What is the Java code in the module for?

[tim-erwin]

Hi!

Since yesterday I was working on understanding the phplibrary - from the project page. There is no hint that one shouldn't use it anymore. So it would be great to remove that page or at least put a hint up there that it's obsolete.

Ok, eventually I discovered the php module in SVN. The old versions just consist of php code acting as SOAP client and web application. In the new version there is a lot of java stuff, too. Is Quercus meant to replace my apache2/php installation or what is all the Java stuff for?

Thanks and greets,
Tim-Erwin

[rwetherall]

Hi,

Firstly apologies for the confusion, this is still work in progress and we are hoping to get a preview release of this stuff out in the next few weeks.

The PHP SDK is made up of two parts.  One is the PHP library, our PHP API implemented in PHP using web services to communicate with the repository.  This can be used in your regular PHP environment.

The second part is the PHP AMP.  This is an extension package for the repository that embeds the Quercus PHP implementation and allows PHP to be executed natively against the repository (hence all the Java!).  The same PHP Alfresco API is available when running these native scripts so the aim is that Alfresco PHP scripts can be executed against either the remote PHP library or locally within the repository against the equivalent native implementation.

The side effect of having a PHP implementation in the repository is that Alfresco templates and scripts can also be implemented in PHP as well as the currently supported JavaScript and Freemarker.

Hopefully when the first release emerges this will all become clearer.

Cheers,
Roy

[tim-erwin]

Hey Roy!

Thank you for the immediate reply. It clarifies a lot. I like the idea to have the same api for the local and the remote api. That's reeeaaaally cool.

Comparing the different versions of the library I've noticed quite extreme changes. You threw away a whole framework (this tag thing). When I start working (and perhaps contributing) with (to) this library will I experience more of these changes or do you think the current approach "stable"? In other words: would you recommend using this library for development (being aware that it's still wip) or should I wait?

Regards,
Tim-Erwin

[rwetherall]

Hi,

Yes, its safe to assume that what you see is the approach we are taking going forward. 

We should get a release out of this newly updated version of the library and native API in the next month.

Cheers,
Roy