On Tue, Aug 07, 2007 at 03:23:11AM -0700, gsoap wrote: > Are workflows supported by Jackrabbit? > > Can we define workflows using Jackrabbit?
The JCR specification does not include methods for workflow. This is not considered a lack of functionality by most, as ideas line workflow are very application domain specific. It would be very hard to agree upon a "mother of all kinds" of workflow interface that fits all application uses. For this, the different application domains are too diverse. JCR itself should be seen only has the core of a storage layer. Business intelligence can extend or use this common layer to provide more advanced features such as workflow. Many CMSes do this (Nuxeo, Magnolia, CRX, Hippo) and extensions to a basis of JCR, but extended. JackRabbit being a reference implementation of JCR performs those actions to implement JCR and a few things that are planned for next-gen JCR specifications. It does not (or should not IMHO) target more advanced uses being a reference implementation. JackRabbit can however be extended to implement workflows. We are implementing just this using JDO<>JCR persistency allowing for workflows to be implemented using Plain Old Java Objects without any knowledge of JCR itself. This workflow can then be dynamically added and accessed to an "extended" interface (which falls outside of the scope of JCR). This way the basis is still JCR/JackRabbit. Another alternative would be to implement a workflow using the JCR API and use the workflow just at the application side. Then there is no generic interface of a workflow needed as it is combined directly with your application. Most people are moving a bit away from workflow engines such as os-workflow and these can be quite limiting and have their deployment problems. So for workflows, you have to go implementation specific and this will likely remain so for quite some time. It would be a good idea to then choose for an open source alternative (as we do) as this will provide you with most accessibility to insert your own workflows and suit the engine to your need. \Berry -- Berry A.W. van Halderen [EMAIL PROTECTED] / [EMAIL PROTECTED] Disclaimer: the above is the author's personal opinion and is not the opinion or policy of his employer or of the little green men that have been following him all day.
