Dynamic User Definition

Dynamic Users ThinkingOutLoud.DonaldNoyes.20110228

Dynamic Interfaces

Dynamic user interfaces, or dynamic UIs, are portlets or pages that are dynamically created based on the definition of an existing page or PortletDefinition?. A dynamic UI can be launched only by a portlet using the Dynamic UI Manager API. Because of its dynamic nature, the interface is not persisted in the portal database and has a maximum lifetime of the user's PortletSession. The interface can also be closed prior to the end of the session either programmatically or by the user.

Dynamic UIs are suited for applications in which users might need to have several instances of a page or portlet open for multitasking. Consider the travel request scenario in business process integration as an example. If several sales representatives need to travel to a conference, their manager would receive multiple travel requests. With static pages, the manager must complete one request before proceeding to the next one. Using dynamic UIs, the manager can open several requests simultaneously and navigate between these and other pages in the portal. BusinessProcessIntegration is an example of a dynamic UI configuration.

From: <http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wpdoc/v6r1/topic/com.ibm.wp.ent.doc_v6101/dev/wpsdynui_cpts.html>

I would like to ask for some clarification on what is meant by "static page". Using a generic web form page, it's possible to open multiple "copies" of a given pages/form at the same time and have them all floating around your screen work-space, or as tabs. That doesn't require anything fancy or new that I can see.

Perhaps the content is changing, such as the travel request text? Just split the page into two sections, a request description and a form, using frames or iframes and have the request description auto-refresh every N seconds using HEAD META tags. All without even JavaScript. - t