Customise Share search results

[benarrayx]

Hi there, I'm trying to modfiy my Share search results in order to display a custom metadata field. I can see there are 2 steps:

1. modify tomcat/webapps/alfresco/WEB-INF/classes/alfresco/templates/webscripts/org/alfresco/slingshot/search/search.get.json.ftl in order to send the metadata value via JSON
2. modify tomcat/webapps/share/components/search/search.js in order to display the returned field.

The metadata I want to return is contained in a custom aspect:

<aspect name="trc:statusA">
         <title>Document status</title>
         <properties>
            <property name="trc:status">
               <type>d:text</type>
               <constraints>
                  <constraint ref="trc:statusC" />
               </constraints>
            </property>
         </properties>
      </aspect>‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

In step 1, I've added the following code:

         <#if item.trc:status??>
         "status": "${item.trc:status}",
         </#if>‍‍‍

However, this generates an error:

Caused by: freemarker.core.ParseException: Encountered ":" at line 22, column 38 in org/alfresco/slingshot/search/search.get.json.ftl.
Was expecting one of:
    ">" …
    "." …
    "[" …
    "(" …
    "?" …
    "!" …
    <TERMINATING_EXCLAM> …
    "??" …
    "+" …
    "-" …
    "*" …
    "/" …
    "%" …
    "!=" …
    "=" …
    "==" …
    ">=" …
    <ESCAPED_GTE> …
    ">" …
    <ESCAPED_GT> …
    <LESS_THAN_EQUALS> …
    <LESS_THAN> …
    ".." …
    <AND> …
    <OR> …‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

This is clearly because I have referred to the property as trc:status, and it doesn't like the colon. However, how else can I refer to it?

AHA, Ben

[benarrayx]

For reference, I've also tried:

- item.status - never shows any data
- item.properties["trc:status"] - throws error "Expression item.properties is undefined"

Cheers, Ben

[tommorris]

Hi there.

You've found the correct webscript, but you need to modify a bit more. The 'item' javascript object is a regular javascript data-object (aka 'value object' or 'data transfer object') and not the alfresco-node object that you're expecting.

Have a look at the JS file that accompanies the FTL (alfresco/WEB-INF/classes/alfresco/templates/webscripts/org/alfresco/slingshot/search/search.get.js)… you'll see that it includes the following JS file: alfresco/WEB-INF/classes/alfresco/templates/webscripts/org/alfresco/slingshot/search/search.lib.js. Modify this file. In particular, look for the function 'getDocumentItem' and all will become clear.

Tom
http://www.ixxus.com

[benarrayx]

Hi Tom, many thanks for that.

I added my property to the js object created in getDocumentItem, as follows:

trcStatus: (node.hasAspect("trc:statusA")) ? node.properties["trc:status"] : ""‍

However, this never returns anything, regardless or not if the document has the aspect. I also tried adding a static property:

item.ben = "ben";‍

If I try and output this in search.get.json.ftl:

"ben": "${item.ben}"‍

I get an error telling me "jsonUtils.encodeJSONString(x) is undefined". I figured out this was probably because the property was null/empty, so wrapped it as follows:

"ben": "<#if item.ben??>${item.ben}</#if>"‍

which stops the error, but the output is always empty. It seems as though the changes I'm making to webapps/alfresco/WEB-INF/classes/alfresco/templates/webscripts/org/alfresco/slingshot/search/search.lib.js aren't getting carried through to search.get.json.ftl.

Can you offer me any further advice?

Regards, Ben

[benarrayx]

Ah, seems like a restart of Alfresco was required to get the new data coming through - I assumed since it was javascript it would be interpreted on the fly, clearly not the case!!

Anyway, all working good now, thanks for the help Tom

Ben

[kyriakos]

benArrayX so you managed to customise share search to lookup in custom metadata-aspects?

[benarrayx]

Hi kyriakos, I didn't modify the search to search in custom metadata fields, only to output the values of a custom metadata field in the search results.

1 final step not mentioned here is that you need to edit /webapps/share/components/search/search.js to include your custom field in the definition. In the Search_onReady function:

fields: ["nodeRef", "type", "name", "displayName", "description",
                      "modifiedOn", "modifiedByUser", "modifiedBy", "size",
                      "title", "browseUrl", "trcStatus", "site", "tags"]‍‍‍

(I added the trcStatus field), and then modify the output in the Search_renderCellDescription function:

if (status !== undefined && status !== '')
            desc += '<br />Status: ' + status;
         else
            desc += '<br />Status: Unknown / incorrect document type';‍‍‍‍

Cheers, Ben

[kyriakos]

So Ben i other words, you have created a custom metadata field, you put let's say the value " dog" in that field then you go to search and write "dog" and you have a result? with these changes?

[tommorris]

Hi Ben. Sorry for the late reply.
yes, sorry - I forgot to mention the 'fields' thing…

[benarrayx]

Hi kyriakos, that is not the case. This topic is not about searching custom meta-data fields, it's about displaying the contents of custom meta-data fields in search results. I am not searching custom fields, AFAIK that's not possible but is in the roadmap.

Cheers, Ben