content-model-validator

name	content-model-validator
description	Validates Alfresco content model XML files for correct namespace URI format, mandatory type/aspect declarations, valid property data types, and absence of reserved prefixes (sys:, cm:, app:). Trigger automatically when generating or editing *-model*.xml or *-context.xml files.

Content Model Validator

Validate the given Alfresco content model XML against these rules:

Namespace Validation

• Namespace URI must follow the pattern http://www.{company}.com/model/{prefix}/{version}
• Namespace prefix must not collide with reserved Alfresco prefixes: sys, cm, app, usr, act, wcm, wca, lnk, fm, dl, ia, smf, imap, emailserver, bpm, wcmwf, trx, stcp
• Prefix must be lowercase alphanumeric, 2-6 characters

Structure Validation

• Root element must be <model> with name attribute in format {prefix}:modelName
• Must contain <namespaces> with at least one <namespace> declaration
• If types are declared, they must be inside <types> element
• If aspects are declared, they must be inside <aspects> element

Type and Aspect Validation

• Every <type> must have a name attribute in format {prefix}:typeName
• Every <type> should declare a <parent> (default: cm:content or cm:folder)
• Property names must use the model prefix: {prefix}:propertyName
• Property <type> must be a valid Alfresco data type: d:text, d:mltext, d:int, d:long, d:float, d:double, d:date, d:datetime, d:boolean, d:noderef, d:content, d:any, d:category, d:qname, d:locale, d:period

Mandatory Property Enforcement

• FLAG as ERROR any property that uses <mandatory enforced="true">true</mandatory>.
  • Why it breaks: enforced="true" makes ACS fire the IntegrityChecker immediately inside OnAddAspectPolicy, which runs before NodeServiceImpl.addAspect() has written the properties map to the database. The result is a spurious IntegrityException: Mandatory property not set even when the caller passes a fully-populated properties map.
  • Fix: Use <mandatory>true</mandatory> (no enforced attribute). The integrity check is then deferred to beforeCommit, by which time addAspect() has written both the aspect and its properties.
  • Exception: enforced="true" is safe only on properties belonging to types (not aspects), where the property must be supplied at node creation time via the REST API and is never set programmatically after the fact.

Constraint Validation

• Each <constraint> must declare a name ({prefix}:{camelCaseConstraintName}) and a type.
• For built-in constraint types, verify the required parameters are present:
  • LIST — must have an allowedValues <list> parameter with at least one <value>.
  • REGEX — must have an expression parameter; a requiresMatch parameter is recommended.
  • LENGTH — must have minLength and/or maxLength parameters.
  • MINMAX — must have minValue and/or maxValue parameters.
• For a custom constraint, type is a fully-qualified class name; it should resolve to a class extending org.alfresco.repo.dictionary.constraint.AbstractConstraint. Flag a type that is neither a built-in keyword (LIST, REGEX, LENGTH, MINMAX) nor a resolvable class.
• A property <constraints><constraint ref="{prefix}:..."/></constraints> reference must point at a constraint defined in the same model (or an imported one).

Association Validation

• <child-association> and <association> must declare a name ({prefix}:...) and a <source>/<target> with a <class>; cardinality is expressed via <mandatory> and <many>.
• Prefer <child-association> for composition (cascade delete) and <association> for peer references — flag a child association used where a non-owning reference is intended.

Spring Context Validation

• If a companion *-context.xml exists, verify it registers the model via <bean class="org.alfresco.repo.dictionary.DictionaryBootstrap"> or equivalent
• The models property must reference the correct model XML path

Output

Report all violations with file path, line number, rule violated, and suggested fix. If no violations found, confirm the model is valid.