Abstract: A system and method for providing collaboration communities in a computer portal environment. The system comprises a community portal tool for creating community portals, portal applications, or portal web applications. In one embodiment, the portal can be one of a number of enterprise applications on server software. The portal can include a community context that can have an indication of members of the community. The indication can be, for example, a list of the members or pointer to a list of members. The community portal can be constructed from portal elements and the community context. The community portal tool can also be used to select a community portal template from a portal component library. The template can include standard elements from the construction of a community portal. A standardized look and feel, layout, and components such as a calendars can be in a community template.

Abstract: A system and method comprising, sharing information between a plurality of participants in a collaboration; and exposing a set of functions that enable a participant in the plurality of participants to share the information, the set of functions comprising: first functions to facilitate establishing a context in which to interact with the plurality of participants; and second functions to facilitate storing and retrieving values from a shared state, wherein the shared state is accessible within the context.

Abstract: A system and method comprising, sharing information between a plurality of participants in a collaboration; and exposing a set of functions that enable a participant in the plurality of participants to share the information, the set of functions comprising: first functions to facilitate establishing a context in which to interact with the plurality of participants; and second functions to facilitate storing and retrieving values from a shared state, wherein the shared state is accessible within the context.

Abstract: A method for rendering a graphical user interface (GUI), comprising providing for the representation of the GUI as a set of objects wherein the objects are organized in a logical hierarchy, associating a theme with a first object in the set of objects, rendering the first object according to the theme, rendering any descendents of the first object according to the theme, wherein any descendents of the first object can override the theme, and wherein one of the set of objects can communicate with another of the set of objects.

Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for providing security for a communities framework in a collaborative computing environment. A community can be provided for maintaining user membership during collaboration. The community can contain various collaboration resources, community services and members having access to the resources and services. A first layer of security can be implemented via membership and functional capabilities. Members can be assigned to various membership capabilities and these membership capabilities can be mapped to functional capabilities in order to control access to the resources by the various members. A second layer of security can be implemented via entitlements and security policies applied to the content repository. Entitlements can be applied at a node level of a content repository. Each node can be evaluated when operations are requested for it.

Abstract: A method for responding to a request, comprising accepting the request, mapping the request to a control tree wherein the control tree is a logical representation of a graphical user interface (GUI) and wherein the control tree includes a set of controls which are related hierarchically to one another, advancing the control tree through at least one lifecycle stage based on the request, wherein the control tree includes at least one portlet control that represents at least one portlet, providing the request to a portlet container that contains the at least one portlet, and aggregating the output of each of the at least one portlets and providing the output to the GUI.

Abstract: A method for rendering a portal graphical user interface (GUI), comprising providing for the representation of a GUI desktop, a GUI look and feel, and a GUI book as a set of controls wherein the controls can be organized in a logical hierarchy, traversing the representation, wherein the traversing comprises associating a theme with a first control in the set of controls, rendering the first control according to the theme, rendering any descendents of the first control according to the theme, wherein any descendents of the first control can override the theme, and wherein one of the set of controls can communicate with another of the set of controls.

Abstract: A system and method for providing a request to a portlet wherein the portlet can render itself in a graphical user interface (GUI), comprising mapping the request to a control tree wherein the control tree is a logical representation of the GUI and wherein the control tree includes a set of controls which are related hierarchically to one another, advancing the control tree through at least one life cycle stage based on the request, wherein the control tree includes a portlet control that represents the portlet, and providing the request to a portlet container, wherein the providing can be performed by the portlet control.

Abstract: A method for navigating a graphical user interface (GUI) having at least one page, comprising providing a first booklet, wherein user interaction with the first booklet can cause the GUI to navigate to a new page; providing a request based on user interaction with the first booklet; mapping the request to a control tree factory; generating a control tree from the factory based on the request wherein the control tree includes a booklet control corresponding to the first booklet; advancing the control tree through at least one lifecycle stage based on the request; and generating a response wherein the response can be used to render the new page.

Abstract: A community enables user membership in a distributed collaborative computing environment. The members can have access to a repository of resources. Dynamic notifications between client and server can be provided. A member can be logged onto a client which pings the server computer through no interaction of the user. A notifications manager located on the server can retrieve updates available for the member in response to each ping. The notifications manager can look up any changes to the resources that the member has subscribed to. The server can subsequently notify the client of the available updates. The client's user interface can be updated to reflect the relevant changes. A dynamic and granular interaction between the server and the client can be enabled instead of updating the entire portal page. Each ping can carry an id of the member and community, which the server can use to determine the relevant updates.

Abstract: A community enables user membership in a distributed collaborative computing environment. The members can have access to a repository of resources. Dynamic notifications between client and server can be provided. A member can be logged onto a client which pings the server computer through no interaction of the user. A notifications manager located on the server can retrieve updates available for the member in response to each ping. The notifications manager can look up any changes to the resources that the member has subscribed to. The server can subsequently notify the client of the available updates. The client's user interface can be updated to reflect the relevant changes. A dynamic and granular interaction between the server and the client can be enabled instead of updating the entire portal page. Each ping can carry an id of the member and community, which the server can use to determine the relevant updates.

Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for providing security for a communities framework in a collaborative computing environment. A community can be provided for maintaining user membership during collaboration. The community can contain various collaboration resources, community services and members having access to the resources and services. A first layer of security can be implemented via membership and functional capabilities. Members can be assigned to various membership capabilities and these membership capabilities can be mapped to functional capabilities in order to control access to the resources by the various members. A second layer of security can be implemented via entitlements and security policies applied to the content repository. Entitlements can be applied at a node level of a content repository. Each node can be evaluated when operations are requested for it.

Abstract: A system and method for providing collaboration communities in a computer portal environment. The system comprises a community portal tool for creating community portals, portal applications, or portal web applications. In one embodiment, the portal can be one of a number of enterprise applications on server software. The portal can include a community context that can have an indication of members of the community. The indication can be, for example, a list of the members or pointer to a list of members. The community portal can be constructed from portal elements and the community context. The community portal tool can also be used to select a community portal template from a portal component library. The template can include standard elements from the construction of a community portal. A standardized look and feel, layout, and components such as a calendars can be in a community template.

Abstract: A system and method for providing an interactive group chat involving a plurality of participants and a business process, comprising initiating the business process to coordinate the plurality of participants; determining the plurality of participants based on dynamic evaluation of a role, wherein the role is based on presence information for the plurality of participants; joining each one of the plurality of participants into the group chat; and distributing a message from one of the plurality of participants to the others.

Abstract: A system and method comprising, sharing information between a plurality of participants in a collaboration; and exposing a set of functions that enable a participant in the plurality of participants to share the information, the set of functions comprising: first functions to facilitate establishing a context in which to interact with the plurality of participants; and second functions to facilitate storing and retrieving one or more values from a shared state, wherein the shared state is accessible within the context.

Abstract: A method for allowing a collaboration process to perform actions on behalf of a client process, comprising: receiving a message from the client process; impersonating a user for the purposes of performing an action on behalf of the user; performing the action with the same privilege(s) of the user; and wherein the client process and the collaboration process are part of a collaboration.

Abstract: A method for providing a collaborative, shared workspace is provided. The method includes receiving an identity of at least one of a plurality of participants. At least one resource to share information between the plurality of participants is determined. A community comprising the identity of the at least one of a plurality of participants and the at least one resource is established. The community can enable the plurality of participants to share information in collaboration using the at least one resource.

Abstract: A system and method for selecting a collaboration participant comprising: defining a role wherein the role includes a plurality potential members and one or more criteria; evaluating the role to determine a set of actual members wherein the set of actual members can vary over time; selecting a first member of the set of actual members; inviting the first member to join a collaboration; wherein the one or more criteria is based at least partially on presence information of the first member; and wherein the first member is a client process.

Abstract: A system and method for providing presence information, said method comprising, defining a role that defines a dynamic set of users wherein the set of users can vary over time and wherein the role is based on presence information of at least one member of the set of users; subscribing to the role by a subscriber wherein the subscriber will receive notification of a change to the dynamic set of users; and wherein the step of subscribing includes obtaining permission to subscribe from at least one member of the set of users.

Abstract: A system and method comprising, receiving a first communication over a first communication pathway; establishing a first process coupled to a host process as a result of the receiving; communicating between the first process and the second process over a second communication pathway; updating a user interface for the host process based on the communication with the second process; and wherein the second communication pathway is asynchronous.