Introduction

This guide is written for IntelliPortal channel developers. It explains all aspects of channel development, including how to write and publish Java channels and HTML channels, how to write adapters that interface with external data sources, and how to use the IntelliPortal tools. It assumes that you are familiar with the Java development environment, object-oriented programming, and with IntelliPortal concepts for server administration and channel development.

How This Book Is Organized

Conventions Used in This Book

This Courier typewriter font is used to indicate Java classes, methods, and other code-related elements.

Web Sites for Further Information

IntelliPortal Developer Toolkit

The IntelliPortal Developer Toolkit is a set of software tools, sample channels, documentation, and API's (application programming interfaces) that lets you build channels and manage the environment. The Toolkit lets you build and publish channels and manage the adapters, datafeeds, and other elements in the IntelliPortal environment.

Software Tools

IntelliPortal has GUI tools that are used in channel development and in server administration. They are standalone Java programs that run outside of the IntelliPortal application.

Tool	Description
Server Administrator	The Server Administrator is used to manage channels and datafeeds. A channel is a path to an end-user client machine; a datafeed is a path to an external data source.
Alert Editor	The Alert Editor creates alerts that are displayed in a scrolling ticker channel. Alerts can be generated by channel developers, server administrators, or end users (e.g. a user wanting to know when a stock or commodity has reached a certain level).
Publisher	The Publisher copies the files in a channel's base directory to the transmitter in a special way so that they can be transmitted to a client machine as a channel.
Trigger Editor	The Trigger Editor is used to built triggers. Triggers are a convenient way to cause changes in channels based on criteria that you can establish and manage in advance. For example, the loading of an HTML page can trigger the playing of a video.

Technical Documentation

In addition to this Channel Developer Guide, you may wish to refer to the following IntelliPortal documents for information. These publications are available on the installation CD-ROM in HTML or Adobe PDF format.

Sun Microsystems has established standard conventions for the Java programming language. It covers filenames, file organization, indentation, comments, declarations, statements, white space, naming conventions, programming practices, etc. Among other things, these conventions maximize cross-platform portability. For more information visit http://java.sun.com/docs/codeconv/index.html.

Java Documentation

The Java Documentation Generator (javadoc) is a tool, included with the Sun Java Development Kit (JDK), that parses the declarations and documentation comments in a set of Java source files and produces a set of HTML pages. By default, the HTML pages describe public and protected classes, interfaces, constructors, methods, and fields. javadoc also produces a class hierarchy and index of all members. It generates one .html file for each .java file and package it finds and also produces a class hierarchy (tree.html) and an index (AllNames.html).

The javadocs generated for MECA-provided and supported packages are a fundamental part of the Toolkit and are included with the software. (See IntelliPortal Java Packages for a brief description of each package and direct links to the javadocs.) If you need more information about any Java-related element in IntelliPortal, the first thing to do is to consult the javadocs. For a complete description of how to use the javadocs, see the API User's Guide.

IntelliPortal APIs

IntelliPortal has a built-in application programming interface to client services for alerts, usage tracking, bookmarks, layout, etc. You can use these service interfaces (and all the public classes that are available in the IntelliPortal Java Packages) when building channels. These are the primary hookpoints into the code for channel developers. See Client Services for a description of the service interfaces.

Sample Channels

Complete sample channels are provided with the actual code to demonstrate various IntelliPortal services. You can use these samples as the basis for creating your own channels. The sample channel code is crisp and clear and is written to illustrate good coding techniques that optimize performance. You can cut and paste classes, write your own classes, or use the samples with minimal changes to create your own channels.

Technical Support

MECA Software is committed to providing the service and support needed to build, install, and manage your IntelliPortal environment. For information about service programs, or for technical support or training, contact MECA online or call your account representative.

IntelliPortal Terms


Adapters	Adapters are components that provide interfaces between the IntelliPortal server and external systems. Adapters are interfaces into the DataFeed for getting data from external sources. They provide a uniform interface for the DataFeed to get data from, and are customized as needed to get the data from the actual source.
AdChannel	The AdChannel is a marketing channel that displays a stream of advertisement data.
Alert	An Alert is a software mechanism that notifies end-users of a condition that requires attention. IntelliPortal displays alerts in the panel represented by Important button at the top of the client shell.
Alert Service	The Alert Service is an interface that channel developers and system administrators can use to create alert messages; they generate alert objects that contain the data or information the alert displays.
Bookmark	A bookmark is a pointer to a channel in a particular state or condition. Users bookmark a channel so they can return to it later. When you develop a channel, you determine which parts of the channel are bookmarkable.
Channel	A channel is content or functionality you provide to a customer or that you use as part of the IntelliPortal client or tuner.
Channel Manager	The channel manager is a client dialog that the customer uses to subscribe to, or unsubscribe from, the content channels you provide. The channel manager displays subscribed channels in the channel menu.
Channel Menu	The channel menu displays the list of subscribed channel the customer can view and work with. IntelliPortal displays the channel menu in a panel in the client shell.
Client Application	The client application is the portion of IntelliPortal that customers install on their PC. The client application contains the tuner that handles channel display; the client also handles the layout of the IntelliPortal window.
Content Channel	A content channel is a channel that the customer can subscribe to and view and work with in the IntelliPortal client. You publish content channels to a transmitter; the transmitter then sends the channel to a tuner in the client application.
Datafeed	A standard interface for the plugin (and other requesters) to get data to add to the channel. The datafeed is asked for a particular type of data and given enough information to make the request discrete. It attempts to get the data through adapters, package it uniformly, and return it to the requesting MecaPlugin.
Developer Toolkit	The Developer Toolkit is the packaged set of IntelliPortal software tools, API's, sample channels, and documentation that you use to build and deploy channels and adapters.
History Channel	The History channel is a system channel that maintains a running list of the channels and locations that the customer visits during an IntelliPortal client session. In the client shell, the History channel is represented by the Go Back button.
Key Manager	The Key Manager is the primary tool for user authentication. User authentication is a client application service developers use when they create channels. User identification and authentication are supported both online and offline. The Key Manager manages the security tokens required by channels.
Layout Manager	The Layout manager is a client service that you use to specify the layout and location of the panels in the IntelliPortal client application. The layout of the panels determines where the channels you provide appear on the customer's screen. IntelliPortal includes sample layouts that you can use, or you can design your own layout with the layout API provided in the Toolkit. The layout you choose or create is part of the properties included with the tuner.
MecaPlugin	The hookpoint into the channels to add/delete data and files. It reads information from the log stream for ad server information, and from the profile data stream for dynamic file information. MecaPlugin uses information from its database tables to determine what files it should ask for from the DataFeed. It adds those files to the list of files to send to the client.
IntelliPortal	IntelliPortal is the name of the MECA client/server framework and Developer Toolkit that you use to create, publish, and administer channels of content that you deliver to a client application that resides on a customer's PC.
MECA Storage Facility	The MSF is an optional database that is part of IntelliPortal. The MSF provides local storage on the customer's PC for information that can be carried over from session to session and lets the customer work offline.
Panel	A panel is a portion of the IntelliPortal client shell in which a channel can run and/or display content. You use the Layout Manager to choose or design the number and arrangement of the panels in the client application.
Publisher	The Publisher is an IntelliPortal tool that you use to publish channels to transmitters.
Sample Channels	Sample channels are fully-functional channels that demonstrate various IntelliPortal functions and capabilities. Sample channels include source code that developers can use as a blueprint for developing their own channels.
Server Administrator	The Server Administrator is a tool that you use to install, configure, and monitor the IntelliPortal server and add, remove, or change channels and the adapters the channels use.
Servlet	Objects that conform to a specific interface that can be plugged into a Java-based server. They serve as platform-independent, dynamically loadable, pluggable, helper-bytecode objects on the server side that can be used to dynamically extend server-side functionality. Servlets are to the server-side what applets are to the client-side, object bytecodes that can be dynamically loaded off the Internet on demand. Since servlets run inside servers, they do not need a graphical user interface.
System Channel	System channels are channels that IntelliPortal requires to run the client application. For example, the History (Go Back), and Bookmark channels are system channels; the Channel menu is also a system channel.
Ticker Channel	The Ticker channel is a scrolling text pane that displays text, stock quotes, messages, etc. Channels can add messages to, or remove them from, the Ticker channel.
Transmitter	A transmitter is an IntelliPortal component that resides on a server machine and transmits published channels and dynamic software updates to the tuner in the client application. You publish channels to a transmitter to make them available to client applications.
Trigger	A software device whereby one component triggers actions in other objects by informing their registered listeners that an event occurred. When some action takes place, the trigger has been pulled. IntelliPortal uses triggers to simplify communication between channels and the tuner. It uses a set of classes that construct and publish TunerEvent objects based on data provided in advance or on data that is dynamically read from the channel at runtime.
Trigger Editor	The Trigger Editor is an IntelliPortal tool that you use to build triggers.
Tuner	A tuner is a component of the IntelliPortal client application that receives channels and software updates from a transmitter on an IntelliPortal server. The tuner make the channels available to the client application.
Tuner Event Service	The Tuner Event Service is a delivery method for messages between channels and the tuner or channels themselves.
Usage Tracking	Lets a channel record arbitrary or defined events and send that information to the server for processing and routing to profilers, ad servers, etc.
Version Registry	The Version Registry Service is a client service that tracks what version of the channel was loaded the last time the channel ran so that the channel can update itself if necessary.