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 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

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

Surfacing External Data Through Magnolia

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