topic Re: Best solution for Integration with Alfresco in Alfresco Archive

Best solution for Integration with Alfresco

mdlima — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:07:25 GMT

Hi,I have a webapp that is build with Spring. I would like to know what is the best solution for my app to retrieve and search the content of Alfresco repository. I already looked at JCR and WebService but since i could get the example os Alfresco 3.2r SDK to work i didn't maked a choice. Can anyone

Re: Best solution for Integration with Alfresco

jayjayecl — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:01:54 GMT

It depends on what you're about to retrieve in Alfresco.
As for me, webscripts are the best solution for webapps integration with Alfresco.
http://wiki.alfresco.com/wiki/Web_Scripts

Re: Best solution for Integration with Alfresco

jck — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:20:59 GMT

Hi,
I think indeed Webscripts are the best choice. It will make integration easier whatever your final architecture is.

But, as Romain said, what do you want to retrieve? Documents? Metadata? Do you need complex search queries? If yes, you may need to write custom code, and writing it as a java class will be better, webscript just used as glue code.

HTH

JC

Re: Best solution for Integration with Alfresco

jayjayecl — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:22:34 GMT

In my opinion, Java-Backed webscripts would be the right choice

Re: Best solution for Integration with Alfresco

mdlima — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:05:26 GMT

Well, i will be working basically with Documents. I want to create nodes, add documents and search text in the documents. I thought using JCR and injecting a Spring bean would be more efficient, but i don't know if it is the best way. I never used webscripts, but i'll gonna take a look. Can i make everything (search, retrieve, add content, create nodes) with Webscripts?

Tks!

Re: Best solution for Integration with Alfresco

jck — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:17:04 GMT

You can do what you want with Webscripts (=Javascript) but as you certainly know, it isn't typed very strong and not very well supported with IDE so you won't be as productive as you could be with Java.

Again, write your business logic in Java and just use webscripts for the required glue code. Usual progamming in fact 😉

JC

Re: Best solution for Integration with Alfresco

jayjayecl — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:07:39 GMT

You can do what you want with Webscripts (=Javascript) but as you certainly know, it isn't typed very strong and not very well supported with IDE so you won't be as productive as you could be with Java.

Again, write your business logic in Java and just use webscripts for the required glue code. Usual progamming in fact 😉

JC

I quite don't agree, especially with "Webscript = Javascript".
I'd rather say "webscripts = REST => URL adressability".
This why I said that Java-Backed webscripts were the best choice, as for me.

Re: Best solution for Integration with Alfresco

jck — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:24:25 GMT

I agree it's a very quick shorthand.
I don't like glue code in Java, so I prefer Webscript (which means REST accessibility) with glue code in javascript and business logic written in Java, but maybe it's a matter of taste 😉

JC

Re: Best solution for Integration with Alfresco

mdlima — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:33:35 GMT

I agree with that. I haved seen the webscripts and seems pretty enough for my needs. I will try to write some Java code to get used to it. What helps is that Alfresco already have many Webscripts that i can use, if it wasn't that i would go with the JCR API, i'm not too familiar with script language. For now, that's enough information so i can start. I will come back if i get stuck
Thanks!

Re: Best solution for Integration with Alfresco

jayjayecl — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:10:36 GMT

I'm not really keen on scripting either.
That's why I'm trying to convince people customizing Alfresco with Java-backed webscripts

http://wiki.alfresco.com/wiki/Java-backed_Web_Scripts_Samples

Re: Best solution for Integration with Alfresco

dhalupa — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:38:16 GMT

Couldn't agree more, but maintenance and refactoring of java backed web scripts can soon become quite difficult as restfull API grows. Within Jibe framework we have implemented an architecture where single java backed websript dispatches processing to appropriately annotated methods of spring registered POJO's.

Feel free to take a peek..

Denis

Re: Best solution for Integration with Alfresco

mdlima — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:32:22 GMT

Hi Denis, i've been looking at the Jibe framework. Let me see if a understood, so it extends the Alfresco so i can use annotated methods that will perform the operations on the content? The UI Components can be used on a JSF/MyFaces application? Please correct me, if i got something misunderstood. Tks!

Re: Best solution for Integration with Alfresco

jck — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:55:34 GMT

You can also use the SIDE-Labs IDE [1] (in short a set of graphical tools for Alfresco developers) to design and generate your application independantly of your own Spring webapp. Webscripts that you can directly integrate in your application are then generated automatically and give you access to Alfresco repository. One of the interesting feature of SIDE is the ability to use true SQL to access Alfresco repository. A datagrid with powerful features (filtering, sort, automatic fetching) is available out of the box. You can provide your own datagrid or datalist if you want with a little customization.

We used this approach and integrate webscripts through REST in Liferay portlets. It worked pretty well. Generation mechanism makes maintenance easier. By the way, generators can be adaptated to your own needs.

It's another solution that requires a lot less programming and knowledge of the Alfresco framework as the SIDE (designers + generators + deployers) takes care of all this technical stuff.

[1] http://wiki.alfresco.com/wiki/Sustainable_IDE_(SIDE)

JC

Re: Best solution for Integration with Alfresco

dhalupa — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:58:10 GMT

Hi Denis, i've been looking at the Jibe framework. Let me see if a understood, so it extends the Alfresco so i can use annotated methods that will perform the operations on the content? The UI Components can be used on a JSF/MyFaces application? Please correct me, if i got something misunderstood. Tks!

Don't want to steal the thread, but in short.. Jibe framework is built on top of web script framework, and Alfresco configuration API. On Alfresco forge you can download two amps. Jibe core amp is the framework itself and Repo browser amp is a reference application which is a fully functional content management application. Installation procedure consist of installing these two amps in Alfresco http://jibeframework.org/index.php?title=Quick_start.

The vision behind framework is to create developer oriented framework which will ease the task of developing business applications on top of Alfresco platform with ExtJs as a view. Therefore in order to use it efficiently you will have to be fluent in Java and JavaScript and have the knowledge of Spring and ExtJs.

We are aware of the fact that documentation is the weak point and will try to improve on that aspect in the future, but for now I invite you to install those two amps and try the reference application. The best possible resource at the moment is the source of reference application and the framework itself and our forum http://forums.icodix.com where questions which will be answered promptly. There is also a bit outdated documentation at http://jibeframework.org/index.php?title=Jibe_Developer_Guide but it can give you the feeling about the concept.

Finally, to answer the question.. It was not idea to work with JSF/MyFaces application but rather to replace it.

Denis