Groovy – AEM best practices and development guide

Problem Statement:

How to Bulk Add, Update or remove page properties in AEM? Without using the Groovy console.

Requirement:

Create a reusable process that can be used to search for the pages based on resourceType and do the CRUD operations on the results.

Introduction:

Usually, whenever we are using editable templates, we might have some initial content but for some reason, if we want to update the experience fragment path or some page properties then usually, we go for Groovy script to run bulk update.

But AMS don’t install developer tools on the PROD, we need to go to other options and for the above requirement, we can use MCP.

MCP (Manage Controlled Processes) is both a dashboard for performing complex tasks and a rich API for defining these tasks as process definitions. In addition to kicking off new processes, users can also monitor running tasks, retrieve information about completed tasks, halt work, and so on.

Add the following maven dependency to your pom to extend MCP

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.adobe.acs</groupId>
    <artifactId>acs-aem-commons-bundle</artifactId>
    <version>5.0.4</version>
    <scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>

Create Process Definition factory – PropertyUpdateFactory

This class tells ACS Commons MCP to pick the process definition and process name getName and you need to mention the implementation class inside the createProcessDefinitionInstance method as shown below:

package com.mysite.mcp.process;

import org.osgi.service.component.annotations.Component;
import com.adobe.acs.commons.mcp.ProcessDefinitionFactory;

@Component(service = ProcessDefinitionFactory.class, immediate = true)
public class PropertyUpdateFactory extends ProcessDefinitionFactory<PropertyUpdater> {
    @Override
    public String getName() {
        return "Property Updator";
    }
    @Override
    protected PropertyUpdater createProcessDefinitionInstance() {
        return new PropertyUpdater();
    }
}

Create Process Definition implementation – PropertyUpdater

This is an implementation class where we are defining all the form fields required for the process to run

package com.mysite.mcp.process;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.text.MessageFormat;
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Collections;
import java.util.EnumMap;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.Objects;
import java.util.Optional;
import javax.jcr.RepositoryException;
import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
import org.apache.sling.api.request.RequestParameter;
import org.apache.sling.api.resource.LoginException;
import org.apache.sling.api.resource.ModifiableValueMap;
import org.apache.sling.api.resource.PersistenceException;
import org.apache.sling.api.resource.Resource;
import org.apache.sling.api.resource.ResourceResolver;
import org.apache.sling.api.resource.ResourceUtil;
import org.apache.sling.resource.filter.ResourceFilterStream;
import org.jetbrains.annotations.NotNull;
import org.slf4j.Logger;
import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
import com.adobe.acs.commons.data.Spreadsheet;
import com.adobe.acs.commons.fam.ActionManager;
import com.adobe.acs.commons.mcp.ProcessDefinition;
import com.adobe.acs.commons.mcp.ProcessInstance;
import com.adobe.acs.commons.mcp.form.FileUploadComponent;
import com.adobe.acs.commons.mcp.form.FormField;
import com.adobe.acs.commons.mcp.form.SelectComponent;
import com.adobe.acs.commons.mcp.form.TextfieldComponent;
import com.adobe.acs.commons.mcp.model.GenericReport;
import com.day.cq.commons.jcr.JcrConstants;

public class PropertyUpdater extends ProcessDefinition {

    private static final Logger LOGGER = LoggerFactory.getLogger(PropertyUpdater.class);
    private final GenericReport report = new GenericReport();
    private static final String REPORT_NAME = "Property-update-report";
    private static final String RUNNING = "Running ";
    private static final String EXECUTING_KEYWORD = " Property Updation";

    private static final String PROPERTY = "property";
    private static final String PROPERTY_TYPE = "type";
    private static final String PROPERTY_VALUE = "value";

    protected enum UpdateAction {
        ADD, UPDATE, DELETE
    }

    @FormField(name = "Property Update Excel", component = FileUploadComponent.class)
    private RequestParameter sourceFile;

    @FormField(name = "Path",
            component = TextfieldComponent.class,
            hint = "(Provide the Relative path to start search)",
            description = "A query will be executed starting this path")
    private String path;

    @FormField(name = "Action",
            component = SelectComponent.EnumerationSelector.class,
            description = "Add, Update or Delete?",
            options = "default=Add")
    UpdateAction reAction = UpdateAction.ADD;

    @FormField(name = "ResourceType",
            component = TextfieldComponent.class,
            hint = "(Provide the resourcetype to be searched for)",
            description = "A query will be executed based on resourcetype")
    private String pageResourceType;

    private Map<String, Object> propertyMap = new HashMap<>();

    @Override
    public void init() throws RepositoryException {
        validateInputs();
    }

    @Override
    public void buildProcess(ProcessInstance instance, ResourceResolver rr) throws LoginException, RepositoryException {
        report.setName(REPORT_NAME);
        instance.getInfo().setDescription(RUNNING + reAction + EXECUTING_KEYWORD);
        instance.defineCriticalAction("Adding the Properties", rr, this::updateProperties);
    }

    private void updateProperties(ActionManager manager) {
        manager.deferredWithResolver(this::addProperties);
    }

    private void addProperties(ResourceResolver resourceResolver) {
        @NotNull Resource resource = resourceResolver.resolve(path);
        if(!ResourceUtil.isNonExistingResource(resource)) {
            ResourceFilterStream rfs = resource.adaptTo(ResourceFilterStream.class);
            rfs.setBranchSelector("[jcr:primaryType] == 'cq:Page'")
                    .setChildSelector("[jcr:content/sling:resourceType] == $type")
                    .addParam("type", pageResourceType)
                    .stream()
                    .map(r -> r.getChild(JcrConstants.JCR_CONTENT))
                    .forEach(this::updateProperty);
        }
    }

    private void updateProperty(Resource resultResource) {
        if (reAction == UpdateAction.ADD || reAction == UpdateAction.UPDATE) {
            addOrUpdateProp(resultResource);
        } else if (reAction == UpdateAction.DELETE) {
            removeProp(resultResource);
        }
    }

    private void removeProp(Resource resultResource) {
        try {
            ModifiableValueMap map = resultResource.adaptTo(ModifiableValueMap.class);
            propertyMap.entrySet().stream().forEach(r -> map.remove(r.getKey()));
            resultResource.getResourceResolver().commit();
            recordAction(resultResource.getPath(), reAction.name(), StringUtils.join(propertyMap));
        } catch (PersistenceException e) {
            LOGGER.error("Error occurred while persisting the property {}", e.getMessage());
        }
    }

    private void addOrUpdateProp(Resource resultResource) {
        try {
            ModifiableValueMap map = resultResource.adaptTo(ModifiableValueMap.class);
            propertyMap.entrySet().stream().forEach(r -> map.put(r.getKey(), r.getValue()));
            resultResource.getResourceResolver().commit();
            recordAction(resultResource.getPath(), reAction.name(), StringUtils.join(propertyMap));
        } catch (PersistenceException e) {
            LOGGER.error("Error occurred while persisting the property {}", e.getMessage());
        }
    }

    public enum ReportColumns {
        PATH, ACTION, DESCRIPTION
    }

    private void validateInputs() throws RepositoryException {
        if (sourceFile != null && sourceFile.getSize() > 0) {
            Spreadsheet sheet;
            try {
                sheet = new Spreadsheet(sourceFile, PROPERTY, PROPERTY_TYPE, PROPERTY_VALUE).buildSpreadsheet();
            } catch (IOException ex) {
                throw new RepositoryException("Unable to parse spreadsheet", ex);
            }

            if (!sheet.getHeaderRow().contains(PROPERTY) || !sheet.getHeaderRow().contains(PROPERTY_TYPE) || !sheet.getHeaderRow().contains(PROPERTY_VALUE)) {
                throw new RepositoryException(MessageFormat.format("Spreadsheet should have two columns, respectively named {0}, {1} and {2}", PROPERTY, PROPERTY_TYPE, PROPERTY_VALUE));
            }

            sheet.getDataRowsAsCompositeVariants().forEach(row -> {
                String propertyType = row.get(PROPERTY_TYPE).toString();
                if(StringUtils.equalsAnyIgnoreCase("String", propertyType)) {
                    propertyMap.put(row.get(PROPERTY).toString(), row.get(PROPERTY_VALUE).toString());
                } else if(StringUtils.equalsAnyIgnoreCase("Date", propertyType)) {
                    SimpleDateFormat dt = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSS");
                    propertyMap.put(row.get(PROPERTY).toString(), dt.format(row.get(PROPERTY_VALUE).toString()));
                } else if(StringUtils.equalsAnyIgnoreCase("Array", propertyType)) {
                    propertyMap.put(row.get(PROPERTY).toString(), row.get(PROPERTY_VALUE).toString().split(","));
                } else if(StringUtils.equalsAnyIgnoreCase("Long", propertyType)) {
                    Integer result = Optional.ofNullable(row.get(PROPERTY_VALUE).toString())
                            .filter(Objects::nonNull)
                            .map(Integer::parseInt)
                            .orElse(0);
                    propertyMap.put(row.get(PROPERTY).toString(), result);
                } else if(StringUtils.equalsAnyIgnoreCase("Binary", propertyType)) {
                    propertyMap.put(row.get(PROPERTY).toString(), Boolean.valueOf(row.get(PROPERTY_VALUE).toString()));
                }
            });
        }
    }

    List<EnumMap<ReportColumns, String>> reportData = Collections.synchronizedList(new ArrayList<>());

    private void recordAction(String path, String action, String description) {
        EnumMap<ReportColumns, String> row = new EnumMap<>(ReportColumns.class);
        row.put(ReportColumns.PATH, path);
        row.put(ReportColumns.ACTION, action);
        row.put(ReportColumns.DESCRIPTION, description);
        reportData.add(row);
    }

    @Override
    public void storeReport(ProcessInstance instance, ResourceResolver rr) throws RepositoryException, PersistenceException {
        report.setRows(reportData, ReportColumns.class);
        report.persist(rr, instance.getPath() + "/jcr:content/report");
    }
}

Once code is deployed, please go to the following URL and click on start process as shown below:

http://{domain}/apps/acs-commons/content/manage-controlled-processes.html

You will see a new process called Property Update as shown below:

Click on the process

Upload the excel sheet and provide search Path, Action and Resource Type to search for

Excel Sheet:

Upload the excel sheet attached and add the property name, data type and value as shown below:

propertyupdater Download

After executing the process, you can click the completed process and view the results as shown below:

You can also go to CRXDE and check the property getting added to the resources as shown below:

You can also perform other options by selecting appropriate Action as shown below:

You can learn more about MCP here

Problem Statement:

With increasing security and safety concerns, AEM Groovy Console is not allowed to be installed in the author/publish environment in Production. As a result, users require an alternative tool to execute short scripts for content updates.

Requirement:

The Groovy Console has been a preferred tool for executing short scripts for content updates in Adobe Experience Manager (AEM), but due to security and safety concerns, the console is not installed in the author/publish environment in Production. This article explores using the ACS Commons Managed Control Process (MCP) as a better alternative for running bulk updates with the provided console. It provides an introduction to MCP and explains how to extend it in a current project structure and make relevant POM changes. It also covers tools that come out of the box with MCP, how to use and maintain them, and how to create a new process and form fields with MCP.

Extend MCP in your current project structure and add the relevant POM changes

Introduction:

MCP (Manage Controlled Processes) is both a dashboard for performing complex tasks and also a rich API for defining these tasks as process definitions. In addition to kicking off new processes, users can also monitor running tasks, retrieve information about completed tasks, halt work, and so on.

The Groovy console is an awesome tool to write short scripts to execute some of the content updates but due to increase security and safety issues, the AMS team is not allowing to install Groovy Console in the author/publish environment in Production and there is no other way we can run the groovy console on pubs. Hence ACS Commons MCP would be the better replacement for running these kinds of bulk updates using the beautiful console provided by ACS Commons.

How to use MCP?

Process Manager: How to navigate and access ACS Commons MCP process manager

Tools: Tools that come to OOTB when you use MCP tools

Operations: How to use and maintain the MCP process

In order to extend the MCP process, create a separate module called MCP under your project directory and add the following dependencies as shown below:

Add the following code into all module pom.xml to embed this new module

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.adobe.acs</groupId>
    <artifactId>acs-aem-commons-bundle</artifactId>
    <version>5.0.4</version>
    <scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>

Create the packages and start your first process:

For the MCP process to pick up your new process, you need to create a service that implements ProcessDefinitionFactory and override the getName method to provide the process name to show under the list of processes.

createProcessDefinitionInstance to create a new instance of this process.

package com.mysite.mcp.process;

import org.osgi.service.component.annotations.Component;
import com.adobe.acs.commons.mcp.ProcessDefinitionFactory;

@Component(service = ProcessDefinitionFactory.class, immediate = true)
public class ExampleProcessFactory extends ProcessDefinitionFactory<ExampleProcess> {	
	@Override
	public String getName() {
		return "Example PRocess";
	}
	@Override
	protected ExampleProcess createProcessDefinitionInstance() {
		return new ExampleProcess();
	}
}

You can learn more regarding process definition here

Create Process Implementation:

The process implementation class extends ProcessDefinition and you can have multiple form fields to accept the author’s input.

You can learn more about form fields here

You need to override:

init – to run initialize the process

build process – define the Action and add the description of the process

store report – Basically used to save the action results under the specified path

package com.mysite.mcp.process;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.EnumMap;
import java.util.List;
import javax.jcr.RepositoryException;
import org.apache.sling.api.resource.LoginException;
import org.apache.sling.api.resource.PersistenceException;
import org.apache.sling.api.resource.ResourceResolver;
import com.adobe.acs.commons.fam.ActionManager;
import com.adobe.acs.commons.mcp.ProcessDefinition;
import com.adobe.acs.commons.mcp.ProcessInstance;
import com.adobe.acs.commons.mcp.form.FormField;
import com.adobe.acs.commons.mcp.model.GenericReport;

public class ExampleProcess extends ProcessDefinition {
	
	private static final String REPORT_SAVE_PATH = "/jcr:content/report";
	private final List<EnumMap<ReportColumns, Object>> reportRows = new ArrayList<>();
    GenericReport genericReport = new GenericReport();
    
    @FormField(name = "Enter Text",
            description = "Example text to be reported",
            required = false,
            options = {"default=enter test text"})
    private String emapleText;
	
	@Override
    public void buildProcess(ProcessInstance instance, ResourceResolver rr) throws RepositoryException, LoginException {        
        genericReport.setName("exampleReport");
        instance.defineCriticalAction("Running Example", rr, this::reportExampleAction);
        instance.getInfo().setDescription("Executing Example Process");
    }
	
	protected void reportExampleAction(ActionManager manager) {
		record(emapleText);
	}
	
	private void record(String emapleText) {
		 final EnumMap<ReportColumns, Object> row = new EnumMap<>(ReportColumns.class);
		 row.put(ReportColumns.SERIAL, 1);
	        row.put(ReportColumns.TEXT, emapleText);
	        reportRows.add(row);
	}

	@Override
    public void storeReport(ProcessInstance instance, ResourceResolver rr) throws RepositoryException, PersistenceException {
        genericReport.setRows(reportRows, ReportColumns.class);
        genericReport.persist(rr, instance.getPath() + REPORT_SAVE_PATH);
    }

    @Override
    public void init() throws RepositoryException {
    }
    
    public enum ReportColumns {
        SERIAL, TEXT
    }
}

you can learn more about the process lifecycle here

Once the execution is complete we can save and see the report results:

Results page showing Serial and text for the input

References:

https://adobe-consulting-services.github.io/acs-aem-commons/features/mcp/index.html

Tag: Groovy

Bulk Add, Update and Delete properties in AEM – without using Groovy console

Problem Statement:

Requirement:

Introduction:

Create Process Definition factory – PropertyUpdateFactory

Create Process Definition implementation – PropertyUpdater

Excel Sheet:

Extending ACS Commons Managed Control process (MCP) as a Replacement for AEM Groovy Console

Problem Statement:

Requirement:

Introduction:

How to use MCP?

Create the packages and start your first process:

Create Process Implementation:

Once the execution is complete we can save and see the report results:

References: