Content dependencies are references between content items. When a page links to another page, a dependency is created. Similarly, when a page uses an asset from the DAM, a dependency is created between the page and the asset.

The Content Dependencies module displays dependencies between the selected content item and other items, whether the items reside in the same Magnolia workspace or in different ones. Editors can see the consequence of deleting the selected item and whether dependent items need to be activated together.

 

Installing

Maven is the easiest way to install the module. Add the following to your bundle:

<dependency>
  <groupId>info.magnolia</groupId>
  <artifactId>magnolia-module-content-dependencies</artifactId>
  <version>1.8.2</version>
</dependency>

Pre-built JARs are also available for download. See Installing a module for help.

Dependencies tab

The module includes a preconfigured Dependencies tab that is designed to be added to a page properties dialog. The tab has two fields:

  1. Lists content items that link to the item
  2. Lists items the item links to. 

The Dependencies tab is configured in /modules/dependencies/dialogs/tabDependencies. Both fields extend the reference field configuration.

Node name

Value

 dependencies


 dialogs


 reference


 class

info.magnolia.module.dependencies.field.DependenciesFieldDefinition

 referencesTo

false 

 tabDependencies


 fields


 referencesTo


 references


 pages


 appMapping

app:pages:browser

 workspace

website

 referenceProperties


 link


 extends

/modules/dependencies/dialogs/reference

 referencesTo

true

 referencesFrom


 references


 pages


 appMapping

app:pages:browser

 workspace

website

 referenceProperties


 image


 assets


 pathResolver


 class

info.magnolia.module.dependencies.field.resolver.AssetPathResolverImpl

 appLocationFactory


 class

info.magnolia.module.dependencies.field.factory.DamAppLocationFactoryImpl 

 appMapping

app:assets:browser

 workspace

dam

 extends

/modules/dependencies/dialogs/reference

Properties:

tabDependencies

required

Dependencies tab.

fields

required

Fields node.

<field name>

required

referencesFrom and referencesTo fields extend the generic references field.

references

required

References node.

<workspace name>

required

Arbitrary node name. One for each workspace you want to track.

appMapping

required

Subapp in app:<app name>:<subapp name> format.

workspace

required

Workspace name.

nodeType

required

Node type.

referenceProperties

required

See Reference properties.

pathResolver

optional

Path resolver node.

class

optional, default is info.magnolia.module.dependencies.field.resolver.PathResolverImpl

Default implementation returns a node's path. AssetPathResolverImpl implements PathResolver for assets.

appLocationFactory

optional

App location factory node.

class

optional, default is info.magnolia.module.dependencies.field.factory.AppLocationFactoryImpl

Default implementation creates an app's location. DamAppLocationFactoryImpl implements AppLocationFactory for the Assets app.

label

optional

Label displayed in dialog.

class

required

DependenciesFieldDefinition shows dependencies to and from workspaces.

referencesTo

optional, default is false

Whether items linking to the item should be included.

Adding Dependencies tab to dialogs

The easiest way to make the Dependencies tab available to editors is to use the ready-made tab from the module. 

  • JCR: If you configure your dialog using JCR nodes, extend the tabDependencies definition. 
  • YAML: If you configure your dialog using a YAML file, paste the tab configuration below into your form definition.

Example: Adding Dependencies tab to MTE's pageProperties dialog.

mte/dialogs/pages/pageProperties.yaml
form:
  i18nBasename: info.magnolia.templating.models.messages
  label: pages.pageProperties.label
  tabs:
    - name: tabMain
      # Main tab configuration
    - name: tabMeta
      # Meta tab configuration
    - name: tabDependencies 
      fields:
        - name: referencesTo
          fieldType: dependencies
          referencesTo: true
          references:
            pages:
              appMapping: app:pages:browser
              workspace: website
              referenceProperties:
                - link
        - name: referencesFrom
          fieldType: dependencies
          referencesTo: false
          references:
            pages:
              appMapping: app:pages:browser
              workspace: website
              referenceProperties:
                document: document
                download: download
                image: image
actions:
# Actions configuration

Here is the Dependencies tab after adding it to the Travel demo's Page properties dialog and viewing it on the About page.

  • This page is depended upon by
    • Pages: Lists pages that link to the page.
  • This page depends on:
    • Pages: Lists pages the page links to.
    • Assets: Lists assets added to the page.

All links are clickable and open the item in the target app.

Here are the components on the About page that are picked up in the depends on section of the dialog.

Reference properties

Reference properties are properties that the module uses retrieve nodes that an item depends on. They are typically properties that hold references to other nodes and whose value is the JCR identifier or UUID. 

If you do not include the correct reference properties in your configuration, the items will not show up in the depends on section of the Dependencies tab.

The easiest way to find the correct reference properties to configure is to look in the JCR Browser app.

Here is the video component (column 1) and Our Company teaser component (column 2) on the About page in the website workspace in the JCR browser.

Deletion Warnings

The module displays dependency-ware deletion warning messages in the Pages and Assets apps by default. The confirmation dialog lists links to the referring items that will be broken once the deletion is complete.

 

Deletion warnings are configured in the confirmDeleteAsset action defintion. The configuration patterns follows that of the Dependencies tab (above). 

You can configure dependency-aware delete warnings in any app by adding a references node to the delete confirmation action. 

Example: confirmDeleteAsset action in the Assets app configured in /modules/dam-app/apps/subapps/browser/actions/confirmDeleteAsset.

 subApps:
  browser:
    subAppClass: info.magnolia.ui.contentapp.browser.BrowserSubApp
    class: info.magnolia.ui.contentapp.browser.BrowserSubAppDescriptor
    actions:
      confirmDeleteAsset:
        icon: icon-delete
        successActionName: delete
        class: info.magnolia.module.dependencies.action.DependencyAwareConfirmationActionDefinition
        availability:
          multiple: true
          writePermissionRequired: true
          rules:
            - name: IsNotDeletedRule
              implementationClass: info.magnolia.ui.framework.availability.IsNotDeletedRule
        references:
          - name: website
            nodeType: mgnl:page
            workspace: website
Node nameValue

 subApps


 browser


 actions


 confirmDeleteAsset


 availability


 references


 website


 nodeType

mgnl:page

 workspace

website

 class

info.magnolia.module.dependencies.action.DependencyAwareConfirmationActionDefinition

 icon

icon-delete

 successActionName

delete

Properties:

<action name>

required

Action node.

references

required

References node.

<workspace name>

required

Arbitrary node name. One for each workspace you want to track.

workspace

required

Workspace name.

nodeType

required

Node type.

class

required

DependencyAwareConfirmationActionDefinition adds dependency awareness to the action.

icon

optional

CSS class that identifies an icon font used on the action. See Icons.

successActionName

required

Name of action to execute on confirmation.

#trackbackRdf ($trackbackUtils.getContentIdentifier($page) $page.title $trackbackUtils.getPingUrl($page))