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Livesite deprecated class

michaelangel0

Windows Server 2003
LiveSite 3.0.1

I'm trying to develop some external components using the Eclipse IDE but it is telling me that the BaseExternal class is deprecated and throwing errors.

Looking at the source code in livesite_install/livesite/impl.zip I see the line:

* @deprecated for Livesite 3.1

3.0.2 has only just come out so why is this entry deprecating a class for a future release?

Is the BaseExternal class the correct one to be using?

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Comments

tec_iwov

yes the class is deprecated it should be as of 3.0.
it is part of the old external functionality you should move all
your code to use the new pojo based externals that accept the
request context. you have access request and session plus lots
of performance changes

michaelangel0

Thanks for the reply.

However, I don't understand what you mean by 'pojo based externals'? Do you have any documentation/examples of this?

This is not documented in any of the manuals or javadocs that come with 3.0.1 of Livesite. Instead they refer to the deprecated class and who knows what else that they shouldn't.

My understanding is that the dev guide has not been updated for 3.0.2 so we have a situation where the underlying code has been changed substantially but the documentation has not been updated to reflect these changes. This is quite shocking really - how Interwoven expects developers to create external components under these circumstances is beyond me.

Frederik

I agree!

I haven't tried 3.0, but trying to understand LS 2.2.1 with limited docs is too nerve-wrecking to express nicely.

yhochet

I was confronted with the same problem.
But i've found the way to use the new API by regarding the Blog sample code:

Your component classes do not extends BaseExternal anymore.

You just have to create your functions with a RequestContext object in parameters.
Then you develop your code in the method.

In the component declaration use this:
your classes
your method

scope can be local, application or session.

Regards

AlexC

2.x externals are Plain-Old-Java-Objects (POJO). A fansy way of saying they don't need a parent class, just the corrent method signature:


public org.dom4j.Document myExternalMethod(RequestContext context)
{
  org.dom4j.Document doc = Dom4jUtils.newDocument();
  doc.addElement("root").addElement("my-external").addText("Hello World");
  return doc;
}

Above method will return


< root >
< my-external >Hello World< /my-external >
< /root >

to be inserted into the Data element used in rendering the component.
You can return null if you have nothing to return.

Also note I emphasized that Document type is dom4j type.

JonSchneider

I'm a Java developer who is new to Interwoven. I'm currently getting myself spun up on LiveSite (version 3.0.2) component development. I've been spending time this morning going through the developer's documentation (https://support.interwoven.com/library/manuals/livesite/pdf/300/ls_300sp1_dev_v2_en.pdf -- as linked from https://support.interwoven.com/library/manuals/livesite/livesite.asp) on component development with Java objects.

I was walking through the "hello world" tutorial on setting up Eclipse for component development with custom Java objects (from Appendix C of the documentation). After some hunting around, I found that the com.interwoven.livesite.external.BaseExternal class referenced in the documentation's code sample is located in the .jar file livesite-runtime.jar (not livesite.jar, as specified in the documentation). However, I then got Eclipse's warning that the BaseExternal class is marked as deprecated; I was confused why the documentation was having me work with a deprecated class. A search on "BaseExternal deprecated" (no quotes) here on DevNet landed me on this thread.

I see from AlexC's comment in this thread that Java POJOs that drive LiveSite components should be returning type org.dom4j.Document. There's also an example elsewhere in the 3.0.2 documentation (in Appendix E) that has a code sample that returns that type.

However, the documentation doesn't specify where to get the org.dom4j.Document type. A search didn't reveal any other discussion of that type here on the DevNet forums.

A google search shows that org.dom4j.Document is apparently part of the dom4j open source project. Javadoc documentation for the interface is available at: http://www.dom4j.org/dom4j-1.5.2/apidocs/org/dom4j/Document.html

I have two questions at this point:

(1) Should I download a copy of the dom4j project from www.dom4j.org to get a copy of the org.dom4j.Document interface to reference from my code? Or is the org.dom4j.Document type included in the LiveSite distribution somewhere? (I didn't see it in any of the .jar files in my iw-home/httpd/webapps/content_center/WEB-INF/lib folder.)

(2) Is there updated/current developer documentation available covering the correct way to go about developing Java-based LiveSite components for LiveSite 3.0.2?

Thanks!

AlexC

In 3.0.2 the external calls are POJOs, BaseExternal is deprecated as it is no longer needed, you just need object path and method name to execute an external and as long as signature matches.

1) That is dom4j and you should use the one in WEB-INF/lib to make sure the versions match.
See class called DocumentHelper in dom4j for creating new documents, the API dom4j provides is easy to learn and very flexible.

2) Unfortuantely the 3.0.2 documentation has a few holes that refer back to 2.2.x that was not pruned. The 3.1 documentation is very good and mostly up to date.

If you have specific questions about how to develop that your documentation does not cover, feel free to start a new thread and someone will be able to quickly answer it. I check board almost every day.

JonSchneider

Alex, thank you for the prompt reply, it is much appreciated!

I see the .jar file I need now -- dom4j-1.6.1.jar in my LiveSite 3.0.2 installation. I must have missed it before because org.dom4j.Document is an Interface, not a Class, and I was having my Eclipse .jar search plugin look for a *class* named org.dom4j.Document.

Where can I find the developer documentation for LiveSite 3.1? At https://support.interwoven.com/library/manuals/livesite/livesite.asp, I see a "LiveSite Developer's Guide" for version 3.0.2, but not for version 3.1.0.

Also, is it generally "safe" to use 3.1.0 documentation in developing Java components for LiveSite 3.0.2? (Are there any/many new features in LiveSite 3.1.0 for Java-based components that were not present in 3.0.2?)

Thanks!

AlexC

There have been a lot of changes form 3.0.2 to 3.1 (especially in component design), I wouldn't recommend using 3.1 for 3.0.2.

JonSchneider

All right, I'll see what I can do with the partial documentation included with LiveSite 3.0.2. Thanks.

saurabh

hi alex,
I am facing same type of problem as I am using LS 3.1 .can u tell me from where i can get LS 3.1 documents .
thanks

AlexC

https://support.interwoven.com/library/manuals/teamsite/teamsite.asp

SitePub 3.1 is now part of TeamSite 6.7.2, see that subsection.