This is the slide deck of my lightning talk at Alfresco Devcon 2019 in Edinburgh. The talk was held in a slot with 4 other presenters, and the recording should be available on YouTube sometime in February.

1. Not-so-smart folders
made smart(er)
Axel Faust
@ReluctantBird83

2. Learn. Connect. Collaborate.
Recap: “Smart” Folders
Alfresco 5.1: Concept “inherited” from Workdesk
Alfresco Workdesk (ex. WeWebU Open WorkDesk)
●
Transactional Content / Case File Management
●
Role-based customisation

3. Learn. Connect. Collaborate.
Recap: “Smart” Folders
Alfresco 5.1: Concept “inherited” from Workdesk
Primary: Virtual views
●
Metadata query (FTS / CMIS)
●
Seperate NodeRef for node in view

4. Learn. Connect. Collaborate.
Recap: “Smart” Folders
Alfresco 5.1: Concept “inherited” from Workdesk
Primary: Virtual views
●
Metadata query (FTS / CMIS)
●
Seperate NodeRef for node in view
Secondary: Transparent filing
●
Type, aspects + metadata
●
Path

5. Learn. Connect. Collaborate.
S-M-R-T Folders
Restriction #1: “Newborn” nodes only

6. Learn. Connect. Collaborate.
S-M-R-T Folders
Restriction #1: “Newborn” nodes only
Disqualified use cases
●
Simple state transitions
●
Incremental refinement
(i.e. multi-user process)
New In process Complete
Unclassified
Customer ABC (debitor ID)
Project X (cost account)
Person Y Timesheets

7. Learn. Connect. Collaborate.
S-M-R-T Folders
Restriction #2: Folder as content - “Look, don’t touch”

8. Learn. Connect. Collaborate.
S-M-R-T Folders
Restriction #3: Force denied permissions
Always
●
Deletion
●
Manage Permissions
No filing rul0e
●
Checkout
●
Update + create children / assocs

9. Learn. Connect. Collaborate.
S-M-R-T Folders
Restriction #4: Weird action config handling (Share)
<actionGroup id="document-details">
<action index="3xx" id="my-action" subgroup="30" appendEvaluators="true">
<evaluator>evaluator.doclib.action.DocumentEnableInSmartFolder</evaluator>
</action>
</actionGroup>

10. Learn. Connect. Collaborate.
S-M-R-T Folders
Restriction #4: Weird action config handling (Share)
<actionGroup id="document-details">
<action index="3xx" id="my-action" subgroup="30" appendEvaluators="true">
<evaluator>evaluator.doclib.action.DocumentEnableInSmartFolder</evaluator>
</action>
</actionGroup>
Rules for element in Smart folder
●
“appendEvaluators” != “true”
●
No evaluators in group
●
Arbitrary evaluator

11. Learn. Connect. Collaborate.
My Smart Folders Case (2018)
Demonstrator for health care services prospect
• Physician / practice records
• Uniform record structures
• Centralised archive structure
• Minimal training for ext. users

12. Learn. Connect. Collaborate.
My Smart Folders Case (2018)
Key use cases
• Generic file capture (email / scan)
• Classification via drag&drop / move

13. Learn. Connect. Collaborate.
My Smart Folders Case (2018)
Key use cases
• Generic file capture (email / scan)
• Classification via drag&drop / move
• Flexible physician-practice relations
(re-association via drag&drop / move)
• Time-boxed “relevant documents”

14. Learn. Connect. Collaborate.
Adding “A” to S-M-R-T Folders
ACS Core + Share patches
• AFaust/alfresco-repository/tree/virtualFolderEnhancements
• AFaust/share/tree/virtualFolderEnhancements
No PRs yet
• Evaluate Alfresco-claimed issues
• Slice into smaller increments

15. Learn. Connect. Collaborate.
Adding “A” to S-M-R-T Folders
CM-528/533: Suppress folder creation
Reasons
• “not sure, some problems during test”
• “needed to get v1.0 done”

16. Learn. Connect. Collaborate.
Adding “A” to S-M-R-T Folders
CM-528/533: Suppress folder creation
Reasons
• “not sure, some problems during test”
• “needed to get v1.0 done”
Repo-hack: cm:folder (sub-)type swapped w/ cm:content
(debug log only)

17. Learn. Connect. Collaborate.
Adding “A” to S-M-R-T Folders
Share action group / evaluator fixes
• Evaluator requirement configurable
• VirtualEvaluator marker interface
• Combined check action + group evaluators

18. Learn. Connect. Collaborate.
Smart(er?) Folders
Issues with transactional metadata query
• No FTS ranges
• Inefficient query / pagination

19. Learn. Connect. Collaborate.
Smart(er?) Folders
Issues with transactional metadata query
• No FTS ranges
• Inefficient query / pagination
=a:bc:123 a:bc:[100 TO 150]
… 1000s more ...

20. Learn. Connect. Collaborate.
Smart(er?) Folders
Leaking information (NodeRef / path)
• Child nodes (thumbnails)
• Nested smart folders
Encoding nested virtualisation may be too complex

21. Learn. Connect. Collaborate.
Smart(er?) Folders
Smart Folders 2.x
●
“5.1 included a 1.0 release”
●
“planned to have improvements in subsequent versions”
No known plans for 7.0 / beyond
REPO-2500 is only epic

22. Not-so-smart folders
made smart(er)
Thank you!