Custom web scripts or configure the existing web client?

[davidturner90]

I am trying to understand under what circumstances one should take the custom web script approach and under what circumstances configuring the existing web client is appropriate.

I am new to web scripts and whilst they seem like an easy way to hook into the Alfresco repository I cannot help but think there is quite a bit of familiarisation effort involved up front and lets face it developing with JavaScript is never as nice as Java development with an IDE and good JavaDoc. So developer productivity particular at the testing stage may be hampered going down this path.

The other option is to configure the web client using the config points within Alfresco - but this doesn't seem overly intuitive and there doesn't seem to be an awful lot of documentation on this - perhaps this is indicative to its popularity as a customisation approach.

I certainly don't want to hack at Alfresco and would always choose a defined extension point - but which one is best? And which one requires the most effort?

I would be happy to hear from Alfresco developer's regarding their experience in this area.

Thanks

[pmonks]

Just to clarify, it's possible to implement Web Scripts in Java (see http://wiki.alfresco.com/wiki/Web_Scripts#Java-backed_Web_Scripts for details), so you have the freedom to implement them in whatever technology best suits the skills and experience of your development team.

But to answer your question with the classic cop-out response, "it depends".  😉

It depends on how different your custom UI is to the Alfresco Web Client UI.  It depends on whether you're comfortable developing with JSF or would prefer to use a different web framework or technology for implementing your UI.  It depends on whether you need different UIs for different audiences (eg. a simplified UI for casual users vs a powerful UI for power users vs a limited UI for external contributors vs …).  It also depends on whether you have the luxury of time to wait and see what the new 3.0 web client will look like - at this stage it's intended to be based more heavily on Web Scripts, so it's worthwhile learning the technology regardless.

In terms of seeing what's possible with Web Scripts, it's worth taking a look at Opsoro (http://wiki.alfresco.com/wiki/Opsoro).

Cheers,
Peter