Feature request: TemplateNode Factory & ScriptNodeFactory

[ajmas]

We have developed an Alfresco module in-house that adds extra functionality. For certain reasons we have needed to add extra functionality to the ScriptNode and the TemplateNode, but in doing so we have had to over-ride the definition of these classes, since the current architecture does not take into account a module needing to extend the functionality of theses classes.

If these two classes were generated via a factory, then it would allow us to easily extend these classes through inheritance, rather than redefinition. Using the TemplateNode as an example, I see something like this:

<bean id="templateNodeFactory"           class="org.alfresco.repo.template.TemplateNodeFactory"          p:serviceRegistry-ref="serviceRegistry" />‍‍‍‍‍

public class TemplateNodeFactory{    private ServiceRegistry services;    private TemplateImageResolver resolver;        @Required    public void setServiceRegistry( ServiceRegistry services )     {        this.services = services;    }            public void setTemplateImageResolver( TemplateImageResolver resolver )     {        this.resolver = resolver;    }        /**     * Creates a new TemplateNode for the nodeRef     *      * @param nodeRef     * @return     */    public TemplateNode createTemplateNode( NodeRef nodeRef )    {        return createTemplateNode(nodeRef,this.services,this.resolver);    }        /**     * Creates a new TemplateNode for the nodeRef     *       * @param nodeRef     * @param services     * @param resolver     * @return     */    protected TemplateNode createTemplateNode(                           NodeRef nodeRef,                           ServiceRegistry services,                         TemplateImageResolver resolver )    {        return new CoreTemplateNode(nodeRef, services, resolver);    }    }‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

The factory class could then be extended to return the appropriate implementation. There are probably other ways of going about this, but this would certainly be helpful.

Edit: The same factory implementation could be reused, simply using reflection and specifying the class to be instantiated as a property:

    /* templateNodeClass node would be specified as a bean property, p:templateNodeClass="package.MyTemplateNode" */    protected TemplateNode createTemplateNode( NodeRef nodeRef, ServiceRegistry services, TemplateImageResolver resolver )    {        try {            Constructor<TemplateNode> constructor = templateNodeClass.getConstructor(NodeRef.class,ServiceRegistry.class,TemplateImageResolver.class);            return constructor.newInstance(nodeRef,services,resolver);        } catch (Exception ex) {            throw new RuntimeException(ex);        }    }‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

[jpotts]

This is probably better shared as a feature request in Jira.

Jeff