Package more widgets

2.1 Currentexistingwidgets

There is a dozen of builtin widget types, to handle common field types: text, int,
secret, textarea, datetime, file, htmltext, selectOneDirectory, selectManyDirectory,
checkbox, template, list.
These "builtin" widget types are contributed to the layout service using extension
points and java classes, in the layout-client module.
Most of them are coded in JAVA, and implement the widget behaviour depending on
the mode: for widget of type "text" for instance, a standard JSF component "h:out-
putText" will be used in view mode, and "h:inputText" will be used in edit mode, ac -
companied with a JSF component "h:message" to display conversion/validation er-
rors.
The "template" widget is a little special because it enables the use of a xhtml page
to describe the widget behaviour: no JAVA code is then involved. Some variables are
made available within these templates (but they are not properly documented yet).
More variables could be made available to get more features already offered when
writing the JAVA code.
The "list" widget is also special because it is in fact a widget of type "template" de -
signed to use an hardcoded template: "/widgets/list_widget_template.xhtml".
So when defining new widget types, two options are available:

• code in JAVA the widget behaviour
• use an xhtml page and hardcode its path in a JAVA class that inherits from the template widget type handler.

2.2 Currentwidget templates

There is a lot of widget templates in several nuxeo packages: even if these tem-
plates are sometimes generic, they are not registered to the layout service exten-
sion point. Using them requires to use a widget of type "template" and state in the
widget properties the template path.
These widgets could be easily added to the list of "builtin" available widgets.

Here is the list of generic widgets:

• complex_widget_template.xhtml (from layout-client): makes it possible to map a
  complex field (map-like) by defining sub-widgets for each item of the map. It
  could be repackaged as a template widget named "complex".
• complex_list_item_widget_template.xhtml (from layout-client): makes it possible
  to map a complex field (map-like) when the field is held in a list. It is different
  from a simple complex widget because the mapping of sub-fields cannot be
  done exactly in the same way in both cases. It could be repackaged as a tem-
  plate widget named "complex_list_item".
• list_subwidget_template.xhtml (from layout-client): makes it possible to map a
  sub-field of type list by defining sub-widgets for each element of the list (e.g
  when defining a structure involving a list of lists). It could be repackaged as a
  template widget named "sublist".
  It is different from the simple "list" widget handler because the first list widget
  will define an ajax region and an iteration variable that would get mixed up with
  the sublist ajax region and iteration variable: this template does not define a
  new ajax region, and uses a distinct iteration variable. Note that yet another
  template would be needed to handle a list of lists of lists, to use a distinct itera -
  tion variable.
• user_password_validation_widget_template.xhtml (from webapp-base): provides
  an hidden field that performs validation over password and password confirma-
  tion (to check that they match). It depends on webapp-base seam components,
  so it should not be made available in layout-client, but it could be repackaged
  here as a template widget named "single_user_group_suggestion". It also
  provides a basic cross-validation example.
• single_user_suggestion_widget_template.xhtml (from webapp-base): provides a
  suggestion box for a single user/group selection. It depends on webapp-base
  user management seam components, so it should not be made available in lay-
  out-client, but it could be repackaged here as a template widget named
  "single_user_group_suggestion".
• user_suggestion_widget_template.xhtml (from webapp-base): provides a sug-
  gestion box for a list of users/group selection. It depends on webapp-base user
  management seam components, so it should not be made available in layout-cli-
  ent, but it could be repackaged here as a template widget named
  "user_group_suggestion".
• user_prefixed_suggestion_widget_template.xhtml (ffrom webapp-base): sames
  as above, but provides "user:" and "group:" prefixes when selecting users and
  groups, which is useful when needing to identify the selection type (for workflow
  participants for instance). It could be repackaged as "prefixed_user_group_sug-
  gestion".

Here is the list of specific widgets that could be made generic:

• directive_widget_template.xhtml (from jbpm-web),
  protocol_type_widget_template.xhtml (from mail-web),
  moderation_type_widget_template.xhtml (from webapp) : these are select one
  menus with specific values that are not stored in a directory. They could be
  rewritten using a generic selection widget (see chapter 2.5)
• duedate_widget_template.xhtml (from jbpm-web): this is a datetime widget with
  an additional validator. This can be expressed in the XML and does not require a
  template. It should be removed and the widget calling it should be rewritten.
• emails_limit_widget_template.xhtml (from mail-web): this is standard text
  widget with a standard JSF validator. It could be rewritten using a generic way-
  of defining validators (see chapter 2.4)
• join_list_widget_widget_template.xhtml (from mail-web) and contributors-
  widget.xhtml (from webapp): these are templates presenting a list of items
  joined with a given character, and final delimiter. This could be addressed
  providing more presentation options to the list widget in view mode (see
  chapter 2.3)
• subjects_widget.xhtml (from webapp), coverage_widget.xhtml (from webapp),
  chain_monoselect_2levels_widget.xhtml (from studio) and
  chain_multiselect_2levels_widget.xhtml (from studio): these are chain select
  widget templates. Templates used in studio are more generic and could be
  packaged as is in ui-web, naming them "chain_monoselect_2levels" and
  "chain_multiselect_2levels", and subjects and coverage widgets rewritten to use
  them, but improvements to chain select may have to be considered first (see
  chapter 2.5)
• nolabel_list_widget_template.xhtml (from webapp),
  studio_list_widget_template.xhtml (from studio) and
  files_list_widget_template.xhtml (from webapp) are all variations of the list
  widget presentation: sometimes label should not be displayed for each
  subwidget of the list, and sometimes input file values need to be kept using
  some javascript hack so that chosen file paths are not removed from the DOM
  when performing an AJAX action (add or remove a new item from the list for
  instance). This could be addressed adding more presentation options for the list
  widget (see chapter 2.3)
• boolean_radio_widget_template.xhtml and
  integer_yes_no_widget_template.xhtml (from webapp): these are presenting
  identical screens, but the value stored is either a boolean either an integer.
  They could be rewritten using a generic selection widget (see chapter 2.5).
• extended_file_widget.xhtml and extended_subfile_widget.xhtml (from webapp)
  are presenting, on top of the file, additional features (live edit, pdf preview and
  preview links). They depend on webapp-core features, so it should not be made
  available in layout-client, but it could be repackaged here as template widgets
  named "extended_file" and "extended_subfile".

See