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Exporting a DDN

S1000D DDN Export lets you export modules or graphics, recursively or not, locked or not.

Before you begin

  • You must have created a Dispatcher and added content (DMs, PMs, SCPMs, and graphics) to it. See Collecting Content to Export to a DDN.
  • An administrator must set the allowLockObjectsOnDDNExport AppData value (under Global>Settings>DDNExport) to yes to enable locking of database objects on export and unlocking them on upload. For more information about AppData settings for the DDN Export tool, see AppData settings for Contenta S1000D tools.

About this task

The result of exporting a DDN is a .zip file that contains the selected content and an XML file that contains the information you entered in the DDN Export window and a list of the codes of the selected content. If you are creating an Issue 1.7 through 1.9 DDN, you have the option of converting all Issue 1.x files in the DDN package to SGML before zipping them up. If you are including referenced objects, a second .zip file that contains a text log file reporting the status of each referenced object will also be provided.

You can export only graphics of one of the supported file types listed in the Contenta S1000D and LiveContent S1000D Cross-product graphics and multimedia support.

If you export objects that refer to other objects (for example, DMs that refer to graphics), the referenced objects are not included in the DDN unless either or both of the Modules or Graphics check boxes are checked in the Include Referenced Objects section of the window.

A Referenced Object log file will be written to the Contenta_home/web/cw_common/custom/S1000D_DDN_Export/DDNexports directory. This file will be zipped, and named Dispatcher-object-name-log.zip, which you can download after DDN Export finishes running. A link labeled "Click here to download the log.zip file" will appear below the link used to download the DDN .zip file. The log file contains the name of the Dispatcher object, a date stamp, the user's login name, the types of each referenced module (DMs, PMs, SCPMs, or graphics), whether modules were exported recursively, and the status of each referenced object.

Note the following regarding the Referenced Object log file:

  • Any modules or graphics that you do not have access to (because they are in a configuration that is not on your desktop) will be reported as inaccessible.
  • Any modules or graphics that cannot be found in the CSDB will be reported as missing.
  • If you set Lock Referenced Objects on Export to Yes, and DDN Export finds a referenced module or graphic that is already locked, a message indicating that this object was exported but not locked will be added to the log file.
  • If you are creating an SGML DDN package and opt to include referenced objects, the Referenced Objects log file includes the following.
    • The following message at the end of Type line indicating that a version 1.x SGML DDN package is being created.
      SGML DDN Package (Version 1.x only).
    • A message such as the following for each referenced DM to be converted.
      Exported referenced DM: DMC-P1-A-S5-34-00-00A-720B-A.xml (Issue 1.7 DM to be converted to SGML)

Sample output of an Include Referenced Objects log file.

DDN Export referenced objects report

DDN:  Dispatch123
Date:  2016/03/24
User:  sysadmin
Type:  Referenced modules only, exported non-recursively.
Exported referenced DM:  DMC-SAMPLEBIKE-CCC-D00-00-00-00AA-041A-A.xml
Warning:  Cannot export missing referenced DM:  DMC-SAMPLEBIKE-CCC-D00-00-00-00AA-043A-A.xml
Exported referenced DM:  DMC-SAMPLEBIKE-CCC-D00-00-00-00AA-00WA-D.xml
Exported referenced DM:  DMC-SAMPLEBIKE-CCC-DA0-10-20-00AA-400A-A.xml
Exported referenced DM:  DMC-SAMPLEBIKE-CCC-D00-00-00-01AA-941A-D.xml
Exported referenced DM:  DMC-SAMPLEBIKE-CCC-DA2-10-00-00AA-520A-A.xml
Exported referenced PM:  PMC-SAMPLEBIKE-XYENT-00030-01.xml
Exported referenced DM:  DMC-S1000D-E-04-10-0301-00A-022A-D.xml

Referenced Objects Use Cases

  • Reuse DMs into your Dispatcher, and also include the graphics referenced by those DMs.
    1. Reuse DMs (which may reference graphics) into the Dispatcher.
    2. Check the Graphics check box.
    3. Leave Recurse set to No.
  • Reuse a PM into your Dispatcher, and export the entire publication by including referenced, nested PMs, DMs, and graphics recursively.
    1. Reuse a PM into the Dispatcher.
    2. Check both the Modules and Graphics check boxes.
    3. Set Recurse to Yes.
  • Reuse an ACT Catalog DM into the Dispatcher and export additional referenced ACT/PCT/CCT DMs by including referenced modules recursively.
    1. Reuse an ACT Catalog DM into the Dispatcher.
    2. Check the Modules check box.
    3. Set Recurse to Yes.

Procedure

  1. In Contenta S1000D, navigate to the desired Dispatcher object in the Dispatch section of the CSDB hierarchy.
  2. Select Tools > S1000D DDN Export.
  3. From the S1000D Version drop down, select the desired version.
  4. Enter information in the fields on the page. The text you enter on this page will be added to the DDN XML file that DDN Export creates.

    About the Lock Objects on Export drop down list.

    • If you have permission to lock objects, you can select Yes (to lock) or No (do not lock). A checkout lock is applied to objects that are locked when included in the DDN.
    • If you do not have permission to lock objects, No is selected and you cannot change this value.

    The Include Referenced Objects section includes Modules and Graphics check boxes, a Recurse drop down list, and a Lock Referenced Objects on Export drop down list. Since including referenced objects is optional, these check boxes are unchecked and these drop down options are set to No by default.

    About the Recurse drop down list.
    • Values include Yes and No (the default).
    • When set to Yes, modules or graphics that are recursively referenced by the objects in the Dispatcher will be included in the DDN Export package.

      When set to No, only objects that are directly referenced by objects in the Dispatcher will be included in the DDN Export package.

    About the Lock Referenced Objects on Export drop down list.
    • If you have permission to lock objects, you can select Yes (to lock) or No (do not lock). A checkout lock is applied to referenced objects that are locked when included in the DDN.
    • If you do not have permission to lock objects, No is selected and you cannot change this value.

    About the Create SGML DDN Package (Version 1.x only) drop down list.

    • Values include Yes and No (the default).
    • You can create an SGML DDN package for S1000D Issues 1.7, 1.8, 1.8.1, or 1.9 only. If you select Yes when creating a package for any other Issue, the selection is simply ignored.
    • If the content in your Dispatcher contains reused Issue 2.0 or later PMs or DMs, those modules are not converted into SGML, and the resultant .zip file will contain Issue 1.x files in SGML format and 2.0 or later files in XML.
  5. Select Next.
  6. Check the objects to include in your DDN.
    If the Lock Objects on Export option is selected, and an object cannot be locked, it is not automatically selected and will not be included in the DDN.
    • Objects already locked by you are indicated in black.
    • Objects locked by others are indicated in red.
    • You can select to include a locked object by selecting in the check box next to it. The object is included, but it is not locked by the DDN Export tool (it does maintain the current lock).
  7. Select Create DDN.
    • When creating an Issue 4.1 or later DDN, the DDN Export tool adds the mandatory <brexDmRef> tag to reference a BREX DM, as follows.
      • If the objects selected for the DDN package include one BREX DM, DDN Export adds a reference to that DM.
      • If the objects selected include multiple BREX DMs, DDN Export adds a reference to the first BREX DM that is found.
      • If the objects selected do not include a BREX DM, DDN Export adds a reference to the Issue 4.1 or higher default BREX DM.
      • The added<brexDmRef> tag will contain language and country codes when appropriate, based on the multi-language AppData settings in your CSDB.
    • When creating an Issue 1.7, 1.8, 1.8.1, 1.9, or 2.0 DDN, the DDN Export tool adds the mandatory <issno> tag and sets its value to 001 as follows.
      <issno issno="001"/>

      If needed, manually change this issue number after the DDN is created.

    • When creating an Issue 1.7, 1.8, 1.8.1, or 1.9 DDN, note the following.
      • The security tag contains only the class attribute (and not the caveat and commcls attributes). Therefore, the caveat and commcls values entered in the DDN Export window are ignored.
      • The security tag's class attribute must be set to a single digit (14 for Issue 1.7; 19 for Issues 1.8, 1.8.1, or 1.9). From the Security Level drop down, select the two-digit number equivalent to the desired value (for example, select 02 to set the security level to 2). The DDN Export tool assigns the correct one-digit security level in the DDN file it creates.
      • The Administration log (accessed via the Administration Log link in upper right corner of DDN Export window) includes information about XML-to-SGML conversions. Look for lines near the end of the log that start with ConvertXMLtoSGML. Also, Issue 2.0 and later files that will not be converted to SGML are listed in lines that start with File that will not be converted to SGML.
    • When creating an Issue 1.8, 1.8.1, or 1.9 DDN, the mandatory zip tag is not populated by DDN Export; you must enter a value for this tag manually.
    • When creating an Issue 1.7 DDN, the mandatory exchdisp and proect tags are not populated by DDN Export; you must enter values for these tags manually.
  8. When DDN Export finishes running, select the resulting Click here to download the DDN .zip link.
  9. If you included referenced objects, select the resulting Dispatcher-object-name-log.zip link to download the referenced objects log file.