Transformers have been removed with the new usage of Magnolia 6 UI Framework and have been replaced by Item Providers.

Transformers were used in the past to both read and write to nodes and create interactive dialogs where logic was used to create and edit nodes and properties based off of user input in dialog fields. Item Providers are currently only meant to read.

There is no clear explanation as to how to achieve these more complex interactive fields using Item Providers.

Example
If you go here :
https://documentation.magnolia-cms.com/display/DOCS62/Item+providers
You will find this line:

“An item provider only needs to know how to access the data. In contrast, the transformers in the 5 UI framework were responsible for both types of data operations – reading and writing.”

There is no other information as to how to write. Users who would write to nodes with transformers are now out in the dark without knowing how to replace their older functionality.

Two main points

• Provide documentation/explanation on how to write to nodes but in an item provider context.
• Moving forward, when features that were used are replaced or removed, we need to provide steps on how to execute what was done prior to the changes but with whatever new changes are done.

Additional notes
Although there is documentation with tables indicating what new classes are used to replace old classes, some new classes function differently and a chart with the replacement classes is not enough.

Item providers are a little more complex and introduce the property “entrySolution” which is something that is not explained either. Users get confused as to how to use the new classes that have replaced transformers.