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New features and enhancements in Contenta S1000D 5.4

This section lists features and enhancements that were introduced in Contenta S1000D 5.4.

Extended XML Editor Support

In addition to the Arbortext Editor plug-in, Contenta S1000D provides Check Out and Check In support for any XML editor that you want to use, when accessed from the Contenta Web client. These new web tools are called Check Out and Check In, and they are available for DMs, PMs, and SCPMs. Your Contenta Administrator should add these tools to the appropriate tool boxes, with a more intuitive name (such as XMLSpy Check Out instead of just Check Out).

Your Contenta administrator must also configure two AppData settings to specify the path of the XML editor, and whether to automatically launch it.

For more information, see Chapter 3, "Configuring SDL Contenta S1000D" in the Contenta S1000D Installation and Upgrade Guide.

Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Support

Contenta S1000D is fully supported and tested on the 64-bit Microsoft SQL Server 2012 platform. Microsoft SQL Server 2012 is supported for new Contenta S1000D databases only. We do not provide migration for existing Contenta S1000D Oracle databases.

Web Services API

To aid application developers who develop and deploy custom tools, we provide the fully-documented RESTful Web Services API. With security in mind, this conversational API accepts the connection URL using the POST method, and it supports SSL and HTTPS.

The foundation of the Web Services API is built upon the new Pure Java API. This Web Services API provides methods for both core Contenta and Contenta S1000D, and methods specific to Contenta S1000D. The core Contenta methods provide a large percentage of the functionality provided in the Contenta Tools API that exists today. Perl wrappers provide a migration path for tools in use today that use the COM or CORBA APIs. The Contenta S1000D Web Services methods provide access to Data Module (DM) import and export, as well as listing the DMs in the repository.

See the SDL Contenta and Contenta S1000D Web Services Programmer's Guide for more information:

Pure Java API

The Pure Java API provides the same functionality as the COM and CORBA APIs do today. The Pure Java API is used as the foundation for the Web Services API.

SDL S1000D Foundation Suite

The purpose of the Foundation Suite is to make the process of beginning a new Issue 4.0.1, 4.0.2, or 4.1 S1000D project easy. Use the SDL S1000D Foundation Suite to generate all of the starting-point data modules (DMs) that are required for a new S1000D project (no more or fewer than required), which effectively defines the structure of your project. The Foundation Suite guides you through a project’s start-up tasks, including pre-requisite components, for each project. The Foundation Suite includes
  • An interface where you supply your site's boilerplate material (such as export information) for the identAndStatusSection of the Data Module (DM). This boilerplate material is included in each DM that you generate within the suite.
  • Spec-defined information codes (and variants) to be used as a starting point.
  • Standard Numbering System. You select one SNS from a list of available SNSs to be used as a starting point.
  • An interface where you can build information sets (infocode + infoname + schema) for each publication.
  • Interfaces to generate applicability data modules (ACT, PCT, CCT) for the S1000D project.
  • An interface to generate DMs for the new S1000D project, where each DM is associated with one or more publications.
  • Extensive.CHM (Microsoft Compiled HTML Help) topics for each interface.

After being created with the Foundation Suite, generated DMs can be uploaded and managed in Contenta S1000D.

Because the Foundation Suite requires that each generated DM be associated with one or more publications, it adds one or more systemBreakdownCode tags to the DM's identAndStatusSection. DMs are built one at a time, with you selecting or modifying the publication, SDC, export control (CAGE code), item location code, DMC, and DM title.

The SDL S1000D Foundation Suite is intended to be used by a single user, and it supports one S1000D project per S1000D issue (spec rev) per instance. Therefore, in a given instance of Foundation Suite you may only build data modules for one S1000D project, and in one spec rev. If you need to start up another S1000D project, you must re-install the Foundation Suite into a different location for the next project. If you are using Foundation Suite delivered with Contenta S1000D and you anticipate starting up more than one S1000D project, make a copy of the Contenta_home/encaps/S1000D/FoundationSuite folder before you begin using Foundation Suite.

Foundation Suite as a standalone product

The Foundation Suite is also available as a separate, purchasable, stand-alone option. If you are using the Foundation Suite as a standalone product (without Contenta S1000D), after you extract the program and double click on SFS.exe for the first time, you will be prompted to provide a Product Key. Contact SDL Customer Support, open a support ticket, and provide your Generator Key to obtain your Product Key.

By default, data modules created by the Foundation Suite use the S1000D schemas on the s1000d.org website. If you do not have Internet access, the installation includes S1000D schemas for Issues 4.0.1, 4.0.2, and 4.1, along with a Catalog file for each issue. You will need to point your XML editor to the Catalog file that matches the S1000D spec rev of your new S1000D project before you will be able to make further edits to the data modules created by the Foundation Suite. Point your XML editor to one of the following Catalog files:
  • <FoundationSuite-installation-folder>/Sources/S1000D_4-0-1/XSD/Catalog
  • <FoundationSuite-installation-folder>/Sources/S1000D_4-0-2/XSD/Catalog
  • <FoundationSuite-installation-folder>/Sources/S1000D_4-1/XSD/Catalog

For tool usage information, click Help in Foundation Suite to access the online.CHM help file.

SLICwave LSAR Integration

Contenta S1000D provides integration with the Logistics Support Analysis Record (LSAR) product from ISS SLICwave. This lets technical authors and LSAR system maintainers keep technical manuals synchronized by performing the following functions:
From Contenta S1000DFrom SLICwave
With a DM open in Arbortext Editor, fetch its content section from the LSAR systemNotify a CSDB technical author via email that a DM is ready to release
Compare the XML of the DM being edited with the same DM in the LSAR system, allowing the user to copy and paste desired changes into the DM being edited (in Arbortext Editor)Preview a DM
Notify the LSAR maintainer via email that a DM in the CSDB is ready to be released to the LSAR systemList ICNs in the CSDB
Display the LSAR audit reportImport ICNs from the CSDB into the LSAR system

You access LSAR functions from the Arbortext Editor menu in Contenta Web. For more information, see the Contenta S1000D/ISS SLICwave LSAR Integration Guide.

Contenta S1000D Database Upgrade Changes

This section lists the changes made to your existing Contenta S1000D databases when you upgrade them to Contenta S1000D 5.4.
  • For SLICwave LSAR audit integration—added a database table to both the Oracle and SQL Server database schemas.
  • For extended XML editor support—added Check In and Check Out tools, which are attached to DModule, PModule, and SCORMContentPackage object types. Also added AppData settings under {Global} > Settings > Editors > cw_xml_co; they are named customS1000DEditorPath (value is empty for backwards compatibility) and launchCustomS1000DEditor (value is set to no for backwards compatibility).
Upgrade customers must run the Contenta S1000D database upgrade program, upgrade_S1000D_54.pl, to upgrade their Contenta S1000D databases. New customers must dbimport the appropriate s1000d.dmp file, which is located at:
  • <Contenta_home>/S1000D_samples/databases/Contenta54_MSSQLServer_database
  • <Contenta_home>/S1000D_samples/databases/Contenta54_Oracle_database

See the Upgrading an Contenta S1000D Database topic in Chapter 2, "Upgrading Contenta S1000D" in the Contenta S1000D Installation and Upgrade Guide for more information on upgrading your database.

Accessing Product Documentation

The Contenta S1000D product documentation is available in PDF format from the following sources:
  • The Contenta Explorer and Contenta Web interfaces (click Help > SDL Contenta Help).
  • The SDL Contenta S1000D documentation—including an Acrobat Catalog search index—is available as a .zip download from the following FTP Site: ftp://SDLdoc2:ReadTheDoc@ftp.sct.sdl.com/download

    Once you download the.zip file, and decompress it in a folder on your system, double-click search_contenta_s1000d in Acrobat Reader, and then search away.