Node reference questions

[doblek]

Hi all,

I've gave up turning Alfresco into a portlet for Jetspeed2 =/ Maybe I'm near, but I really don't know very well what I'm doing =/
So I've decided to use Alfresco as web application and merge it with the portal through a modified IFrame Portlet…

My intention is to use the WebServices API (or JavaServices API) and the NodeService API.

As far as I can understand, Alfresco (internally) uses node references to navigate through the different folders (or spaces). So when you create a new space, it can be recognized (and accessed) by a unique id, the node reference.

For example, I've created several spaces under the space "Guest Home" so I think I get this space structure:
                              
Company Home [size=75]<workspace://SpacesStore/id1>[/size]
_> Guest Home [size=75]<workspace://SpacesStore/id2>[/size]
___>> Space1 [size=75]<workspace://SpacesStore/id3>[/size]
_________>>> Space11 [size=75]<workspace://SpacesStore/id4>[/size]
___>> Space2 [size=75]<workspace://SpacesStore/id5>[/size]

Though, after seeing the admin console to write this post, I'm not quite sure this is as I suggest. =/ It seems that the primary path is always "/" and the id number is the same for all the spaces… Maybe I'm wrong =/ Can anyone point me to the right direction?

Anyway, my question is:
can I navigate to any space/node (if I previously know its node reference) and show the spaces+contents in it (in a transparent process for the user)?
I mean, my intention is to provide the IFrame Portlet with the logic necessary to show that space (with its children spaces and their contents) whose node reference is provided in "preferences". Is it possible??

Thanks in advance,
Enrique

PS: I don't know if I make myself clear… especially when my English isn't quite good… sorry

[doblek]

Hi again,

I think I'm getting bit lost…
I've read the Basic Concepts from the wiki, but I have still doubts about what is a Store, a Node and a Space (and how they interact with each other)  ops:

As far as I could understand, there are some "stores" that store "nodes"… and "spaces" are not directly related to any of these stores or nodes (they are just simply an easy way to organize and navigate through the content), are they?

At least, that's what I grasped when I took a look into "Node Browser" from "Administration console".
There I could see some "Stores" (like user, system, archive and workspace). And inside "workspace://SpacesStore" there are some nodes. No matter the space (folder) I choose, I'm always in the same node:

primary path: /
reference: workspace://SpacesStore/b2a561b8-3127-11db-a54f-3fc1fa4fac15
type: {http://www.alfresco.org/model/system/1.0}store_root
parent:

which has some properties, aspects, permissions… and three children. But I don't understand the children:
[size=75]application –> company_home (when I'm in a spaces that is inside the space "Company Home")
system –> system
content –> categoryRoot[/size]

Does this mean that all the folders are in the same node and in the same store? How does it affect the content?? I mean… I seem to remember that content is a node itself… how can I recognize that one node is for "spaces" or another is for "content"??

I would be very thankful if anyone can explain this thing to me or point me to docs that make it more clear than the basic concepts… 😃

Thanks again,
Enrique
[size=75]
PS: I'm thinking in the following use case:
workspace://SpacesStore
> Tree [primary node]
>> Project1 [Tree's child]
>> Project2 [Tree's child]
>> Project3 [Tree's child]
…
and so on…

each project with its own folder structure and contents.
And then, showing each project contents through a portlet in a portal (thanks to Node Reference ID of each node). My intention is to use Alfresco Web Client so users (with proper permissions) can create spaces or update content…
Am I crazy for thinking like that?
[/size]