Defining OpenCMS structured XML content

Revision as of 20:53, 3 November 2006

Introduction

Background and purpose of document

The purpose of this document is to document a procedure for defining structured XML content in OpenCMS so that it becomes available through the Workplace for content management.

OpenCMS offers automatic form generation for management of structured content through the Workplace.

However, in order for this facility to function it is necessary to take appropriate steps both for defining the structured content and for configuring the Workplace to use the provided definition.

Due to the lack of documentation and the fact that the procedure is not obvious and requires some steps that cannot be performed using the standard OpenCMS administrative interface (the Workplace), making it work is a frustrating experience for a newcomer to OpenCMS.

At the time this document is written, there are only 3 sources of information related to this subject (at least these are the ones I have found referred on the [opencms-dev] mailing list):

1. The tutorial provided by Alkacon Software as part of the OpenCMS documentation. Named “OpenCMS XML content documentation”, it provides detailed information about structured content definition using XML Schema Definition (XSD), but it gives no detail about how to get the definition to be used in the Workplace interface. In a new OpenCMS instance (with documentation modules installed) the tutorial can be found at http://<server_domain>/opencms/opencms/alkacon-documentation/documentation-xmlcontent/.
2. A message on [opencms-dev] mailing list, sent by Alexander Kandzior from Alkacon Software on 30th of October 2004 with subject “XML Content Demo”. It provides a procedure to build the definition and use it in the interface, but many list members complaint that it is not working as expected. Also, the method used to get info in the Workplace is considered deprecated in this moment and is too complicated compared with alternatives. The example was given while OpenCMS 6.0 was still in beta (the version used while writing this is 6.2.2). The message can be found in [opencms-dev] mailing list archives at http://mail.opencms.org/pipermail/opencms-dev/2004q4/013609.html.
3. A video tutorial provided by Watchdog Systems (www.wdogsystems.com) using a different (and more “modern”) approach at http://www.wdogsystems.com/opencms/opencms/demos/index.jsp. The procedure described in this paper is based on the one presented in this tutorial (which, for unclear reasons, did not work for me straightforward, but only after adapting it in the form included below).

The main problem with all these presentations is the lack of explanation regarding the concepts and entities involved so that the user to get a clear view of the reasons behind the proposed actions. The purpose of this how to is to cover these aspects as well as provide the list of actions needed.

Software versions

The machine used for testing and generating the screens runs:

• Windows XP Professional SP2;
• Java 1.5.0_07;
• Tomcat 5.5.17;
• OpenCMS 6.2.2 (with documentation and Template One modules installed).

What is to be done

Objective

1. To define a custom structured content type and
2. to make it available for content management through the Workplace (OpenCMS administrative) interface, namely:
   • the name of the type to show up in the list of new document types (displayed when the “New” button is pressed in Explorer view);
   • the associated form to appear when either a new document is created based on that content type or when an existing document of that specific type is edited.

What we need to accomplish

The list of the elements that need to be created is reversed in the presentation below in order to accommodate the required explanations. The step by step procedure that follows will describe the actions needed to create these elements in the correct order.

1. The first objective, defining custom content type, is reached by writing the appropriate XSD file. The content of such a file is very well explained in the “OpenCMS XML content documentation” provided in the standard documentation (http://<server_domain>/opencms/opencms/alkacon-documentation/documentation-xmlcontent/).
2. Making the new content type available in the OpenCMS administrative interface (the Workplace) requires manual updating of some configuration files of the OpenCMS because there is no way of doing it differently. The changes are described below.

Where

The configuration information for OpenCMS (and the Workplace) can be found in some XML files located in WEB-INF/config folder under the OpenCMS application folder in Tomcat (usually the path is <Tomcat installation folder>/webapps/opencms/WEB-INF/config/).

Workplace configuration is taken from two files, namely opencms-vfs.xml and opencms-workplace.xml. While editing these files would (as it is said) have the expected effect, this is not the place to make such changes. Instead, it is recommended to build a OpenCMS module for holding the required files together and to edit its definition in the opencms-modules.xml file (in the same location). This file will contain similar information as the two named ones and from here the definitions will be automatically used by OpenCMS in the proper way.

The above operation (updating opencms-modules.xml) must be made, of course, only after creating the OpenCMS module we have been talking about.

What

The information that needs to be added to the opencms-modules.xml about the new structured content is:

1. A reference to the content schema definition (the XSD file which holds it). This is done through a

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   in the module definition.
2. Details about the content type in the Explorer view of the Workspace (name, description, icon, permissions etc.). This is done using a

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   section of the module definition.

The rest of the required configurations can be done through the Workplace interface. These configurations are the definition of the module, creation of the resource bundle for listing the labels (and potential localized versions of them) for form generation and updating the module resources list.