How to detect renames via CMIS ChangeLog in Alfresco? - alfresco

Question

CMIS ChangeLog
I am using the ChangeLog feature of the CMIS standard to keep track of what is changing on my Alfresco server.
For instance, when I create newfile.txt the ChangeLog token (value of <cmis:latestChangeLogToken>) changes from 1713 to 1735.
Problem
When I rename newfile.txt to myfile.txt, the ChangeLog token does not change.
Question
Is there a way to make Alfresco bump the ChangeLog token whenever a rename happens?
Here is my current tomcat/shared/classes/alfresco-global.properties:
audit.enabled=true
audit.alfresco-access.enabled=true
audit.alfresco-access.sub-actions.enabled=true
audit.cmischangelog.enabled=true
audit.cmischangelog.sub-actions.enabled=true

Answer 1

To achieve this, you have to modify Alfresco's audit configuration file which is responsible for generating CMIS ChangeLog events. This file is alfresco-audit-cmis.xml and it can be found inside the alfresco-repository-5.2.g.jar (version number may vary) which itself is inside alfresco.war's WEB-INF/lib folder.
You have to add a PathMap and an AuditPath to that file, as described below:
<PathMap source="/alfresco-api/post/FileFolderService/rename"
target="/CMISChangeLog/UPDATED" />
... in <PathMappings>, and
<AuditPath key="fileFolderRef">
<RecordValue key="value" dataExtractor="simpleValue" />
</AuditPath>
... in the <AuditPath key="args"> of <AuditPath key="UPDATED">.
At the bottom of this answer I pasted the whole modified alfresco-audit-cmis.xml for Alfresco Community 5.2.0 201707 as an example, please note that your base file might differ, so better apply the modifications to your Alfresco's own alfresco-audit-cmis.xml.
In order to deploy that file so that it actually gets used by Alfresco, please follow the instructions at: https://stackoverflow.com/a/48221347/226958
Example:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Audit xmlns="http://www.alfresco.org/repo/audit/model/3.2"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.alfresco.org/repo/audit/model/3.2 alfresco-audit-3.2.xsd">
<DataExtractors>
<DataExtractor name="simpleValue" registeredName="auditModel.extractor.simpleValue"/>
<DataExtractor name="nullValue" registeredName="auditModel.extractor.nullValue"/>
<DataExtractor name="changeLog" registeredName="CMISChangeLogDataExtractor"/>
</DataExtractors>
<PathMappings>
<PathMap source="/CMISChangeLog" target="/CMISChangeLog" />
<PathMap source="/alfresco-api/post/FileFolderService/create" target="/CMISChangeLog/CREATED" />
<PathMap source="/alfresco-api/post/NodeService/createNode" target="/CMISChangeLog/CREATED" />
<PathMap source="/alfresco-api/post/NodeService/setProperties" target="/CMISChangeLog/UPDATED" />
<PathMap source="/alfresco-api/post/NodeService/addProperties" target="/CMISChangeLog/UPDATED" />
<PathMap source="/alfresco-api/post/NodeService/setProperty" target="/CMISChangeLog/UPDATED" />
<PathMap source="/alfresco-api/post/NodeService/removeProperty" target="/CMISChangeLog/UPDATED" />
<PathMap source="/alfresco-node/beforeDeleteNode" target="/CMISChangeLog/DELETED" />
<PathMap source="/alfresco-api/post/PermissionService/setPermission" target="/CMISChangeLog/SECURITY" />
<PathMap source="/alfresco-api/post/PermissionService/setInheritParentPermissions" target="/CMISChangeLog/SECURITY" />
<PathMap source="/alfresco-api/post/PermissionService/clearPermission" target="/CMISChangeLog/SECURITY" />
<PathMap source="/alfresco-api/post/PermissionService/deletePermission" target="/CMISChangeLog/SECURITY" />
<PathMap source="/alfresco-api/post/NodeService/moveNode" target="/CMISChangeLog/UPDATED" />
<PathMap source="/alfresco-api/post/FileFolderService/moveFrom" target="/CMISChangeLog/UPDATED" />
<PathMap source="/alfresco-api/post/FileFolderService/rename" target="/CMISChangeLog/UPDATED" />
</PathMappings>
<Application name="CMISChangeLog" key="CMISChangeLog">
<AuditPath key="CREATED">
<AuditPath key="result">
<RecordValue key="value" dataExtractor="changeLog" />
</AuditPath>
<AuditPath key="error">
<RecordValue key="value" dataExtractor="nullValue" />
</AuditPath>
</AuditPath>
<AuditPath key="UPDATED">
<AuditPath key="args">
<AuditPath key="nodeRef">
<RecordValue key="value" dataExtractor="changeLog" />
</AuditPath>
<AuditPath key="nodeToMoveRef">
<RecordValue key="value" dataExtractor="changeLog" />
</AuditPath>
<AuditPath key="sourceNodeRef">
<RecordValue key="value" dataExtractor="changeLog" />
</AuditPath>
<AuditPath key="fileFolderRef">
<RecordValue key="value" dataExtractor="simpleValue" />
</AuditPath>
</AuditPath>
<AuditPath key="error">
<RecordValue key="value" dataExtractor="nullValue" />
</AuditPath>
</AuditPath>
<AuditPath key="DELETED">
<AuditPath key="node">
<RecordValue key="value" dataExtractor="changeLog" />
</AuditPath>
</AuditPath>
<AuditPath key="SECURITY">
<AuditPath key="args">
<AuditPath key="nodeRef">
<RecordValue key="value" dataExtractor="changeLog" />
</AuditPath>
</AuditPath>
<AuditPath key="error">
<RecordValue key="value" dataExtractor="nullValue" />
</AuditPath>
</AuditPath>
</Application>
</Audit>
This "solution" is very inconvenient and might not be complete, so if you know any better method please post a new answer, thanks a lot! :-)