JSON Content-Type V1
JSON based content-types are type-definitions which are stored as JSON. As of now we're using it to provide system-level types to the application (see Concepts - file provided content-types) and for various automated testing.
Description
- As of now, it's using a envolope to package everything and includes a minimal header to ensure we know it's V1.
- It then contains a
ContentTypenode containing- various identification and description
- optional Content-Type Metadata
- attributes (array) - often with attribute Metadata
- note that the attribute order is relevant
Example
This example is an extract of the Config Content-Type to manage the SqlDataSource (will be releasen in 2sxc 9.8 with more help-text etc.):
{
"_": { "V": 1 },
"ContentType": {
"Id": "|Config ToSic.Eav.DataSources.SqlDataSource",
"Name": "|Config ToSic.Eav.DataSources.SqlDataSource",
"Scope": "System",
"Description": "todo",
"Attributes": [
{
"Name": "Title",
"Type": "String",
"IsTitle": true,
"Metadata": [
{
"Id": 0,
"Version": 1,
"Guid": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
"Type": {
"Name": "@All",
"Id": "@All"
},
"Attributes": {
"String": {
"DefaultValue": { "*": "Sql Query" },
"InputType": { "*": "string-default" }
},
"Boolean": { "VisibleInEditUI": { "*": true } }
}
}
]
},
{
"Name": "ConnectionGroup",
"Type": "Empty",
"IsTitle": false,
"Metadata": [
{
"Id": 0,
"Version": 1,
"Guid": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
"Type": {
"Name": "@All",
"Id": "@All"
},
"Attributes": {
"String": {
"DefaultValue": { "*": "" },
"InputType": { "*": "empty-default" }
},
"Boolean": { "VisibleInEditUI": { "*": true } }
}
}
]
},
{
"Name": "ConnectionStringName",
"Type": "String",
"IsTitle": false,
"Metadata": [
{
"Id": 0,
"Version": 1,
"Guid": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
"Type": {
"Name": "@All",
"Id": "@All"
},
"Attributes": {
"String": {
"DefaultValue": { "*": "SiteSqlServer" },
"InputType": { "*": "string-default" }
},
"Boolean": { "VisibleInEditUI": { "*": true } }
}
}
]
},
...
{
"Name": "SelectCommand",
"Type": "String",
"IsTitle": false,
"Metadata": [
{
"Id": 0,
"Version": 1,
"Guid": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
"Type": {
"Name": "@All",
"Id": "@All"
},
"Attributes": {
"String": {
"DefaultValue": { "*": "/****** Script for SelectTopNRows command from SSMS ******/\r\nSELECT TOP (1000) PortalId as EntityId, HomeDirectory as EntityTitle\r\n ,[PortalID]\r\n ,[ExpiryDate]\r\n ,[AdministratorRoleId]\r\n ,[GUID]\r\n ,[DefaultLanguage]\r\n ,[HomeDirectory]\r\n ,[CreatedOnDate]\r\n ,[PortalGroupID]\r\n FROM [Portals]\r\n Where ExpiryDate is null" },
"InputType": { "*": "string-default" }
},
"Boolean": { "VisibleInEditUI": { "*": true } }
}
},
{
"Id": 0,
"Version": 1,
"Guid": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
"Type": {
"Name": "@string-default",
"Id": "@string-default"
},
"Attributes": { "Number": { "RowCount": { "*": 10.0 } } }
}
]
}
...
],
"Metadata": []
}
}
Details about the Format
The format is currently in version 1, and looks like this:
_this is the header - containing the version, in case we introduce breaking changes in the future - see also format v1ContentType- this is the content-typeId- internal identifier, also known as the static name - often a GUIDName- a nicer nameScope- a term which groups types together; mainly for hiding types the user should normally not seeDescription- a short description for internal useAttributes[array]- [item]
Name- the field-nameType- the primary type, like string, number, etc.Description- a short descriptionIsTitle- is this the title field (there must always be one title field)Metadata[array] with more information about this field/attribute - see Metadata
- [item]
- Metadata [array] with more information about the content-type - see Metadata
Specials about the JSON Content-Types
ID is not always a GUID
The ID is usually a GUID, but for special system types it is not.
This is mostly historic, as all new content-types will have GUIDs, but old types still exist in the system which have a nice name, but that's not ideal for various use cases.
This corresponds to the StaticName in the C# API.
Scope is Like a Virtual Group
The Scope is a name - usually System or something like that. It's primarily used to group types together, so that the editor doesn't have to see the ca. 50 types in the background which make the solution work. See Content-Type Scopes
Content Types Have Metadata
Content-types can have a lot of metadata - also mostly for the UI. An example is the help-text which is shown. This too is stored as normal JSON. See JSON Metadata V1.
Attributes Have Metadata
Each attribute - let's say a field "Color" has more information which is needed for scenarios like the edit-UI. These items are standard Metadata.
Content Type Attributes must preserve Sort Order
This is important, as it's relevant to the UI.
Limitations
As of now (2sxc 9.7) the system will pick up the content-types stored there and everything works. BUT there is no built-in mechanism to edit these. We (2sic) can easily create content-types in a normal 2sxc and export them to json for this purpose, but as of now there is no GUI to do so.
This should not affect you, as it's not meant to be managed by anybody else than us as of now.
Read also
History
- Added in 2sxc 9.7