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In Eclipse, for Java, you may use Ctrl+I to be sure of correct indentation.
Files paths
- Java
The OFBiz project follows the Maven Standard Directory Layout to organise its Java file. At the moment of writing there are only a few unit tests (but a lot of what we so far integration tests) so you will mostly find the ../src/main/java/org/apache/ofbiz.. path in components but in few components in framework (base, entity, start, webapp) you will also find the ..src/test/java/org/apache/ofbiz.. path - Groovy
We decided to use a groovyScripts sub-folder under components folders to put parsed Groovy scripts, groovyScripts rather that script because other script languages could be used in the future
Even if it's no used yet we reservedf the groovy sub-folder under components folders for pre-compiled Groovy. A distant goal is to replace Minilang by a Groovy DSL - Freemarker
The Freemarker templates are in template sub-folders under components folders - Minilang
The Minilang map processors and minilang scripts are in minilang sub-folders under components folders
Entity Definitions
Entity Names
Entities are named in accordance with the Java naming conventions for classes (e.g. ExampleEntity).
The physical database names are generated by the system by applying the Java naming convention of constants to the entity names (e.g. ExampleEntity => EXAMPLE_ENTITY).
Important: database table names should never be longer than 30 characters, so you have to keep this in mind when you define a new entity name.
For example: the entity name "AnExampleOfALongEntityName" (that is is 26 characters long) is transformed into the database table name AN_EXAMPLE_OF_A_LONG_ENTITY_NAME, that is 32 characters long and exceeds the maximum length of 30 characters and so it is not a good choice.
Entity Field Names
Entity fields are named in accordance with the Java naming conventions for fields (e.g. exampleField). OOTB, they have the same length constraint than above : 30 characters max (including "_" separators). But your mileage may vary. For instance , for fields parts of Primary Keys it depends on the DB you use. The maximum length of a column name for Derby is 30 chars, but OOTB for an id you will get a truncation error from Derby jdbc drivers which limits them to the fieldype defined. So you will get a message like "A truncation error was encountered trying to shrink VARCHAR ... to length 20". Of course you can increase this value up to 30. This constraint does not exist with Postgres for example. Today (2011-06-15) on a 64 bits Debian system running Posgres 9.0.3, I tried a column name of length 200 and it worked... I guess it's more than enough...
Foreign Keys names have a length constraint of 18 characters (including "_" separators). It's better to set them by hand, to avoid indesirable effects. These constraints do not come from OFBiz but from some DB. To be able to use any DB those constraints should be respected to allow DB portability.
TODO: view-entity names and conventions
Service Definitions
Best Practices
Each and every source file should contain the ASL2.0 header:
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Adding author information to source files (.e.g. using the @author tag) is a discouraged practice: clearer information about the contributors of a file should be derived from the commit logs.
Naming Conventions for Artifacts and controller entries
Controller
Most of the time, a controller file (in OFBiz controller.xml) contains a lot of request-maps and view-maps. To help the reader, set a blank line between request-map or view-map element only when you change the functionnal group (entity, workflow or IHM treatment). Of course comments at the top of sections are welcome...
Request without event
In most of case, the request name is the same than the view-map called. For the request-map name use java naming convention for Objects (ex : "FindParty"), and declare all in one line.
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language | xml |
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theme | Confluence |
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<request-map uri="FindParty"><security https="true" auth="true"/><response name="success" type="view" value="FindParty"/></request-map> |
Request with event
For the request-map name use java naming convention for field or method (ex : "editParty"), and declare each xml element on separate line
Code Block |
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language | xml |
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theme | Confluence |
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<request-map uri="createPerson">
<security https="true" auth="true"/>
<event type="service" invoke="createPerson"/>
<response name="success" type="view" value="EditPerson"/>
<response name="error" type="view" value="EditPerson"/>
</request-map> |
View
For the view-map name use java naming convention for Objects (ex : "FindParty"), and declare all in one line.
Code Block |
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language | xml |
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theme | Confluence |
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| <view-map name="FindParty" type="screen" page="component://mycomponent/widget/PartyScreens.xml#FindParty"/> |
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widget screens
TODO: conventions for screen names (top-level screens, included screens, decorators)
TODO: conventions for form names
Improve MacroXXXRenderer and FtlMacroXXXLibrary
Whn you realize some modification on the MacroXXX Renderer (XXX can take value Screen, Form, Menu and Tree) and you change a macro ftl definition change on each MacroXXXlibrary corresponding.
Example ; if your change renderTextField on htmlMacroFromLibrary, propage the improvment on \{csv|xml|text|fop}MacroFromLibrary
TODO: conventions for artifacts names such as ftl templates and bsh scripts