Re: adding site-wide configuration files

[Ross Gardler <rg...@apache.org>]

David Crossley wrote:
> Thorsten Scherler wrote:
> 
>>Ross Gardler escribi??:
>>
>>>Mathieu Champlon wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>3/ configuration variables precedence order
>>>>
>>>>It seems from reading ForrestConfModule#initialize that configuration
>>>>variables come from four different sources, in this order (the first
>>>>defined wins) :
>>>>. system properties
>>>>. xml configuration files
>>>>. property configuration files
>>>>. plugin xml configuration files
>>>>
>>>>System properties are defined in the ant scripts as the properties
>>>>starting with either 'forrest.' or 'project.', including -D properties
>>>>from command-line and properties loaded from files with <property
>>>>file=.../>.
>>>>Therefore all configuration variables defined in property files loaded
>>>>by forrest.build.xml are accessible as system properties in
>>>>ForrestConfModule (well actually not all of them, because 'proxy' isn't,
>>>>but it's used only in ant scripts).
>>>>So there is no need to reload ${project.home}/forrest.properties in
>>>>ForrestConfModule#initialize.
>>>>Moreover, as the system properties are loaded at the end but replace all
>>>>other properties (in ForrestConfModule#loadSystemProperties),
>>>>configuration values from xml files are actually replaced by values from
>>>>property files.
>>>>
>>>>So the actual precedence order is :
>>>>. command-line properties
>>>>. property configuration files
>>>>. xml configuration files
>>>>. plugin xml configuration files
>>>>
>>>>What I suggest is to refactor ForrestConfModule#initialize so that it
>>>>clearly reflects all this, simplifying it at the same time, mostly by
>>>>removing the unnecessary code and re-arranging the loading order.
>>>
>>>That all sounds fine by me.
>>
>>You forgot the ones from forrest-core.xconf.
>>
>>ForrestConfModule does not implement configure(...) meaning it will use
>>the one from super (DefaultsModule). This is adding properties from the
>>configuration (which are different for defaults vs. project).
> 
> 
> There is also another way to add properties.
> 
> Cocoon has a new properties system which we have not
> been using yet. The version of Cocoon that we are
> currently using is not the most recent, but it includes
> an implementation which does work.
> 
> It reads properties from a set of configuration files
> under WEB-INF/properties/ (in our version of Cocoon).
> 
> These properties can then be used in Cocoon's xconf
> and sitemaps.
> 
> http://cocoon.zones.apache.org/daisy/documentation/g1/1162.html
> (That is for the current Cocoon trunk.)
> 
> See http://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/FOR-917

As far as I am aware, there isn't currently a way to add files to 
WEB-INF from within the project directory. So this method brings us back 
to the same problem of needing to edit Forrest core.

Having said that a config system that uses standard Cocoon methods can't 
be a bad thing. So, anyone got the time to add the ability to add files 
to WEB-INF from within a project. Hint... it is not simple, at least 
given my initial thoughts, since it would break the in place editing 
features).

Ross

Re: adding site-wide configuration files

[David Crossley <cr...@apache.org>]

Adding a note for the mail archives. Discussion fragmented to
 "Re: svn commit: r430235 - in /forrest/trunk/main/webapp/WEB-INF"
 http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?t=115518302800001

-David