XAR Format Specifications

Last modified by Michael Hamann on 2024/11/18 15:12

A XAR file is a ZIP file with extension ".xar" containing an (optional) "package.xml" descriptor file and in which each document (including the document's history, xobjects, attachments, xclass, etc.) is in a XML file.

Format for package.xml

Current Format

<package>
 <infos>
   <name>Package Name</name>
   <description>A description of the package</description>
   <licence>Some License 2.0</licence>
   <author>XWiki.User</author>
   <extensionId>extension-id</extensionId>
   <version>1.0</version>
   <backupPack>false</backupPack>
 </infos>
 <files>
   <file language="" defaultAction="0" type="home">Main.WebHome</file>
   <file language="" defaultAction="0">Space.NestedSpace.Page</file>
   <file language="" defaultAction="0">Space.TranslatedPage</file>
   <file language="fr" defaultAction="0">Space.TranslatedPage</file>
 </files>
</package>
  • name: name representing what's contained in the XAR
  • description: more detailed description of the content of the XAR
  • license: can be set to specify under which license this XAR content is published
  • author: Wiki author of this XAR. This is important. When the XAR is going to be imported, if the "import as backup pack" option is selected, the author mentioned in this field will be preserved (the pages will have this author as their last author).
  • extensionId (optional): if set then this marks the XAR as containing an Extension. Thus when you import it, the Extension Manager will be able to match it with its Extension database and perform versioning verifications.
  • preserveVersion (optional): if set to true then the history is preserved (the history for each page is part of its XML)
  • backupPack: if true it means that the XAR is a backup pack. It's up to the import to decide whether to import it as a backup pack or not but this provides the information that it is a backup pack.
  • files
    • language: the language of the page. The default page content should use an empty string.
    • type since 1.1: the type of the document, it's possible to set any type since extensions can contribute new type. More details about those can be found on XAR Extensions documentation
    • defaultAction deprecated: when applied (which is not very often) this is the default action to apply on the document
      • -1: undefined, its exact interpretation depends on what is reading it
      • 0: overwrite, whatever is in the database should be overwritten. This is what Maven XAR plugin set by default when generating the XAR.
      • 1: skip, skip this document
      • 2: merge, try to merge the document with what's in the database
    • The value inside the file element is the reference of the page, relative to the current wiki (i.e. Space.Page)

All the date are stored as the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 in GMT time zone.

Changelog

1.1

XWiki 10.3

  • Added optional type attribute in <file> elements

Format for Document XML

Current Format

Usually the documents files are located in a path where each parent space is a folder (as in Space/NestedSpace/Page.xml) but this is not technically mandatory and parsers won't take the path into account (only what is indicated in the actual document file).

You can see the XML of a document by exporting it and opening the XAR or by using the xpage=xml parameter when on wiki page URL.

<xwikidoc version="1.5" reference="Space.NestedSpace.Page" locale="">
 <web>Space.NestedSpace</web>
 <name>Page</name>
 <language/>
 <defaultLanguage>en</defaultLanguage>
 <translation>0</translation>
 <creator>XWiki.creator</creator>
 <creationDate>946684800000</creationDate>
 <versions>jrcsrevisions</versions>
 <parent>parent</parent>
 <author>XWiki.author</author>
 <originalMetadataAuthor>XWiki.originalAuthor</originalMetadataAuthor>
 <customClass>customclass</customClass>
 <contentAuthor>XWiki.contentAuthor</contentAuthor>
 <date>946771200000</date>
 <contentUpdateDate>946857600000</contentUpdateDate>
 <version>1.1</version>
 <title>title</title>
 <defaultTemplate>defaultTemplate</defaultTemplate>
 <validationScript>validationScript</validationScript>
 <comment>comment</comment>
 <minorEdit>false</minorEdit>
 <syntaxId>syntax/1.0</syntaxId>
 <hidden>true</hidden>
 <content>content</content>
 <renderedcontent/>
 <attachment>
   <filename>attachment.txt</filename>
   <versions>jrcsrevisions</versions>
   <author>XWiki.author</author>
   <date>947030400000</date>
   <version>1.3</version>
   <comment>comment</comment>
   <content>AAECAwQFBgcICQ==</content>
   <filesize>10</filesize>
   <revisions>
     <revision>
       <author>XWiki.author11</author>
       <date>747030400000</date>
       <version>1.1</version>
       <comment>Comment 1.1</comment>
       <content>MS4x</content>
     </revision>
     <revision>
       <author>XWiki.author12</author>
       <date>847030400000</date>
       <version>1.2</version>
       <comment>Comment 1.2</comment>
       <contentAlias>1.1</contentAlias>
     </revision>
     <revision>
       <author>XWiki.author13</author>
       <date>947030400000</date>
       <version>1.3</version>
       <comment>Comment 1.3</comment>
       <contentAlias/>
     </revision>
   </revisions>
 </attachment>
 <class>
   <name>Space.NestedSpace.Page</name>
   <customClass>customClass</customClass>
   <customMapping>customMapping</customMapping>
   <defaultViewSheet>defaultViewSheet</defaultViewSheet>
   <defaultEditSheet>defaultEditSheet</defaultEditSheet>
   <defaultWeb>defaultWeb</defaultWeb>
   <nameField>nameField</nameField>
   <validationScript>validationScript</validationScript>
   <prop1>
     <disabled>0</disabled>
     <name>prop1</name>
     <number>1</number>
     <numberType>long</numberType>
     <prettyName>Prop1</prettyName>
     <size>30</size>
     <unmodifiable>0</unmodifiable>
     <classType>com.xpn.xwiki.objects.classes.NumberClass</classType>
   </prop1>
 </class>
 <object>
   <name>Space.NestedSpace.Page</name>
   <number>0</number>
   <className>Space.NestedSpace.Page</className>
   <guid>e2167721-2a64-430c-9520-bac1c0ee68cb</guid>
   <class>
     <name>Space.NestedSpace.Page</name>
     <customClass>customClass</customClass>
     <customMapping>customMapping</customMapping>
     <defaultViewSheet>defaultViewSheet</defaultViewSheet>
     <defaultEditSheet>defaultEditSheet</defaultEditSheet>
     <defaultWeb>defaultWeb</defaultWeb>
     <nameField>nameField</nameField>
     <validationScript>validationScript</validationScript>
     <prop1>
       <disabled>0</disabled>
       <name>prop1</name>
       <number>1</number>
       <numberType>long</numberType>
       <prettyName>Prop1</prettyName>
       <size>30</size>
       <unmodifiable>0</unmodifiable>
       <classType>com.xpn.xwiki.objects.classes.NumberClass</classType>
     </prop1>
   </class>
   <property>
     <prop1>1</prop1>
   </property>
 </object>
 <object>
   <name>Space.NestedSpace.Page</name>
   <number>0</number>
   <className>otherclass</className>
   <guid>8eaeac52-e2f2-47b2-87e1-bc6909597b39</guid>
   <class>
     <name>otherclass</name>
     <customClass>customClass2</customClass>
     <customMapping>customMapping2</customMapping>
     <defaultViewSheet>defaultViewSheet2</defaultViewSheet>
     <defaultEditSheet>defaultEditSheet2</defaultEditSheet>
     <defaultWeb>defaultWeb2</defaultWeb>
     <nameField>nameField2</nameField>
     <validationScript>validationScript2</validationScript>
     <prop2>
       <disabled>0</disabled>
       <name>prop2</name>
       <number>1</number>
       <numberType>long</numberType>
       <prettyName>Prop2</prettyName>
       <size>30</size>
       <unmodifiable>0</unmodifiable>
       <classType>com.xpn.xwiki.objects.classes.NumberClass</classType>
     </prop2>
   </class>
   <property>
     <prop2>2</prop2>
   </property>
 </object>
</xwikidoc>
  • xwikidoc: the root XML element
    • version since 1.1: the version of the XML format, if no specified then it's 1.0 
    • reference since 1.2: the reference of the document
    • locale since 1.2: the locale (as defined in Java Locale specifications) of the document
    • web: deprecated since 1.2 in favor of the the reference attribute property containing the unique space of the document, not taken into account when reference attribute is set in xwikidoc
    • name: deprecated since 1.2 in favor of the the reference attribute the name of the document, not taken into account when reference attribute is set in xwikidoc
    • language: deprecated since 1.2 in favor of the the locale attribute the locale (as defined in Java Locale specifications) of the document, not taken into account when reference attribute is set in xwikidoc
    • date: the last modification date of the document (format: epoch date and time UTC)
    • contentUpdateDate: the last modification date of the document content (format: epoch date and time UTC)
    • versions: a serialized version of the com.xpn.xwiki.doc.rcs.XWikiRCSArchive Java object
    • XWiki 16.10.0+ enforceRequiredRights: whether required rights shall be enforced. Only present when the value is true for increased backwards-compatibility.
  • attachment
    • filename: the name of the file
    • author: the author of the attachment
    • date: epoch date and time UTC
    • version: the version of the attachment
    • comment: the comment associated to the version of the attachment
    • content: the binary content serialized in base64
    • filesize: the size of the attachment in bytes
    • mimetype: the MIME type of the attachment (as expressed by the RFC 6838)
    • charset: the charset of the attachment (as expressed in the HTTP Content-Type)
    • versions deprecated since 1.4 in vafor of revisions: JRCS Archive dump containing the history of the attachment, deprecated since 12.0
    • revisions since 1.4: the revisions of the attachment (replace versions), contains the same properties than the attachment plus "contentAlias"
      • revision/contentAlias: an alias to the content of the indicated version of the attachment revision. Empty string for current attachment.

TODO

Put some documentation for other elements

Changelog

1.6

XWiki 16.10.0

Add the flag for enforcing required rights.

1.5

XWiki 14.0

Add the concept of original metadata document author.

1.4

XWiki 12.0

New format for attachments revisions which allows streaming and deduplication.

1.3

XWiki 9.0

Use XML 1.1 (instead of 1.0).

1.2

XWiki 7.2

Support for nested spaces.

  • <web>, <name> and <language> are deprecated (but still produced)
  • new reference and locale attributes in <document> element

1.1

XWiki 6.2

No meaningful change. It's just to mark the difference between the first version of the XML produced by Filter module (1.1) and the XML produced by XWikiDocument#toXML().

New  version attribute in <document> element to indicate the XAR format version (i.e. 1.1 here).

The formatting changed are:

  • order of elements changed a bit
  • the XML is indented

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