Index: presentation/tool/src/java/org/theospi/portfolio/presentation/control/ViewPresentationControl.java
===================================================================
--- presentation/tool/src/java/org/theospi/portfolio/presentation/control/ViewPresentationControl.java	(revision 987)
+++ presentation/tool/src/java/org/theospi/portfolio/presentation/control/ViewPresentationControl.java	(working copy)
@@ -30,9 +30,11 @@
 import javax.xml.transform.URIResolver;
 import javax.xml.transform.stream.StreamSource;
 
+
 import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
 import org.jdom.Document;
+import org.sakaiproject.component.cover.ServerConfigurationService;
 import org.sakaiproject.exception.IdUnusedException;
 import org.sakaiproject.metaobj.shared.ArtifactFinder;
 import org.sakaiproject.metaobj.shared.ArtifactFinderManager;
@@ -60,6 +62,17 @@
 import org.theospi.portfolio.shared.model.Node;
 import org.theospi.portfolio.shared.model.OspException;
 
+import java.io.ObjectOutputStream;
+import java.io.ObjectInputStream;
+import java.io.FileOutputStream;
+import java.io.FileInputStream;
+import java.io.File;
+
+import net.sf.ehcache.Cache;
+import net.sf.ehcache.CacheManager;
+import net.sf.ehcache.Element;
+
+
 /**
  * Created by IntelliJ IDEA.
  * User: John Ellis
@@ -76,7 +89,25 @@
    private ArtifactFinderManager artifactFinderManager;
    private Hashtable presentationTemplateCache = new Hashtable();
    private URIResolver uriResolver;
+   private static CacheManager cacheManager = null;
+   private static Cache cache = setupCache();
 
+   private static Cache setupCache() {
+       // detailed configuration is in presentation/tool/src/bundle/ehcache.xml,
+       // which ends up in tomcat/webapps/osp-presentation-tool/WEB-INF/classes/
+
+       if ( !ServerConfigurationService.getBoolean("cache.osp.presentation.data",true) )
+	   return null;
+
+       cacheManager = CacheManager.create();
+       if (cacheManager != null) {
+	   cacheManager.addCache("org.theospi.portfolio.presentation.control.ViewPresentationControl.XML");
+	   cache = cacheManager.getCache("org.theospi.portfolio.presentation.control.ViewPresentationControl.XML");
+       }
+       return cache;
+   }
+
+
    public Object fillBackingObject(Object incomingModel, Map request,
                                    Map session, Map application) throws Exception {
       PresentationManager presentationManager = getPresentationManager();
@@ -150,9 +181,31 @@
          model.put("presentation", pres);
          Document doc = null;
          
-         if (pres.getPresentationType().equals(Presentation.TEMPLATE_TYPE))
-            doc = getPresentationManager().createDocument(pres);
-         else {
+         if (pres.getPresentationType().equals(Presentation.TEMPLATE_TYPE)) {
+
+	     // have to check modified dates rather than depending upon
+	     // clearing the cache when something changes. In a cluster
+	     // the event that invalidates the cache may occur on a different
+	     // system. For previews always force current data. Otherwise
+	     // invalidate cache if presentation or template on which it is
+	     // based changes.
+	     if (cache != null && !pres.isPreview()) {
+		 Element element = cache.get(pres.getId());
+		 if (element != null &&
+		     pres.getModified().getTime() <= element.getCreationTime() &&
+		     pres.getTemplate().getModified().getTime() <= element.getCreationTime()) {
+		         // System.out.println("using cache");
+		         doc = (Document)element.getValue();
+		 }
+	     }
+
+	     if (doc == null) {
+		 doc = getPresentationManager().createDocument(pres);
+
+		 if (cache != null && doc != null)
+		     cache.put(new Element(pres.getId(), doc));
+	     }
+         } else {
             String page = (String)request.get("page");
             if (pres.isPreview()) {
                doc = getPresentationManager().getPresentationPreviewLayoutAsXml(pres, page);
Index: presentation/tool/src/java/org/theospi/portfolio/presentation/control/AddPresentationController.java
===================================================================
--- presentation/tool/src/java/org/theospi/portfolio/presentation/control/AddPresentationController.java	(revision 987)
+++ presentation/tool/src/java/org/theospi/portfolio/presentation/control/AddPresentationController.java	(revision 988)
@@ -278,6 +278,8 @@
          for (Iterator i = template.getSortedItems().iterator(); i.hasNext();) {
             PresentationItemDefinition itemDef = (PresentationItemDefinition) i.next();
 
+	    //	    System.out.println("template item " + itemDef.getId().getValue() + " " + itemDef.getType());
+
             if (artifactCache.containsKey(itemDef.getType()) && !itemDef.getHasMimeTypes()){
                artifacts.put(itemDef.getId().getValue(), artifactCache.get(itemDef.getType()));
             } else {
Index: presentation/tool/src/bundle/ehcache.xml
===================================================================
--- presentation/tool/src/bundle/ehcache.xml	(revision 0)
+++ presentation/tool/src/bundle/ehcache.xml	(revision 988)
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+<ehcache>
+
+    <!-- Sets the path to the directory where cache .data files are created.
+
+         If the path is a Java System Property it is replaced by
+         its value in the running VM.
+
+         The following properties are translated:
+         user.home - User's home directory
+         user.dir - User's current working directory
+         java.io.tmpdir - Default temp file path -->
+    <diskStore path="java.io.tmpdir/ospPresXML/"/>
+
+
+    <!--Default Cache configuration. These will applied to caches programmatically created through
+        the CacheManager.
+
+        The following attributes are required for defaultCache:
+
+        maxInMemory       - Sets the maximum number of objects that will be created in memory
+        eternal           - Sets whether elements are eternal. If eternal,  timeouts are ignored and the element
+                            is never expired.
+        timeToIdleSeconds - Sets the time to idle for an element before it expires.
+                            i.e. The maximum amount of time between accesses before an element expires
+                            Is only used if the element is not eternal.
+                            Optional attribute. A value of 0 means that an Element can idle for infinity
+        timeToLiveSeconds - Sets the time to live for an element before it expires.
+                            i.e. The maximum time between creation time and when an element expires.
+                            Is only used if the element is not eternal.
+                            Optional attribute. A value of 0 means that and Element can live for infinity
+        overflowToDisk    - Sets whether elements can overflow to disk when the in-memory cache
+                            has reached the maxInMemory limit.
+
+        -->
+    <defaultCache
+        maxElementsInMemory="20"
+        eternal="false"
+        timeToIdleSeconds="300"
+        timeToLiveSeconds="300"
+        overflowToDisk="true"
+        />
+
+
+</ehcache>
Index: presentation/tool/pom.xml
===================================================================
--- presentation/tool/pom.xml	(revision 987)
+++ presentation/tool/pom.xml	(revision 988)
@@ -318,6 +318,7 @@
         <directory>src/bundle</directory>
         <includes>
           <include>**/*.properties</include>
+          <include>**/*.xml</include>
         </includes>
       </resource>
       <resource>