Frequently Asked Questions about site development with Hippo CMS, Hippo Repository and Hippo Cocoon.

Hippo CMS 6.xx.xx

Configuration

I get JavaScript errors "init() TypeError config has no properties" and "startupApplication(): TypeError config has no properties" directly after log in as non-root user. I can't access any of the tabs.

Log in as root. Go to the permissions view. On the Root node, the permission "DAV: -read" should be granted to "authenticated". This ensures every user can log in. If this permission is missing, run the Repository Initialization tool with the following properties set to true:

operation.resetRootAcl=true
operation.resetAcls=true

All users should now be able to login.

Developing Backend Templates a.k.a. Content Types

How to get started?

Take a look at the sample templates provided with Hippo CMS, and read the Developing templates documentation. Also do not miss the Template editing tips!

What widgets are available?

See the Layout reference for a list of available widgets, and examples of how to use them in your templates.

You can also take a look at the example type "widgetgallery" in the SVN trunk:
http://svn.hippocms.org/repos/hippo/hippo-cms/trunk/editor/src/cocoon/types/
This backend template contains all widgets describe in the Layout reference.

Are there XML schemas available for the template definition files?

Yes, XML schemas are available for layout and business logic files. See 03. Developing templates for their locations.

It is possible to redefine the size of a standard text field in layout.xml?

Yes this is possible, by defining a CSS class. In the layout file, do something like this:

<textfield id="/document/title" class="example"/>

And in the CSS file for your document type, define a width for that class:

.example
{
  width:100px;
}

Is there a plain text input area available, as I don't want to use htmlfield, but need something that is bigger than the textfield element to work on.

Yes a plain textarea widget is available. To use it, simply specify a

<textarea id="/document/mytextfield"/>

widget in your layout file.

How can I make my textfield widget read only?

Add an attribute readonly with value true:

<textfield id="/document/mytextfield" readonly="true"/>

Does the editor support Flash?

You can upload Flash files as asset. You can upload anything as asset. Authors can link to assets from their documents.
There is no WYSIWYG plug in yet for adding Flash files in rich text areas. It is possible to add correct XHTML for Flash files from the HTML view of rich text areas. See this blog entry how to do this.

I get the error "HIERARCHY_REQUEST_ERR: An attempt was made to insert a node where it is not permitted" when saving my document.

A possible cause for this is an incorrect root node in your document. If you have e.g. a root node "document" in your schema and layout but your initial document template has a root node "root", the editor will give this error. Check your template definition files to see if they are consistent.

Does the editor support this particular XML Schema element?

The editor supports a sub set of XML Schema. See Template data model for a list of supported elements.

Workflow

Can I use different workflows for different document types?

Yes, see How to define a different workflow per document type.

I do not see any workflow actions when I click on a document. What is wrong?

An empty workflow panel can have several causes.

1. Document has no workflowId property
   Solution: click on the document again, and a new workflow will be created.
2. Document does have a workflowId property, but this id is not in the workflow database.
   Solution: click on the document again, and a new workflow will be created.
3. Repository is not properly initialized with the Hippo privileges (webdav-root/actions/hippo-reviewed-actions)
   Solution: re-initialize the repository with the Repository Initialization Tool.

I have scheduled a document for publication but it is not published at the scheduled date/time. What is wrong?

Make sure you have defined a system user. The background scheduler will use this user to publish documents.

You can check if you have a system user defined in the "Users" tab in the Hippo CMS dashboard. If you do not see a user called "systemuser", reinitialize your repository using the Repository Initialization Tool, with the following property:

systemuser.password=password

This will create the system user with the specified password.

Then add the following properties to your Hippo CMS build.properties file:

maven.cocoon.repository.systemcredentials.username=systemuser
maven.cocoon.repository.systemcredentials.password=password

and rebuild your CMS. Scheduled publication should now work.

Note: scheduled workflow actions are not supported for HSQLDB. Use MySQL, Oracle or MS SQL Server if you want to use scheduled workflow actions.

I scheduled multiple documents for publication at the exact same time, but only some of them got published.

Add the following parameter to 'configuration.xml' of the repository namespace, and restart the repository server:

<parameter name="sequential-mode">write</parameter> 

This setting is default in Hippo Repository from version 1.2.12.

Documents waiting for review are not visible in the TODO list in the dashboard

If you use Hippo CMS 6.03.xx or older and you migrated your repository and/or workflow database, it is possible that the workflow database contains invalid document URIs. Check the table os_propertyentry in the workflow database. The column string_value should contain URIs of documents in your repository. If they contain an incorrect host name or port, the workflow component preparing the TODO list will fail to connect to that host or port.

To fix this, run a SQL script similar to the example below to correct the URIs.

update os_propertyentry
set
	string_value = replace(string_value,
'webdav://localhost:60000/default/', 'webdav://foo:60000/bar/')
where
	item_key = 'location'
	and
	string_value like 'webdav://localhost:60000/default/%'

From version 6.04.00 Hippo CMS uses relative URIs in the workflow database, so upgrading to 6.04.xx will also fix this problem. See Hippo CMS v6.03 to v6.04 upgrade path for a detailed upgrade guide, including instructions on how to convert the absolute URIs in your workflow database.

Can I develop my own custom workflow?

Yes you can develop custom workflows. Hippo CMS workflow is based on OS Workflow, so first make yourself familiar with that. Then, read the workflow documentation.

Hippo Cocoon 2.1.x

Web site development with Hippo Cocoon

How to get started?

Use the Hippo Cocoon Project Wizard. It will generate a skeleton web site from which you can start.

Hippo Cocoon plugin for Maven

Maven fails because it cannot download one or more required files

Make sure http://repository.hippocms.org/maven/ is in the list of Maven repositories in the build.properties file in your home directory. See Installing Hippo Cocoon Maven plugin for details.

I get a 'Cocoon home is not set' error message

If your 'maven cocoon:deploy' or 'maven cocoon:install' build fails with a "Cocoon home is not set" message, you are probably trying to build from the wrong directory (e.g. the target/hippo-cocoon/bin directory because you started the wrapper from here). Maven should be executed in directory where your project.xml file lives.

I get a 'Provider org.apache.xalan.processor.TransformerFactoryImpl not found' error message

This error message comes from the Hippo Cocoon plugin trying to generate the XPath grammar files with an XSLT transformation when using Java 5. Due to a Maven limitation (see MAVEN-156) the class name of the XSLT transformer factory has been hardcoded in the plugin. This solution works well with JDK 1.4, but fails with Java 5 that uses a different XSLT transformer.

To work around this problem, Java 5 users need to place xalan-2.6.0.jar in the $MAVEN_HOME/lib/endorsed directory. Maven 1.1 users need to place the file in $JAVA_HOME/jre/lib/endorsed as Maven 1.1 does not have a private endorsed library directory.

I get a 'Goal "cocoon:deploy" does not exist in this project' error message

Make sure you have installed the plugin correctly. See Installing Hippo Cocoon Maven plugin for instructions.

If you have installed the plugin but still get the error message, try removing your Maven plugin cache directory. This directory is usually situated under
the .maven directory in your home directory. Remove the complete cache directory and try running the maven goal again.

Hippo Repository 1.2.x

WebDAV Tools

Do you know a good WebDAV client?

When you work with Hippo Repository, you need a tool to browse through your folders and files in the repository, view and edit your documents, view and edit their properties, etc. Surprisingly, the number of good WebDAV tools can be counted on one hand. The one we like most is WebDAVPilot for Eclipse.

An alternative to WebDAVPilot is EasyWebDAV for Eclipse. It is still in early development though, so use on you own risk.

Other options are DAV Explorer and IndependentDav.

Can I use Microsoft Web Folder to access Hippo Repository?

Yes you can, but we do not recommend it. Microsoft Web Folder does not comply to the WebDAV standard. It mixes up filenames and displaynames, introducing inconsistencies in the repository.

I need to do bulk operations on the documents in my repository. Do you have tools for that?

What you need is the Webdav Batch Processor. It is a plugin based tool to batch process resources in a WebDAV repository (hence the name). Documentation can be found at Hippo Webdav Batch Processor plugins. You can either use one of the exisiting plugins available from our SVN repository, or write your own.

Extractors

I have added an extractor to extractors.xml but when I check the properties of my documents I do not see the new property. What's wrong?

One thing is important to realize: extractors are only triggered when a document is saved (a PUT in WebDAV language). So existing documents need to be "touched" before any property is extracted.

If saving your document does not result in the property being extracted, something is wrong in the extractors configuration.