NodeService

Generally nodes are of two main types, a content node (cm:content), or a folder node (cm:folder). Folders can contain child nodes. Note that each content store will have a root node, and all other nodes in the store will be children of the root node.

The NodeService makes extensive use of NodeRefs to reference the node of interest.

Since SkyVault 4.1.1 the alf_node.node_deleted column has been replaced by a system type (sys:deleted) and an aspect (sys:pendingDelete). While the sys:deleted type will never be visible to client code, the sys:pendingDelete aspect will be. Any custom code that attempts to modify behaviour during node deletion may need to be adjusted.

Node deletion

Changes made in 4.1.1 introduced comprehensive policy callbacks for all associations during node deletion. The following node policies are available for node deletion:

• BeforeDeleteNodePolicy
• BeforeArchiveNodePolicy
• OnDeleteNodePolicy
• BeforeDeleteChildAssociationPolicy
• OnDeleteChildAssociationPolicy
• BeforeDeleteAssociationPolicy
• OnDeleteAssociationPolicy

The association (peer and child) policies are now fired reliably for all associations within the node hierarchy being deleted. For examples of their usage, see: org.alfresco.repo.model.ml.MultilingualDocumentAspect.

Once NodeService.deleteNode is called:

• It is impossible to add or remove associations to or from any node in the hierarchy being deleted. This includes attempted changes from any source including changes attempted by custom code reacting to before- or on-delete callbacks.
• All nodes in the hierarchy will temporarily have the sys:pendingDelete aspect applied. Custom code can using NodeService.hasAspect to discover if a node is about to be deleted.
• It is impossible to add new nodes or link other nodes into any node in the hierarchy being deleted. Any attempt to do so will be treated as a concurrency violation since custom code should not be attempting this from callbacks during the node deletion.
• All associations, with the notable exception of the primary parent-child links, will be removed even if node archival is taking place. Node archival now only preserves the core parent-child associations and discards all other associations after making the relevant callbacks. Custom code must use the association deletion callbacks to remove nodes or aspects that might violate model integrity constraints in the archived hierarchy.

A good example of the changes is in the handling of the cm:copiedFrom aspect. Copied nodes have an aspect cm:copiedfrom, which has a mandatory association to the original source node. When either the source or copy is deleted the aspect has to be removed. See org.alfresco.repo.copy.CopyServiceImpl.beforeDeleteOriginalAssociation for how the association deletion is detected in order to ensure that the aspect is removed from the copied node.

                  

// Getting a NodeRef from its path

StoreRef storeRef = new StoreRef(StoreRef.PROTOCOL_WORKSPACE, "SpacesStore");
ResultSet rs = searchService.query(storeRef, SearchService.LANGUAGE_LUCENE, "PATH:\"/app:company_home/app:user_homes/sys:boris/cm:mypics\"");
NodeRef companyHomeNodeRef = null;
try
{
  if (rs.length() == 0)
  {
      throw new SkyVaultRuntimeException("Didn't find Company Home");
  }
  companyHomeNodeRef = rs.getNodeRef(0);
}
finally
{
  rs.close();
}

// Getting a file name from a NodeRef

String fileName = (String) nodeService.getProperty(nodeRef, ContentModel.PROP_NAME);

// Reading a property of a node
// The property may come from an aspect or not. You will probably want to cast to the appropriate type.

QName PROP_QNAME_MY_PROPERTY = QName.createQName("custom.model", "myProperty");
value = nodeService.getProperty(nodeRef, PROP_QNAME_MY_PROPERTY);

// Updating a property of a node
// The property may come from an aspect or not.

QName PROP_QNAME_MY_PROPERTY = QName.createQName("custom.model", "myProperty");
nodeService.setProperty(nodeRef, PROP_QNAME_MY_PROPERTY, value);

// Getting the parent of a NodeRef

ChildAssociationRef childAssociationRef = nodeService.getPrimaryParent(nodeRef);
NodeRef parent = childAssociationRef.getParentRef();

// Adding an aspect to a node
// Supposing the "MyAspect" aspect defines a "myProperty" property in the "custom.model" namespace.

QName CUSTOM_ASPECT_QNAME = QName.createQName("custom.model", "MyAspect");
QName PROP_QNAME_MY_PROPERTY = QName.createQName("custom.model", "myProperty");
Map<QName,Serializable> aspectValues = new HashMap<QName,Serializable>();
aspectValues.put(PROP_QNAME_MY_PROPERTY, value);
nodeService.addAspect(nodeRef, CUSTOM_ASPECT_QNAME, aspectValues);

// Checking whether a node has a given aspect

QName CUSTOM_ASPECT_QNAME = QName.createQName("custom.model", "MyAspect");
boolean hasAspect = nodeService.hasAspect(node, CUSTOM_ASPECT_QNAME);

// Looping through children of a NodeRef

List<ChildAssociationRef> children = nodeService.getChildAssocs(companyHome);
for (ChildAssociationRef childAssoc : children) {
  NodeRef childNodeRef = childAssoc.getChildRef();
  // Use childNodeRef here.
}

// Creating a child association between two existing NodeRef

QName PROP_QNAME_MY_CHILD_ASSOCIATION = QName.createQName("custom.model", "myChildAssociation");
nodeService.addChild(parentNodeRef, childNodeRef, PROP_QNAME_MY_CHILD_ASSOCIATION, PROP_QNAME_MY_CHILD_ASSOCIATION);

// Creating an association between two NodeRef

QName PROP_QNAME_MY_ASSOCIATION = QName.createQName("custom.model", "myAssociation");
nodeService.createAssociation(sourceNodeRef, targetNodeRef, PROP_QNAME_MY_ASSOCIATION);

// Setting the type of a node

QName PROP_QNAME_MY_TYPE = QName.createQName("custom.model", "myType");
nodeService.setType(finalOriginal, MY_TYPE);

// Getting the MIME type of a node

ContentData contentData = (ContentData) nodeService.getProperty(nodeRef, ContentModel.PROP_CONTENT);
String originalMimeType = contentData.getMimetype();

// Adding a category to a node

ArrayList<NodeRef> categories = new ArrayList<NodeRef>(1);
categories.add(categoryNode);
if(!nodeService.hasAspect(targetNode, ContentModel.ASPECT_GEN_CLASSIFIABLE)
{
  HashMap<QName, Serializable> props = new HashMap<QName, Serializable>();
  props.put(ContentModel.PROP_CATEGORIES, categories);
  nodeService.addAspect(targetNode, ContentModel.ASPECT_GEN_CLASSIFIABLE, props);
}
else
{
  nodeService.setProperty(targetNode, ContentModel.PROP_CATEGORIES, categories);
}

// Getting the categories of a node

List<NodeRef> categories = (List<NodeRef>) nodeService.getProperty(nodeRef, ContentModel.PROP_CATEGORIES);

// Deleting a node for real (not recycle bin)

nodeService.addAspect(nodeRef, ContentModel.ASPECT_TEMPORARY, null);
nodeService.deleteNode(nodeRef);
                  
               

• Java API - Access and Transaction Management documentation.
• Custom Content Store platform extension point documentation