Hi!
I finally had the time to revisit the mapping descriptor for class-descriptor, field-descriptor and
bean-descriptor. So far here are my conclusions:
A] class-descriptor
i/ jcrSuperTypes: doesn't seem to make sense to be used, cause we are not gonna create custom node
definitions. These are already defined within the repository and the information is contained in the
description of the jcrNodeType.
ii/ there is no way to declare that the node to be created has mixins. I would like to add a
jcrMixinTypes that specifies a comma separated list of mixins for the node to be created.
Adding mixins to a node at runtime is an allowed operation and I have good examples where this would
make sense.
iii/ there is no way to declare a custom converter. Currently a class-descriptor is
persisted/fetched by the ObjectConverterImpl. But considering the following suggestions (see
bean-descriptor) it would make sense to allow specifying a custom converter.
iv/ Currently there is not possible to provide multiple mappings for the same class. This may sound
weird in the first place, but I think there are scenarios where this would make sense. However, I
don't consider this a high priority.
B] field-descriptor
The following attributes used inside the mapping:
jcrAutoCreated (true | false) "false"
jcrOnParentVersion (COPY | VERSION | INITIALIZE | COMPUTE | IGNORE | ABORT)
"COPY"
jcrMandatory (true | false) "false"
are duplicating the definition of a node type and cannot really be used (they are just informal). I
would suggest removing them.
C] bean-descriptor
The current bean-descriptor is able to handle only the scenario where the properties of the bean are
persisted on a direct subnode of the current node. As I pointed in a separate thread and Christophe
marked in the http://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/GRFT-54, the bean-descriptor should be able to
handle at least 3 scenarios:
a/ persisting the properties of the bean on the current node (a component bean)
b/ persisting the properties of the bean on a direct subnode of the current
node (the current behavior)
c/ persisting the properties of the bean on subtree structure of the current node or an independent
node in the repository (consider GRFT-54 for the first part and a referenceable node for the 2nd part).
The modifications needed for this to work are quite simple:
a/ add a inline attribute with true/false values: if set to true, the bean properties are created as
properties of the current node
b/ add a converter attribute with a fully qualified name of a converter class, that will be
responsible for persisting/fetching the node. The API for this converter is a reduced version of the
current ObjectConverter interface. If not specified the converter to be used is the
ObjectConverterImpl (the current implementation).
I would also like to remove the following attributes from the mapping. They are duplicating a node
type definition and cannot be directly used:
jcrAutoCreated (true | false) "false"
jcrOnParentVersion (COPY | VERSION | INITIALIZE | COMPUTE | IGNORE | ABORT)
"COPY"
jcrSameNameSiblings (true | false) "false"
As pointed previously, there are a few more things we need to define: review collection-descriptor,
define behavior for interface/inheritance (for queries, and persistence too).
However, once agreeing on the above points will allow me to implement the changes right away. Than
we can continue with the rest.
I would like to start doing the above changes right away, so I am eager to hear your opinions and
comments as soon as possible. Than we will have a new face of the OCM :-). Thanks in advance,
./alex
--
.w( the_mindstorm )p.
