Method and apparatus for managing a collection of portlets in a portal server

Apparatus for displaying to a user a web portal for a web application, said web portal displaying a plurality of associated portlets, sharing information with each other, accessible by said user;

• comprising:
• a portal server operating a web portal to provide access to said web application;
• a portlet application operating on said portal server, for managing a collection of associated portlets;
• said portlet application including:
• means to initiate portlets on requests of a user to access said web application;
• means to manage a portlet application session object for said portlets;
• and,
• a portlet application session object data store controlled by said portlet application session object for saving parameters from user requests for associating said portlets with said with said portlet application session object.

Apparatus for sharing information between multiple associated portlets in a web portal comprising:

• a portlet application for managing said multiple associated portlets;
• a portlet application data store;
• and
• means for granting read/write access to said data store by said multiple associate portlets to enable said portlets to exchange data among each other.

A portlet application capable of operating on a portal server for hosting multiple associated portlets in a web portal accessible by a user, comprising:

• portlet application means for managing said multiple associated portlets;
• portlet application means for managing a portlet application session object for said user;
• and
• portlet application means for granting said key to each associated portlet for controlling access to said portlet application object.

A portlet application capable of operating on a portal server for hosting multiple associated portlets in a web portal accessible by a user, comprising:

• portlet application means for managing said multiple associated portlets;
• portlet application means for creating and managing a portlet application session object for said user;
• portlet application means for creating and managing a key for said user for said portlet application session object;
• and
• portlet application means for granting said key to each associated portlet for controlling access to said portlet application object.

Apparatus for displaying to a user a web portal for a web application comprising:

• a portal server for operating a web portal to provide access to said web application by a user;
• a portlet application, for managing a collection of associated portlets, for operating on said portal server;
• a portlet application session object for said user for said associated portlets;
• a portlet application session object data store controlled by said portlet application session object;
• a portlet application communication client linked to said portlet application data store for communicating between said associated portlets and said web application to convey user requests received from said associated portlets to said web application;
• and
• said communication client having a request buffer for storing and synchronizing requests from said associated portlets to enable said communication client to generate synchronized to said web application.

Apparatus for displaying to a user a web portal for a web application comprising:

• a portal server for operating a web portal to provide access to said web application by a user;
• a portlet application, for managing a collection of associated portlets, for operating on said portal server;
• a portlet application session object for said user for said associated portlets;
• a portlet application session object data store controlled by said portlet application session object;
• a portlet application communication client linked to said portlet application data store for communicating between said associated portlets and said web application to convey user requests received from said associated portlets to said web application;
• and
• said communication client having a request buffer for storing and serializing requests from said associated portlets to enable said communication client to generate serialized to said web application.