stopping the CQ5 linkchecker from validating a link

If you want a specific link to not be validated by the linkchecker just insert the following property into the <a> tag

 x-cq-linkchecker="skip"

Converting the multifield to use something other than text

The traditional use of the multifield is to allow users to enter a number of text fields, which are then stored all in one location in the jcr.

However the type of component that is rendered is identified by the fieldConfig property. Which defaults to a text field.

Here is a sample structure to support changing the default type to a drop down selection;

{
  "xtype": "multifield",
  "name": "./shadow",
  "fieldlabel": "stuff",
  "jcr:primaryType": "cq:Widget",
  "fieldConfig": {
    "xtype": "selection",
    "type": "select",
    "jcr:primaryType": "nt:unstructured",
    "options": {
      "jcr:primaryType": "cq:WidgetCollection",
      "o1": {
        "value": "google",
        "jcr:primaryType": "nt:unstructured",
        "text": "google"
      },
      "02": {
        "value": "yahoo",
        "jcr:primaryType": "nt:unstructured",
        "text": "yahoo"
      }
    }
  }
}

Modifying the landing page in Adobe CQ5

Recently got a request to modify the CQ5 landing page so only certain items appeared for authors when they logged in.

The landing page is divided into 4 sections. To change what appears we need to use the group control to set permissions on the specific nodes that are being represented on the landing page.

The right side sections are the easiest. These are defined as child nodes of the following;

/libs/cq/core/content/welcome/resources (section 2)
/libs/cq/core/content/welcome/docs (section 3)
/libs/cq/core/content/welcome/features (section 4)

Just go in and set the relevant read permissions for the group on these child nodes and voila, the page is modified.

The core list that appears on the left is a little bit trickier.

What's appearing is a list of resources that have the mixin type applied to them of cq:Console, sorted in descending order by their sling:vanityPath

To find all the items, go into crxde and perform an xpath search of
/jcr:root//*[@jcr:mixinTypes = 'cq:Console']

And following up on this, if you were to look at any of the nodes. You can easily extend your content by including the cq:Console mixin type and have this appear on your landing page.

The telnet protocol in actionscript

This was both rewarding, frustrating and ultimately a lesson in when to do one design over the other.

My initial thought was something along the lines of;

1. Flex(actionscript) is heavily geared to be an event based system.
2. A telnet protocol incorporating all events would be cool
3. Hey I'll write an event based telnet socket!

It works, don't take me wrong, it works.... but it also generates an awesome amount of events. Espacially when one considers that to be a true telnet client that you have to operate in a char by char model. i.e. every single character that traveled across this pipe was generating an event to end up rendering the display.

Combined with the single threaded nature of flash and we got ourselves an interface that felt a lot more slow then it needed to be.

Creating a MUD client

Recently I decided to take on a side project. Something to do outside of the business realm that would keep me mentally occupied at home. As an old school adventure player. I thought a good start would be to create a telnet application to play MUD(MU*) games.

This process, which has been going on for several months now has been a fascinating learning experience. To the point that I felt it appropriate to start recording the useful bits of information I had found out so that those who may come after me are assisted in their endeavors.

The technology I decided was to use Adobe Flex/AIR