of group spaces of which the user is a member and on which the current user has view access. The predefined list is specified through the setting groupSpaceActivities.groupSpaceGuids.

groupSpaceActivities.groupSpaceGuids

For providing the GUIDs of the group spaces for which to show activities in a user's Activity Stream

This setting is honored only when the value of 'groupSpaceActivities.value is GSSELECTED.

Users can override this setting on a task flow instance.

LIST: followed by a comma-separated list of group space GUIDs without any spaces in-between.

For example:

LIST:sbba12345xyz1,sabcd54321abc

Up to 100 group space GUIDs can be specified in this fashion.

servicePublishedSettings[serviceId]

For indicating whether to show activities published by the WebCenter service serviceId in a user's Activity StreamA serviceId is the WebCenter service ID of any service that publishes activities. For a list of service IDs, see Table 20-3.

For example:

servicePublishedSettings[oracle.webcenter.community]

Users can override this setting on a task flow instance.

+, -

+=TRUE

-=FALSE

Table 20-3 Service IDs

Service ID

Announcements

oracle.webcenter.collab.announcement

Discussions

oracle.webcenter.collab.forum

Documents

oracle.webcenter.doclib

Events

oracle.webcenter.collab.calendar.community

Group Space Management

oracle.webcenter.community

Instant Messaging and Presence (IMP)

oracle.webcenter.collab.rtc

Links

oracle.webcenter.relationship

Lists

oracle.webcenter.list

Mail

oracle.webcenter.collab.mail

Notes

oracle.webcenter.note

Page

oracle.webcenter.page

People Connections: Activity Stream

oracle.webcenter.activitystreaming

People Connections: Connections

oracle.webcenter.peopleconnections.connections

People Connections: Feedback

oracle.webcenter.peopleconnections.kudos

People Connections: Message Board

oracle.webcenter.peopleconnections.wall

People Connections: Profile

oracle.webcenter.peopleconnections.profile

Recent Activities

oracle.webcenter.recentactivity

RSS

oracle.webcenter.rss

Search

oracle.webcenter.search

Tags

oracle.webcenter.tagging

Wikis and Blogs

oracle.webcenter.wiki

Worklist

oracle.webcenter.worklist

20.3.1.2.2 Connections Site-Level Settings

Table 20-4 lists and describes the site-level settings for the People Connections service Connections feature.

The service ID for Connections is oracle.webcenter.peopleconnections.connections. For a list of service IDs, see Table 20-3.

Table 20-4 Site-Level Settings for Connections

Setting Key Description Valid Site-Level Values

autoAcceptInvitations

For specifying that connection invitations are accepted automatically by default

Individual users can override this application-level setting in their own view, provided the application exposes the override control in a user preferences screen.

+, -

+=TRUE

-=FALSE

connectionsVisibility.accessControlSettings.accessControlLevel

For specifying who can view a user's Connections

SELF, CONNECTIONS, USERS (that is, authenticated users), PUBLIC

connectionsVisibility.personalizable

For indicating whether individual users can override in their own application views the application-level setting for who can view their Connections

This setting is honored only when the application exposes the override control in a user preferences screen.

+, -

+=TRUE

-=FALSE

20.3.1.2.3 Feedback Site-Level Settings

Table 20-5 lists and describes the site-level settings for the People Connections service Feedback feature.

The service ID for Feedback is oracle.webcenter.peopleconnections.kudos. For a list of service IDs, see Table 20-3.

Table 20-5 Site-Level Settings for Feedback

Setting Key Description Valid Site-Level Values

visibility.accessControlSettings.accessControlLevel

For specifying who can view a user's received Feedback

SELF, CONNECTIONS, USERS (that is, authenticated users), PUBLIC

visibility.endUserConfigurable

For indicating whether individual users can override in their own application views the application-level setting for who can view their received Feedback

This setting is honored only when the application exposes the override control in a user preferences screen.

+, -

+=TRUE

-=FALSE

addControl.accessControlSettings.accessControlLevel

For specifying who can give Feedback to a user

SELF, CONNECTIONS, USERS (that is, authenticated users), PUBLIC

addControl.endUserConfigurable

For indicating whether individual users can override in their own application views the application-level setting for who can give them Feedback

This setting is honored only when the application exposes the override control in a user preferences screen.

+, -

+=TRUE

-=FALSE

miniViewRowCount.value

For specifying the number of Feedback entries to show in a Feedback - Quick View task flow

Positive integers

miniViewRowCount.endUserConfigurable

For indicating whether individual users can override in their own application views the application-level setting for the number of entries to show in a Feedback - Quick View task flow

This setting is honored only when the application exposes the override control in a user preferences screen.

+, -

+=TRUE

-=FALSE

postedUserActions.delete

For indicating whether users are allowed to delete the Feedback they leave for other users

+, -

+=TRUE

-=FALSE

20.3.1.2.4 Message Board Site-Level Settings

Table 20-6 lists and describes the site-level settings for the People Connections service Message Board feature.

The service ID for Message Board is oracle.webcenter.peopleconnections.wall. For a list of service IDs, see Table 20-6.

Table 20-6 Site-Level Settings For Message Board

Setting Key Description Valid Site-Level Values

visibility.accessControlSettings.accessControlLevel

For specifying who can view a user's Message Board

SELF, CONNECTIONS, USERS (that is, authenticated users), PUBLIC

visibility.endUserConfigurable

For indicating whether individual users can override in their own application views the application-level setting for who can view their Message Board

This setting is honored only when the application exposes the override control in a user preferences screen.

+, -

+=TRUE

-=FALSE

addControl.accessControlSettings.accessControlLevel

For specifying who can post to a user's Message Board

SELF, CONNECTIONS, USERS (that is, authenticated users), PUBLIC

addControl.endUserConfigurable

For indicating whether individual users can override in their own application views the application-level setting for who can post to their Message Board

This setting is honored only when the application exposes the override control in a user preferences screen.

+, -

+=TRUE

-=FALSE

miniViewRowCount.value

For specifying the number of messages to show in a Message Board - Quick View task flow

Positive integer

miniViewRowCount.endUserConfigurable

For indicating whether individual users can override in their own application views the application-level setting for the number of messages to show in a Message Board - Quick View task flow

This setting is honored only when the application exposes the override control in a user preferences screen.

+, -

+=TRUE

-=FALSE

postedUserActions.edit

For indicating whether users are allowed to edit the messages they post on other users' Message Boards

+, -

+=TRUE

-=FALSE

postedUserActions.delete

For indicating whether users are allowed to delete messages they post on other users' Message Boards

+, -

+=TRUE

-=FALSE

20.3.1.2.5 Profile Site-Level Settings

Table 20-7 lists and describes the site-level settings for the People Connections service Profile feature.

The service ID for Profile is oracle.webcenter.peopleconnections.profile. For a list of service IDs, see Table 20-3.

Table 20-7 Site-Level Settings for Profile

Setting Key Description Valid Site-Level Values

general-profile-settings.logActivity

For indicating whether profile updates, such as uploading a photo, updating personal status, changing profile attributes, should result in activities getting published in Activity Stream

true, false

general-profile-settings.prersonalWebVisibility

For specifying who can view a user's Profile Gallery

SELF, CONNECTIONS, USERS (that is, authenticated users), PUBLIC

general-profile-settings.pwVisibilityPersonalizable

For indicating whether individual users can override in their own views the application-level setting for who can view their Profile Gallery

This setting is honored only when the application exposes the override control in a user preferences screen.

true, false

general-profile-settings.view.name.profileSectionName.access-control-level

For specifying who can view the Profile section identified by profileSectionName.

For example:

general-profile-settings.view.name.personalInfo.access-control-level

For more information, see Table 20-8, "Profile Section Names".

SELF, USERS (that is, authenticated users), PUBLIC

Note: CONNECTIONS is not a valid value for this setting.

general-profile-settings.view.name.profileSectionName.allow-personalize-visibility

For indicating whether individual users can override in their own application views the application-level setting for who can view the Profile section identified by profileSectionName on their profile

This setting is honored only when the application exposes the override control in a user preferences screen.

For more information, see Table 20-8, "Profile Section Names".

true, false

general-profile-settings.view.name.profileSectionName.allow-user-edit

For indicating whether users are allowed to edit the Profile section identified by profileSectionName on their own Profiles.

For example:

general-profile-settings.view.name.personalInfo.allow-user-edit

For more information, see Table 20-8, "Profile Section Names".

true, false

ootb-view-edit-settings.view.name.profileSectionName.profileFieldName.allow-edit

For indicating whether users are allowed to update the field identified by profileFieldName when they edit the Profile section identified by profileSectionName on their own profile.

For example:

ootb-view-edit-settings.view.name.personalInfo.homePhone.allow-edit

For more information, see Table 20-8, "Profile Section Names" and Table 20-9, "Profile Field Names".

true, false

Table 20-8 Profile Section Names

Section Name Description

basic

Profile summary

These details are discoverable in an application search.

employee

Employee detail

businessContact

Business contact information

personalInfo

Personal information

Table 20-9 Profile Field Names

Field Name Description

email

Business email address

displayName

User display name

Dept

Office department

title

Job title

phone

Business phone number

timeZone

Time zone

photo

User photo

persStatNote

Personal status message

description

About me

empType

Employee type

empNo

Employee number

prefLang

User's preferred language

organization

Employee's organization

expertise

Employee's expertise

fax

Fax number

mobile

Mobile/cell phone number

pager

Page number

street

Office address: street

city

Office address: city

state

Office address: state

poBox

Office address: P.O. box

poCode

Office address: ZIP/PIN/P.O. code

country

Office address: country

homeAdd

Home address

homePhone

Home phone number

dob

Date of birth

maidenName

Maiden name/surname before marriage

doh

Date of hire

20.3.1.3 Example: Configuring Connections to Accept Invitations Automatically

By default, when users send invitations to connect, recipients must explicitly accept them. Through site-level settings, the application administrator can configure the application to accept invitations automatically. This setting is identified by the key, autoAcceptInvitations, and the service ID, oracle.webcenter.peopleconnections.connections. To change the setting, the administrator performs the following steps:

  1. Open the settings-insert.sql script and uncomment the following lines:

    -- INSERT INTO WC_PPL_COMMON_SETTING (ID, APPLICATION_ID, SCOPE_ID, SERVICE_ID, USER_ID, TASKFLOW_INST_ID, SETTING_KEY, SETTING_VALUE)
--   VALUES ('768e5d1f-a73d-41b4-819d-74be081e1de1', 'webcenter', 'defaultScope', 'oracle.webcenter.peopleconnections.connections', 'SYSTEM', 'SITE', 'autoAcceptInvitations', '-')
 -- ;

    After modification, the lines appear as follows:

     INSERT INTO WC_PPL_COMMON_SETTING (ID, APPLICATION_ID, SCOPE_ID, SERVICE_ID, USER_ID, TASKFLOW_INST_ID, SETTING_KEY, SETTING_VALUE)
   VALUES ('768e5d1f-a73d-41b4-819d-74be081e1de1', 'webcenter', 'defaultScope', 'oracle.webcenter.peopleconnections.connections', 'SYSTEM', 'SITE', 'autoAcceptInvitations', '-')
 ;

  2. Save and run the script.

  3. Open the settings-update.sql script and uncomment the following lines:

      -- UPDATE WC_PPL_COMMON_SETTING SET SETTING_VALUE='-'
  --   WHERE APPLICATION_ID='webcenter' AND SCOPE_ID='defaultScope' AND USER_ID='SYSTEM' AND TASKFLOW_INST_ID='SITE'
  --   AND SERVICE_ID='oracle.webcenter.peopleconnections.connections' AND SETTING_KEY='autoAcceptInvitations'
   -- ;

    After the modification, the lines appear as follows:

       UPDATE WC_PPL_COMMON_SETTING SET SETTING_VALUE='-'
     WHERE APPLICATION_ID='webcenter' AND SCOPE_ID='defaultScope' AND USER_ID='SYSTEM' AND TASKFLOW_INST_ID='SITE'
     AND SERVICE_ID='oracle.webcenter.peopleconnections.connections' AND SETTING_KEY='autoAcceptInvitations'
    ;

  4. Change the value of SETTING_VALUE to a plus sign (+).

    After modification, the lines appear as follows:

       UPDATE WC_PPL_COMMON_SETTING SET SETTING_VALUE='+'
     WHERE APPLICATION_ID='webcenter' AND SCOPE_ID='defaultScope' AND USER_ID='SYSTEM' AND TASKFLOW_INST_ID='SITE'
     AND SERVICE_ID='oracle.webcenter.peopleconnections.connections' AND SETTING_KEY='autoAcceptInvitations'
    ;

  5. Save and run the script.

  6. If your custom WebCenter application is running, restart the application.

    After you restart, the setting takes effect. In this example, when a user invites another user to connect, the connection is created automatically.

See Also:

For lists and descriptions of People Connections site-level settings, see Section 20.3.1.2, "Supported Site-Level Settings for People Connections Features."

20.3.2 Customizing People Connections Task Flows Using Task Flow Binding Parameters

Each People Connections task flow has a set of required and optional task flow binding parameters. These provide a means of capturing information that is useful to the task flow's successful function. For example, all People Connections task flows provide a binding parameter for capturing the ID of the current runtime user. This value (typically #{securityContext.userName}) enables the task flow to return People Connections data that is relevant to the current user.

In addition to providing required values for successful task flow rendering, you can use task flow binding parameters to customize the appearance and behavior of a task flow instance. For example, you can use parameter values to determine whether headers and footers are rendered, the number of rows and columns of information to show, whether to apply a filter to returned data, and the like.

You can provide task flow binding parameter values when you drag and drop a task flow onto an application page. Doing so opens the Task Flow Bindings dialog (for more information, see Section 20.2.2.2, "How to Add People Connections Service Task Flows to a Page"). You can also adjust task flow binding parameter values after you have placed a task flow on a page.

This section describes how to revise task flow parameter values at design time and provides a table that lists and describes the binding parameters associated with People Connections task flows. It includes the following sections:

20.3.2.1 How to Revise People Connections Task Flow Binding Parameters

After you have added a task flow to a page, you may want to customize the instance by revising its binding parameter values. This section describes how to access the Edit Task Flow Binding dialog and change binding parameter values.

To access the Edit Task Flow Binding dialog:

  1. Open the application page and set the view to bindings by clicking the Bindings tab at the bottom of the page.

  2. Under Executables, double-click the task flow for which to revise task flow binding parameters (Figure 20-14) to open the Edit Task Flow Binding dialog (Figure 20-15).

    Tip:

    Task flow names under Executables differ from names in design view. For example, Message Board task flows are instead referred to as wall, and Feedback task flows are instead referred to as kudos.

    Figure 20-14 Bindings View of an Application Page

    Bindings view of an application page

    Figure 20-15 Edit Task Flow Binding Dialog

    Edit Task Flow Binding dialog

  3. Revise binding parameter values (for more information, see Section 20.3.2.2, "People Connections Task Flow Binding Parameters").

  4. Click OK to save your changes and exit the dialog.

  5. Save and run your page to see the results.

20.3.2.2 People Connections Task Flow Binding Parameters

Table 20-10 lists and describes task flow binding parameters applicable to the People Connections service.

Table 20-10 People Connections Service Task Flow Binding Parameters

Parameter Description

connectionListName

The name of a connections list

This parameter is associated with the task flow Connections - Card.

display_maxConnections

The maximum number of connections to show in the task flow

For example, enter 5 to specify that a maximum of five connections can appear in the task flow. A More link appears at the bottom of the task flow when there are more connections than the specified number of connections. Users click More to open the main view of the task flow where all connections are show.

The value entered for this parameter is honored only when values for display_numberOfRows and display_numberOfColumns have not both been specified. If values for both of these parameters have been specified, then Previous and Next links appear when there are more connections than can fit into the specified numbers of rows and columns.

This parameter is associated with the following task flows:

  • Connections - Card

  • Connections - Quick View

display_numberOfColumns

The number of columns to show in the task flow

For example, in a Connections - Card task flow that shows six connections, a value of 2 means those connections are shown in two columns with three rows (see also display_numberOfRows and display_maxConnections).

This parameter is associated with the following task flows:

  • Connections - Card

  • Connections - Quick View

display_numberOfRows

The number of rows to show in the task flow

For example, in a Connections - Card task flow that shows six connections and a value of 2 for display_numberOfColumns, a value of 2 for this parameter means connections are shown in two columns with two rows. That is, four connections are shown. A More link appears at the bottom of the task flow when there are more connections than can be fit in the specified number of columns and rows. Users click More to open the main view of the task flow where all connections are shown.

See also display_maxConnections.

This parameter is associated with the following task flows:

  • Connections - Card

  • Connections - Quick View

display_profileFormat

The default layout style for the task flow

Enter one of the following:

  • vcard—Displays each connection in a virtual business card, including the connection's user name and status message along with quick access buttons for interacting with one's connections.

  • iconic—Displays the connection's personal profile photo and user name.

  • list—Displays connections in a list that includes the personal profile photo, user name, information about recent profile updates, and quick access buttons for interacting with one's connections.

This parameter is associated with the task flow Connections - Card.

display_removalAllowed

A means of showing or hiding the Remove action on the task flow

Enter true to show the Remove action. Enter false to hide the Remove action. The default value (true) is applied if the input is invalid.

This parameter is associated with the task flow Connections - Card.

display_sortedBy

The connections sort order

Enter LAST_ACTIVITY_TIME to sort connections in descending date/time order. Leave this field blank to sort connections alphabetically by name.

This parameter is associated with the task flow Connections - Card.

displayCount

The number of items to show in the task flow

For example, enter 5 to specify that a maximum of five items can appear in the task flow. In quick views, a More link appears at the bottom of the task flow when there are more items than the specified number of items. Users click More to open the main view of the task flow where all items are accessible. In main views, Previous and Next links are shown. Users click these to page through entries.

This parameter appears in the component properties for the following task flows:

  • Feedback

  • Feedback - Quick View

  • Message Board

  • Message Board - Quick View

displayMessageSize

The number of characters to show for each feedback message

Messages exceeding the specified value are truncated, and an ellipse (…) is appended to the end.

This parameter is associated with the task flow Feedback - Quick View.

filterPattern

A filter against task flow content

For example, enter pat to show only those connections named pat (including patrick or sripathy).

This parameter is associated with the task flow Connections - Card.

fromDate

The start date of a date range within which to show feedback messages

Enter dates in the format YYYY-MM-DD.

See also toDate.

This parameter is associated with the following task flows:

  • Feedback

  • Feedback - Quick View

hideActions

A means of hiding the actions normally associated with a Feedback or Message Board entry, such as Edit, Private, Hide, and Delete

  • Enter #{true} to hide actions associated with a Feedback or Message Board entry.

  • Enter #{false} to show such actions. When no value is entered, false is the default.

This parameter appears in the component properties for the following task flows:

  • Feedback – Quick View

  • Message Board – Quick View

hideConfigure

A means of hiding the personalization option on the task flow instance

This parameter is associated with the following task flows:

  • Activity Stream

  • Activity Stream - Quick View

hideFooter

A means of showing or hiding the task flow footer

The task flow footer contains the More link that appears at the bottom of a task flow when there are more items to show than can be accommodated in the current view. Hiding the footer hides the More link. Hiding the footer does not affect Previous and Next links that may also appear at the bottom of a task flow.

Enter true to hide the footer. Enter false (default) to show the footer.

This parameter is associated with the following task flows:

  • Activity Stream - Quick View

  • Connections - Card

  • Connections - Quick View

  • Feedback - Quick View

  • Message Board - Quick View

hideHeader

A means of showing or hiding the task flow header

Enter true to hide the task flow header. Enter false (default) to show the task flow header.

This parameter is associated with the following task flows:

  • Activity Stream

  • Activity Stream - Quick View

  • Connections - Quick View

  • Feedback

  • Feedback - Quick View

  • Message Board

  • Message Board - Quick View

imageSize

The display size of the profile photo

Enter one of the following values:

  • ORIGINAL

  • LARGE

  • MEDIUM

  • SMALL

This parameter is associated with the task flow Profile - Snapshot.

photoUploadAllowed

A means of allowing a photo upload from the profile screen

Enter true (default) to allow users to upload a photo to their profile. Enter false to prevent users from uploading a photo.

This parameter is associated with the task flow Profile - Snapshot.

resourceId

The current user ID

Enter #{securityContext.userName} to return the current user.

This parameter is associated with the following task flows:

  • Activity Stream

  • Connections

  • Feedback

  • Message Board

  • Profile

  • Profile Gallery

showConnectionsActivities

A way to allow or omit connections' activities in a user's view of the Activity Stream

  • Enter #{true} to show the activities of the user's connections in his or her Activity Stream. If a value is not specified, true is the default.

  • Enter #{false} to omit showing the current user's activities in his or her Activity Stream.

This parameter appears in the component properties for the Activity Stream task flow.

showSummarized

A means of summarizing notifications in an Activity Stream

  • Enter #{true} to provide a summary view of the actions performed on a given object.

    For example, if there are two activities:

    Monty created the event Event1.

    Monty created the event Event2.

    A value of true summarizes these into one notification in the Activity Stream: Monty created the events Event1 and Event2.

    If more than three activities are summarized, a number is shown in lieu of a listing of individual activity names, for example: Monty created 4 events.

  • Enter #{false} to list each action on a given object individually. If a value is not specified, false is the default.

This parameter appears in the component properties for the Activity Stream task flow.

showUserActivities

A means of including or excluding the current user's activities from the Activity Stream

  • Enter #{true} to include the activities of the current user. If no value is specified, true is the default.

  • Enter #{false} to exclude such activities

This parameter appears in the component properties for the Activity Stream task flow.

statusUpdateAllowed

A boolean value representing whether a control is available on the task flow for updating a profile status message

Enter either true or false.

This parameter appears in the component properties for the Profile - Snapshot task flow.

toDate

The end date of a date range within which to show feedback messages

Enter dates in the format YYYY-MM-DD.

See also fromDate.

This parameter is associated with the following task flows:

  • Feedback

  • Feedback - Quick View

userId

The current user ID

Enter #{securityContext.userName} to return the current user.

This parameter is associated with the following task flows:

  • Activity Stream - Quick View

  • Connections - Card

  • Connections - Quick View

  • Feedback - Quick View

  • Message Board - Quick View

  • Profile - Snapshot

20.3.3 Using the People Connections Service REST APIs

Oracle WebCenter provides REST APIs to support the People Connections service. You can use the People Connections service REST APIs to perform the following actions:

  • Browse other users' application activity in an activity stream

  • Browse a profile or connections list

  • Update profile status messages

  • Create and delete connection lists

  • Add and remove members from connection lists

  • Post, read, and delete messages

  • Read and delete feedback

This section describes the REST APIs associated with the People Connections service. It contains the following subsections:

See Also:

For an introduction to the REST APIs, see Chapter 28, "Using Oracle WebCenter REST APIs."

20.3.3.1 Activity Stream REST APIs

Use the Activity Stream REST APIs to browse user application activities in an activity stream. This section provides information about the REST APIs to use to perform this action. It contains the following subsections:

Note:

When user activities are retrieved through REST, all of the user's activities are returned. This may not resemble the activities returned through a WebCenter application UI. This is because the options for configuring which activities to return in the WebCenter application UI have no effect on the activities that REST retrieves.
20.3.3.1.1 Activity Stream Entry Point

Each REST service has a link element within the Resource Index that provides the entry point for that service. For the People Connections service, each feature has its own link element. For example, to find the entry point for the Activity Stream feature of the People Connections service, find the link elements with a resourceType of:

urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream

The corresponding href or template element provides the URI entry point, which retrieves application activities for the current user from the Activity Stream. The client sends HTTP requests to this entry point to work with the Activity Stream feature of the People Connections service.

See Also:

For more information about the Resource Index, see Section 28.3.1, "The Resource Index."

For more information about resource types, see Section 28.3.2.1, "Resource Type."

20.3.3.1.2 Activity Stream Resource Type Taxonomy

When the client has identified the entry point, it can then navigate through the resource type taxonomy to perform the required operations. For more information about the individual resource types, see the appropriate section in Section 20.3.3.1.4, "Activity Stream Resource Types."

The resource type taxonomy for the Activity Stream feature of the People Connections service is:

urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream
   urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:activity
20.3.3.1.3 Activity Stream Security Considerations

You must be logged in to the REST service to access any of the People Connections REST APIs. After that, the underlying service handles permission checking and the like.

See Also:

For general security considerations, see Section 28.6, "Security Considerations for WebCenter REST APIs."
20.3.3.1.4 Activity Stream Resource Types

This section provides you with all the information you need to know about each resource type. It includes the following subsections:

urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream

The stream response contains URIs for use in retrieving activities from the Activity Stream.

You can retrieve the activities from a user's stream or activities from a user's connections' streams. To have even greater control over which activities to retrieve, use the activity stream query filter. With the query filter, you can:

  • Specify the user to query

  • Include the user's connections' activities in the results

  • Include activities from group spaces and/or personal spaces in the results

  • Restrict the results to activities from specific services

The options available to you depend on the path you take to get to the stream resource and the rel of the link that you use. For example, the activity stream query filter is available only from links with a rel attribute of urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream. If you access the activity stream query filter from the person resource, the personGuid parameter is prefilled.

Table 20-11 shows the activities returned depending on the rel element of the link.

Table 20-11 Activities Returned by stream

rel Returns

urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream:person

Activities from the user's stream (GUID/@self)Foot 1 

urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream:connections

Activities from the user's connections' streams (GUID/@connections)Footref 1

urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream

Activities determined by the activity stream query filter

urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream:space

Activities from the group space's activity stream

Footnote 1 GUID can be any valid user GUID or @me.

Navigation Paths to stream

This section shows how the client can navigate through the hypermedia to access this resource:

resourceIndex
   stream (rel="urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream:person" or
               "urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream")

resourceIndex
   person
      stream (rel="urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream:person" or
                  "urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream:connections" or
                  "urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream")

resourceIndex
   person
      list
         stream

resourceIndex
   space
      stream

stream
   activity
      param
         stream (rel="urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream:space")

personReference
   stream

Supported Methods for stream

The following method is supported by the stream resource:

  • GET

    • request—Parameters: startIndex, itemsPerPage

      See Also:

      For information about REST API parameters, such as startIndex and itemsPerPage, see "Common Request Query Parameters".

      The following additional parameters are available for the query filter URI:

      • personGuid—(Required) Retrieves activities from the stream for the specified user. Valid values: any valid user GUID or @me.

      • serviceIds—Retrieves activities only for the specified services. Valid values: comma separated list of service IDs. If null or empty, retrieves activities from all services.

      • personal—Includes activities from the specified user's personal space. Valid values: true or false. Default value: false.

      • connections—Includes activities from the streams of the specified user's connections. Valid values: true or false. Default value: false.

      • groupSpaces—Includes activities from all group spaces of which the specified user is a member. Valid values: true or false. Default value: false.

      For example, the following URI returns activities from the current user's activity stream, for all services. It returns activities from the user's personal space and from the streams of the user's connections:

      http://host:port/rest/api/activites?personal=true&connections=true&personGuid=@me&stoken=token

      The following URI returns only the user's personal profile and connections activities:

      http://host:port/rest/api/activities?serviceIds=oracle.webcenter.peopleconn
ections.profile,oracle.webcenter.peopleconnections.connections&personal=
true&personGuid=@me&stoken=token

    • response—Body: 0 or more activities

      Note:

      Because the stream resource includes activity items, the response may also return resource links from the activity type.

Resource Types Linked to From stream

Table 20-12 lists the resource types that the client can link to from the stream resource.

Table 20-12 Related Resource Types for stream

rel resourceType

self urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream:person

urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream
 

urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:activity

urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:activity

The activity response contains the data for activities and URIs for use in retrieving all the data you need from an activity that is included in an Activity Stream.

Navigation Paths to activity

This section shows how the client can navigate through the hypermedia to access the activity resource:

resourceIndex
   stream
      activity

resourceIndex
   person
      stream
         activity

resourceIndex
   space
      stream
         activity

Supported Methods for activity

No methods are supported for activity. Activities are currently available only from the stream resource type.

Read-only Elements for activity

Table 20-13 lists the read-only elements for the activity resource.

See Also:

For information about projection, see "Common Request Query Parameters".

Table 20-13 Read-Only Elements for activity

Element Type Description

id

String

Unique ID of the message

createdDate

Date (String)Foot 1 

Date the activity was created

activityType

String

Activity type

Unique within the service. For example the Discussions service can return the activityType createForum.

serviceId

String

Unique ID of the service that created the activity

Note: For a list of WebCenter service IDs, see Table 20-3, "Service IDs".

detail

String

Detail information for the activity

For example, this might return the contents of a message, the file name of a document, and the like.

Similar to detailURL. Both, either, or neither can be used.

detailURL

String

Detail information for the activity

Similar to detail. Both, either, or neither can be used.

groupSpace

groupSpaceReference

Information about the group space in which the activity was performed

Note: This reference is not present for activities that did not happen in a group space (for example, activities that happened in a personal space). Also, creation of a group space happens in a personal space, so that activity does not have this element either.

message

String

Localized string for this activity

This may contain replacement strings within curly braces ({}).

permission

PRIVATE

SHARED

PUBLIC

Permission level of this activity

scope

String

Scope of the activity

This might return a group space, a personal space, and the like.

For example, for a group space, it returns a string similar to the following:

s8bba98ff_4cbb_40b8_beee_296c916a23ed

templateParams

Param

String replacement parameters for users and objects referenced in the message of this activity

Footnote 1 Data types, such as DATE and BOOLEAN, are stored in the API as STRING. The DATE data type returns a Java standard date format, for example, 2009-08-21T14:43:11.0013-0700, with 0700 representing the time zone.

20.3.3.2 Connections and Profile REST APIs

Use the Connections and Profile REST APIs to browse a profile or a connections list, manage connections lists, add or remove connections, send invitations to connect, and update a profile status message.

This section provides information about the REST APIs to use to perform these actions. It contains the following subsections:

20.3.3.2.1 Connections and Profile Entry Point

Each REST service has a link element within the Resource Index that provides the entry point for that service. For the People Connections service, each feature has its own link element. For example, to find the entry points for Connections and Profile features of the People Connections service, find the link elements with a resourceType of:

urn:oracle:webcenter:people (returns the current user profile)

urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person (enables you to query for a user)

urn:oracle:webcenter:people:invitations (returns invitations sent or received by the current user)

Note:

The people:person and people:invitations resource types have a template but not an href.

The corresponding href or template element provides the URI entry point, which returns a list of people (people) or an individual user (people:person). The client sends HTTP requests to this entry point to work with the Connections and Profile features of the People Connections service.

See Also:

For more information about the Resource Index, see Section 28.3.1, "The Resource Index."

For more information about resource types, see Section 28.3.2.1, "Resource Type."

20.3.3.2.2 Connections and Profile Resource Type Taxonomy

When the client has identified the entry point, it can then navigate through the resource type taxonomy to perform the required operations. For more information about the individual resource types, see the appropriate section in Section 20.3.3.2.4, "Connections and Profile Resource Types."

The resource type taxonomy for the Connections and Profile features in the People Connections service is:

urn:oracle:webcenter:people
   urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person
   urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:list
      urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:listNames
      urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:listName
      urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:list:member
      urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:status
   urn:oracle:webcenter:people:invitations
      urn:oracle:webcenter:people:invitation
20.3.3.2.3 Connections and Profile Security Considerations

You must be logged in to the REST service to access any of the People Connections REST APIs. After that, the underlying service handles permission checking and the like.

See Also:

For general security considerations, see Section 28.6, "Security Considerations for WebCenter REST APIs."
20.3.3.2.4 Connections and Profile Resource Types

This section provides you with all the information you need to know about each resource type. It includes the following subsections:

urn:oracle:webcenter:people

The people response contains URIs for use in retrieving the profile of one or more users.

Navigation Paths to people

This section shows how the client can navigate through the hypermedia to access the people resource:

resourceIndex
   people

Supported Methods for people

The following method is supported by the people resource:

  • GET

    • request—Parameters: startIndex, itemsPerPage, projection

      See Also:

      For information about REST API parameters, such as startIndex and itemsPerPage, see "Common Request Query Parameters".

    • response—Body: 1 or more person

Resource Types Linked to from people

Table 20-14 lists the resource types that the client can link to from the people resource.

Table 20-14 Related Resource Types for people

rel resourceType

self

urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person

urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person

The person response contains profile data and the URIs for use in retrieving a user profile.

Navigation Paths to person

This section shows how the client can navigate through the hypermedia to access the person resource:

resourceIndex
   people

resourceIndex
   people
      person

resourceIndex
   person

author
   person

resourceIndex
   activities:stream
      person

Supported Methods for person

The following method is supported by the person resource:

  • GET

    • request—Parameters: q

      To retrieve a specified person, the format of q is:

      q=[loginid:equals:username]
Or
q=[guid:equals:guid]

      Note:

      The parameter q is only on the resourceIndex template for person.

    • response—Body: message

      See Also:

      For information about the response message, see "Read-only Elements for person".

Read-only Elements for person

Table 20-15 lists the read-only elements for the person resource.

Note:

The elements present in a person response depend on how the user repository is configured and the elements it supports. Additionally, several of the pieces of data represented in Table 20-15, such as address, emails, photos, phoneNumbers, and organization, can have multiple instances.

See Also:

For information about projection, see "Common Request Query Parameters".

Table 20-15 Read-Only Elements for person

Element Type Description Projection

guid

String

Unique GUID of the person

Summary, Detailed

id

String

Unique login ID of the person (that is, the user name, for example, pat_coi)

Summary, Detailed

displayName

String

Display name of the person (the user's name, for example, Pat Coi). This may have the same value as id, depending on the repository configuration.

Summary, Detailed

birthday

Date (String)Foot 1 

Birth date of the person

Summary, Detailed

connected

Boolean (String)Footref 1

Whether or not this person is connected to the current user

Detailed

language

String

Preferred language of the person

Summary, Detailed

timeZone

String

Time zone of the person

Summary, Detailed

name

name

Name information for the person

name is a portable contact type. For more information, see Section 28.7.2.1, "name Portable Contact Type."

Summary, Detailed

address

address

Address information for the person

address is a portable contact type. For more information, see Section 28.7.2.2, "address Portable Contact Type."

Summary, Detailed

emails

value

Emails for the person

emails is derived from the value portable contact type. For more information, see Section 28.7.2.4, "value Portable Contact Type."

Summary, Detailed

photos

value

Profile photos for the person

photos is derived from the value portable contact type. For more information, see Section 28.7.2.4, "value Portable Contact Type."

Summary, Detailed

phoneNumbers

value

Phone numbers for the person

phoneNumber is derived from the value portable contact type. For more information, see Section 28.7.2.4, "value Portable Contact Type."

Summary, Detailed

organization

organization

Organization information for the person

organization is a portable contact type. For more information, see Section 28.7.2.3, "organization Portable Contact Type."

Summary, Detailed

manager

personReference

Manager of this person

Summary, Detailed

reportees

personReference

Direct reports of this person

Summary, Detailed

status

urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:status

Person's profile status message

Detailed

Footnote 1 Data types, such as DATE and BOOLEAN, are stored in the API as STRING.

Resource Types Linked to from person

Table 20-16 lists the resource types that the client can link to from the person resource.

Table 20-16 Related Resource Types for person

rel resourceType

self

urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person

alternate

urn:oracle:webcenter:spaces:profile (HTML)

urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:list:connections

urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:list
 

urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:listNames
 

urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:status

urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream:person

urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream

urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream:connections

urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream

urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream

urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream
 

urn:oracle:webcenter:messageBoard

urn:oracle:webcenter:feedback:all-given

urn:oracle:webcenter:feedback

urn:oracle:webcenter:feedback:all-received

urn:oracle:webcenter:feedback

urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:list

The list response contains URIs for use in retrieving all the profiles on a connections list (GET), inviting a user to be a connection or adding a connection to a connections list (POST), and removing a connections list (DELETE).

Navigation Paths to list

This section shows how the client can navigate through the hypermedia to access the list resource:

resourceIndex
   person
      listNames
         list

resourceIndex
   person
      list (rel="urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:list:connections")

Supported Methods for list

The following methods are supported by the list resource:

Resource Types Linked to from list

Table 20-17 lists the resource types that the client can link to from the list resource.

Table 20-17 Related Resource Types for list

rel resourceType

self urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:listFoot 1 

urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:list

urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream

urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream

Footnote 1 self rel currently includes "urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:list:list" instead of the correct "urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:list". For the @connections default list, it currently includes "urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:list:connections".

urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:listNames

The listNames response contains URIs for use in retrieving the names of existing connections lists (GET) and to creating connections lists (POST).

Navigation Paths to listNames

This section shows how the client can navigate through the hypermedia to access the listNames resource:

resourceIndex
   person
      listNames

Supported Methods for listNames

The following methods are supported by the listNames resource:

  • GET

    • request

    • response: Body: 0 or more listName items

      Note:

      @connections is a user's default connections. It behaves like a connections list, but it is not included in the results of listNames.

  • POST

    • request—Body: listName

    • response—Body: listName

See Also:

For information about listName, see "urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:listName".

Resource Types Linked to from listNames

Table 20-18 lists the resource types that the client can link to from the listNames resource.

Table 20-18 Related Resource Types for listNames

rel resourceType

self

urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:listNames

urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:listName

The listName response contains the names of connections lists and URIs for use in accessing the connections lists.

Navigation Paths to listName

This section shows how the client can navigate through the hypermedia to access the listName resource:

resourceIndex
   person
      listNames
         listName

Writable Elements for listName

Table 20-19 lists the writable elements for the listName resource.

Table 20-19 Writable Elements for listName

Element Type Required Constraints Description

name

String

Yes

1 or more characters

A single list name

Resource Types Linked to from listName

Table 20-20 lists the resource types that the client can link to from the listName resource.

Table 20-20 Related Resource Types for listName

rel resourceType

self urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:list

urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:list

urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream:list

urn:oracle:webcenter:activities:stream

urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:list:member

The member response contains URIs for use in deleting a connection from a connections list or removing a connection from the default connections list.

Navigation Paths to member

This section shows how the client can navigate through the hypermedia to access the member resource:

resourceIndex
   person
      list
         member

Supported Methods for member

The following method is supported by the member resource:

  • DELETE

    • request

Writable Elements for member

Table 20-21 lists the writable elements for the member resource. Writable elements for member are used when you add a connection to a list or invite a user to be a connection. The member resource itself is for deleting connections, and does not use writable elements.

Table 20-21 Writable Elements for member

Element Type Required Constraints Description

guid

String

Yes

1 or more characters

GUID of the user

message

String

No

0 or more characters

Invitation message

Use this only when inviting users to be connections (that is POSTing to the @connections list, not to user-created connections lists).

urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:status

The status response contains URIs for use in retrieving (GET) and updating (PUT) the profile status message of a specified user.

Navigation Paths to status

This section shows how the client can navigate through the hypermedia to access the status resource:

resourceIndex
   people
      person
         status

Supported Methods for status

The following methods are supported by the status resource:

  • GET

    • request

    • response—Body: status

  • PUT

    • request—Body: status

    • response—Body: status

Writable Elements for status

Table 20-22 lists the writable elements for the status resource.

Table 20-22 Writable Elements for status

Element Type Required Constraints Description

note

String

Yes

1 or more characters

Content of status message

Resource Types Linked to from status

Table 20-23 lists the resource types that the client can link to from the status resource.

Table 20-23 Related Resource Types for status

rel resourceType

self

urn:oracle:webcenter:people:person:status

urn:oracle:webcenter:people:invitations

The invitations response contains URIs for use in retrieving invitations (GET). You can also send an invitation (POST) to another user.

Navigation Paths to invitations

This section shows how the client can navigate through the hypermedia to access the invitations resource:

resourceIndex
   invitations

If you are not already connected to a user, you can also navigate to the invitations resource from that user's profile in order to invite them to connect.

resourceIndex
   person
      invitations

Supported Methods for invitations

The following methods are supported by the invitations resource:

  • GET

    • Request—Parameters: q

      To retrieve invitations sent to the current user, the format of q is:

      q=[invitee:equals:@me]

      To retrieve invitations sent from the current user, the format of q is:

      q=[invitor:equals:@me]

    • Response—Body: 1 or more invitations

  • POST

    • Request—Body: invitation

    • Response—Body: invitation

Note:

The methods supported depend on the path taken to get to the resource. For example, the POST method is supported only by the link from the person resource. Check the capabilities of the link to understand exactly which methods are supported.

Writable Elements for invitations

Table 20-24 lists the writable elements for the invitations resource.

Table 20-24 Writable Elements for invitations

Element Type Required Constraints Description

message

String

No

1 or more characters

Message attached to the invitation

Resource Types Linked to from invitations

Table 20-25 lists the resource types that the client can link to from the invitations resource:

Table 20-25 Related Resource Types for invitations

rel resourceType
 

urn:oracle:webcenter:people:invitation

urn:oracle:webcenter:people:invitation

The invitation response contains URIs for use in deleting (DELETE) invitations you have sent, or deleting (DELETE) or updating (PUT) invitations you have received.

Navigation Paths to invitation

This section shows how the client can navigate through the hypermedia to access the invitation resource:

resourceIndex
   invitations
      invitation

Supported Methods for invitation

The following methods are supported by the invitation resource:

  • PUT

    • Request—Body: invitation

    • Response—Body: invitation

  • DELETE

    • Request

Writable Elements for invitation

Table 20-26 lists the writable elements for the invitation resource.

Table 20-26 Writable Elements for invitation

Element Type Required Constraints Description

status

String

Yes (PUT)

ACCEPTED

IGNORED

The status of the invitation.

Note: When you accept or ignore an invitation, it is removed from your list of invitations.

Read-only Elements for invitation

Table 20-27 lists the read-only elements for the invitation resource.

Table 20-27 Read-only Elements for invitation

Element Type Description

id

String

Unique ID of the invitation

invitee

personReference

User to whom the invitation is sent

invitor

personReference

User from whom the invitation is sent

sentDate

Date (String)Foot 1 

Date the invitation was sent

Footnote 1 Data types, such as DATE and BOOLEAN, are stored in the API as STRING.

Resource Types Linked to from invitation

Table 20-28 lists the resource types that the client can link to from the invitation response.

Table 20-28 Related Resource Types for invitations

rel resourceType

self

urn:oracle:webcenter:people:invitation

20.3.3.3 Feedback REST APIs

Use the Feedback REST APIs to read and delete feedback. This section provides information about the REST APIs to use to perform these actions. It contains the following subsections:

20.3.3.3.1 Feedback Entry Point

Each REST service has a link element within the Resource Index that provides the entry point for that service. For the People Connections service, each feature has its own link element. To find the entry points for the Feedback feature of the People Connections service, find the link elements with a resourceType of:

urn:oracle:webcenter:feedback

The corresponding href or template element provides the URI entry point, which returns all received feedback for the current user. The client sends HTTP requests to this entry point to work with the Feedback feature of the People Connections service.

See Also:

For more information about the Resource Index, see Section 28.3.1, "The Resource Index."

For more information about resource types, see Section 28.3.2.1, "Resource Type."

20.3.3.3.2 Feedback Resource Type Taxonomy

When the client has identified the entry point, it can then navigate through the resource type taxonomy to perform the required operations. For more information about the individual resource types, see the appropriate section in Section 20.3.3.3.4, "Feedback Resource Types."

the resource type taxonomy for the Feedback feature of the People Connections service is:

urn:oracle:webcenter:feedback
   urn:oracle:webcenter:feedback:message
20.3.3.3.3 Feedback Security Considerations

You must be logged in to the REST service to access any of the People Connections REST APIs. After that, the underlying service handles permission checking and the like.

See Also:

For general security considerations, see Section 28.6, "Security Considerations for WebCenter REST APIs."
20.3.3.3.4 Feedback Resource Types

This section provides you with all the information you need to know about each resource type. It includes the following subsections:

urn:oracle:webcenter:feedback

The feedback response contains URIs for use in reading Feedback messages.

Navigation Paths to feedback

This section shows how the client can navigate through the hypermedia to access the feedback resource:

resourceIndex
   feedback

resourceIndex
   person
      feedback

Supported Methods for feedback

The following methods are supported by the feedback resource:

Resource Types Linked to from feedback

Table 20-29 lists the resource types that the client can link to from the feedback resource.

Table 20-29 Related Resource Types for feedback

rel resourceType

self urn:oracle:webcenter:feedback:all-received

urn:oracle:webcenter:feedback

self urn:oracle:webcenter:feedback:all-given

urn:oracle:webcenter:feedback
 

urn:oracle:webcenter:feedback:message

urn:oracle:webcenter:feedback:message

The message response contains the feedback message data and URIs for use in deleting a Feedback message.

Navigation Paths to message

This section shows how the client can navigate through the hypermedia to access the message resource:

resourceIndex
   feedback
      message

resourceIndex
   person
      feedback
         message

Supported Methods from message

The following method is supported by the message resource:

  • DELETE

    • request

Note:

Currently, the DELETE method for the urn:oracle:webcenter:feedback:message resource type is nonfunctional. The message is not deleted, even though the REST client receives an HTTP success status of 204.

Read-only Elements for message

Table 20-30 lists the read-only elements for the message resource.

Table 20-30 Read-only Elements for message

Element Type Description

body

String

Message content

id

String

Unique ID of the message

author

personReference

User who created the message

created

Date (String)Foot 1 

Date the message was created

Footnote 1 Data types, such as DATE and BOOLEAN, are stored in the API as STRING.

Resource Types Linked to from feedback

Table 20-29 lists the resource types that the client can link to from the feedback resource.

Table 20-31 Related Resource Types for message

rel resourceType

self

urn:oracle:webcenter:feedback:message

20.3.3.4 Message Board REST APIs

Use the Message Board REST APIs to post, read, and delete messages to a user's or a group space's message board.

This section provides information about the REST APIs to use to perform these actions. It contains the following subsections:

20.3.3.4.1 Message Board Entry Point

Each REST service has a link element within the Resource Index that provides the entry point for that service. For the People Connections service, each feature has its own link element. To find the entry points for the Message Board feature of the People Connections service, find the link elements with a resourceType of:

urn:oracle:webcenter:messageBoard

Note:

As well as an entry point from the Resource Index, to navigate to an individual user's message board, the Message Board feature also has an entry point from a group space response for the group space's message board.

The corresponding href or template element provides the URI entry point, which returns the Message Board for the current user. The client sends HTTP requests to this entry point to work with the Message Board feature of the People Connections service.

See Also:

For more information about the Resource Index, see Section 28.3.1, "The Resource Index."

For more information about resource types, see Section 28.3.2.1, "Resource Type."

20.3.3.4.2 Message Board Resource Type Taxonomy

When the client has identified the entry point, it can then navigate through the resource type taxonomy to perform the required operations. For more information about the individual resource types, see the appropriate section in Section 20.3.3.4.4, "Message Board Resource Types."

the resource type taxonomy for the Message Board feature of the People Connections service is:

urn:oracle:webcenter:messageBoard
   urn:oracle:webcenter:messageBoard:message
20.3.3.4.3 Message Board Security Considerations

You must be logged in to the REST service to access any of the People Connections REST APIs. After that, the underlying service handles permission checking and the like.

See Also:

For general security considerations, see Section 28.6, "Security Considerations for WebCenter REST APIs."
20.3.3.4.4 Message Board Resource Types

This section provides you with all the information you need to know about each resource type. It includes the following subsections:

urn:oracle:webcenter:messageBoard

The messageBoard response contains URIs for use in reading (GET) and posting (POST) group space and individual user Message Board messages.

Navigation Paths to messageBoard

This section shows how the client can navigate through the hypermedia to access the messageBoard resource:

resourceIndex
   messageBoard

resourceIndex
   person
      messageBoard

resourceIndex
   spaces
      space
         messageBoard

Supported Methods for messageBoard

The following methods are supported by the messageBoard resource:

Resource Types Linked to from messageBoard

Table 20-32 lists the resource types that the client can link to from the messageBoard resource.

Table 20-32 Related Resource Types for messageBoard

rel resourceType

self

urn:oracle:webcenter:messageBoard
 

urn:oracle:webcenter:messageBoard:message

urn:oracle:webcenter:messageBoard:message

The message response contains the Message Board message data and URIs for use in reading (GET), revising (PUT), and deleting (DELETE) a group space or individual user Message Board message.

Navigation Paths to message

This section shows how the client can navigate through the hypermedia to access the message resource:

resourceIndex
   messageBoard
      message

resourceIndex
   person
      messageBoard
         message

resourceIndex
   spaces
      space
         messageBoard
            message

Supported Methods for message

The following methods are supported by the message resource:

  • GET

    • request

    • response—Body: message

  • PUT

    • request—Body: message

    • response—Body: message

  • DELETE

    • request

Writable Elements for message

Table 20-33 lists the writable elements for the message resource.

Table 20-33 Writable Elements for message

Element Type Required Constraints Description

body

String

Yes

1 or more characters

message content

Read-only Elements for message

Table 20-34 lists the read-only elements for the message resource.

Table 20-34 Read-only Elements for message

Element Type Description

id

String

Unique ID of the message

author

personReference

User who created the message

created

Date (String)Foot 1 

Date the message was created

Footnote 1 Data types, such as DATE and BOOLEAN, are stored in the API as STRING.

Resource Types Linked to from message

Table 20-35 lists the resource types that the client can link to from the message resource.

Table 20-35 Related Resource Types for message

rel resourceType

self

urn:oracle:webcenter:messageBoard:message

20.4 Troubleshooting the People Connections Service

This section provides information to assist you in troubleshooting problems you may encounter while using the People Connections service.

People Connections task flows take up the full browser, even when empty

This problem may arise if you are using Internet Explorer, version 8 (IE8). In IE8, go to Tools, Compatibility View Settings. In the Compatibility View Settings dialog, clear the following check boxes:

  • Display intranet sites in Compatibility View

  • Display all websites in Compatibility View

New Profile Image is Not Shown

Changes to a Profile image may not be rendered immediately due to a stale WebCenter Database cache. Clicking the Refresh icon under the stale image will cause the image to update.