Thursday, December 27, 2012

Private Session XML Attribute in Liferay

Difference between Private Session = True & Private Session = false

1) Private Session = True

This is the default setting, in which each WAR has its own session. The session within each WAR is private, and nothing is shared between individual WARs. Portlets and Servlet within the same WAR file will be able to share the session, because they are in the same context. So far, this conforms to the Servlet spec.
Liferay provides an additional functionality under this setting. As the official FAQ states, it also allows shared (namespaced) attributes set by the portal to be visible from portlets. Any session attribute with the configured prefix (e.g. LIFERAY_SHARED_) will be copied over and be visible by the portlets, hence granting private portlets read-access to session attributes set by the portal.

2) Private Session = False


All portlets under this setting will share the same session, and also share this same session with the portal. This is the easiest way for portlets in individual WAR files to communicate with each other.
However, the downside to this is that servlets in these WAR files will not be able to communicate with the portlets at all. (This is a question often raised in the forums, and one I struggled with for a while to figure out). The most convenient way to think of this is that portlets with this setting use the portal session, and have no access to the WAR session.

So, to summarize ::
  • Non-private portlets read and write to the Portal session.
  • Private portlets write to their own WAR session.
  • Private portlets try to read from their own WAR session first, then looks up any shared attributes copied from the Portal session.
  • Servlets only have access to the WAR session, and cannot directly access the Portal session. In order to read shared session attributes, servlets need a private portlet in the same WAR file to copy it for them. Or you can configure your servlet to use the portal session by using Liferay's PortalDelegateServlet mechanism.
I hope this has helped you in your understanding of Liferay’s session sharing mechanism.

Cheers,

Ujjwal Soni

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