Chapter 6. Creating an OpenCms Module
Modules provide a mechanism for extending the functionality of OpenCms with Java libraries and classes, JSP pages, and XML templates. Modules are designed to be easily distributed among OpenCms installations, and can provide functional elements ranging from portable content to sophisticated applications that interact with content in OpenCms. We have already encountered OpenCms modules. In this chapter, we are going to take an in-depth look at developing modules. Specifically, we will cover:
Using modules
Creating a module
Adding templates, content, and JSP pages to the module
Adding custom Java classes and libraries
Scheduling tasks to run automatically
Managing module dependencies
Exporting and deploying your module
Using Modules
The purpose of a module is to provide a container, easily imported and exported, to hold extensions to OpenCms. The temptation is to consider these 'extensions' to be complex applications including dozens of files of Java code, XML...