Product Features
XDocs 2.3a Product Features
Integrated DITA Support
| Feature | Since | Description |
|---|---|---|
| DITA Map Viewer | V1.1 | Local Explorer provides a DITA map view for easy viewing of DITA publications. |
| Integrated DITA Publisher | V1.1 | The popular DITA open toolkit is fully integrated in XDocs. |
| Configurable DITA Publishing | V1.1 | Conditional processing and variable setting is fully integrated. |
| Other Features fully DITA aware | V1.1 | All features listed below such as link checking, XML editing and others are fully DITA aware. |
Full Featured Repository
| Feature | Since | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Fully Featured Folders and Files System | V1.1 | Users can have unlimited Folders and Files which are shared across all users. Files can contain any kind of data including Xml. |
| Repository Access on the Desktop | V1.1 | Local Explorer provides a workbench for working with the repository on every desktop. This is especially useful for Authors who use powerful desktop editors whether they be XML editors or binary editors such as Photoshop. |
| Repository Access on the Web | V1.1 | CMPortal and Knowledge base provide access to the Folders and Files from any web browser. |
| Multiple File Versions | V1.1 | A new version of each file is created when changes are checked in. |
| Runs on most SQL databases | V2.0 | XDocs will run on most SQL databases and ships for immediate use on MySQL. |
| Version integrity maintained | V2.0 | The validity of past versions and their links is maintained through past version link checking and features like "soft" delete. |
| Configurable for any kind of XML | V1.1 | XDocs comes pre-configured for a number of XML vocabularies, most notably DITA. XDocs customers, however, are using DITA for other vocabularies, for example DocBook and proprietary XML. |
Desktop Client
XDocs Explorer is a fully featured desktop client which is used for getting files locally for editing and other operations.
| Feature | Since | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Fully connected Local Cache | V2.0 | All files used in editing or for other purposes are checked out or downloaded to a local cache for rapid editing and saving. This cache is a behind the scenes accelerator that is automatically used when editing content in an online fashion. |
| Offline Editing | V2.3 | Directories of files and their dependents can be exported for offline editing using checkout optimistic mode as necessary. After export, the local computer can be disconnected from the network and editing can continue. When the network is available again, the changed offline files can be imported to the repository as new versions. |
Security
| Feature | Since | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Unlimited number of Users. | V1.1 | Any number of users can be defined. |
| Unlimited number of Groups. | V1.1 | Any numbers of groups can be defined. A group can contain any number of users. A user may be a member of multiple groups. |
| Permissions on Groups and Users. | V1.1 | Permissions can be applied to both Users and Groups. |
| Scoping Permissions | V1.1 | Permissions can be scoped to include all descendant folders without a clumsy copy down model. This greatly reduces the number of permissions you need to maintain. |
| LDAP Support | V2.3 | Authentication of LDAP users can be redirected to an LDAP server. These LDAP users will be replicated in XDocs so XDocs permissions can be applied to them like any other user. |
| HTTPS out of the box | V2.3 | HTTPS for the web systems used to be configurable, it is now set right out of the box. |
Link Management (since 2.0)
| Feature | Since | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Unbreakable Links | V2.0 | Once content is in the XDocs repository, links are unbreakable even after copying, moving or renaming files. All deletes are subject to link checking. |
| Unbreakable History | V2.0 | Before deletions are allowed, historical links are considered. If historical links exist, a "soft delete" is applied which removes the file from view but does not remove it permanently. |
| Link Resolving on Import | V2.0 | When files are imported and unresolved links are encountered, users have the capability of searching for link targets to resolve links. |
| Incoming Links Report | V2.0 | Users can ask for an Incoming Links report and from there proceed to an editor for link modifications. |
| Soft Delete for past versions | V2.0 | Past versions are interlinked just as current versions are. That past linking is tracked by XDocs for AsOf/Timeslice Publishing. |
Full Text Search
| Feature | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Google Style Search Entry. | V2.0 | For quick use, full text search is presented as a single line of one or more words or a phrase. |
| Stemming enabled. | V2.0 | Search for "install" considers word variations of install such as "installing", "installed". |
| Results sorted by relevancy. | V1.1 | Results are scored according to relevancy and sorted by this score with the highest score first. |
| Hit text is highlighted. | V1.1 | Found words are highlighted in search results. |
| Supported in all places. | V1.1 | Local Explorer, CMPortal and Knowbase all have search. |
| Fully Enabled Results. | V1.1 | Each search result has multiple actions that can be applied against it. For example, in Local Explorer a search result item can be launched into an editor. In CMPortal, a search result item can be viewed as PDF or some other format. |
Integrated XML Editors
Numerous XML editors are now integrated directly with the XDocs Repository for access to all files.
| Feature | Since | Description |
|---|---|---|
| XXE is bundled and connected. |
V2.0 V XXE 4.52 since V2.2 |
Every XDocs system ships with the powerful, integrated XmlMind Editor (XXE) at no extra cost. |
| XMetal is connected. | V2.0 | XMetal is now fully connected to the XDocs repository using the new XMetal Connector technology from JustSystems. |
| Frame is connected. | V2.0a | An XDocs version of Fmx for Frame from Leximation connects Frame into the XDocs repository. |
Publishing
XDocs includes a powerful publishing engine for Xml.
| Feature | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Pipelined for fast publish. | V1.1 | XDocs uses high speed pipeline processing to render output faster. |
| Open Toolkit XSLTs | V1.1 | For DITA publishing, XDocs relies on the Open Toolkit XSLTs. Using this part of the DITA OT results in larger stability and support from the DITA OT community. |
| Definable Processing Profiles | V1.1 | Conditional processing, variables and XSLT control can be defined in different processing profiles for variants of output. |
| Definable Presentation Profiles | V2.0 | Look and feel and layout can be defined in different presentation profiles allowing variations in output presentation to be independent of processing profiles and easily selectable. |
| Bundled leading RenderX PDF engine | V1.1 | XEP, the leading PDF engine from RenderX, is included in every XDocs system. |
| AsOf /Timeslice Publishing with Labels | V2.1 | All publishing can be done "asof" a particular date which publishes content according to the state of the repository on that date. This asof date is set using a label. |
| Advanced Publishing | V2.1 | Advanced publishing allows XDocs to be configured to publish special outputs. |
| Diff Publishing | V2.1 | Sophisticated differencing can now be done using the plugin Delta XML differencing engine. Options for differencing allow storage back into the CMS including advanced PDF change bar display. |
| HTML Zip Publish | V2.1 | A full publication, as rooted by a ditamap, can be published as a zip of HTML including all topics and images. |
| PDF Publish | V1.0 | Both topics and maps can be published as PDF |
| Eclipse Help Publish | V2.2 | Eclipse help is published as a package. |
| WebWorks Publish | V2.2 | If WebWorks is installed on the server XDocs will publish using WebWorks. |
| Publish Job Plugin Framework | V2.2 | A framework has been added where publish jobs can be snapped into XDocs using a java plugin API. |
Export
Export allows files to be exported from the XDocs repository to your local hard drive. The links in these files are fixed up to be file relative links so the exported files are truly independant of XDocs.
WorkFlow (since 2.1)
XDocs 2.1 has a fully featured, flexible and integrated workflow system. This system is blends the flexibility of "task management" with company process control.
| Feature | Since | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Configurable | V2.1 | Each of Project, TaskType and FileStatus are configurable. |
| Flexible | V2.1 | XDocs workflow allows tasks to be done according to an order, however, if mid-project plans or requirements change, tasks can be adjusted accordingly. |
| Tight Integration | V2.1 | XDocs workflow is fully integrated into XDocs with the primary work object being the files managed by the XDocs repository. This integration means both a file status and task status can be managed and reported on providing an up to date view on project status. Another advantage of tight integration is that wherever a file appears in the system its workflow status can be seen and changed as necessary minimizing the effort required to keep the workflow information current. |
Reviewing (since 2.1)
Combined with workflow the XDocs reviewing mechanism makes content review easy.
| Feature | Since | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Inline review comments | V2.1 | The reviewing comments are embedded right in the document. |
| Number of Comments summary | V2.1 | In most XDocs views the number of comments in a file is summarized for easy reference. |
| Draft mode HTML viewing | V2.1 | HTML can be viewed with comments highlighted. |
| Merged HTML view | V 2.1 | A ditamap can be viewed as a merged document showing comments. |
Knowledge Base
A fully featured outwardly facing Knowledge Base web application allows publishing of DITA content to the web for internal or external information seekers.
| Feature | Since | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Table of Contents | V1.1 | Each helpset contains a Table of Contents tab for quick browsing of one or many books in the Knowledge Base. |
| Full Text Search | V1.1 | Google style full text search allows quick location of content in the Knowledge Base to avoid slower Contents browsing. |
| Mail Link to a Topic. | V2.0 | Topics encountered through browsing or searching can now be emailed to others allowing them to come right back into Knowledge Base positioned at the same topic. |
| Render a Topics as PDF. | V2.0 | All topics can be rendered as PDF on demand. |
| Position in Contents | V2.0 | If a topic is encountered because of a search that topic's position in the table of contents can be viewed by a button click. |
| Configurable | V1.1 | The Knowledge Base is fully configurable for look and feel, layout changes and many other customizations. |
| Redirect Logon | V2.2 | Logon can be redirected to a site and redirected from a site with a token passed. |
| kbadmin page | V2.2 | Most configuration tasks can now be done from a kbadmin page instead of the web.xml. |
Why Bluestream XDocs?
Bluestream XDocs is a DITA CCMS (component content management system). The Bluestream commitment is to enable all sizes and types of organizations to get the benefits of a CMS, we’ve packaged our flagship product within the reach of even the most budget-conscious groups.
The Bluestream XDocs CMS includes both an XML DITA editor and a XEP publishing engine, making it the only out-of-the box DITA CMS on the market. Are you looking to get more from your content through single-sourcing and multi-channel publishing?