This interface defines the following two methods that must be implemented:
/** * Gets the Web script Description * * @return the Web script description */ public WebScriptDescription getDescription(); /** * Execute the Web script * * @param req the Web script request * @param res the Web script response */ public void execute(WebScriptRequest req, WebScriptResponse res) throws IOException;
The first method, getDescription(), returns a WebScriptDescription object, which is a Java representation of the web script description XML document. The second method, execute(), is invoked by the Web Script Framework to initiate the web script.
The Web Script Framework also provides two Java classes that implement the difficult parts of this interface, which you can extend as a starting point. The simplest helper Java class is named as follows: org.alfresco.web.scripts.AbstractWebScript
This helper provides an implementation of getDescription() but does not provide any execution assistance, which it delegates to its derived class. This allows a Java-backed web script to take full control of the execution process, including how output is rendered to the response.
The other helper Java class is named: org.alfresco.web.scripts.DeclarativeWebScript
- Locate an associated controller script written in JavaScript and, if found, execute it.
- Locate an associated response template for the requested format and execute it, passing the model populated by the controller script.
By default, all web scripts implemented through scripting alone are backed by the DeclarativeWebScript Java class. There is one special hook point that makes this a useful class for your own Java-backed web scripts to extend. Prior to controller script execution, DeclarativeWebScript invokes the template method executeImpl(), which it expects derived Java classes to implement.
protected Map<String, Object> executeImpl(WebScriptRequest req, Status status, Cache cache)
This is where the behavior of a custom Java-backed web script is encapsulated, including the population of the web script model, which is returned from this method.
The Java Folder Listing web script uses DeclarativeWebScript for its starting point.
...
public class JavaDir extends DeclarativeWebScript
{
...
protected Map<String, Object> executeImpl(WebScriptRequest req, Status status,
Cache cache)
{
...
return model;
}
...
}
The model returned from executeImpl() is passed to the response template for subsequent rendering. Prior to template rendering, the model can also be accessed and further refined by a controller script, if one happens to be provided for the web script. Apart from implementing the WebScript interface, there are no other web script demands on the Java class. You can give the Java class any name and place it in any Java package.