kVisia: Product Overview

Howdy Users and Buddies,

Today I want to share on kVisia, a product that provides the core functionality to automate, control and deliver an organization’s engineering and enterprise business processes to the desktop or Web. It holds the business rules, executes the XML configurations, builds the business forms, and implements the lifecycles that automate an organization’s business processes.

I think the only Prerequisites that you need to know is , Basic concept of client-server applications and Documentum Architecture.

Let me put it in Content Wise for better understanding with a bit of background of what’s there , what’s missing and how this can be achieved.

1. Abstract

Today the current era is defined by the terms like data, information, knowledge, wisdom etc. and in this electronic world the difficulty to manage data in abundance has begotten many technologies and one of them is the Documentum.

Documentum is nothing other than a Content Management Tool but its vastness and its ability to cater to almost all sorts of data types available are so rich in itself that these days it is widely used. If we undo the Documentum technically then it gives an edge over the Relational Database Management System by not storing only the Meta data but also storing the content in its native format.

kVisia blends with Documentum to bolster the level and depth of automation which can be achieved by the Documentum alone and this is what this document discusses in detail.

2. Introduction

kVisia comes of McLaren Software Limited and users need to have a license before using it. McLaren is ISO 9001 certified and it has been accredited Independent Software Vendor for Documentum and FileNet. It has got 360+ customers worldwide and it operates from UK, USA and Switzerland.

In fact kVisia is an Enterprise Engineer product that encapsulates best practices and domain expertise. This is a user configurable application consisting of XML files managed by repository and standardized on a single ECM platform. It is also believed to be powered by Documentum.

For better understanding of the kVisia we can go through the following questions and answers that will help one to identify the need.

How does it help me?

Very quickly configure the user interface and deliver it to the Desktop and Web users.

Is it easy to change?

Very easy, configuration files are stored in the Docbase in XML format.

Configurable interface using objects and tables.

Do the configuration files allow me to control inputs?

Very complex business rules can be enforced via the XML files.

Validations at creation, promotion and check in.

3. kVisia suite

kVisia suite consists of following three components:

1. McLaren Studio
2. McLaren_Core DocApp
3. McLaren_Foundation DocApp

3.1 McLaren Studio

McLaren Studio provides a user-friendly desktop application that allows users to create and edit XML configuration files that will conform to the rules of the Document Type Definition (DTD).

An XML (eXtensible Markup Language) configuration file is a structured file consisting of many elements. Elements are ordered into a tree structure or hierarchy. Elements may have parent or child elements, and may also contain attributes. An element without a parent element is the highest in a tree structure and is called a root element. Not all of the elements will have child elements.

The structure of a valid XML file is defined in a DTD (Document Type Definition) file. The DTD contains the rules that apply to each XML configuration file; these include the definitions of parent and child elements, element attributes, and how each element can be used

The appearance and behaviour of user dialogs can be modified without the need to change programme code simply by changing settings in the appropriate XML configuration file. A definition of the appearance and behaviour of a dialog is referred to as a “configuration”. A common need, however, is to display different configurations under different circumstances. For example, members of different groups may need to fill in different properties on documents, and the document’s properties may change as it moves from state to state in a lifecycle. The definition of such a scenario is referred to as a “mapping”. When you do not want to differentiate functionality between different groups, lifecycles and states, there is a value called {default} that will apply to all circumstances.

The Actions for which dialogs can be defined using an XML configuration file are:

 New

When the user issues the New command, a customized dialog can be displayed. Commonly deployed features include automatic document numbering, interactive project allocation and any additional attributes (optional or mandatory), which may be required to be stored for the document.

 Properties

A customized Properties dialog can be displayed. Fields can be made editable or read-only as required.

 Import

When the user performs an import, a customized dialog can be displayed which may typically employ features similar to those used in the New dialog.

 Copy

When the user performs a copy and paste action, a customized dialog can be displayed which may typically employ features similar to those used in the New dialog.

 QuickFind

For each document type, a search dialog referred to as QuickFind can be defined and viewed by the user in the Docbase through the McLaren menu. The attributes that can be searched on are configurable and search options such as Between, Greater Than, Containing, etc., can be specified.

 3.2 McLaren_Core DocApp

Having installed kVisia you get two sets of Docapps in the Docbase, one is the McLaren_core and the other one is McLaren_foundation. The McLaren_core Docapp is available to the user of a Documentum repository. It is always suggested that one should have the overview of the additional functionality as a result of the deployment of the kVisia before configuring the product to suit the business need.

As the name suggests McLaren_core Docapp provides the basic functionality like New, Import, Properties, Copy, QuickSearch etc to be configured. As discussed above, we use the XML configuration tool McLaren Studio to configure it.

For each Object Type used in the repository, an XML Configuration File can be created and configured to define the appearance and behavior of the various dialogs for documents of that Object Type. The definition of the appearance and behavior of a dialog is referred to as a configuration, and different configurations can be displayed in different circumstances.

3.3 McLaren_Foundation DocApp

The McLaren_foundation installation enables you to deploy a pre-configured implementation of the Core technology which transforms it into a user application specifically adapted to the engineering environment, providing a ready-for-use engineering repository. It deals with the following configurations:

User Roles that is associated with Menu Systems and User Dialogs that are adapted to those roles.

Object Types for documents and folders.

XML Configuration Files that define the content, appearance and behavior of the New, Copy, Properties, Import and QuickFind dialogs for the supplied Object Types in accordance with the current user’s User Role and the document’s lifecycle and state, including pre-configured, automatically generated document numbering.

Check in dialogs which are specifically adapted for each supplied type of engineering document.

Automated document revision numbering that reflects common design practice. Revision numbers start at 0 and the first issued version is 1, the second 2, the third 3, etc. When a document is checked in for the first time, a numeric value is assigned and incremented each time it is checked in.

4. Traditional – VB (Desktop) Vs kVisia(Desktop & Web)

Following Comparison lets you know how much flexibility kVisia provides and how much time and effort it saves.

Traditional – VB (Desktop)	kVisia (Desktop and Web)
Ø  Obtain VB source code. Ø  Open VBP. Ø  Edit GUI. Ø  Add code to populate list. Ø  Add validation rules. Ø  Save source code. Ø  Compile DLL. Ø  Create CAB file. Ø  Open DocApp in Composer Ø  Edit the component ACX and replace CAB file. Ø  Check DocApp back in. Ø  Not available until next user login.	Ø  Check out XML. Ø  Edit XML kVisia Studio. Ø  Add XML tag. Ø  Specify properties. Ø  Save and Check back in. Ø  Change available immediately (no logout required).

5. Benefits

• Easy to manage development process as applications are configured via XML using Studio
• Fast route from innovation to user acceptance
• Shorter time from design through to development
• Shorter time to deploy to the business users
• Reduces development costs
• Future upgrades are minimised
• Simple deployment and at a local level of control
• Speeds up implementation process through rapid configuration

Hope you like the post, Feel free to post your comments and I will reply back to any queries that you have.

Adios , Have a great day ahead…

Documentum Frequently Asked Questions

Upon request….

Enterprise Content Management (ECM) and Documentum

1. What is Enterprise Content Management (ECM)?

Enterprise content management software helps organizations create, capture, manage, and archive the vast amount of digital content that exists across the enterprise. Content or unstructured information includes text documents, email, reports, XML, pictures/images, audio and video files, and transactional data.

2. What are the top reasons to implement ECM?

Return on investment (ROI)

Compliance

Collaboration

Consolidation

3. What is Documentum?

Documentum provides enterprise content management (ECM) solutions that enable organizations to unite teams, content and associated business processes.

Documentum platform makes it possible for companies to distribute all of this content in multiple languages, across internal and external systems, applications, and user communities.

Documentum solution accelerates time to market, increase customer satisfaction, enhance supply chain efficiencies, and reduce operating costs, improving their overall competitive advantage.

4. What Key Characters does Documentum possess?

• Extensible
• Open
• Scalable
• Reliable
• Secure
• Portable
• Global

5. What is eContentServer?

eContentServer is Documentum’s core server technology that stores content files, their indexes and properties in a repository called a Docbase. Information is stored as objects.

6. What is Repository?

A repository is where persistent objects managed by Content Server are stored. A repository stores the object metadata and sometimes content. A Documentum installation can have multiple repositories. Each repository is uniquely identified by a repository ID.

7. What is Docbase?     

Docbase is a secure repository for storing information. Each Docbase stores two kinds of information:  Content, Properties. Docbase is a repository. 

8. What is Content?     

Content can be a text, graphics, sound, or video that makes up the document. Content files are stored in a protected directory structure in the server host’s file system.

9. What is Metadata?     

The attribute values saved in the repository are called metadata which is stored in a relational database tables. Properties (also known as metadata) are descriptive characteristics, such as a document’s creation date, creator, most recent editor, versions, format, and status in a lifecycle. 

10. Who is a client?     

A client is an end user, application, or process that uses Content Server to access the repository. Documentum provides two basic client interfaces that allow end users to access repositories:

• Desktop (older versions are called Desktop Client)

• Webtop

11. What is the connection broker or the DocBroker?

A naming server for the documentum content server that provides connection informations to the client session. 

Documentum Products and Tools

1. What is Web Development Kit (WDK)?

WDK provides framework for developing Web-based content management applications.

2. How WDK implements MVC pattern?

Model:

This is contained in the Docbase data structure and is accessed in WDK via the DFC services interface.

 View:

The component JSP pages implement the view layer of the application. These JSP pages use both behavioral and data-bound tag libraries, which are defined in separate classes allowing a clean separation of presentation from application logic.

Controller:

The controller aspects of the WDK are implemented in two different places the component dispatcher servlet, which marshals requests between components and the implementation of the tag libraries and components in separate classes.

3. What is Docbasic?     

Docbasic is a powerful, easy-to-use programming language that Documentum provides.

4. What is the usage of Documentum Application Builder (DAB)?

An integrated development environment for creating infrastructure objects for content management applications such as custom document object types, workflows, and document lifecycles.

5. What is Documentum Administrator (DA)?

Documentum Administrator is a Web-based product for configuring Documentum content management systems

6. What is Webtop?     

It is the standard web-based library services client for Documentum that is built with WDK 5

7. What is the usage of LDAP directory server?

An LDAP directory server is a third-party product that provides a single place for maintenance of some or all users and groups in your enterprise.

8. What is Menu System Designer?

Menu System Designer helps to customize Documentum Desktop menu items, including objects on the Menu Bar, on the Context Menus and toolbar buttons on the Toolbar. You can add, remove, copy, move, and modify menus and buttons using the Menu System Designer.

9. What are the two interactive utilities available to      communicate with the content server?

IAPI and IDQL

Documentum Basic Concepts

1. What is an object ID?

Each object stored in the repository is identified by a unique identified called object ID.

2. How Documentum object are named?

Dm_   visible to users and applications.

Dmi_   represents object types that are used internally by Documentum Content Server and client products.

Dmr_  represents object types that are generally read only.

3. What are Persistence object types?

Objects stored in the repository and persist across sessions. The definitions of persistent object types are stored in the repository as objects of type dm_type and dmi_type_info.

4. What are Non-Persistence object types?

Objects types created at runtime. Examples: objects and query result objects are not persistent.

5. Which is the client initialization file?

DMCL

6. What does Proximity values indicate?

It represents the server’s distance from the DocBrokers.

7. What is the usage of max_connection_per_session?

The maximum number of connections in a single repository session can be set using this variable

8. What is Concurrent session?

Number of connection that can be made to content server.

9. Which are the two API’s that gives user applications full      access to content server?     

DFC and DMCL

10. What is DMCL?

The DMCL (Documentum Client Library) Manages the communication between the client and the eContentServer. It contains a library of API calls that are used by the client for execution on the eContentServer

11. What is Documentum Foundation Class (DFC)?

A set of Java classes that make essentially all EDM server functionality available to client programs through a published set of interfaces. DFC provides an object-oriented framework for accessing the capabilities of Content Server.

12. What is Documentum Query Language (DQL)?

DQL is a superset of the ANSI SQL that provides a single, unified query language for all the objects managed by Content Server.

13. Which execution is faster DQL or DMCL?

Creating or updating an object using DQL is faster than DMCL because DQL uses one statement to create or modify and then save the object where DMCL need to issue several methods(create the object, set its attributes and then save the object) to do the same.

14. What is Business Objects Framework (BOF)?

Documentum BOF provides a framework and a methodology to develop reusable business logic components called Business Objects. This framework is built into DFC and accessible from applications written using DFC.

15. What is Federation?

A Docbase federation is a set of two or more Docbases that are bound together to facilitate the management of a multi-Docbase distributed configuration. One Docbase in the set is the governing Docbase. The remaining Docbases are member Docbases.

16. What is a locale?     

Locale represents a specific geographical, political, or cultural region.

17. What is Internationalization?

Internationalization is the process of enabling the translation of a program without modification of its executable code. An internationalized program supports user interfaces (UI) and user input in multiple languages.

Internationalization is referred as I18N, which represents the first and last letters of the word “Internationalization” and the 18 characters in between.

18. What is Localization?

Localization is the translation of user interface and message elements into multiple languages.

All visible text in WDK server pages has been externalized to simple text resource files which can then be translated into other languages

Localization is referred as L10N, which represents the first and last characters and 10 characters between them.

19. What is transformation?

A transformation is the automated rendering of content from one look or format to another.

20. What is DocApp?     

A DocApp is a virtual document that collects together all the elements of a custom application. It can consist of:

• Object types

• Document lifecycles

• Workflows

• Permission set templates

• Alias sets

• Executable elements

• Data dictionary information

• Repository objects, such as queries or folder hierarchies

21. What is DocApp Archive?

A DocApp archive is a portable representation of a DocApp, stored as a file on the file system. It can be created with Application Builder and installed using Documentum DocApp Installer.

22. Whether DocApps get dumped during the repository dump?

DocApps wont get dumped.

23. What is cabinet?     

Cabinets provide the highest level of organization. Every document and folder must reside in a cabinet.

24. What is a Folder?     

Documents and other objects are stored inside folders or directly inside cabinets. Folders can be placed inside cabinets or other folders.

25. Who is a User?     

A user is typically an individual person. To access objects in a repository, a person must be represented by a dm_user object in the repository.  Repository users have two states, active and inactive. An active user can connect to the repository and work. An inactive user is not allowed to connect to the repository.

26. What are the two types of User Privileges?

User Privileges are basic and extended.

Basic privileges:  operations that a user can perform on SysObjects in the repository.

Extended privileges: define the security-related operations the user can perform.

27. What are the user Basic and Extended Permission Sets?

Basic:

Extended:

28. What is object level permission?

Access permissions assigned to every SysObject in the repository.

29. What are the Object level Basic and Extended Permission Sets?

Basic:

Extended:

30. What is Unicode Encoding?

Unicode encodings are designed to be capable of rendering every known language character. Unicode is represented by several encodings, including UTF-8, UTF-16, and UCS-2.

31. What encoding does WDK supports?

WDK supports UTF-8.

Workflow and Lifecycle

1. What is Workflow?     

Workflows are a collection of tasks with associated documents that are passed to users or groups in a particular order. 

2. What is a Task?     

Tasks are items sent to a user that require the user to perform some action.

3. What is Documentum Inbox?

Inboxes contain workflow tasks, event notifications and items sent to users manually.

4. What is Document lifecycle?

Process that controls the lifecycle (creating, editing, approving and retiring) of the document. Lifecycle consists of a linear sequence of lifecycle states.

5. What is Document lifecycle state?

A point in the life cycle of a document characterized by a set of properties, security, ownership, location. Each state has associated entry criteria and actions that must be Performed before an object can enter the state.

6. What are the actions involved in the Life cycle state?

• Promote
• Demote
• Suspend and
• Resume

7. Which method handles the lifecycle movement?

Movement from one state to another is handled by the dm_bp_transition_java and dm_bp_transition methods.

dm_bp_transition_java method is used for Java-based lifecycles.

dm_bp_transition method is used for Docbasic-based lifecycles.

8. What is workflow reporting?

Workflow Reporting is a program designed for managing the workflows in a Docbase and reporting key information about the workflows. It gives you the ability to view all workflows in a Docbase, view all aspects of workflow instances, display and modify alias set values, perform basic maintenance and administrative functions on workflows, contact workflow performers via email, and save and print workflow information.

9. What is an Activity in the workflow?

Activities represent the tasks that comprise the business process.

10. How the activities in the workflow are connected?

A link connects two activities in a workflow through their ports.

11. What are the object types involved in the Workflow execution?

• dm_workflow

• dmi_workitem

• dmi_package

• dmi_queue_item

• dmi_wf_timer

12. What is an Attachment?

Attachments are objects that users attach to a running workflow

13. What is a manual activity?

Manual activity represents a task performed by an actual person or members of a group.

14. What is an automatic activity?

Automatic activity represents a task whose work is performed, on behalf of a user, by a script.

15. What is workflow Agent?

Workflow agent is the Content Server facility that controls the execution of automatic activities.

16. What does Extension mean?

Extension allows the activity’s performer to identify a second performer for the activity after he or she completes the activity for the first time.

17. What is a Transition rule?

Defined set of conditions that must be met for an activity before subsequent activities commence.

Document Version and Virtual Documents

1. What is a Version Tree?

A version tree refers to an original document and all of its versions. The tree begins with the original object and contains all versions of the object derived from the original.

2. What is Implicit Version Label?

Implicit version label is a numeric label assigned by the server and is always stored in the first position of the r_version_label attribute (r_version_label[0]).

3. What is Symbolic Version Label?

Symbolic version label is either system- or user-defined and are stored in the second position (r_version_label[1]) in the r_version_label attribute.

4. Which label is assigned automatically by the server?

Symbolic label CURRENT is the only symbolic label that the server can assign to a document automatically.

5. What is branching?

Branching takes place automatically when you check out and then check back in an older version of a document because the subsequent linear versions of the document already exist and the server cannot overwrite a previously existing version.

6. What is Annotations?

Annotations are comments that a user attaches to a document

7. What is a Locator object?

Locator object is the shortcut to an object in a Docbase that contain only the location of the target object. Double-clicking a locator object takes you to the target object.

8. What are Simple documents?

Simple document is a document with one or more primary content. Primary content associated with a document is represented by a content object in the repository.

9. What are Virtual documents?

Virtual documents are a hierarchical structure of component documents that can be published as a single document.

10. What are compound documents?

Compound documents are sets of document on your local disk that are referenced to one another or linked using Object Linking and Embedding (OLE).

11. Can compound documents be included in the virtual documents?

Yes.

12. What is binding?     

Attaching a specific version of a component to a virtual document is referred to as binding.

13. Which are the objects types used by virtual documents?

Two object types to store information about virtual documents:

• Containment object type

• Assembly object type

14. What are containment objects?

Containment objects contain information about the components of a virtual document.

15. What are assembly objects?

Assembly objects make up snapshots. A snapshot is a record of a virtual document at a particular time. It records the exact components of the virtual document at the time the snapshot was created. Each assembly object in a snapshot represents one component of the virtual document

16. What is freeze?     

Act of locking an assembly so that no one can change any components to the structure of the assembly

17. When a binding can be broken?

A binding is broken if Virtual Document Manager cannot find the version of a component specified by the component’s binding rule.

Event Tracking and Search

1. What are the security tools used to track the operations in      the repository?     

Auditing and tracing

2. What is Auditing?     

Auditing is the process of recording the occurrence of system and application events in the repository.

3. What is Rendition?

Rendition is a representation of a document that differs from the original document only in its format.

4. What are registered table?

Registered table is an external database table that Documentum knows about and can query on that.

5. What is an event?     

Events are specific actions on specific documents, folders, cabinets, or other objects.

6. What is an execution agent?

Execution agents are the server processes that are capable of executing methods/jobs. Three execution agents are available:

• Dmbasic method server,
• Java method server,
• Content Server.

Agent execution process runs continuously, polling the repository at specified intervals for jobs to execute. The default polling interval is 60 seconds.

7. What is Consistency Checking?

Consistency checking is the process that ensures that cached data accessed by a client is current and consistent with the data in the repository.

8. What is an Event Notification?

An item in the inbox that notifies when an event occurs.

9. What is a scheduled transition?

Transition from one state to another at a pre-defined date and time.

10. What is a Smart List?

Smart List is a Docbase query that can be saved in the Docbase for future use. Creating Smart Lists enables you to execute saved searches of the Docbase without having to retype all the search criteria.

11. What is Full-text index?

Full text index enables a document to be searched based on words in the document.

12. What is Verity Query?

A query constructed using the Verity Query language, which enables you to perform complex Docbase searches.

13. What is Command State Flag in Desktop Client?

The circumstances under which a menu item is enabled on a menu.

14. What is persistent query cache?

Persistent query cache is created on a client machine the first time Documentum Desktop is used. Once the cache is created the user will see an improvement in performance because subsequent calls to the server are performed based on the already queried cache.

15. What is cache coherency job?

This job verifies whether the query cache on the client machine should be invalidated. A cache coherency job is setup to run every 12 hours on the server.

 

Presets in Documentum 6.5

WDK (web development kit) customizations have been part and parcel of all custom Documentum WebTop applications. The customizations includes copying the WDK components (XMLs, JSPs, custom class etc) into the custom layer. Until version 5.3 SP6 there were no Documentum out of the box features that allowed developers to perform basic customization without having to customize the WDK components manually.

Documentum 6 and above version presented the idea of “Presets”. This versatile out of the box feature in Documentum enable Documentum developers to perform basic WDK customization/configuration with a few clicks of the mouse.

This Post  deals with the basics of Documentum presets and demonstrates a sample preset configuration.

Presets

Presets are out of the box feature in Documentum which enable Documentum developers to perform basic WDK customization/configuration with a few clicks of the mouse.Presets are easy to apply rules or configurations that can be created to bring in WDK configurations and setting without having to configure JSP’s pr XML’s manually. Though presets cannot completely replace WDK customizations, they certainly save time when used to make simple and common WDK changes in Documentum WebTop application.

Below an attempt is made to explain the various options available for presets and the way to configure them. Though all the options are being touched upon, for simplicity I am picking up an example preset which I will be using to disable the “FileàNewàDocument” option for all users except administrators.

 1. Presets option is available in Documentum WebTop once you have logged in as Documentum administrator. It can be seen in the left browser tree under Administration–>Presets

1. When clicked on “Presets” the right panel will display the list of Presets if any exists.
2. Use the menu bar option File–>New–>Preset to configure a new Preset

3. This will pull up a screen with the “Setup” tab pre selected. This screen offers the user with four options as shown below.

4. The four options are as follows

1. Apply to User/Group/Role: This option enables us to configure a preset for a specific user/group or role. For example to configure a preset which would disable “Fileà NewàDocument” option for all users except the members of “admingroup” group, this would be the option to be selected.
2. Apply to existing location: This option enables us to configure a preset for a specific location. For example if anyone wants to configure a preset that would enable /disable navigations or menu bar options for a particular folder or cabinet this would be the option to be selected.
3. Apply to specific type: This option enables us to configure a preset for a specific object type. For example if anyone wants to configure a preset for dm_document( or any custom ) object type alone then this would be the best option.
4. Apply to specific repository: This option enables us to configure a preset at the repository level. For example if anyone wants to configure a preset which would display only custom object types while creating a new document in WebTop for all users who are logged into a repository (docbase) then this would be the option they have to look into.

5. To continue with the steps, here we would be continuing by using option a mentioned above. Using this we would try to create a preset such that “FileàNewàDocument” option is disabled for all users who are members of “admingroup” group.

6. In the screen shown in step 4 click on “Select…” button for Apply to User/Group/Role: option. A screen as shown below will be pulled up to select the required group. In this example we will be selecting “admingroup”.Filter the required group and select it. Click OK

7. Once the group is selected, the next step would be to move to the “Rules” tab. Provide the “Preset name” and “Description” textbox and then click on Next button to move to “Rules” tab.

8. The “Rules” tab will present us with a screen which allows us to configure various entities with respect to the group we selected.

 Note : In this case these entities can be applied for group. As mentioned before (step 5) the same set of entities can be applied for other options,  that is the rules can be applied for type, docbase or location as well.

9. The above screen displays the following rules. For each rules there are configurations/actions that can be selected. Most of the options are self explanatory.

a. Permissions

b. Formats

c. Types

d. Groups

e. Workflows

f. Lifecycles

g. Templates

h. Actions

i. Navigation

j. Attributes

10 .Here since we are going to disable the menu item “File–>New–>Document” we will be selecting the option “Actions”

11. When the option action is selected, an “Action Selector” drop down is presented to the user. We have the option to select a particular action and then add them to the “Excluded” list. Here we will be selecting the action “File–>New–>Document”.

12. Click “Finish” .The new preset is created and this will be visible in the Presets list. Refer image below.

13. The comparison between the screen shots taken for “File–>New–>Document” action before and after the preset is created.

Note: As mentioned in the steps above various kinds of Presets can be created. While planning to create presets, one thing to be borne in mind is that if a preset is applied to a group, location, docbase or type, it is not possible to create another preset for the same group, location, docbase or type.

More Details and Limitations of presets

Please refer Documentum WebTop release notes for more details and to know about limitations of presets.

1. Presets are created as dmc_preset_package objects in Documentum
2. WebTop presets reside in Documentum under the location given below    “Cabinets/Resources/Registry/Presets/Webtop/Preset Packages”
3. A preset can be queried using the DQL select * from dmc_preset_package where object_name like ‘%<name of preset>%’

Any Points missed please mention it in the comments , will refresh the Post.

Utilities for Easy Handling of Administrator Work in Documentum

Apart from installation and setting up of documentum server and client
environment, there are many important tasks which needs to be handled by an  Administrator in order for smooth and proper functioning of the set up.

Some of the tasks are mentioned below:
1. Modifying the configurations of servers, docbroker.
2. Creating new Docbases.
3. Maintaining Docbases.
4. Configuring, starting and shutting down servers.
5. Changing session configuration.
6. Managing content storage areas and content files.
7. Managing users and groups.
8. Managing security.

Utilities for Easy Handling of Administrative Task:

1.dm_error utility
We encounter various content server errors with just with an error code
without much information about it. Documentum has defined all the errors
with an expanded statement of the error, possible causes of it and
prescribes possible solutions for the error. Utility should be executed in the
command prompt of the content server.
Syntax: dm_error <error_code>

2.PreLoad Utility
Administrator operations include activities called Dumping and Loading Docbase.Dump and Load operations can be used to do the following activities:
a. Move a Docbase to one location to another.
b. Duplicate a Docbase.
c. Duplicate or move some portion of the Docbase.
A dump operation creates a binary file of objects dumped from a Docbase. If a dumped object has associated content files, the content files are either
referenced by full path or included directly in the dump file. The load operation loads the objects and content files into another Docbase.
PreLoad utility can be run on a dump file created to tell what all objects that
should be created in the new Docbase before loading the dump file. Utility can also be used to create a DQL script that you can edit and then run to create the needed objects.
Syntax:
preload docbase [-Uusername] -Ppassword -dump_file filename [-
script_file name]
The docbase is the name of the Docbase into which you are loading the dump
file. Filename is the name of the dump file, and name defines a name for the
output DQL script. If you do not include a username, the current user is
assumed.
Note: This utility does not report all storage areas in the source Docbase, but
only those that have been copied into the dump file.

3.dmclean Utility
Every Docbase requires a scheduled clean up need to be performed by
administrator. One such clean up includes removing orphaned content files.
When users delete a document, or any object that has a content file associated with it, the system deletes the object and marks the content as an orphan. The system does not delete the actual content file. This must be done using the dmclean utility. Dmclean can be run using:

a. Documentum Administrator.
b. A DQL EXECUTE statement.
Syntax:
EXECUTE do_method
WITH method = ’dmclean’,
arguments = ’-no_content -no_note -no_wf_template’
c. An Apply method
Syntax:
apply,session,NULL,DO_METHOD,METHOD,S,dmclean, ARGUMENTS,S,’-no_content -no_note -no_wf_template’
d. From Content Server command prompt
dmclean -docbase_name docbase -init_file init_file_name
-no_content -no_note -no_wf_template
Where wheredocbase is the name of the Docbase and init_file_name
is the name of the server.ini start up file for the Docbase’s server.

4.dmfilescan Utility
This utility is used to scan the one or more storage area and find any content
files that do not have associated content objects. The utility scans for orphaned files which are over 24 hours old.
Running the utility using EXECUTE statement:
EXECUTE do_method WITH method = ’dmfilescan’,
[arguments = ’[-s storage_area_name] [,-from directory1]
[,-to directory2]’]
The utility automatically saves the output to a document that is stored in
the Temp cabinet. FALSE.) The output is a generated script that includes
the informational messages generated by the utility.
Running the utility using Content Server command prompt:
dmfilescan -docbase_name name -init_file init_file_name
[-s storage_area_name][-from directory1][-to directory2]
The init_file_name is the name of Content Server’s server.ini file. This is
one of the server start up files.

5.dm_crypto_change_passphrase Utility
Every installation of a Content Server creates a key called Administration
Encryption Key (AEK). This is used to encrypt:
a. The Docbase keys.
b. Documentum passwords, such as those used by Content Server to
connect to the RDMS or any other Docbase.
This AEK is stored at: %DOCUMENTUM%\dba\secure\aek.key and this key also are encrypted using a default passphrase provided by Documentum. It is always advisable to change the default passphrase. To change the default passphrase we can use dm_crypto_change_passphrase Utility.
Syntax:
dm_crypto_change_passphrase [-location location][-passphrase
[old_passphrase]][-newpassphrase [new_passphrase]][-noprompt][-help]
Location is the place where AEK is placed for which we need to change the
passphrase.
old_passphrase is the old passphrase name.
new_passphrase is the new passphrase name.
-noprompt should be used if any one the argument mentioned above is not
used. It’s like the end specify mentioning the end of arguments.
-help returns help information for the utility.

6.IAPI Utility
IAPI Utility is used to issue direct method call to the server.
Running the utility from the server command prompt:
iapi32 [-Uusername|-ENV_CONNECT_USER_NAME]
[-Pos_password|-ENV_CONNECT_PASSWORD] [-Llogfile] [-X][-E]
[-V-][-Q] docbase|-ENV_CONNECT_DOCBASE_NAME [-Rinputfile]
[-Ftrace_level][-Sinit_level][-Iescape_character][-zZ]
[-Winteger][-Ksecure_mode]
Order of the parameter does not hold importance.
Username- Identifies the name who is starting the session.
ENV_CONNECT_USER_NAME- User name in looked in the environment
variable DM_USER_NAME.
Password- User’s operating system password.
ENV_CONNECT_PASSWORD- Password is looked in the environment
variable DM_PASSWORD.
-Llogfile – Directs the server to start a log file for the session.
You must include the file name with the argument. You can specify a
full path.
-X Allows prompt for domain.
-E Turns on echo.
-V- Turns verbose mode off. The utility runs in verbose
mode by default. If you turn verbose mode off, the
system does not display the IAPI prompt, error
messages, or any responses to your commands
(return values or status messages).
-Q Directs the utility to provide a quick connection test. The utility attempts to connect and exits with a status of zero if successful or non-zero if not.
It provides error messages if the attempt is not successful.
Docbase- Docbase name which is intended to access.
ENV_CONNECT_DOCBASE_NAM – finds the name of the docbase
from environment variable DM_USER_NAME.
-Rinputfile input file with API methods.
-Ftrace_level Turns tracing on.
-Sinit_level Defines the connection level established when you
start the API session.

-Iescape_character Defines an escape character for certain symbols
such as a forward slash (/).
-zZ Specifies Windows NT Unified Logon.
7.IDQL Utility
IDQL is also a useful as a tool for testing and other tasks that support an
application or installation because it allows you to run scripts and batch files.
Running the utility from the server command prompt:
idql32 [-n] [-wcolumnwidth]
[-Uusername|-ENV_CONNECT_USER_NAME]
[-Pos_password|-ENV_CONNECT_PASSWORD][-Ddomain]
docbase|-ENV_CONNECT_DOCBASE_NAME [-Rinput_file]
[-X][-E][-Ltrace_level][-zZ][-Winteger][-Ksecure_mode]
The parameter being the same as mentioned in above utility.

Upgrading Documentum Environment from 5.2 to 6.5

The process of upgrading Documentum Content Server from 5.2.5 SP2 to 6.5 SP2 can be divided in two steps:

a)    Upgrading 5.2.5 SP2 to 5.3 SP5

b)    Upgrading the 5.3 SP5 to 6.5 SP2

Part A: Upgrading 5.2.5 SP2 to 5.3 SP5

Following are the steps for the upgrading Documentum environment from 5.2.5 SP2 to 5.3 SP5:

1. Before upgrading the Documentum content server the database needs to be upgraded from Oracle 8i to Oracle 10g. Before upgrading the Oracle 10g take the db backup and restore them once oracle is upgraded.
2. Now install the Documentum 5.3 SP5 on the same location where 5.2.5 SP2 is located. Here while installing 5.3 SP5 it will check whether older version of Documentum content server is installed. Since already Documentum is installed it will ask whether to proceed with upgrading the content server or not. Click OK to continue.

The remaining installation steps are similar to the normal content server installation.

3.    Now the content server has been upgraded to 5.3 SP5.

4.    Now docbroker, docbase needs to be upgraded.

Run the server configuration to upgrade the docbroker and docbase respectively. Check the two check boxes as shown in the following screen shot to upgrade the docbroker and docbases.

5.    First docbroker needs to be upgraded. Click on the upgrade docbroker option to upgrade the docbroker.

A confirmation dialog box will pop up informing about upgrading the connection broker. Click on OK to proceed.

6.    Once the docbroker is upgraded, docbase needs to be upgraded. Select continue with server configuration option to upgrade the docbase.

7.    Select upgrade the existing repository option to upgrade the docbase.

A confirmation dialog box will pop up informing about upgrading the connection broker. Click on OK to proceed.

8.    Once the dobase is upgraded, restart the Documentum server, connection broker and docbase. Test the connectivity through da and webtop.

9.    Check all the existing docapps are functioning as they were in the previous environment.

Part B: Upgrading 5.3 SP5 to 6.5 SP2

The second part of the upgrade process involves upgrading from 5.3 SP5to 6.5 SP2.

Following are the steps for upgrading Documentum environment from 5.3 SP5 to 6.5 SP2:

Assuming Documentum 5.3 SP5 is installed on windows 2003 server with database as Oracle 10g.

1.    Now install the Documentum 6.5 SP2 on the same location where 5.3 SP5 is located. Here while installing 6.5 SP2 it will check whether older version of Documentum content server is installed. Since already Documentum is installed it will ask whether to proceed with upgrading the content server or not. Click OK to continue.

The remaining installation steps are similar to the normal content server installation.

2.    Now the content server has been upgraded to 6.5 SP2.

3.    Now docbroker, docbase needs to be upgraded.

4.    Run the server configuration to upgrade the docbroker and docbase respectively. Check the two check boxes as shown in the following screen shot to upgrade the docbroker and docbases.

5.    First docbroker needs to be upgraded. Click on the upgrade docbroker option to upgrade the docbroker.

A confirmation dialog box will pop up informing about upgrading the connection broker. Click on OK to proceed.

6.    Once the docbroker is upgraded, docbase needs to be upgraded. Select continue with server configuration option to upgrade the docbase.

7.    Select upgrade the existing repository option to upgrade the docbase.

A confirmation dialog box will pop up informing about upgrading the connection broker. Click on OK to proceed.

8.    Once the dobase is upgraded, restart the Documentum server, connection broker and docbase. Test the connectivity through da and webtop.

9.    Check all the existing docapps are functioning as they were in the previous environment.