Wiki source code of URL Architecture
Version 17.1 by Vincent Massol on 2021/06/15
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author | version | line-number | content |
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1 | {{box cssClass="floatinginfobox" title="**Contents**"}} | ||
2 | {{toc/}} | ||
3 | {{/box}} | ||
4 | |||
5 | This is how URLs are handled when entering an XWiki instance: | ||
6 | |||
7 | {{plantuml}} | ||
8 | @startuml | ||
9 | !theme bluegray | ||
10 | start | ||
11 | -> URL; | ||
12 | :Routing Filter; | ||
13 | floating note left | ||
14 | Executed as the first | ||
15 | Filter in web.xml | ||
16 | end note | ||
17 | floating note right | ||
18 | Parse URL and check if there's | ||
19 | a Resource Reference Handler to | ||
20 | handle the Resource Type | ||
21 | end note | ||
22 | if (Resource Reference Filter?) then (Yes) | ||
23 | :Resource Reference Handler Servlet; | ||
24 | :Resource Reference Handler; | ||
25 | note: e.g. WebJarsResourceReferenceHandler | ||
26 | kill | ||
27 | else (No) | ||
28 | partition "Legacy Action Handling" { | ||
29 | :Evaluate rest of web.xml; | ||
30 | split | ||
31 | :Legacy Action Servlet; | ||
32 | kill | ||
33 | split again | ||
34 | :Other Servlets; | ||
35 | kill | ||
36 | end split | ||
37 | } | ||
38 | endif | ||
39 | @enduml | ||
40 | {{/plantuml}} | ||
41 | |||
42 | Specifically: | ||
43 | |||
44 | * When parsing an incoming URL, the Routing Filter will use a ##default## Resource Type Resolver (##ResourceTypeResolver##) component to extract the Resource Type (##ResourceType##) from the URL (the Resource Type is the type of URL pointed to, e.g. an Entity if the URL is pointing to a Document for example, a WebJar URL, a Skin URL, a REST URL, etc). In turn the ##default## Resource Type Resolver will read the XWiki configuration to see what URL Scheme is configured (through the ##url.format## configuration parameter) and will then locate a ##ResourceTypeResolver## component with a hint corresponding to the URL Scheme. It'll use it to extract the Resource Type. | ||
45 | * The Resource Reference Handler Servlet will use a ##default## Resource Reference Resolver (##ResourceReferenceResolver##) component to parse the passed URL into a ##ResourceReference## object that can then be given to a ##ResourceReferenceHandler## to perform an action. In turn the ##default## Resource Reference Resolver will read the XWiki configuration to see what URL Scheme is configured (through the ##url.format## configuration parameter) and will then locate a ##ResourceReferenceResolver## component with a hint corresponding to the URL Scheme. It'll use it to extract the Resource Reference. | ||
46 | |||
47 | For more details see the [[Resource API>>extensions:Extension.Resource API]] and the [[URL API>>extensions:Extension.URL API]] reference documentation. | ||
48 | |||
49 | = Standard URL Scheme = | ||
50 | |||
51 | This is the default URL format used by XWiki. See [[Standard URL Scheme>>platform:DevGuide.Standard URL Format]]. | ||
52 | |||
53 | = Customizing URLs = | ||
54 | |||
55 | There are several solutions to customize XWiki URLs: | ||
56 | |||
57 | * You can tune them to some degree by modifying XWiki's configuration. The various options are described in the [[Short URL documentation>>platform:Main.ShortURLs]]. | ||
58 | * You can rewrite both incoming URLs but also outbound URLs using a Rewrite Filter. An example is also provided in the [[Short URL documentation>>platform:Main.ShortURLs]]. | ||
59 | * You can implement a new URL Scheme. See the [[URL API>>extensions:Extension.URL API]]. | ||
60 | * You can simply register new Resource Types or new Entity Actions. See the [[Resource API>>extensions:Extension.Resource API]]. | ||
61 | |||
62 | {{info}} | ||
63 | Note that using Tuckey's [[Rewrite Filter>>http://tuckey.org/urlrewrite/]] is very powerful as it also allows using dynamic rules written in Java by using the [[##<class-rule>##>>http://tuckey.org/urlrewrite/manual/4.0/index.html#class-rule]] feature. However, [[dynamic outbound rules are not yet possible>>https://code.google.com/p/urlrewritefilter/issues/detail?id=73]]. | ||
64 | |||
65 | [[Here's an example of writing a custom ##class-rule##>>https://github.com/xwiki-contrib/url-rewrite-reference]]. | ||
66 | {{/info}} | ||
67 | |||
68 | = Legacy Actions Servlet Architecture = | ||
69 | |||
70 | As shown above, when there's no Resource Reference Handler registered to handle a Resource Type, the rest of ##web.xml## is processed and if the URL type is ##bin## or ##wiki##, the Servlet in charge of the legacy actions is then called and the following happens: | ||
71 | |||
72 | {{plantuml}} | ||
73 | @startuml | ||
74 | !theme bluegray | ||
75 | start | ||
76 | :Legacy Action Servlet; | ||
77 | floating note: Configured in ""WEB-INF/web.xml"" | ||
78 | :Initialize XWiki; | ||
79 | floating note left | ||
80 | Initialize XWiki objects: | ||
81 | * ""XWikiContext"" / ""ExecutionContext"" | ||
82 | * ""XWiki"" | ||
83 | * ""XWikiRequest"" | ||
84 | * ""XWikiResponse"" | ||
85 | * ... | ||
86 | end note | ||
87 | floating note right | ||
88 | The called Action is a component with a | ||
89 | hint equals to the URL part representing | ||
90 | the action (e.g. ""edit"" for ""EditAction"") | ||
91 | end note | ||
92 | split | ||
93 | :View Action; | ||
94 | :Renders view.vm; | ||
95 | split again | ||
96 | :Save Action; | ||
97 | :Renders save.vm; | ||
98 | split again | ||
99 | :Other Actions; | ||
100 | :Renders other Velocity | ||
101 | template files; | ||
102 | end split | ||
103 | :Service APIs | ||
104 | (exposed in the context); | ||
105 | @enduml | ||
106 | {{/plantuml}} | ||
107 | |||
108 | For example for the ##http:~/~/www.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome## URL for the ##standard## URL scheme, the following happens: | ||
109 | |||
110 | * {{version since="13.0"}}The URL path contains ##/view/## and thus the ##ViewAction## class is executed (because the role hint of the ViewAction component is ##view##) and called by the Legacy Action Servlet, itself configured in ##web.xml##{{/version}}((( | ||
111 | {{version before="13.0"}}The mapping between the URL and the Action class to execute is defined in ##struts-config.xml##, and the Struts Action is configured in ##web.xml##.{{/version}} | ||
112 | ))) | ||
113 | * The wiki is the main wiki in this example (since the server name starts by ##www##). See [[Accessing a wiki>>platform:AdminGuide.AccessWiki]] for more details on how wikis are accessed from URLs. | ||
114 | * ##ViewAction## specifies that ##view.vm## will be rendered using Velocity | ||
115 | * The space asked is ##Main## and the document's name is ##WebHome## |