attachfs

We have previously demonstrated testing format descriptions using AttachFS. Now with OpenGroupware Coils 0.1.49rc91 you can also list, retrieve, and test XSLT templates stored in the workflow engine [OIE]. XLST transforms are accessible via AttachFS requests at the URL /attachfs/workflow/xslt.

Format descriptions are one of the handiest features of the OIE workflow engine - no more writing code to read/write all the various files that are received or need to be created; OIE formats can read and write fixed-record length files, delimited files, XLS files, and DIF files. Already built-in to the various format descriptions are various work-arounds for the ways in which each of these files can be mangled. OIE's XLS reading, for example, can deal with spreadsheets where those numbers have actually been occasionally entered as strings, and the delimited file reader can cope with randomly placed escape characters dropped in by applications unaware of what an escape character is. But how do you know, other than trying to run the full process to import the data, if your format description matches the file? Or later on how do you know that the vendor/supplied/department/customer hasn't changed their format without informing you - again without running the process? Answer: Format descriptions can be tested via the AttachFS protocol.

AttachFS provides a simple method to retrieve the representation or contents of an entity via a GET request for the object's identifier [even improper entities such as messages and attachments can be retrieved this way]. For simple clients this is often a more straight forward approach than WebDAV.

As of 0.1.49rc70 you can now retrieve the BPML markup of an OIE workflow by requesting the route's object id from AttachFS.

AttachFS allows operations to be performed on BLOB content using simple HTTP operations such as GET and PUT; without much of the complexity [or the features!] of WebDAV. Most significantly AttachFS allows BLOBs (aka documents) to be manipulated by id rather than path – a simpler approach for a variety of clients and types of applictions. The ability to create and update project documents has been available since the original addition of the AttachFS presentation to the OpenGroupware Coils protocol bundles.