Status php library development

[m_mind]

Hi all,

Currently I'm looking into the possibilities of integrating Alfresco into our project environment which is written in PHP.
For this I want to use the remote PHP libraries which I downloaded from the SVN repository (http://svn.alfresco.com/repos/alfresco-open-mirror/alfresco/HEAD/root/modules/php-sdk/source/php/rem...).
As some of the methods mentioned in the PHP api are not available (for example $node->copy()), I checked whether or not I was using the latest version.
It turned out that the last commit has been over a year ago.

Is remote PHP code still developed in some other place, or has it been discontinued?

Thanks in advance,

Peter

[jpotts]

There are several different paths code contributions can take.

1. Submitted through Jira

Things like patches and enhancements can be submitted through Jira, like you've done. Engineering will review the ticket. If the code is something they decide to incorporate into core, they will ask you to complete a code contribution agreement, and then they'll take it from there.

2. Nomination into the ACCP

Anyone in the community can nominate code into the Alfresco Community Contributor Program (ACCP). The ACCP is an Apache-style process by which code contributions are reviewed and eventually recommended for inclusion in the core product. Accepted contributions start as an "incubator" and then move into Community and are then recommended for inclusion in Enterprise.

3. Maintained as a separate project

Some code contributions make more sense to be maintained as a separate project. It may be that the project is broader than Alfresco (a CMIS-based add-on, for example), or it might be something that is Alfresco-specific, but which Alfresco Engineering doesn't have the resources to support ongoing.

The downside of this third category, from a developer's perspective, is that there is a risk of lower adoption by not being part of the core distribution. One way we are going to try to address this is by creating a new site which will act as a directory of add-ons. The code can reside and be managed in whatever system makes sense to the project team. The directory will simply point to it. The benefit is that the catalog can be rated, commented upon, favorited, etc.

4. Code can be proactively harvested by Engineering

Some projects exist as separate projects and then are sought out by Engineering as they seek to address a need within the product. Alfresco 4.0 has several new features made possible by community contributions that were harvested in this way.

Obviously, these are not mutually exclusive options. A given package might take all of these paths.

With regard to Alfresco's PHP API, this is a project that we are actively seeking additional contributors to help us with. So it is highly likely that you'll see the PHP API (and several other integrations and add-ons) get separated from the core into their own standalone projects as soon as people who are interested in maintaining them are identified.

Jeff

[ddanninger]

Hi jeff,

thanks for your reply to this topic too. And your description about the several different ways.

The PHP API dont need to be in the core for sure, it would be great enough to handle it as standalone package. If there is an official PHP API then it would be just necessary to be published on the wiki and stuff like that. That developers are not confused about the PHP API anymore.


Looking forward to see what will happen about the PHP Library.

Best regards
Dominik

[wabson]

Dominik, you might also be interested in the PHP client that is part of the Apache Chemistry project, which uses CMIS to talk to any CMIS-compatible repository, rather than just Alfresco.

http://chemistry.apache.org/php/phpclient.html

Cheers,
Will.

[ddanninger]

thanks for this link,

but actually if you really just wanna work with alfresco and do more kind of bigger things it is not really useful to just use cmis. CMIS is in my opinion still limited. Maybe good solution for 4.0 but not sure 😃

Good solution for sure if you wanna support all cmis-compatible repositories. But if u just wanna work with alfresco an additional PHP API is in my opinion a "must have".

best regards
dominik