A Component Model for Integrating Remote Applications and Services via Web Portals

Application integration via web portals is the most widely used and least expensive means for integrating enterprise applications and services. Component-based portals enable the composition of web pages from reusable portal components, where each component represents an independent application or service. This integration is often limited to components displayed on the same web page, to local deployed components, and to homogeneous environments. We describe a component model for enhanced integration of portal components in web portals. Our model supports not only the aggregation of components within one web page but also the composition of component navigation into a central navigation area, the communication between local and remote components, and the integration of heterogeneous environments. The approach is based on existing standards and uses XML for describing component navigation and communication capabilities. It is mostly declarative and may also be used for improving integration capabilities of already existing portal components.