pyslinger

Overview

Pyslinger is a simple module for loading content into a Java Content Repository such as Adobe CQ5 from a JSON content representation.

The module parses the supplied JSON payload(s) and converts the content to a series of multipart form data posts processed by the target system's SlingPostServlet. No special connector code is needed on the target system, as this method takes advantage of Sling's RESTful nature to populate content nodes directly and in place.

More information on the SlingPostServlet is available on the Apache Sling site.

Installation

pip install git+https://github.com/sevennineteen/pyslinger.git#egg=Pyslinger

Usage

Construct JSON Payloads

Each JSON payload should be structured in the following format:

{ "path": "*/absolute/page/path*",
  "properties": [
    { "name": "*property_name*",
      "value": "*property_value*" }],

  "nodes": [
    { "path": "*node/path/relative/to/page*",
      "properties": [
        { "name": "*property_name*",
          "value": "*property_value*"},
        { "name": "*property_name*",
          "type": "*property_type*",
          "value": ["*value1*", "*value2*", "*value3*"] }]},

    { "path": "*node/path/relative/to/page*",
      "properties": [
        { "name": "*property_name*",
          "value": "*property_value*"}]}
  ]
}

By default, properties are assumed to be of type String and therefore the type is omitted. For non-scalar values such as arrays (e.g., multiple tags in CQ), the type must be explicitly declared in the JSON payload.

See the supplied page_example.json file for a real-world representation of a CQ Geometrixx page.

Loading binary files (e.g., images) is also supported. The JSON payload follows a similar format, but includes a renditions node which includes a path to the local file. The supplied asset_example.json payload is used to load austin_motel.jpg.

Content Load Execution

Pyslinger may be used as a standalone script (loading JSON payloads within a directory) or integrated into an application as a Python module.

Standalone Script Execution

1. All JSON payloads for migration should be stored under a single directory (nested subfolders are OK).

2. In a terminal, navigate to the directory of pyslinger.py and issue the following command:

   python pyslinger/pyslinger.py cq_server username password payloads_path [mode]

Supported modes are itemwise and nodewise.

In itemwise mode, a single POST request is used to load the content item, followed by separate requests for associated binary files (if any).

In nodewise mode, a separate POST request is made for each node. This may be useful for debugging or making very precise updates.

The provided run_demo.sh contains default commands appropriate for out-of-the-box CQ instances. This executes the script twice, loading content itemwise and nodewise, respectively.

Python Module API

In the context of a larger migration project, it may be beneficial to incorporate Pyslinger as a module, accessing its load functions directly. In this paradigm, the generated JSON payloads may be loaded directly without even writing them to disk.

For example, using a templating language like Jinja2 to generate the payload, you might implement this process as follows:

from jinja2 import Environment, PackageLoader
from pyslinger import pyslinger
import json

# Set destination server/credentials if not defaults
pyslinger.CQ_SERVER = 'http://cqdev:4502'
pyslinger.USERNAME = 'megaman'
pyslinger.PASSWORD = 'P@55w0rd'

# Set the Jinja2 template
env = Environment(loader=PackageLoader('app', 'templates'))
template = env.get_template('page_template.json')

# Set values to be passed to the template
mypage = {
    'title': 'Welcome to Pyslinger',
    'description': 'A page loaded into CQ using Pyslinger'
    }

# Render the payload
payload = template.render(page=mypage)

# Load using Pyslinger
result = pyslinger.load_item(json.loads(payload))
if result.success:
    print 'Loaded to %s' % result.url
else:
    pyslinger.dump_errors(result)

Caveats

1. While this generalized approach should work on all Sling-fronted repositories, it has only been tested on Adobe CQ 5.4 and 5.5.