Evaluators

Extension Point	Evaluators
Support Status	Full Support
Architecture Information	Share Architecture.
Description	An evaluator is used by other extension points, such as Document Library Actions and Surf Extension Modules, to control when they should display or hide something. Custom evaluators are either configured or coded in Java. The following is an example of an evaluator that is configured as a Spring Bean: <bean id="evaluator.doclib.metadata.hasExposure" parent="evaluator.doclib.action.propertyNotNull"> <property name="property" value="exif:exposureTime"/> </bean> In this case a new custom evaluator with ID `evaluator.doclib.metadata.hasExposure` is created. It is based on the out-of-the-box `propertyNotNull` evaluator, which takes a `property` parameter with the content model property that should be checked for `null`. This evaluator is now ready to use in for example a Document Library Action definition. If the evaluator is a bit more complex, and there is no existing evaluator that it can be based on, then we can implement the evaluator in Java as in the following example: import org.alfresco.error.AlfrescoRuntimeException; import org.alfresco.web.evaluator.BaseEvaluator; import org.apache.commons.logging.Log; import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory; import org.json.simple.JSONArray; import org.json.simple.JSONObject; public class CheckIfDocIsEmailedEvaluator extends BaseEvaluator { private static Log logger = LogFactory.getLog(CheckIfDocIsEmailedEvaluator.class); private static final String ASPECT_EMAILED = "cm:emailed"; @Override public boolean evaluate(JSONObject jsonObject) { try { JSONArray nodeAspects = getNodeAspects(jsonObject); if (nodeAspects == null) { logger.info("No aspects found"); return false; } else { if (nodeAspects.contains(ASPECT_EMAILED)) { logger.info("Has been emailed"); return true; } else { logger.info("Has NOT been emailed"); return false; } } } catch (Exception err) { throw new SkyVaultRuntimeException("JSONException whilst running action evaluator: " + err.getMessage()); } } } This evaluator needs to be declared as a Spring bean too as follows: <bean id="org.alfresco.training.evaluator.doclib.action.isEmailed" class="org.alfresco.training.documentlibrary.action.evaluator.CheckIfDocIsEmailedEvaluator" /> An evaluator is used by referring to it via the Spring Bean ID, as in the following example when declaring a Document Library Action: <action id="org.alfresco.training.doclib.action.sendAsEmail" icon="email" type="javascript" label="actions.training.alfresco.sendAsEmail"> <param name="function">onActionFormDialog</param> <param name="itemKind">action</param> <param name="itemId">send-as-email</param> <param name="mode">create</param> <param name="destination">{node.nodeRef}</param> <param name="successMessage">message.send-as-email.success</param> <param name="failureMessage">message.send-as-email.failure</param> <evaluator negate="true">org.alfresco.training.evaluator.doclib.action.isEmailed</evaluator> </action> Note here how you can `negate` the outcome of the evaluation. Which means that in this case we want to show the Send As Email document library action in the UI if an email has not been sent.
Deployment - App Server	tomcat/shared/classes/alfresco/web-extension/custom-slingshot-application-context.xml - the Spring Bean definition goes into this file Custom evaluator implementations in Java does not lend themselves to be manually deployed into the application server. Use a Share AMP instead.
Deployment - SDK Project	share-amp/src/main/amp/config/alfresco/web-extension/custom-slingshot-application-context.xml - the Spring Bean definition goes into this file share-amp/src/main/java - the Java implementation of the evaluator goes into this directory
More Information	See the Rating Extension Point for example evaluator Predefined evaluators for Document Library Configuring Evaluators for the Document Library Extension Module Deployment and Evaluators
Tutorials	Creating a Custom Evaluator Selecting an Evaluator for an Extension Module Sub-Component Evalution Improving Sub-Component Evalution
SkyVault Developer Blogs	Sub component evaluations

Support Status

Architecture Information

Description

An evaluator is used by other extension points, such as Document Library Actions and Surf Extension Modules, to control when they should display or hide something. Custom evaluators are either configured or coded in Java. The following is an example of an evaluator that is configured as a Spring Bean:

<bean id="evaluator.doclib.metadata.hasExposure"
      parent="evaluator.doclib.action.propertyNotNull">  
   <property name="property" value="exif:exposureTime"/>
</bean>

In this case a new custom evaluator with ID evaluator.doclib.metadata.hasExposure is created. It is based on the out-of-the-box propertyNotNull evaluator, which takes a property parameter with the content model property that should be checked for null. This evaluator is now ready to use in for example a Document Library Action definition.

If the evaluator is a bit more complex, and there is no existing evaluator that it can be based on, then we can implement the evaluator in Java as in the following example:

import org.alfresco.error.AlfrescoRuntimeException;
import org.alfresco.web.evaluator.BaseEvaluator;
import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
import org.json.simple.JSONArray;
import org.json.simple.JSONObject;

public class CheckIfDocIsEmailedEvaluator extends BaseEvaluator {
    private static Log logger = LogFactory.getLog(CheckIfDocIsEmailedEvaluator.class);
    private static final String ASPECT_EMAILED = "cm:emailed";

    @Override
    public boolean evaluate(JSONObject jsonObject) {
        try {
            JSONArray nodeAspects = getNodeAspects(jsonObject);
            if (nodeAspects == null) {
                logger.info("No aspects found");
                return false;
            } else {
                if (nodeAspects.contains(ASPECT_EMAILED)) {
                    logger.info("Has been emailed");
                    return true;
                } else {
                    logger.info("Has NOT been emailed");
                    return false;
                }
            }
        } catch (Exception err) {
            throw new SkyVaultRuntimeException("JSONException whilst running action evaluator: " + err.getMessage());
        }
    }
}

This evaluator needs to be declared as a Spring bean too as follows:

<bean id="org.alfresco.training.evaluator.doclib.action.isEmailed"
          class="org.alfresco.training.documentlibrary.action.evaluator.CheckIfDocIsEmailedEvaluator" />

An evaluator is used by referring to it via the Spring Bean ID, as in the following example when declaring a Document Library Action:

<action id="org.alfresco.training.doclib.action.sendAsEmail"
        icon="email"
        type="javascript"
        label="actions.training.alfresco.sendAsEmail">
    <param name="function">onActionFormDialog</param>
    <param name="itemKind">action</param>
    <param name="itemId">send-as-email</param>
    <param name="mode">create</param>
    <param name="destination">{node.nodeRef}</param>
    <param name="successMessage">message.send-as-email.success</param>
    <param name="failureMessage">message.send-as-email.failure</param>
    <evaluator negate="true">org.alfresco.training.evaluator.doclib.action.isEmailed</evaluator>
</action>

Note here how you can negate the outcome of the evaluation. Which means that in this case we want to show the Send As Email document library action in the UI if an email has not been sent.

Deployment - App Server

tomcat/shared/classes/alfresco/web-extension/custom-slingshot-application-context.xml - the Spring Bean definition goes into this file

Custom evaluator implementations in Java does not lend themselves to be manually deployed into the application server. Use a Share AMP instead.

Deployment - SDK Project

share-amp/src/main/amp/config/alfresco/web-extension/custom-slingshot-application-context.xml - the Spring Bean definition goes into this file
share-amp/src/main/java - the Java implementation of the evaluator goes into this directory

More Information

Tutorials

SkyVault Developer Blogs

Sub component evaluations

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