JBoss Community

Shotoku

Shotoku is designed to provide easy access to content repositories in which you can store data, bind metadata, revision content, and provide branching and merging strategies. This means Shotoku can interface with repositories such as the Java Content Repository (JSR 170: JCR), Subversion, and file-system based repository implementations that aim to support basic revisioning mechanisms.
Here are some of the currently implemented features:
  • Three content managers: the first and default SVN-based, JCR-based and a local file system repository.
  • Because a local working copy is present, data reading is very fast (SVN repository implementation).
  • Data writing is reliable, because data is sent straight to the repository, without touching the working copy (SVN repository implementation).
  • Shotoku can work in "embedded" mode in stand-alone applications, as well as a component in an application server.
  • Shotoku allows you to "inject" content into any POJO using annotations (currently supported only in app server mode). POJOs which are Shotoku aware are automatically updated when a user updates a node in a Subversion repository Shotoku is configured to reference. Content can be anything and there are no structural requirements placed on the repository - even existing Subversion repositories can be referenced by Shotoku without modification.
  • A simple search mechanism.
  • Integeration with Apache Velocity - you can easily store templates in Shotoku to create higher level application features such as content and blog engines.
  • Feeds component - automatic generation of rss, atom and rdf feeds/ podcasts, configured through a xml file, together with arbitrary feeds aggregation. You can see feeds already at work on JBoss Labs - just click the "Feeds" link in navigation or simply here.
  • Blog component.
  • A simple cache with "renewable" values. 

As an example application that can be built using Shotoku, a blog and podcasting engine has been created using the template mechanisms available in Shotoku. In fact, all the feeds you see on JBoss Labs, the blog and podcasts, are driven using content stored in our Subversion content repository. This means, to publish a podcast, you just check in your content to a directory of your choice in your svn repository. Shotoku automatically applies the selected templates to produce content feeds. These feeds are described using simple xml files. This is just one of the many application level uses of Shotoku.

But that's only the beginning of what Shotoku will consist of. Here is a short plan for the future:

  • Clustering support using JBoss Cache
  • Semantic web integration
  • Improved searching
  • A servlet for accessing files based on defined access privileges

More information

Here are some links you might want to visit:

  • For instructions on how to use Shotoku or for examples please visit our wiki.
  • Also, visit our downloads section to get the alpha version of Shotoku.
  • You can view the Shotoku roadmap in JIRA.
  • If you have an suggestions or quesitons, go to the Shotoku forum
  • The javadocs may help a lot.

The latest version of Shotoku source files can be found in Labs subversion repository: http://anonsvn.jboss.org/repos/labs/labs/shotoku/.

In the subversion implementation of Shotoku (our main one :) ) we use the JavaSVN library created by TMate. Be sure to visit their site if you are interested in tightly integrating your project with Subversion and accessing its advanced functions.

Shotoku Blog

Projects Using Envers wikipage
Feb 1, 2010 3:07 PM by Adam Warski
I just created a new “Projects Using Envers” wikipage; so if you are using Envers in your project, make sure to add it to the list! :) If you are not yet using Envers, don’t forget…
Envers 1.2.2 released!
Dec 18, 2009 7:17 AM by Adam Warski
After quite a long break, I’m happy to announce a new release of Envers (available on the downloads page, or via Maven). This is mainly a bugfix release, but there are also new fea…
Dependency Injection and replacing dependencies in CDI/Weld
Dec 16, 2009 4:37 PM by Adam Warski
From time to time, in a system I develop, which uses EJB3 beans as the basic “component model”, I have a need to do some operations using a new entity manager (but still in the sam…
Nonnull-check generator: a scala compiler plugin
Oct 15, 2009 11:04 AM by Adam Warski
Recently I played a bit with compiler plugins for Scala. My goal is to write a plugin which would generate checks in code for methods annotated with JSR305 annotations. As a first …
Typestate checker - checking iterators
Sep 23, 2009 1:02 PM by Adam Warski
In the new 0.2.2 release of the typestate checker (an extension to the JSR308 checkers framework), you can now specify a state, to which an object transits, if a method returns tru…
View more shotoku blog

JBoss Shotoku Contributors

Project Lead: Adam Warski

Warski

Adam is a Ph.D. student of computer science at the University of Warsaw (Poland). Adam joined JBoss as one of the first interns at JBoss. He has been with the Labs initiative since its beginning.


Developer: Tomek Szymanski

Syzmanski

Now attending Warsaw Technical University and graduating with an engineering and Master degree in 2007, Tomek is the primary developer of JBoss Wiki and continues to contribute to the core JBoss Labs initiative.


Retired: Damon Sicore

Sicore

After spending over ten years finding a way to get paid to write open source software, Damon has found his home at JBoss Labs as Lead. Damon offers sacrificial animals and children daily in order to continue the efforts of JBoss Labs.