What is OpenCMIS Bridge?

I just noticed this project at Apache OpenCMIS:

https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/chemistry/opencmis/trunk/chemistry-opencmis-bridge

There is no description, no documentation, and reading the code does not give many hints about what it is supposed to do.

Apache OpenCMIS sometimes releases great software silently, with little communication, so we might be missing another great piece of software here.

A Google Search for "OpenCMIS Bridge" returns only source code and the bare download page.

The OpenCMIS Bridge works like a proxy server. It accepts CMIS requests and forwards them to a CMIS server. On the way it can change the binding, and filter, enrich and federate data.

Here are few use cases:

• If a repository does not support the CMIS 1.1 browser binding, you can put the OpenCMIS Bridge in front of it. The bridge then could talk JSON to the client and AtomPub to the server. The client wouldn't notice that the server doesn't support the browser binding.
• Code can be added to the bridge to redact property values or filter whole objects when they are transferred through the bridge. That could add another level of security that the native repository doesn't support.
• Code can also be added to add or enrich object data. For example, property values could be translated from cryptic codes into readable values. Virtual secondary types can be added on the fly. Or additional renditions could be provided.
• The bridge can also be used to provide different views of multiple repositories. Repositories of different vendors can be access through one unified endpoint. It's possible to build one virtual repository across multiple backend repositories that then, for example, allows a federated query across all backends.

The OpenCMIS Bridge is only a framework, though. It just provides the infrastructure and the hooks to add your own code and rules. If you are looking for a real world application, check SAP Document Center (formerly "SAP Mobile Documents"). It is based on the OpenCMIS Bridge.