Surfacing External Data Through Magnolia

Surfacing External Data Through Magnolia Sean McMains & Jeff Snider September 10, 2009

3 Approaches: JSP/Servlet Data Module RSS Module

JSP/Servlet Approach or "Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks" Photo Credit: Stephen Poff

Department Directory

Department Directory XML-RPC Methods: getDepartmentList() getResults()

Implementing a Custom Control
<jsp:scriptlet> DialogControlImpl control =
(DialogControlImpl)pageContext.getRequest().getAttribute("dialogObject");
XmlRpcClientLite client = new XmlRpcClientLite("http://apps.its.txstate.edu/people/RPC.mpl"); String method = "getDepartmentList"; Vector params = new Vector(); Vector result = (Vector)client.execute( method, params ); ListIterator i = result.listIterator();
Select selectControl = new Select( control.getName(), control.getWebsiteNode() ); selectControl.setCssClass( CssConstants.CSSCLASS_SELECT );
while (i.hasNext() ) { String department = (String)i.next(); SelectOption option = new SelectOption( department, department ); if ( department.equals( control.getValue() ) ) option.setSelected( true ); selectControl.setOptions( option ); } out.println( selectControl.getHtml() ); </jsp:scriptlet>

Presenting the Directory Info
XmlRpcClientLite client =
new XmlRpcClientLite("http://apps.its.txstate.edu/people/RPC.mpl");

String department =
Resource.getLocalContentNode(request).getNodeData("department").getString();
String filter =
Resource.getLocalContentNode(request).getNodeData("filter").getString();
String method = "getResults";
Vector params = new Vector();
String searchTerm = "department="" + department + """;
params.addElement(searchTerm);

Vector result = (Vector)client.execute( method, params );

ListIterator i = result.listIterator();
while ( i.hasNext() ) {
Hashtable person = (Hashtable)i.next();
...
String firstName = (String)person.get("firstname");
String lastName = (String)person.get("lastname"); html.append( "<div class="txst-departmentdirectory-name fn n">
<span class="given-name">" + firstName + "</span> <span class="family-name">" +
lastName + "</span> </div>" );
...
}

JSP/Servlet Approach
Pros:
Quick & easy
No additional modules needed, aside from whatever you use to actually fetch the data
Uses familiar techniques
Cons:
Page caching issues
Performance
At mercy of connection to data source
You have to write it all yourself!

The Data Module or "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the JCR" Photo Credit: Kjunstorm

The Data Module
Info:
Data Module Docs
Footers Example
Advanced Data Module Example (?)

Requirements:
Magnolia 4.x
Scheduler Module
A Bit of Patience

Creating a New Data Type Demonstration

Import Handlers
Built on scheduler module
Provide an automated means to suck in new data
At /modules/data/config/importers

Using Import Handlers

Configuring an Import Handler

ImportTarget Code public class ImportTarget { protected String name; protected String targetPath; public void setName(String name) { this.name = name; } public void setTargetPath(String targetPath) { this.targetPath = targetPath; } public ImportTarget() { } public String getTargetPath() { return targetPath; } public String getName() { return name; } }

ImportHandler Sample
public class DateTimeImportHandler extends ImportHandler { ... protected Set doImport(ImportTarget target, Content parent, Set uuids) throws ImportException {
... String date = dateFormat.format( new Date() ); String name = "ImportedSampleData" + parent.getChildren("example").size();
// create new data node. // FYI: if the name matches existing node and "deleteExisting" is // set to true, old copy of the node will be automatically deleted. Content child = parent.createContent( name, "example" );
// set properties for newly created node NodeDataUtil.getOrCreate( child, "name").setValue(name); NodeDataUtil.getOrCreate(child, "comment").setValue("Example of data import.
Generated on " + date); NodeDataUtil.getOrCreate(child, "data").setValue(date);
parent.save();
uuids.add(child.getUUID());
... return uuids; } }

JCR Query
XPath or SQL-style
Powerful selection capabilities
Can be complicated

Additional Info:
JSR-170 Spec

Using the Node Object
<jsp:scriptlet>
final String BR = "<br/>"; HierarchyManager dataHierarchyManager =
MgnlContext.getHierarchyManager( "data" ); Content eventsNode = dataHierarchyManager.getContent( "/event" ); Iterator eventsNodeIterator = eventsNode.getChildren( "event" ).iterator(); while ( eventsNodeIterator.hasNext() ) { Content event = (Content)eventsNodeIterator.next(); out.write( event.getNodeData( "name" ).getString() + BR ); out.write( event.getNodeData( "date" ).getString() + BR + BR ); } </jsp:scriptlet>

Caveat: Bootstrapping Data
Add to your project's pom.xml:
…
<dependencies> <dependency> <name>data</name> <version>1.2.1/*</version> </dependency> </dependencies>
…

Data Module
Pros:
Data is cached in JCR
Resilient to temporary disconnect from data
Can enter data manually through AdminCentral or import automatically
Cons:
You still have to write it all yourself
Requires learning another framework

Bringing in RSS Content or "All the news that fits, we print!" Photo Credit: tantrum_dan

The RSS Module
Info:
Official Documentation
Jan's Weblog Entry

Requires:
Magnolia 4.x
Scheduler Module
Data Module
Built on ROME Project

Sightseeing in the RSS Module Add new feeds Configure RSS Module

Setting up RSS Feeds Demonstration

RSS Module
Pros:
Easy set up
Includes several useful paragraphs
Can use it without writing any additional code
Cons:
Can only use content that's published in RSS format

Questions?
Photo Credit: coldtaxi

Photo Credit: damaradeaella

http://www.magnolia-cms.com	88
http://localhost	30
http://localhost:8080	12
http://new-author.magnolia-cms.com	8
http://www.slideshare.net	7
http://test-author.magnolia-cms.com	7
http://magnolia-cms.com	5
http://website-test.magnolia-cms.com	2
http://author.magnolia-cms.com	1

Surfacing External Data Through Magnolia

by SeanMcTex

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

9 Embeds 160

Statistics