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Searching Users and Groups

The user management API provided with Jackrabbit comes with a dedicated query API that allows for searching authorizables indepedant of the underlying user management implementation.

Lookup a Single Authorizable

  • UserManager.getAuthorizable(String) : lookup by id
  • UserManager.getAuthorizable(Principal : lookup by principal
  • UserManager.getAuthorizableByPath(String) : lookup by path
Examples
Authorizable a = userMgr.getAuthorizable("jackrabbit");
Authorizable a2 = userManager.getAuthorizableByPath(a.getPath());
Authorizable everyoneGroup = userManager.getAuthorizable(EveryonePrincipal.getInstance());

Searching for Authorizables

  • UserManager.findAuthorizables(String relPath, String value)
  • UserManager.findAuthorizables(String relPath, String value, int searchType)
  • UserManager.findAuthorizables(Query query)

The Query API

  • Query: The query object passed to the findAuthorizable method. It has a single build(QueryBuilder) method.
  • QueryBuilder: The query builder as described below.

QueryBuilder

Find by Property

The following conditions can be used to find authorizables by properties:

  • QueryBuilder.eq(String relPath, Value): holds if property at relPath is equal to the specified value.
  • QueryBuilder.neq(String relPath, Value): holds if property at relPath is not equal to the specified value.
  • QueryBuilder.lt(String relPath, Value): holds if property at relPath is smaller than the specified value.
  • QueryBuilder.le(String relPath, Value): holds if property at relPath is smaller or equal than/to the specified value.- QueryBuilder.lt(String relPath, Value) : matches if property value at relPath is smaller than the specified value.
  • QueryBuilder.gt(String relPath, Value): holds if property at relPath is greater than the specified value.
  • QueryBuilder.ge(String relPath, Value): holds if property at relPath is greater or equal than/to the specified value.
  • QueryBuilder.ge(String relPath, Value): holds if property at relPath is greater or equal than/to the specified value.
  • QueryBuilder.contains(String relPath, String searchExpr): full text search.
  • QueryBuilder.exists(String relPath): holds if a property at relPath exists.
Examples
Iterator<Authorizable> result = userMgr.findAuthorizables(new Query() {
    public <T> void build(QueryBuilder<T> builder) {
        builder.setCondition(builder.eq("@name", vf.createValue("jackrabbit")));
    }
});

Iterator<Authorizable> result = userMgr.findAuthorizables(new Query() {
    public <T> void build(QueryBuilder<T> builder) {
        builder.setCondition(builder.gt("profile/@weight", vf.createValue(200.0)));
    }
});

Iterator<Authorizable> result = userMgr.findAuthorizables(new Query() {
    public <T> void build(QueryBuilder<T> builder) {
        builder.setCondition(builder.contains("profile/@color", "gold"));
    }
});

Iterator<Authorizable> result = userMgr.findAuthorizables(new Query() {
    public <T> void build(QueryBuilder<T> builder) {
        builder.setCondition(builder.exists("@poisonous"));
    }
});
Find by Pattern

The following conditions allow to specify a search pattern, where ‘%’ represents any string of zero or more characters and ‘_’ represents any single character.

  • QueryBuilder.like(String relPath, String pattern): holds if a property relPath matches the pattern.
  • QueryBuilder.like(String relPath, String pattern): holds if a property relPath matches the pattern.
  • QueryBuilder.nameMatches(String pattern): filter by principal name (see below)
Examples
Iterator<Authorizable> result = userMgr.findAuthorizables(new Query() {
  public <T> void build(QueryBuilder<T> builder) {
      builder.setCondition(builder.like("profile/@food", "c%"));
  }
});

Iterator<Authorizable> result = userMgr.findAuthorizables(new Query() {
  public <T> void build(QueryBuilder<T> builder) {
      builder.setCondition(builder.like("profile/@food", "c_t"));
  }
});
Find in Any Property

Use “.” to indicate that properties with any name at a given relative path should be included in the search result.

Examples
Iterator<Authorizable> result = userMgr.findAuthorizables(new Query() {
    public <T> void build(QueryBuilder<T> builder) {
        builder.setCondition(builder.contains(".", ""jackrabbit""));
    }
});

Iterator<Authorizable> result = userMgr.findAuthorizables(new Query() {
    public <T> void build(QueryBuilder<T> builder) {
        builder.setCondition(builder.contains("profile/.", "gold"));
    }
});
Multiple Conditions
  • QueryBuilder.and(Condition condition1, Condition condition2): holds if both sub conditions hold
  • QueryBuilder.or(Condition condition1, Condition condition2): holds if any of the two sub conditions hold
  • QueryBuilder.not(Condition condition): holds if the sub condition does not hold.
Examples
Iterator<Authorizable> result = userMgr.findAuthorizables(new Query() {
    public <T> void build(QueryBuilder<T> builder) {
        builder.setCondition(builder.and(
            builder.eq("profile/@cute", vf.createValue(true)),
            builder.eq("profile/@color", vf.createValue("black"))
        ));
    }
});

Iterator<Authorizable> result = userMgr.findAuthorizables(new Query() {
    public <T> void build(QueryBuilder<T> builder) {
        builder.setCondition(builder.or(
            builder.eq("profile/@food", vf.createValue("mice")),
            builder.eq("profile/@food", vf.createValue("nectar"))
            )
        );
    }
});

Iterator<Authorizable> result = userMgr.findAuthorizables(new Query() {
    public <T> void build(QueryBuilder<T> builder) {
        builder.setCondition(builder.not(builder.exists("profile/@food"))
        ));
    }
});

Iterator<Authorizable> result = userMgr.findAuthorizables(new Query() {
    public <T> void build(QueryBuilder<T> builder) {
        builder.setCondition(builder.and(
            builder.eq("profile/@cute", vf.createValue(true)),
            builder.not(builder.eq("profile/@color", vf.createValue("black")))
        ));
    }
});
Sort Results
  • QueryBuilder.setSortOrder(String propertyName, Direction direction)
  • QueryBuilder.setSortOrder(String propertyName, Direction direction, boolean ignoreCase)

where direction can be either of

  • Direction.ASCENDING
  • Direction.DESCENDING
Examples
final boolean ignoreCase = true;
Iterator<Authorizable> result = userMgr.findAuthorizables(new Query() {
    public <T> void build(QueryBuilder<T> builder) {
        builder.setCondition(builder.exists("profile/@weight"));
        builder.setSortOrder("profile/@weight", QueryBuilder.Direction.ASCENDING, ignoreCase);
    }
});
Set Limits
  • QueryBuilder.setLimit(long offset, long maxCount)
  • QueryBuilder.setLimit(Value bound, long maxCount) : bound refers to the value of the setSortOrder(String, Direction) property. The result is limited to authorizables whose values of the sort order property follow bound in the sort direction.
Examples
final long offset = 25;
final long maxCount = 1000; // -1 for no limit
Iterator<Authorizable> result = userMgr.findAuthorizables(new Query() {
    public <T> void build(QueryBuilder<T> builder) {
        builder.setLimit(offset, maxCount);
    }
});

Iterator<Authorizable> result = userMgr.findAuthorizables(new Query() {
    public <T> void build(QueryBuilder<T> builder) {
        builder.setCondition(builder.eq("profile/@cute", vf.createValue(true)));
        builder.setSortOrder("profile/@weight", QueryBuilder.Direction.ASCENDING, true);
        builder.setLimit(vf.createValue(1000.0), count);
    }
});
Filter by Authorizable Type
  • QueryBuilder.setSelector(Class<? extends Authorizable> selector): Limit search result to a specific type of authorizables (in the example: groups only)

The selector may take any of the following values:

  • Authorizable.class
  • Group.class
  • User.class
Example
Iterator<Authorizable> result = userMgr.findAuthorizables(new Query() {
    public <T> void build(QueryBuilder<T> builder) {
        builder.setSelector(Group.class);
    }
});
Find by Principal Name
  • QueryBuilder.nameMatches(String pattern): the pattern may include ‘_’ and ‘%’ (see above).

NOTE: the ‘nameMatches’ condition is a shortcut for a regular search for the principal name, which in the default implementation is stored in rep:principalName. It does not take any custom name properties into account nor query rep:authorizableId.

Examples
Iterator<Authorizable> result = userMgr.findAuthorizables(new Query() {
    public <T> void build(QueryBuilder<T> builder) {
        builder.setCondition(builder.nameMatches("j%P"));
    }
});

Iterator<Authorizable> result = userMgr.findAuthorizables(new Query() {
    public <T> void build(QueryBuilder<T> builder) {
        builder.setCondition(builder.nameMatches("c_tP"));
    }
});
Find Group Members
  • QueryBuilder.setScope(String groupName, boolean declaredOnly): will only return members of the group with the specified name.
Example
final declaredMembersOnly = false;
Iterator<Authorizable> result = userMgr.findAuthorizables(new Query() {
    public <T> void build(QueryBuilder<T> builder) {
        builder.setScope("mammals", declaredMembersOnly);
    }
});
Search for Impersonators
  • ‘QueryBuilder.impersonates(String principalName)’

NOTE: this condition looks for authorizables that granted impersonation to the authorizable with the specified principal name.

Example
Iterator<Authorizable> result = userMgr.findAuthorizables(new Query() {
    public <T> void build(QueryBuilder<T> builder) {
        builder.setCondition(builder.impersonates("jackrabbitP"));
    }
});
Find All

Find all authorizables accessible to the editing session

Example
Iterator<Authorizable> result = userMgr.findAuthorizables(new Query() {
    public <T> void build(QueryBuilder<T> builder) { /* any */ }
});

Characteristics of the Default Implementation

See sections Differences to Jackrabbit 2.x and The Default Implementation for details.

Utilities

See org.apache.jackrabbit.commons.jackrabbit.user.AuthorizableQueryManager for a utility class provided by the jcr-commons module present with Jackrabbit.