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The content you manage in Magnolia is typically stored in the JCR repository, but it doesn't have to be. A content connector defines where the content resides. With a content connector you can decouple content management from content storage. You can store content in a database, cloud storage or a Web service. You can create a connector that lets authors choose image assets from Flickr, for example. Authors benefit as they can manage all content in familiar Magnolia content apps. They don't have to leave Magnolia just because the content resides somewhere else.

Table of Contents

Implementing a content connector

In technical terms, a content connector is a bridge to a data source. It allows you to access content outside the JCR repository.

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If required, you can inject your own content connector in the constructor of your class. Content connector has its own provider: info.magnolia.ui.contentapp.contentconnector.ContentConnectorProvider. The provider creates one instance of a connector per subapp by default.

The Content app with non-JCR content - 5 UI tutorial explains how to implement a non-JCR content app, including a custom content connector.

Content connector definition

A connector definition specifies the data source. In case of a JCR connector, the definition requires you to specify a workspace and a path in that workspace. Each content app subapp must provide its own content connector definition. If you implement your own connector, extend info.magnolia.ui.vaadin.integration.contentconnector.ContentConnectorDefinition.

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class

optional, default is info.magnolia.ui.vaadin.integration.contentconnector.JcrContentConnectorDefinition

Definition class. Only needed if you implement your own, non-JCR content connector. If you store content in the JCR repository this property is not needed but you need to define a number of other properties. See the JCR content connector example below. The value must be a fully-qualified class name.

Examples of definition classes:

info.magnolia.ui.vaadin.integration.contentconnector.ContentConnectorDefinition: Basic content connector definition interface. Implement this in your custom definition class.
info.magnolia.ui.vaadin.integration.contentconnector.JcrContentConnectorDefinition: Defines a connector that operates on the JCR repository.

implementationClass

optional, default is info.magnolia.ui.vaadin.integration.contentconnector.JcrContentConnector

Implementation class that implements the

Javadoc resource link

className	info.magnolia.ui.vaadin.integration.contentconnector.ContentConnector

interface. If you store content in the JCR repository this property is not needed. The value must be a fully-qualified class name.

Example: JCR content connector

JCR content apps have at least two subapps. A browser subapp displays items and a detail subapp edits them. Both subapps need their own connector definition.

Note
We highly recommend using the same `rootPath` in both the detail and browser sub-apps, to benefit from our standard set of actions provided out of the box.

browser subapp

A JCR content connector definition introduces properties that identify a JCR workspace as a data source. It also defines the node types to operate on.

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`nodeTypes`	required List of node types the content connector operates on. For example, the connector in the Contacts app displays contacts and folders.
`<node‑type‑name>`	required Arbitrary node name such as `contact` if you are displaying contacts in the browser.
`name`	required Node type the connector operates on. These are Magnolia or JCR node types such as `mgnl:contact`.
`icon`	optional , default is none CSS class name of the icon displayed on the workbench. See the default icons that ship with Magnolia or create your own.
`strict`	optional Specifies whether to include only the exact node type and ignore subtypes.
`hideInList`	optional Specifies whether to display the current node in list view. Use this property to, for example, exclude folders.
`workspace`	required A workspace in the `magnolia` repository that you want to browse.
`defaultOrder`	optional Default sort order for the content items in list views. The value is the name of the property you want to sort by, such as `jcrName`.
`includeProperties`	optional, default is `false` Displays also the JCR properties of the node when set to `true`. Only nodes and subnodes are displayed when `false`.
`includeSystemNodes`	optional , default is `false` Displays also nodes used by the system such as nodes internal to the operations of the JCR implementation. Set to `true` if you want to see image renditions in the `imaging` workspace for example.
`rootPath`	optional , default is `/` (root) Path configured as the root of the workspace. Only content below the path is operated on.

detail subapp

The connect definition for a detail subapp is much simpler. You only need to define the workspace.

Localtab Group

Localtab

title	YAML

Code Block

language	js

subapps:
  detail:
    contentConnector:
      workspace: contacts

Localtab

title	JCR node

Advanced Tables - Table Plus

enableHeadingAttributes	false
enableSorting	false
class	m5-configuration-tree
enableHighlighting	false

Node name

Value

Mgnl f

subApps

Mgnl n

detail

Mgnl n

contentConnector

Mgnl p

workspace

contacts

Example: non-JCR content connector

This is an example content connector definition for a content app that manages files on the local file system. This is a simplified example.

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