This is the root element of the PAA topology description and describes the included applications using applicationDefinition The definition of one or more applications, which are part of this PAA The about page links to a HTML page that gives a short description of the PAA. The value of this element must be a path within the archive that is relative to the location of the deployment descriptor. This element is set, if this archive is not a self-standing application but a secondary (possibly optional) deployment unit of an application that spans multiple PAAs. In this case, this element references the appID element of the main PAA for the application. The application definition describes an application with its components. The definition consists out of an application tree that lists the component definition (portlets, themes/skins, J2EE resources etc.), a layout tree that defines layouts for portal pages and a navigation tree that associates layouts with application artifacts and integrates them into the navigation of the portal. Parameters can be defined as points of variability The requires element is used to enumerate prerequisite to this application. Parameters (Points of Variability) within an application definition. Values for a specific Parameters (Points of Variability) within an application definition. The component tree describes all application artifacts. The tree structure of the component definitions can be used for organizing the components in the PAA application. There is no semantics associated with this organization and the portal may not respect this structure for organizing the actual portal resources corresponding to it. Abstract base element for including component definitions in the component tree. For each concrete subtype of component definition there must be an element defined that can substitute abstract-component-definition The component definition describes a single application artifact with its properties. In most cases, the application artifact is actually defined by its own deployment descriptor within the PAA and the application element is used for referencing it in the PAA deployment descriptor (using a resource-link subelement), so that it can be integrated into the portal application page layout and navigation. This is an abstract type that can never be used directly; actual XML documents can only contain derived types Preferences can hold Meta Data, which can be applied when deploying a Portal Application Archive. These preferences are not standardized and their meaning depends on the implementation, which deploys the portal application. A certain behavior is not garantueed. A resource link specifies a reference resource that is not defined in this deployment descriptor. This is an abstract type that can never be used directly; application elements that use resource links must define concrete derived types. The name attribute specifies the name of the artefact to be used Defines at which time a resource link can be resolved A static resource link must be resolved at PAA deployment time. The references resource must exist either in the portal or in the PAA at this time A dynamic resource link does not need to be resolved at PAA deployment time. If the referenced resource does not exist at that time, the link may be resolved later. component definition for including portlet definitions in the application tree A portlet definition refers to a portlet defined in a portlet.xml deployment descriptor in a portlet WAR file. A portlet can be associated with a window in a layout. Preferences specified here override and extend the peferences that have been specified in the deployment descriptor A link to a portlet definition that is included in the PAA or deployed separately in the portal. The attribute "name" is the name of the portlet, as specified by the portlet-name element in the portlet.xml. If the name of the portlet is not unique within the PAA, an additional portlet-application attribute must be specified. The portlet-app id in portlet.xml to fully qualify the portlet within the Portal. Since different PAAs could have portlets wiith the same name, it is necessary to name space them. component definition for including portlet entities in the application tree A portlet entity specifies a portlet with additional configuration values. A portlet entitiy can be associated with a window in a layout. Preferences specified here override and extend the peferences that have been specified in the deployment decscriptor of the referenced portlet definition. References the portlet definition that describes the portlet. component definition for a remote portlet which is consumed by this application A remote portlet which can be associated with a window in a layout and is part of this application. The attribute "name" is the Remote Portlet Element definition for including tile definitions in the application tree A tile definition refers to a portlet defined in a struts-config.xml or the tiles-def.xml defined as part of the WebSphere Admin Console console module WAR files. A tile can be associated with a window in a layout. The attribute "name" is the name of the tile, as specified in the struts-config.xml or the tiles-def.xml component definition to include page level help definitions in the application tree A page help definition refers to the definition of a unit of help at the page level. Page level help is useful when the interaction between artifacts on a page (portlets) must be explained. The attribute "name" is the PageHelpID is the unique ID that references the page level help artifact. There is a unique PageHelpID per page in the portal The PageHelpPath is the relative location in the module's package to the page level help artifact referenced by the PageHelpID Element definition for including themes in the application tree A theme defines the visual appearance of portal pages, e.g. page headers and footers, CSS definitions, etc. A theme can be associated with a navigation element. the attribute "name" is the name of the theme artefact. Will be specified more precisely when there is a more flexible deployment mechanism for themes component definition for including skins in the application tree A skin defines the visualizaion of a portlet in a layout, e.g. a border that is drawn around the portlet. A skin can be associated with a window in a layout. the attribute "name" is the name of the skin artefact. Will be specified more precisely when there is a more flexible deployment mechanism for skins component definition for including wires in the application tree A property broker wire that connects two portlet entities component definition for including url links in the application tree A link to a web resource outside the PAA. The URL of the web resource. This can be a relative or an absolute URL. By default, the specified URL is an absolute URL, unless the attribute "absolute" is set to false above. component definition for describing business components which belong to a application definition A component providing business logic. A link to the BusinessObject Resource component specific serialized data of the BusinessObject A link to the Business Object Resource The layout tree describes layouts for portal pages. The pages can be fully defined, including their content, or they can be page templates that have content spots, which can be filled when the page is actually included in a navigation tree The tree structure of the layout elements can be used for organiziing the layouts in the PAA. There is no semantics associated with this structure and the portal may not respect this structure for organizing the actual portal resources corresponding to it. The layout element describes the layout of content on a portal page. A layout is described by a tree of nested container subelements. The leaves of this tree can define content spots that are secribed by window subelements Preferences can hold Meta Data, which can be applied when deploying a Portal Application Archive. These prferences are not standardized and their meaning depends on the implementation, which deploys the portal application. A certain behavior is not garantueed. Abstract base element for including containers in a layout tree. For each concrete subtype of Container there must be an element defined that can substitute abstract-container The container element describes a fragment of a layout. The subelements of the container are arranged depending on the concrete subtype of the container Preference can hold Meta Data, which can be applied when deploying a Portal Application Archive. These preference are not standardized and their meaning depends on the implementation, which deploys the portal application. A certain behavior is not garantueed. Element definition for including rows and columns in the layout A container that arranges its content in a linear sequence Defines the possible orientations of a SimpleContainer Subelements are arranged in a horizontal row from left to right Subelements are arranged in a vertical column from top to bottom A window describes a place in a layout where content can be inserted. The window can wither contain an application artifact or a nested layout. Preference can hold Meta Data, which can be applied when deploying a Portal Application Archive. These preferences are not standardized and their meaning depends on the implementation, which deploys the portal application. A certain behavior is not garantueed. This includes the specified layout This includes the specified application artifact, normally a portlet Describes PortletRefresh settings for this window The navigation element describes one element of the navigation hierarchy of a portal application. Navigation elements are arranged in a tree that reflects the structure of the navigation hierarchy that is created in the portal when the PAA is deployed. During PAA deployment, the portal administrator specifies where the navigation ofthe PAA is inserted into the existing navigation hierarchy of the portal. In most cases, a navigation element is associated with a page layout (specified by the layout-element-ref attribute) that will be displayed when the navigation element is selected. The navigation-content subelements specify how application artifacts are linked to the navigation element, e.g., how content spots in the layout template for this navigation element are filled. The Parent Tree element allows the instance document creator to specify the parent node and position under the parent node where the current navigation element is to be merged. The parent node need not be part of the current instance document, but the document author should ensure that the parent node is defined in the Portal before requesting the merge. If a requested parent node does not exist, the node will be merged at the bottom of the navigation tree. Ordinals are non negative numbers that can be optionally defined while requesting to be merged under a particular parent node. They determine the relative order of nodes under a particular parentTree. If no ordinal is specified, the nodes will be merged in the deployment order under the specified parent. Mapping of an component definition to a window in a layout. If no window is specified the component definition applies to the entire LayoutElement. Multiple application Elements can point to the same window. Describes PortletRefresh settings for this NavigationContent The Page Params element allows the instance document creator to specify the page paramters to be used while rendering the page. Two types of page paramters can be specifed, render-param and page-header. render-params will be passed as RenderParamter to all portlets on that page while rendering page. page-header value will be added to HTML Head tag of the rendering page. RenderParameter defined by name/value pair will be passed to all portlets as RenderParameters on a page being rendered.