Model ManagementTech Talk Live

Ole Hejlskov, Mike Farman16/12/2015

Content Models - BackgroundBackground• Metadata is key to providing context around content…

Capture the business data around your content to drive your content workflows and discovery

• Alfresco already offers an extremely rich and flexible metadata modelling capability (based around Types & Aspects)

• Models are key differentiator between content management applications and file sharing type apps

however…

But don’t we have Dynamic Models already?• Dynamic Models is an existing capability where XML model

definitions can be stored in the repository Data Dictionary/Models folder (as opposed to the filesystem)

• Limited changes can be made at runtime– Typically Additive i.e. add new property to existing model

• XML based - no tool to edit/verify• Share XML form definitions are *still* required to support the model

also need manual deployment and server restarts

Dynamic M

odels

Solution Description• Allow Business Analyst level of

user to define and manage models via Share UI

• Hide the technical details & protect the user from errors– UI constrains the user to what is

possible– Users cannot make changes that

will break the server• Remove the need for IT involvement

– No file system based deployment required

– Deployment Lifecycle managed via the property groups feature set

• Designed to address most common modelling use cases– Targeted at business analyst

– not Java developer– Does not expose 100% of

the modelling capabilities• Includes Types and Aspects• Builds on the existing Dynamic

Modelling capability– Primarily UI on top of

existing capabilities– Does not require major re-

architecture/refactor of modelling capabilities

Solution Description

Model Management

Items Value

Support Types and Aspects Flexible options for defining hierarchal (Type) and cross-cutting (Aspect) content models

Define different property datatypes Capture different content types such as text, dates, booleans and more

Property Value Constraints Restrict the values users can enter to ensure metadata is applicable for intended usage

Search Indexing Controls Allow users to search and find content effectively and ensuring efficient storage

Model Lifecycles Allow business analyst to ensure models are only available to users as appropriate

Valid Models Ensure that a model is well specified before making the model live

Property Form Designer Control the UX for end users by allowing design of forms via simple, drag n’ drop style design

Export/Import Model Easily move models between dev/test/production environments

Value Bundle

UI Driven model creation, management and deployment toolsWhich allows customers to define application specific content models via simple UI without hand coding or configuration

Modelling Lifecycle

Create

Model

Create Type/Aspec

t

Add Propertie

s

Layout

Form

Activate

Change Type/Manage

Aspects

Lifecycle

NamespacePrefixNameStatus: Inactive

NameParent Type

NameType

Automatic orManual

Status: Active

Business Analyst End User

DEMO

Indexing Options - Non-Text Fieldsint, long, float, double, date, datetime

Indexing Option Searchable Wildcard Facetable Model XML

None No <index enabled="false"> </index>

Basic Yes Yes No <index enabled="true"> <tokenised>TRUE</tokenised> </index>

Enhanced Search Yes Yes Yes <index enabled="true"> <tokenised>TRUE</tokenised> <facetable>true</facetable> </index>

Indexing Options

Indexing Options – Text Fields text, mltext, content

Indexing Options

Indexing Option Searchable Wildcard Facetable Model XML

None No n/a n/a <index enabled="false"> </index>

Free Text Yes Yes No <index enabled="true"> <tokenised>TRUE</tokenised> </index>

List of Values – Whole Matche.g. Country Code

Yes No Yes <index enabled="true"> <tokenised>FALSE</tokenised> <facetable>true</facetable> </index>

List of Values – Partial Matche.g. Locale, Keywords

Yes Yes Yes <index enabled="true"> <tokenised>BOTH</tokenised> <facetable>true</facetable> </index>

Pattern – Unique Matchese.g. Social Security Number, ISBN

Yes No No <index enabled="true"> <tokenised>FALSE</tokenised> <facetable>false</facetable> </index>

Pattern – Many Matchese.g. Filename, zip/post code

Yes Yes No <index enabled="true"> <tokenised>BOTH</tokenised> <facetable>false</facetable> </index>

Changing Active Models• Restrictions on changing properties for active models

Active Models

Properties Changeable

Name Display Label Description Data Type Requirement Multiple Default Value Constraint Indexing

Types/Aspects Changeable

Name Parent Type/Aspect Display Label Description

Form Layout can be changed at any time

TroubleshootingSymptom Cause Resolution

Model Manager tool is missing from Share Admin Console

User is not a member of the ALFRESCO_MODEL_ADMINISTRATORS group

Add user to ALFRESCO_MODEL_ADMINISTRATORS

Cannot deactivate an Active model Model in use Use “Find Where Used” action to locate nodes using model. Remove Aspects or for Types, delete nodes including purge from Trashcan

Custom Type/Aspect not visible to Share end users

Model is inactive Activate model via Model Manager

Model has no layout form Models only available to end users if they have a form. Add layout using Layout Designer

Share extension module for model not deployed

Deploy using Module Deployment page /share/page/modules/deploy

Form for Type is missing standard properties (e.g. name, title, description, created…)

Standard properties have not been included in Share Form

Add missing properties to form using Layout Designer

Questions?