OpenCms XML content objects

One of the most powerful features of OpenCms ist the XML content. With XML contents it is easy to create structured contents like news messages, events, address data, etc. List views of XML content objects can be generated easily by using the OpenCms taglib.

XML contents are located as files in the VFS (Virtual File System) of OpenCms and can be edited by content managers in an automatically generated form based editor.

Advantages of XML contents:

Compared to other direct database mechanisms for storing structured data, XML contents offer some substantial advantages:

• Much, much, much shorter learning curve
• Faster development cycle
• No Java/SQL knowledge necessary for XML content development
• Located in the VFS of OpenCms like other files, with full support of all file operations
• Powerful OpenCms taglib commands to generate different output views of XML contents for a website
• Contents are stored as standards conforming XML files
• Form based editing of the contents with automatically generated editor
• Standards conforming content description with XSD, so you can re-use your knowledge elsewhere

Because of these advantages we generally recommend the use of XML contents.

XML content development in 6 easy steps:

Step 1: Creating a simple XSD

How to create a very simple XSD for XML contents.

Step 2: Datatypes

Learn about the data types that can be used in a XSD.

Step 3: Advanced XSD configuration

Learn about the advanced configuration options of XML contents in a XSD.

Step 4: Localization

Learn how to localize the XML content editor form, the validation messages and other items.

Step 5: Nested contents

Learn how to nest XML contents to develop advanced content structures.

Step 6: Displaying XML contents

Learn how to display the element values of XML contents using the OpenCms taglib.

(Step 6a: Displaying XML contents with the Java API)

Optionally learn how to display the element values of XML contents using the OpenCms Java API.