topic Re: How to setup drop down list to choose for metadata field??? in Alfresco Archive

How to setup drop down list to choose for metadata field???

csiege — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 14:22:15 GMT

I know this has been discussed somewhat on other posts, but could not see a recent post or a real resolution.I want to provide a down down list for the user to select from whenediting document details (metadata). This would allow me to enforce the vocabulary.thanks!Chris

Re: How to setup drop down list to choose for metadata field???

gavinc — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 08:32:59 GMT

There is now a "list of values" constraint in the data dictionary. In your model you can now have the following:


<constraints>
   <constraint name="my:status" type="LIST">
      <parameter name="allowedValues">
         <list>
            <value>Ready</value>
            <value>Steady</value>
            <value>Go</value>
         </list>
      </parameter>
   </constraint>
</constraints>
‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

and then reference the constraint from your property as follows:


<property name="my:status">
   <type>d:text</type>
   <constraints>
      <constraint ref="my:status" />
   </constraints>
</property>
‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

Re: How to setup drop down list to choose for metadata field???

csiege — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 15:37:37 GMT

Exactly what I needed. 🙂

In the future it would be nice to have the constraint values dynamically selected from a database table. Is that possible now? In the future…?

thanks again!

Chris

Re: How to setup drop down list to choose for metadata field???

gavinc — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 07:58:38 GMT

Not possible yet.

I've raised this as a new feature request in JIRA: http://www.alfresco.org/jira/browse/AR-677

Re: How to setup drop down list to choose for metadata field???

loggheci — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 11:27:06 GMT

I suppose the use of constraints to implement value lists is only available in version 1.3?

When I add constraints in my model I get an error in my stdout log file:

Caused by: org.jibx.runtime.JiBXException: Expected end tag, found start tag "{http://www.alfresco.org/model/dictionary/1.0}constraint" (line 29, col 55)

I also do not find any constraints in the models of version 1.2…

Re: How to setup drop down list to choose for metadata field???

gavinc — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 12:23:02 GMT

Correct, this is a new 1.3 feature.

Re: How to setup drop down list to choose for metadata field???

felipe — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 13:58:40 GMT

Thanks for this topic!
Another question,
is it possible to use the constraint values defined in the search UI, with a drop down list too?

Regards

Re: How to setup drop down list to choose for metadata field???

gavinc — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 10:21:09 GMT

Yes, if a property has the constraint set on it the values you define will appear in a drop down list when the property is shown in a property sheet.

Re: How to setup drop down list to choose for metadata field???

agericke — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 15:57:28 GMT

Hello Gavin,
may I add an additional question about this topic?

How can I get the list values ('Ready', 'Steady', etc) via the Alfresco Web Services? I'm using Alfresco V 1.3.

Thanks,
Alex

Re: How to setup drop down list to choose for metadata field???

gavinc — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 10:16:38 GMT

Unfortunately, property constraints are not currently exposed via the Dictionary Web Service.

Re: How to setup drop down list to choose for metadata field???

agericke — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 11:46:57 GMT

Hi Gavin,
thank you for the quick answer. Are you planning to add this feature to the dictionary service?

Cheers,
Alex

Re: How to setup drop down list to choose for metadata field???

davidc — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 22:06:35 GMT

There's some time allocated to web services in v1.4, so we'll see if this can be added.

Re: How to setup drop down list to choose for metadata field???

sbanner — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 03:56:32 GMT

Is it possible to expose the "list of values" constraint in the web client configuration for Advanced Search? I've implemented the example above but I do not see the same constraint when the properties are included in Advanced Search.

Re: How to setup drop down list to choose for metadata field???

csiege — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 01:52:48 GMT

This was our idea also…
we haven't gotten around to trying it yet…
have you?

thanks.

Chris

Re: How to setup drop down list to choose for metadata field???

gavinc — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 08:52:04 GMT

The advanced search is still generating it's components by hand, it is not using the component generator framework yet. Some component generator framework enhancements will also be required to handle this scenario.

There is a task to do this on JIRA: http://www.alfresco.org/jira/browse/AWC-674

In the meantime you could customise org.alfresco.web.ui.repo.component.UISearchCustomProperties to generate the list of properties by examining the constraint on the property in the data dictionary.

Re: How to setup drop down list to choose for metadata field???

sbanner — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 14:35:42 GMT

Gavin, thanks for the quick response. I've only been working with Alfresco for a couple of weeks but am very pleased with the progress I've been able to make.

I have implemented constrained properties for an extended space (cm:folder) and I can see the drop-down lists when I view the "Modify Space Properties" page. Could you point me to the class which implements the drop-down lists (using the data dictionary constraints) on this page? The url I'm looking at is as follows: http://localhost:8080/alfresco/faces/jsp/dialog/space-details.jsp. I've looked at the org.alfresco.web.ui.repo.component.UISearchCustomProperties class and feel that I can proceed if I can compare to the "Modify Space Properties" page implementation. I understand that they're implemented differently (in terms of framework) but still want to look.

Thanks for your help.

Re: How to setup drop down list to choose for metadata field???

gavinc — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 07:25:01 GMT

Sure.

You'll find it in org.alfresco.web.bean.generator.TextFieldGenerator.

Re: How to setup drop down list to choose for metadata field???

steel — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 21:57:54 GMT

I suppose the use of constraints to implement value lists is only available in version 1.3?

When I add constraints in my model I get an error in my stdout log file:

Caused by: org.jibx.runtime.JiBXException: Expected end tag, found start tag "{http://www.alfresco.org/model/dictionary/1.0}constraint" (line 29, col 55)

I also do not find any constraints in the models of version 1.2…

I am receiving this error as well. I am using the latest code that I got off SVN today.

Here is my model:

<types>

        <type name="ra:digitalAsset">
            <title>Digital Asset</title>
            <parent>cm:content</parent>
            <properties>
                <property name="ra:assetTitle">
                    <type>d:text</type>
                </property>

                <property name="ra:featureSeriesTitle">
                    <type>d:text</type>
                </property>

                <property name="ra:episodeReelNum">
                    <type>d:text</type>
                </property>

                <property name="ra:releaseAirDate">
                    <type>d:datetime</type>
                </property>

                <property name="ra:director">
                    <type>d:text</type>
                </property>

                <property name="ra:studioNetworkLabel">
                    <type>d:text</type>
                </property>

                <property name="ra:category">
                    <type>d:text</type>
                    <constraints>
                        <constraint ref="ra:categories"/>
                    </constraints>
                </property>

                <property name="ra:genre">
                    <type>d:text</type>
                    <multiple>true</multiple>
                    <constraints>
                        <constraint ref="ra:genres"/>
                    </constraints>
                </property>

                <property name="ra:upc">
                    <type>d:int</type>
                </property>

                <property name="ra:inventoryId">
                    <type>d:int</type>
                </property>

                <property name="ra:storageLocation">
                    <type>d:text</type>
                </property>

                <property name="ra:restricted">
                    <type>d:boolean</type>
                </property>

                <property name="ra:restrictedTo">
                    <type>d:text</type>
                </property>

                <property name="ra:qtyOnHandDVD">
                    <type>d:int</type>
                </property>

                <property name="ra:qtyOnHandVHS">
                    <type>d:int</type>
                </property>

                <property name="ra:dvdInStock">
                    <type>d:boolean</type>
                </property>

                <property name="ra:vhsInStock">
                    <type>d:boolean</type>
                </property>

                <property name="ra:reason">
                    <type>d:text</type>
                </property>

                <property name="ra:blurb">
                    <type>d:text</type>
                </property>

            </properties>
        </type>

        <type name="ra:print">
            <title>Print</title>
            <parent>cm:content</parent>
        </type>

        <type name="ra:resume">
            <title>Resume</title>
            <parent>cm:content</parent>
        </type>

    </types>

    <constraints>

        <constraint name="ra:categories" type="list">
            <parameter name="allowedValues">
                <list>
                    <value>Below The Line</value>
                    <value>Demo Reel</value>
                    <value>Feature Film/Short</value>
                    <value>Pilot</value>
                    <value>TV</value>
                </list>
            </parameter>
        </constraint>

        <constraint name="ra:genres" type="list">
            <parameter name="allowedValues">
                <list>
                    <value>Action &amp; Adventure</value>
                    <value>Children &amp; Family</value>
                    <value>Classics</value>
                    <value>Comedy</value>
                    <value>Documentary</value>
                    <value>Drama</value>
                    <value>Foreign</value>
                    <value>Horror</value>
                    <value>Independent</value>
                    <value>Music &amp; Concert</value>
                    <value>Romance</value>
                    <value>Sci-Fi &amp; Fantasy</value>
                    <value>Special Interest</value>
                    <value>Sports</value>
                    <value>Television</value>
                    <value>Thrillers</value>
                </list>
            </parameter>
        </constraint>

    </constraints>‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

Re: How to setup drop down list to choose for metadata field???

gavinc — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 08:46:12 GMT

Try putting the <constraints> element before the <types> element.

Re: How to setup drop down list to choose for metadata field???

steel — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 14:16:52 GMT

Try putting the <constraints> element before the <types> element.

thanks! that worked.

Is there a documentation on how to properly use the contraints tag and its options?

thanks.