Portlet Modes

The mode indicates the function that the portlet is currently performing. A portlet’s current mode is passed to it by the portlet container. Based on the mode, the portlet can choose to generate different contents. In processAction() method, the portlet can change the mode programmatically.

 

Portlets can be in 3 modes:

1. View (represented by PortletMode.VIEW) – usually portlets represent their current state
2. Edit (PortletMode.EDIT) – Options to edit data are presented here
3. Help (PortletMode.HELP) – Generic or context sensitive information about the portlet provided here.

 

The portlet modes that a user has access to can be restricted by his authentication credentials (e.g. guest can only read and access help).

 

Custom portlet modes are also supported. These custom modes can be portal managed (portal will manage custom modes for the portlet) or portlet managed (portlet manages its mode in its own code. Portal not aware of portlet’s modes).

 

In portlet.xml, the modes that the portlet supports are indicated as follows:

 

<portlet>

  …

  <supports>

    <mime-type>text/html</mime-type>

    <portlet-mode>view</portlet-mode>

    <portlet-mode>edit</portlet-mode>

    <portler-mode>help</portlet-mode>

  </supports>

</portlet>

 

Initialization parameters to a portlet can be specified as follows in portlet.xml:

 

<portlet>

  <init-param>

    <name>view-action</name>

    <value>test</value>

  </init-param>

  <init-param>

    <name>edit-action</name>

    <value>test2</value>

  </init-param>

  …

</portlet>

 

These initialization parameters can be accessed in the portlet using the PortletConfig.