Free seats: More than 10

OpenCms 10 has introduced a new workplace backend technology based on the Vaadin framework. Vaadin enables developers to generate complex graphical user interfaces with advanced functionality based on a rich set of screen widgets. This can be used to extend the OpenCms workplace with graphical components for specific customer related requirements or use cases.

Alkacon has prepared interfaces and configuration options in the OpenCms core that allow to plug in workplace extensions with OpenCms modules. These allow to add new apps to the Launchpad, to customize menus and toolbars, as well as adding specific context menu options for special content types.

In this workshop, Tobias and Georg will collect requirements of the audience and then work with the participants on proof of concept solutions for the use cases brought up. In this process they will also explain the extension hooks prepared by Alkacon for the Workplace. For developers new to Vaadin, they will provide a basic implementation that can be extended with custom functionality. The Vaadin framework was introduced with OpenCms version 10, and the workshop will focus on use cases for this new technology.

A standard OpenCms installation with some prepared code examples will be used as a base for the workshop. This will be distributed on a virtual image that participants should install before the workshop starts. More information about the virtual image requirements here.

Workshop level: Advanced

Participants should have knowledge in:

• Java development
• Using a development IDE such as Eclipse
• Using the OpenCms core API
• Basic understanding of Vaadin

Please read this important information regarding workshop organization

All OpenCms versions so far have relied on a relational SQL database as the backbone of the content repository. However, new requirements are emerging, such as distributed repositories with automatic installation in the cloud, which are difficult to meet using the existing database infrastructure.

Alkacon has been investigating the possibility to switch to a new repository technology for future OpenCms versions that come after 10.5 for about a year now. The new repository should be based on state-of-the-art open source components and provide much better cloud and clustering support. In recent months, Alkacon has started with the implementation of this next generation repository. First results are in, and they look promising.

In this session, Alexander will explain the design principles that guide the new repository architecture. He will point out use cases where the current repository falls short, and explain how it could be improved in the next generation.

Stephan has developed a working alpha version of the new repository. This is based on the Java Content Repository (JCR) standard. It already supports many core OpenCms features such as online / offline editing, publishing and individual user permissions.

Alexander and Stephan will demonstrate this alpha version of the next generation repository in action. They will provide some initial performance test results that look promising. They will also show how a distributed system in the cloud can be set up with the new repository. The session will be finished with a roadmap explaining when and how the new repository will become available in a future OpenCms version.

Free seats: More than 10

Display of content maintained in an external application on the website is a common requirement. The way to connect this external application with OpenCms is a task left to the developer. Very often the environment in which OpenCms and the external application exist will limit how the content can be transferred with firewalls and security restrictions. Then there is the question about how often the content needs to be transferred – does it have to be updated in near real time, or just once a day?

In this workshop, Michael and Philipp will collect requirements of the audience and then work with the participants on proof of concept solutions for the use cases brought up. They will also show some solutions they have used in the past that can serve as an inspiration.

A standard OpenCms installation with some prepared code examples will be used as a base for the workshop. This will be distributed on a virtual image that participants should install before the workshop starts. More information about the virtual image requirements here.

Workshop level: Advanced

Workshop participants should have knowledge in:

• Java development
• Using a development IDE such as Eclipse
• Using the OpenCms core API

Please read this important information regarding workshop organization

The challenge of serving real time information about ongoing seismic crises.

The Swiss Seismological Service (SED) at ETH Zurich is the official Swiss federal agency for seismic monitoring and earthquake information.

Real-time information about earthquakes is a challenge for a web content management system:

• While typically few people are interested in seismic information, this changes fundamentally after a widely felt earthquake. Within 1-2 minutes after the event, several 100.000 people may want to get an official explanation of their perceptions, triggering huge and steep load peaks on the CMS.
• At the same time automatic analysis results become available and are continuously updated over the next minutes. The challenge here is to setup cache updates, link persistence, and versioning.
• Earthquakes can be damaging, also for server infrastructures and communication lines. This calls for off-site redundancy in both information generation and web publishing.
• As Switzerland has multiple national languages, all content has to be presented in German, French, Italian and English.

Given these requirements for information platforms of seismic data centers, they are typically custom software.

In this session Enrico and Cyrill will explain why the Swiss Seismological Service has opted for a system based on OpenCms and OCEE for its recent revision of the web platform. They will show the solutions selected to meet the challenges which include specific extensions that have been developed for real time information and multi-language maintenance.

A panel discussion with selected OpenCms experts will close the conference.

Where are we now and what does the future hold in store for OpenCms? The panel participants will summarize their impression from the two conference days and provide their vision about what is to come. In an open discussion with the audience, they will share their ideas for future projects and potential OpenCms enhancements.