Modules

Magnolia has a modular architecture. A module can perform a task, package content, or provide specialized functionality. Modules can be project specific or they can be reused across different projects. You should use the module mechanism to package and deploy your own site's configuration and functionality.

Terminology

Magnolia module

In Magnolia documentation, the terms module and project module always refer to a Magnolia module.

What makes a Magnolia module are files specific to Magnolia in a particular folder, see Module structure below. You can add such a Magnolia module folder directly into the webapp of your Magnolia instance. 

Maven module

Maven also uses the term module but it means something different. When a Maven module is meant, we write Maven module. You can make the Magnolia module folder part of a Maven module. In that case you would build a JAR file and deploy it to your webapp.

All modules provided by Magnolia International are built with Maven. This makes it easy to install or uninstall them by adding or removing a JAR file.

Light module

You don't need to know Java or Maven to create a perfectly valid Magnolia module. Put your project files into a file-system directory to create a so-called light module. Use YAML-based configuration and Magnolia's unified resource loading.

This enables light development, a development style which does not require Java skills or a Java development environment. It's a straightforward way to get started with Magnolia development and works well for front-end developers. The Hello Magnolia tutorial uses light development to create a fully-functional template module.

Module structure

<maven-module-name>/
    ├── pom.xml
    └── src/
        └── main/
            ├── java/
            └── resources/
                ├── META-INF/
                │   └── magnolia/
                │       └── module-name.xml
                └── <module-name>/
                    ├── apps/
                    ├── dialogs/
                    │   └── myDialog.yaml
                    ├── webresources/
                    └── templates/
                        ├── components/
                        │   ├── myComponent.ftl
                        │   └── myComponent.yaml
                        └── pages/
                            ├── myTemplate.ftl
                            └── myTemplate.yaml

 
 

 
 
 
 

$magnolia.resources.dir/
└── <module-name>/
    ├── apps/
    ├── dialogs/
    │   └── myDialog.yaml
    ├── module.yaml
    ├── webresources/
    └── templates/
        ├── components/
        │   ├── myComponent.ftl
        │   └── myComponent.yaml
        └── pages/
            ├── myTemplate.ftl
            └── myTemplate.yaml

Folders:

Read Module structure for further imformation.

Using Maven and adding Java classes? Possible but not required

If you are familiar with Java and Maven you may want to use Maven to create and build your Magnolia module.

There is no requirement to use Java classes within a Magnolia module. But it is possible and offers many advantages. If you want to use Java classes, we recommend that you wrap your Magnolia module into a Maven module and add the classes to src/main/java.

Configuration

Magnolia modules can define a couple of items as parts of the module. Such items are apps, fieldTypes, dialogs, commands, virtualURIMapping, templates. See Modules#Module structure above and Module configuration for further details.

If you are using Java and having a Module class, the module class can have bean properties which can be loaded at module startup with values from configuration data. 

Module descriptor

Maven-based Magnolia modules should provide a module descriptor.

A module descriptor is a Magnolia-specific XML file that identifies and defines the module. When you start Magnolia, the system identifies available modules by locating each module's descriptor file.

The module descriptor file is located at src/main/resources/META-INF/magnolia/<module-name>.xml. This said, currently a module can only have a module descriptor when it is a Magnolia Maven module.

For further details please read XML-based module descriptor and YAML-based module descriptor.

Credits:

• Pixel Buddha: Box icon in modular architecture diagram. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)