Defining OpenCMS structured XML content

Introduction

Background and purpose of document

The purpose of this page is to document a procedure for defining structured XML content in OpenCMS so that it becomes available through the Workplace for content management.

OpenCMS offers automatic form generation for management of structured content through the Workplace.

However, in order for this facility to function it is necessary to take appropriate steps both for defining the structured content and for configuring the Workplace to use the provided definition.

Due to the lack of documentation and the fact that the procedure is not obvious and requires some steps that cannot be performed using the standard OpenCMS administrative interface (the Workplace), making it work is a frustrating experience for a newcomer to OpenCMS.

At the time this document is written, there are only 3 sources of information related to this subject (at least these are the ones I have found referred on the [opencms-dev] mailing list):

1. The tutorial provided by Alkacon Software as part of the OpenCMS documentation. Named “OpenCMS XML content documentation”, it provides detailed information about structured content definition using XML Schema Definition (XSD), but it gives no detail about how to get the definition to be used in the Workplace interface. In a new OpenCMS instance (with documentation modules installed) the tutorial can be found at http://<server_domain>/opencms/opencms/alkacon-documentation/documentation-xmlcontent/.
2. A message on [opencms-dev] mailing list, sent by Alexander Kandzior from Alkacon Software on 30th of October 2004 with subject “XML Content Demo”. It provides a procedure to build the definition and use it in the interface, but many list members complaint that it is not working as expected. Also, the method used to get info in the Workplace is considered deprecated in this moment and is too complicated compared with alternatives. The example was given while OpenCMS 6.0 was still in beta (the version used while writing this is 6.2.2). The message can be found in [opencms-dev] mailing list archives at http://mail.opencms.org/pipermail/opencms-dev/2004q4/013609.html.
3. A video tutorial provided by Watchdog Systems (www.wdogsystems.com) using a different (and more “modern”) approach at http://www.wdogsystems.com/opencms/opencms/demos/index.jsp. The procedure described in this paper is based on the one presented in this tutorial (which, for unclear reasons, did not work for me straightforward, but only after adapting it in the form included below).