CMIS beta implementations

good overview of existing CMIS implementations (client and server) can be found here:

http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/lqwiki.nsf/dx/11122008094143AMWEBK95.htm

because CMIS version 1.0 is not final approved yet (see also http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=cmis) all of those implementations can be marked as "beta".  Hopefully the progress of the standard will end up in a state different to what happens to WebDAV where the initial hype never made substantial progress in major and public available products and infrastructure components. 

time will tell.....

CMIS resources

nice summary of background material about CMIS can be found here: http://wiki.alfresco.com/wiki/Draft_CMIS
especially the list of available provides and consumers are useful for those try to further investigate into this new standard effort. sample code says more than thousand words....

cmis: Apache Chemistry

good news on CMIS front. Apache incubating a new project called "Chemistry".

project description

Apache Chemistry is a generic Java language implementation of the upcoming OASIS CMIS specification.

Proposal

Apache Chemistry is an effort to provide a Java (and possibly others, like JavaScript) implementation of an upcoming CMIS specification, consisting of a high-level API for developers wanting to manipulate documents, a low-level SPI close to the CMIS protocol for developers wanting to implement a client or a server, and default implementations for all of the above. Chemistry aims to cover both the AtomPub and SOAP bindings defined by the CMIS specifications.

with success of this project there might be an open source CMIS reference implementation not coupled with a existing CMS and therefore has the change to on the one hand provide a potential good starting point for vendor specific integration work and on the other hand a reference makes the specification "real" and touchable.

see also:

• http://trent-intovalue.blogspot.com/2009/03/just-another-standard-to-manage-content.html
• http://xml.coverpages.org/ni2009-04-30-a.html
  

just another standard to manage content

CMIS is another try to provide a vendor independent content exchange api. major ECM vendors, like MS, Oracle, IBM and many others are joined the corresponding OASIS TC to release the first version of this new standard.

good overview of the current state can be found in "CMIS meeting notes".

I'd like the idea to have a common accepted and wide adopted standard to maintain resources and all related concepts.

major advantages

• decoupling of client implementation dealing with standard related concepts from server implementation
  =>decoupling
  
• usage of several server implementations through single client implementation
  =>integration
• adaption of common and rich infrastructure for specific needs
  =>enrichment

this leads to the core vision i have in mind talking about such a standard.

Vision

core infrastructure of a content management is provided by regular OS client infrastructure and specific needs are implemented on top of those core layer. a wide range of server side infrastructure can be used and integrated without adding IT complexity.

WebDAV

we already heard about those vision, thats what WebDAV claim to provide....
why not working stronger on WebDAV instead of re-inventing the wheel? looking at the world of WebDAV shows the issues in this area:

• many incomplete implementation out there
  
• integration in regular OS infrastructure is half-assed and error prone
• WebDAV is implemented as an additional API with limited maturity and attention of CMS vendors.
• DeltaV extension only supported by a very rare and not widely used implementations
  
• ....

of course, WebDAV standard is still not feature complete. especially search interface and concept of typed links are not yet provided by the WebDAV standard. but adding this as additional extension is not a big deal (see also http://www.webdav.org/specs/rfc5323.html).

the major issue with WebDAV is simple the lack of robust and complete implementation. the main reason: it is easier to define a standard than fully implement those standard and resolve existing issues within the standard.

the major members in CMIS TC are the same as those working on WebDAV standard. i personal hope that the success and sustainability of implementation will be improved. otherwise there is just another standard no one takes care of once it is 80% complete.

i do not compare both approaches because this is another story but in terms of simplicity WebDAV is currently in pole position. more to come......