hi all,
We can define entities in XML files. However, only database specific
semantics could be defined there. For those application level semantics
(like trigger, visiblity, validation) has to be defined in different places.
The lack of a single place to define such metadata makes ofbiz hard to
maintain. (Correct me if I am wrong)
Let's take OrderHeader as an example. I copy the latest entity definition as
below:
<entity entity-name="OrderHeader"
package-name="org.ofbiz.order.order"
never-cache="true"
title="Order Header Entity">
<field name="orderId" type="id-ne"></field>
<field name="orderTypeId" type="id"></field>
<field name="orderName" type="name"></field>
<field name="externalId" type="id"></field>
<field name="salesChannelEnumId" type="id"></field>
<field name="orderDate" type="date-time"></field>
<field name="entryDate" type="date-time"></field>
<field name="visitId" type="id"></field>
<field name="statusId" type="id"></field>
<field name="createdBy" type="id-vlong"></field>
<field name="firstAttemptOrderId" type="id"></field>
<field name="currencyUom" type="id"></field>
<field name="syncStatusId" type="id"></field>
<field name="billingAccountId" type="id"></field>
<field name="originFacilityId" type="id"></field>
<field name="webSiteId" type="id"></field>
<field name="productStoreId" type="id"></field>
<field name="terminalId" type="id-long"></field>
<field name="transactionId" type="id-long"></field>
<field name="autoOrderShoppingListId" type="id"></field>
<field name="needsInventoryIssuance" type="indicator"></field>
<field name="isRushOrder" type="indicator"></field>
<field name="internalCode" type="id-long"></field>
<field name="remainingSubTotal" type="currency-amount"></field>
<field name="grandTotal" type="currency-amount"></field>
<prim-key field="orderId"/>
<relation type="one" fk-name="ORDER_HDR_TYPE"
rel-entity-name="OrderType">
<key-map field-name="orderTypeId"/>
</relation>
<relation type="one" fk-name="ORDER_HDR_SCENUM" title="SalesChannel"
rel-entity-name="Enumeration">
<key-map field-name="salesChannelEnumId" rel-field-name="enumId"/>
</relation>
<relation type="one" fk-name="ORDER_HDR_OFAC" title="Origin"
rel-entity-name="Facility">
<key-map field-name="originFacilityId" rel-field-name="facilityId"/>
</relation>
<relation type="many" rel-entity-name="OrderTypeAttr">
<key-map field-name="orderTypeId"/>
</relation>
<relation type="one" fk-name="ORDER_HDR_BACCT"
rel-entity-name="BillingAccount">
<key-map field-name="billingAccountId"/>
</relation>
<relation type="one" fk-name="ORDER_HDR_PDSTR"
rel-entity-name="ProductStore">
<key-map field-name="productStoreId"/>
</relation>
<relation type="one" fk-name="ORDER_HDR_AOSHLST" title="AutoOrder"
rel-entity-name="ShoppingList">
<key-map field-name="autoOrderShoppingListId"
rel-field-name="shoppingListId"/>
</relation>
<relation type="one" fk-name="ORDER_HDR_CBUL" title="CreatedBy"
rel-entity-name="UserLogin">
<key-map field-name="createdBy" rel-field-name="userLoginId"/>
</relation>
<relation type="one" fk-name="ORDER_HDR_STTS"
rel-entity-name="StatusItem">
<key-map field-name="statusId"/>
</relation>
<relation type="one" fk-name="ORDER_HDR_SYST" title="Sync"
rel-entity-name="StatusItem">
<key-map field-name="syncStatusId" rel-field-name="statusId"/>
</relation>
<relation type="one" fk-name="ORDER_HDR_CUOM" rel-entity-name="Uom">
<key-map field-name="currencyUom" rel-field-name="uomId"/>
</relation>
<relation type="many" rel-entity-name="OrderHeaderNoteView">
<key-map field-name="orderId"/>
</relation>
<relation type="many" rel-entity-name="OrderItemAndShipGroupAssoc">
<key-map field-name="orderId"/>
</relation>
<index name="ORDEREXT_ID_IDX">
<index-field name="externalId"/>
</index>
</entity>
In order to enrich the definition (metadata) with more information, I am
considering to put more tags (please find elements surrounded with
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), like:
<entity entity-name="OrderHeader"
package-name="org.ofbiz.order.order"
never-cache="true"
title="Order Header Entity">
<field name="orderId" type="id-ne"></field>
<field name="orderTypeId" type="id"></field>
<field name="orderName" type="name"></field>
<!- !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
<field name="externalId" type="id">
<!-
We can use "visiblity" tag to tell system when to show this
field in UI layer.
->
<visbility>
<condition
implementation="org.ofbiz.core.condition.NonEmptyField"/>
</visbility>
<validity type="clientSide">
<condition notEqual="111"/>
</validity>
</field>
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ->
<field name="salesChannelEnumId" type="id"></field>
<field name="orderDate" type="date-time"></field>
<field name="entryDate" type="date-time"></field>
<field name="visitId" type="id"></field>
<field name="statusId" type="id"></field>
<field name="createdBy" type="id-vlong"></field>
<field name="firstAttemptOrderId" type="id"></field>
<field name="currencyUom" type="id"></field>
<field name="syncStatusId" type="id"></field>
<field name="billingAccountId" type="id"></field>
<field name="originFacilityId" type="id"></field>
<field name="webSiteId" type="id"></field>
<field name="productStoreId" type="id"></field>
<field name="terminalId" type="id-long"></field>
<field name="transactionId" type="id-long"></field>
<field name="autoOrderShoppingListId" type="id"></field>
<field name="needsInventoryIssuance" type="indicator"></field>
<field name="isRushOrder" type="indicator"></field>
<field name="internalCode" type="id-long"></field>
<field name="remainingSubTotal" type="currency-amount"></field>
<field name="grandTotal" type="currency-amount"></field>
<prim-key field="orderId"/>
<relation type="one" fk-name="ORDER_HDR_TYPE"
rel-entity-name="OrderType">
<key-map field-name="orderTypeId"/>
</relation>
<relation type="one" fk-name="ORDER_HDR_SCENUM" title="SalesChannel"
rel-entity-name="Enumeration">
<key-map field-name="salesChannelEnumId" rel-field-name="enumId"/>
</relation>
<relation type="one" fk-name="ORDER_HDR_OFAC" title="Origin"
rel-entity-name="Facility">
<key-map field-name="originFacilityId" rel-field-name="facilityId"/>
</relation>
<relation type="many" rel-entity-name="OrderTypeAttr">
<key-map field-name="orderTypeId"/>
</relation>
<relation type="one" fk-name="ORDER_HDR_BACCT"
rel-entity-name="BillingAccount">
<key-map field-name="billingAccountId"/>
</relation>
<relation type="one" fk-name="ORDER_HDR_PDSTR"
rel-entity-name="ProductStore">
<key-map field-name="productStoreId"/>
</relation>
<relation type="one" fk-name="ORDER_HDR_AOSHLST" title="AutoOrder"
rel-entity-name="ShoppingList">
<key-map field-name="autoOrderShoppingListId"
rel-field-name="shoppingListId"/>
</relation>
<relation type="one" fk-name="ORDER_HDR_CBUL" title="CreatedBy"
rel-entity-name="UserLogin">
<key-map field-name="createdBy" rel-field-name="userLoginId"/>
</relation>
<relation type="one" fk-name="ORDER_HDR_STTS"
rel-entity-name="StatusItem">
<key-map field-name="statusId"/>
</relation>
<relation type="one" fk-name="ORDER_HDR_SYST" title="Sync"
rel-entity-name="StatusItem">
<key-map field-name="syncStatusId" rel-field-name="statusId"/>
</relation>
<relation type="one" fk-name="ORDER_HDR_CUOM" rel-entity-name="Uom">
<key-map field-name="currencyUom" rel-field-name="uomId"/>
</relation>
<relation type="many" rel-entity-name="OrderHeaderNoteView">
<key-map field-name="orderId"/>
</relation>
<relation type="many" rel-entity-name="OrderItemAndShipGroupAssoc">
<key-map field-name="orderId"/>
</relation>
<index name="ORDEREXT_ID_IDX">
<index-field name="externalId"/>
</index>
<!- !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
<!-
In different context, maybe different set of fields need to show.
So my idea
here is to use "group" to group fields for different scenario. And
then in UI
level, we can define a jsp tag or something to only show fields
within this group.
->
<group name="summary">
<field name="orderId" rank="1"/>
<field name="orderTypeId" rank="10"/>
<field name="orderName" rank="11"/>
</group>
<group name="details">
<field name="orderId" rank="1"/>
<field name="orderTypeId" rank="10"/>
<field name="orderName" rank="11"/>
<field name="externalId" rank="20">
<!-
!!!!Note: Though visibility is definded above with another
condition. However, in this group
(Scenario), externalID will always be visible.
->
<visbility value="true"/>
<field>
</group>
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!->
</entity>
Such an idea to make entity definition as a single point of
configuration/customization might make system easier to maintain/customize.
Am I right? If yes, anybody could suggest me how to implement it.
(BTW: we are going to use ofbiz entity engine for our products just like
what JIRA did. It would be great if such enhancement could be done direct
under apache. Otherwise, we might have to maintain a customized ofbiz entity
engine by ourselves.)
--
Regards,
Michael Xu (xudong)
www.wizitsoft.com | Office: (8610) 6267 0615 ext 806 | Mobile: (86) 135 0135
9807 | Fax: (8610) 62670096
