Linking and embedding

Rationale

"Linking" refers to using URLs or paths to point to Orbeon Forms pages. For more on linking, see Linking to your forms.

"Embedding" refers to a deployment option where Orbeon Forms pages or forms appear embedded or nested within another application's page. This is in contrast to the default standalone deployment setup where Orbeon Forms produces entire web pages, and you link to those page from your application.

Orbeon Forms supports several embedding methods:

In all cases, also see Securing Form Runner access when embedding.

Liferay

Supported Liferay versions

The following versions of Liferay have been tested:

Orbeon Forms VersionTested Liferay VersionProxy PortletFull Portlet

2023.1

Liferay 7.4.3 CE GA106

yes

no

2021.1

Liferay 7.2.1 CE GA2

yes

no

2020.1

Liferay 7.2.1 CE GA2

yes

no

2019.2.2

Liferay 7.2.1 CE GA2

yes

no

Liferay 7.1.3 CE GA4

yes

no

2019.2

Liferay 7.1.3 CE GA4

yes

no

2019.1

Liferay 7.1.3 CE GA4

yes

no

2018.2

Liferay 7.1.2 CE GA3

yes

no

Liferay 7.0 CE GA5 / 7.0.4

yes

no

2018.1

Liferay 7.0 CE GA5 / 7.0.4

yes

no

2017.2

Liferay 7.0 CE GA5 / 7.0.4

yes

no

2017.1

Liferay 6.2 CE GA6 / 6.2.5

yes

yes

Liferay 7.0 CE GA3 / 7.0.2

yes

no

2016.3

Liferay 6.2 CE GA6 / 6.2.5

yes

yes

2016.2

Liferay 6.1.2 CE GA3

yes

yes

Liferay 6.2 CE GA6 / 6.2.5

yes

yes

4.9

Liferay 6.0

yes

yes

Liferay 6.1.2 CE GA3

yes

yes

Servlet vs. Liferay portal deployment

In addition to deploying Orbeon Forms into a servlet container such as Tomcat, you can deploy it into the Liferay portal using the Orbeon Forms portlets.

Portals such as Liferay provide features such as:

  • Content aggregation: A single web page aggregates the output or user interface of several data sources or applications.

  • Personalization: Users or administrators of the portal can customize the user interface. This often means not only customizing the look and feel, but also selecting a certain set of available functionality within the application.

  • Single sign-On: The user logs in only once to access several applications in the portal.

Known limitations

The following Form Runner limitations are known within Liferay:

  • With Liferay 7/DXP, since Orbeon Forms 2017.1, the full portlet is not supported.

Form Runner proxy portlet or full portlet?

The full portlet is not specifically tied to Form Runner and does not provide Form-Runner-specific features. Using the full portlet usually requires setting a custom landing page and possibly other custom configurations.

The Form Runner proxy portlet is designed to work with Form Runner only and to support a deployment mode where Form Runner can be installed within a separate application container, possibly on a separate server.

You can configure the proxy portlet via UI, making it is easier to create a setup with multiple forms on different portal pages.

Here is a comparison of the two options:

FeatureProxy PortletFull PortletSince Version

Runs Form Runner forms

yes

yes

Specifically designed for Form Runner

yes

no

Allows remote Form Runner

yes

no

Options configurable via UI

yes

no

Form selection via UI

yes

no

Form selection via URL parameters

yes

no

4.7

Can use portal user information

yes

no

4.4

Can use portal language preference

yes

no

4.4

Supports Liferay organizations

yes

no

2016.3

Runs custom XForms applications

no

yes

Requires custom landing page

no

yes

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