Componize 2.0.0 (revision 27 - 7 Nov 2014)

Componize 2.0.0 adds major new features for release management including advanced version control (branch, merge, tag) and dependency management. A new 3-way compare and merge engine has been implemented, enabling any two folders or branches to be compared and merged. Support for Maven artifacts and artifact repositories allows you to easily share and reuse your content with others. Support has also been added for the latest versions of Alfresco Community 4.2.f, Alfresco Enterprise 4.2.3.3, oXygen 16.1 and the DITA Open Toolkit 1.8.5.

New features

Advanced version control

Brings Git like version control to Alfresco.

  • Create branches to maintain multiple releases of your files or to work in parallel.
  • Branch all files or just a selection.
  • View the complete history of changes on each branch.
  • Take a snapshot of a branch at any moment with the Create Tag action.
  • Create a branch from a tag to revert to a previous version and make changes.
  • Export snapshots as a zip file.
  • Compare and merge between any two branches.
  • Detects added, deleted, updated and moved files.
  • Create multiple independent branch trees to fit your needs. A branch tree is created from a single folder and then includes all branches and tags that are subsequently created from that folder. A branch tree can contain as few or as many files as you like.
  • Add multiple Branches dashlets to your personal or Site dashboard to mange multiple branch trees.
  • Supports working in parallel on your files.
  • Supports complex release scenarios such as managing multiple releases in parallel or releasing hot fixes to previous releases.

Compare folders

  • Compare any two folders (including children) with a 2-way or 3-way compare.
  • Detects added, deleted, updated and moved files.

Support for Maven artifacts and artifact repositories

  • Upload/download your files to/from an artifact repository.
  • Share content between Sites and with external systems.
  • Use dependency management for complex release scenarios.

Minor changes

  • New content lifecycle aspect for tracking the status of your content.
  • The Where Used and Compare Versions actions are now available in the Document Actions panel on the document details page.
  • The Compare Versions action is now available in the More... actions menu in the Document Library.

Technical changes

  • Support for Alfresco Community 4.2.f
  • Support for Alfresco Enterprise 4.2.3.3
  • Support for the Solr index subsystem
  • Update to the DITA Open Toolkit 1.8.5
    Note: If you have existing pdf2 (fo) plugin customizations, you will need to add extra entries to your XML catalogs for each language and locale used. Example for fr:
    <uri name="cfg:/common/vars/fr_FR.xml" uri="common/vars/fr.xml"/>
<uri name="cfg:/common/vars/fr.xml" uri="common/vars/fr.xml"/>
  • Update to oXygen Author Component 16.1
  • The Lucene-based search queries have been replaced with database canned queries.
    Important:

    If you are upgrading to Alfresco Community 4.2.f or Alfresco Enterprise 4.2.x from a previous version of Alfresco, you must add the transaction metadata query indexes using the patch supplied by Alfresco. See: Adding optional indexes to database

  • Integration of the new Componize triplestore for metadata handling. The new triplestore is only used for in-memory metadata storage and querying. Metadata is still persisted as standard Alfresco properties.
  • New Componize specific directories in alf_data.
    • The alf_data/componize/hash_store/ directory is used by the advanced version control features. The location of the directory can be redefined using the componize.vfs.hashStore.basedir property. We recommend that you locate the directory on a fast local disk. The directory must be included in your backups.
    • The alf_data/componize/artifact-repository/local/ directory is used as a cache to store downloaded artifacts. The location of the directory can be modified using the componize.artifact.repository.local.basedir property. The directory can be stored on a slower remote disk and does not need to be included in your backups.
  • Update to use the Alfresco Maven SDK.
  • The installation AMPs have been reorganized to simplify installation. Please see the updated installation procedure in the Componize Administration Guide.
  • Componize 2.0.0 requires new licenses. Please contact Componize support if you have not received your updated license files.

Bug fixes

  • Bug #9399: Files checked out no longer identify "Where Used" due to "Working Copy" status.
  • Bug #9323: The spell check in the Author Component is unable to load the dictionary.
  • Bug #9437: The Author Component doesn't support smart quotes.
  • Bug #9387: Special characters not displayed correctly in the RTF output.

Known issues

  • Bug #1350: The DITA Open Toolkit htmlsearch plugin creates a file xx.html in TOMCAT_HOME. The workaround is to make sure the tomcat user has write access to the xx.html file.
  • Bug #6097: java.util.ArrayList cannot be cast to org.w3c.dom.NodeList. If you experience this exception during application startup then please see the troubleshooting section of the Componize Administration Guide.
  • Bug #9105: When you revert to a previous version the Metadata & Link Management aspect is removed.
  • Bug #9397: Files locked via WebDAV do not appear in the I'm Editing filter on Alfresco Community 4.2.f.
  • Bug #9555: Locking issues when editing files in oXygen over WebDAV. Ensure that you never leave a file open for more than 24 hours in oXygen or when the server is restarted. Restarting oXygen should solve the issue.