Add aspects to a type in a model via "Model Manager"

[giasqui]

Hi,

how can I add aspect to type in a model with "Model Manager"?

Seems it is not possible.

Thanks.

[angelborroy · Accepted solution]

You're right.

Limitations of Model Manager in Alfresco Share

The Model Manager in Alfresco Share offers a user-friendly way to define custom types, aspects, and properties, but it comes with several notable limitations:

• Cannot Edit Existing XML or Bootstrapped Models: The Model Manager does not allow editing of content models that have been defined in XML and bootstrapped through Spring (static models). It only manages models created within the tool itself
• Deactivation Restrictions: You cannot deactivate a content model if any of its custom types or aspects are still applied to content, including items in the trashcan
• Limited Property and Constraint Support: Multi-value properties are supported, but certain constraints (like those on d:long, d:float, and d:double) are not fully supported for multi-value use or for list constraints
• You cannot reuse constraints across properties
• No Support for Associations: The Model Manager does not support defining associations, which are essential for modeling relationships between content items
• Inheritance and Localization Gaps: You cannot access all parent types or aspects for inheritance, especially for content types not yet activated
• There are limitations in localizing property titles and constraint list values
• Mandatory Aspects and Property Overrides: You cannot set mandatory aspects on a type or override properties through the Model Manager
• Search and Facet Integration: You cannot create custom search forms directly in the Model Manager
• Adding model properties as custom facets in the search engine is not supported without a system restart
• Form Customization: While the layout designer allows for some UI customization, advanced form configurations and interactions still require XML editing or custom development

[angelborroy · Accepted solution]

You're right.

Limitations of Model Manager in Alfresco Share

The Model Manager in Alfresco Share offers a user-friendly way to define custom types, aspects, and properties, but it comes with several notable limitations:

• Cannot Edit Existing XML or Bootstrapped Models: The Model Manager does not allow editing of content models that have been defined in XML and bootstrapped through Spring (static models). It only manages models created within the tool itself
• Deactivation Restrictions: You cannot deactivate a content model if any of its custom types or aspects are still applied to content, including items in the trashcan
• Limited Property and Constraint Support: Multi-value properties are supported, but certain constraints (like those on d:long, d:float, and d:double) are not fully supported for multi-value use or for list constraints
• You cannot reuse constraints across properties
• No Support for Associations: The Model Manager does not support defining associations, which are essential for modeling relationships between content items
• Inheritance and Localization Gaps: You cannot access all parent types or aspects for inheritance, especially for content types not yet activated
• There are limitations in localizing property titles and constraint list values
• Mandatory Aspects and Property Overrides: You cannot set mandatory aspects on a type or override properties through the Model Manager
• Search and Facet Integration: You cannot create custom search forms directly in the Model Manager
• Adding model properties as custom facets in the search engine is not supported without a system restart
• Form Customization: While the layout designer allows for some UI customization, advanced form configurations and interactions still require XML editing or custom development

[ajweber]

Given these limitations, is the xsd or a very complete exampleModel.xml available somewhere?  The old link I have is long gone, and the .sample files in the tomcat/shared... directory are really minimal.

Are the default cm:content and cm:folder bootstrap-xml files available as well?  Maybe somewhere in github?

Thanks!

[giasqui]

Thanks Angel. I need to add aspect to type because I have to choose type when upload a document and then set the related properties. Moreover I would be able to change the type and then the properties of a document. But, probably it could not be done because once the type is set, is not possible to modify it, isn't it? Probably I can manage the different properties over different type with aspects. I mean that also the type should be an aspect. And I need to use "model manager" because after the implementation the customer will do application maintenance themself.

[angelborroy · Accepted solution]

The only alternative I see is creating a Folder Rule or similar, so the type / aspect(s) is set automatically when a document is created. In any case, doing the maintenance of a custom content model is not an easy task. This is mainly why I prefer to deploy models as an independent Repository addon.

[angelborroy]

The most complete and reliable reference you can use today is the source code itself. The full Alfresco Content Model (including cm:content, cm:folder, constraints, types, aspects, and properties) is still available in the public repository.

Primary reference:

• contentModel.xml in the Alfresco GitHub repo:
  https://github.com/Alfresco/alfresco-data-model/blob/master/src/main/resources/alfresco/model/conten...

This file contains the full, canonical definition of all default types and aspects. It is far more complete than the sample bootstrap files and is the right place to look when you need the exact structure of the “cm” namespace or want to understand how the default models are built.

For step-by-step guidance on creating or extending your own custom model (including model XML, bootstrap configuration, and deployment best practices), Hyland publishes two official tutorials:

• Alfresco Content Models – Core Concepts and Examples
  https://support.hyland.com/r/Alfresco/Alfresco-Content-Services/25.2/Alfresco-Content-Services/Devel...

• Creating and Deploying Custom Content Models
  https://support.hyland.com/r/Alfresco/Alfresco-Content-Services/25.2/Alfresco-Content-Services/Tutor... 

For a more developer-oriented narrative with working examples, you can also use my Alfresco Developer Series tutorial:

• https://aborroy.github.io/alfresco-developer-series/content/tutorial/tutorial/

[ajweber]

Thank you very much for the detailed reply.  The tutorial pages are great!

The other links (especially the first one) are 404's for me.

EDIT: Found the model-xml: https://github.com/Alfresco/alfresco-community-repo/blob/master/repository/src/main/resources/alfres...

One thing I was specifically looking for was recommendations for:

• Property -> Index element (explanation of the three sub-elements and when to choose tokenise options).
• Property -> protected element description
• Property -> facetable element description

Thanks again.  All the best!

[giasqui]

@ajweber I have followed this tutorial shared by @angelborroy and I found it very usefull:

• https://aborroy.github.io/alfresco-developer-series/content/tutorial/tutorial/