Writing a Widget Processor

A widget processor is a Java class that performs some action every time a widget is rendered. A widget processor can be configured to work either for a single view or for multiple views. A widget processor must

Extend com.escenic.framework.controller.processor.GenericWidgetProcessor
Override process method.

You might, for example, create a widget processor called HelloWorldWidgetDefaultViewWidgetProcessor for your Hello World widget's default view:

package com.mycompany.view.processor;

import com.escenic.framework.controller.processor.GenericWidgetProcessor;
import neo.xredsys.presentation.PresentationArticle;
import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
import java.util.Map;


public class HelloWorldWidgetDefaultViewWidgetProcessor extends GenericWidgetProcessor {
  @Override
  protected void process(final Map<String, Object> pWidgetContext,
                         final HttpServletRequest pRequest) {

    PresentationArticle article = (PresentationArticle) pRequest.getAttribute("article");
    pWidgetContext.put("viewCount", getViewCount(article));
  }
}

Assume that the getViewCount() method returns the number of times the current article has been viewed. Your widget processor adds this value to pWidgetContext, the widget context bean, so that it can then be retrieved by a view JSP template. For example:

<p>This page has been viewed ${widget.viewCount} times.</p>

The widget context bean provides access to all data associated with the context widget (including its model object). For further information, see Using The Widget Context Bean.

Before a widget processor can be used it must be:

Compiled
Added to the web application's classpath

To compile a widget processor you must have wf-presentation-4.0.3-1.jarin your classpath.

Once you have created a widget processor class, you need to:

Create a set of properties files to declare the widget processor and register it in the system
Package the widget processor in a JAR file
Deploy the JAR file in your publication