White Paper on Teamcenter - Content

Management System

Presented by,

Rosalin Sahu

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Table of Content

Abstract ............................................................................................................................................................................. 3

Business Scenario .............................................................................................................................................................. 4

About the Domain ............................................................................................................................................................. 5

1. Purpose of this Document ........................................................................................................................................ 6

2. Prerequisites ............................................................................................................................................................. 6

3. Content Management Capabilities ........................................................................................................................... 6

3.1 Content Management Environment Components ........................................................................................... 7

4. Content Management Rich Client ............................................................................................................................. 7

4.1 Content Management Administration .............................................................................................................. 8

4.2 Required Relationships in Content Management ........................................................................................... 10

4.3 Content Management Authoring .................................................................................................................... 11

4.3.1 Content Management Interface ............................................................................................................. 12

4.4 Creating and Editing content in an Editing Tool ............................................................................................. 14

4.5 Workflows and Content Management ........................................................................................................... 15

4.6 Publishing in Content Management ............................................................................................................... 16

5. Technology Stack .................................................................................................................................................... 17

6. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................... 18

7. References .............................................................................................................................................................. 19

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Abstract The intent of this document is to provide how Teamcenter Content Management System provides dynamic solutions for automating the activities associated with authoring, assembling and publishing complex product and/or service documentation in multiple languages and delivery formats.

Teamcenter provides advanced integrations and customer-selected SGML/XML authoring and publishing tools. These integrations and Teamcenter’s smarter and faster authoring, review and publication capabilities can be used to unify product engineering and authoring processes, as well as to create and publish highly flexible and accurate documentation like User Manuals, Parts Catalogue.

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Business Scenario

Ideally, documentation should be developed in concert with your product development process. Authors

often create and manage their work in isolated environments, with the result that technical publications

groups need to perform significant rework as engineering changes occur late in the development process

or even worse, they fail to deliver a document on time for the product release.

These misaligned and serial processes can cause companies to release their products to market without

proper documentation, labelling or regulatory filings and often delay the product launch all together.

Teamcenter’s content management solutions overcome this isolation by providing workflow, version control

and relationship management capabilities that link product documents with their associated parts in an

assembly. PLM-driven content management directly relates XML content instances to a product’s parts –

thereby synchronizing the product and its documentation even when product changes arise. The

relationships between product parts and content ensure that critical path documents that depend on

engineering data flow will be completed without imposing unnecessary overhead. It provides the following

advantages:

Reduce Manual preparation time by 25-50%

Increase production Volume by 50%

Increase quality and accuracy of documentation

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About the Domain The subject discussed in this document is related to Content Management, an optimal Teamcenter solution

which is a single source publishing system for the creation of Technical Documents.

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1. Purpose of this Document

The purpose of this document is to understand the Content Management capabilities of Temcenter. It also

provides the usage and functioning of the module in conjunction with various publishing and editing tools.

2. Prerequisites

This document is prepared in context of Teamcenter 4-Tier Architecture

During Teamcenter installation Content Management feature must be enabled

User need to have Teamcenter access with DBA (Database Administrator Access) Role

Application administrator must assign you Content Management permissions that are appropriate for your role and the tasks that you perform in the application

3. Content Management Capabilities

In today’s fast paced global economy, documentation is critical to product launch and delivery. With this in

mind, Teamcenter enables you to incorporate content management into your product lifecycle management

(PLM) so that you can:

Establish standards for documentation input and collaboration

Leverage advanced content authoring and management

Automate and optimize publication and distribution

For advanced documentation needs, you can extend your Teamcenter environment with content

management capabilities that utilize SGML/XML applications to improve the processes associated with

authoring, assembling and publishing product and service-related documents in multiple languages and

output formats.

Applications of Content Management include:

Technical and User’s Manual generation - Aerospace, Defence, Automobile, Machinery, Consumer

Products

Online and offline Parts Catalogues generation

Work Instructions generation – Manufacturing Process Sheets, Service and Repair Manuals,

Assembly/Disassembly Instructions, Operational Method Sheets

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3.1 Content Management Environment Components

Technical publications maintained in the system consist of objects, generally referred to as topics, and their

relationships, which are stored in the Teamcenter database along with any associated graphics used in the

publications. The structure of a publication is validated by schemas, such as DTDs. The publication layout

is implemented with style sheets, which allows the same content to be available for different media, such as

print or Web applications. Content developed as individual topics may be reused among different

publications.

Content Management works in conjunction with several publishing and editing tools, which enable

publications to be generated for both online and print formats. Content Management includes support for

multiple language versions and includes the ability to manage topics through translations and release

cycles

4. Content Management Rich Client

The Content Management rich client provides the following perspectives:

Content Management perspective for Authoring tasks

Content Management Administration perspective for administrative tasks

The Content Management for Authoring contains multiple views that can be rearranged, including content

and graphics previews, query browser, current workspace, structure expansion and editing, local caches,

and object status information.

The Content Management perspective for Authoring offers the following capabilities:

Creation of publications and publication variants

Use of publication and topic templates

Publishing by use of standard publishing engines

Integration with Teamcenter workflows

Item versioning

Import and export of contents

The Content Management Administration perspective offers the following capabilities:

Integration of schemas and stylesheets

Definition of structure templates and topic types

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Integration of XML tools

Creation of style types as collections of stylesheets

Administration of languages, translation offices, and other data

Before Content Management can be used for authoring a publication, you must set up the following:

Schemas

Topic types and structure

XML attribute mappings

Style types

Stylesheets

Editing and publishing tools

4.1 Content Management Administration

Before authors can use Content Management, the Content Management administrator must complete the

following tasks:

Create at least one style type to organize multiple stylesheets based on a unique layout

specification.

Create stylesheet objects related to style type(s), adding the stylesheets to the database.

Create at least one structure template with a publication type and related topic types. Relate the

publication and topic types to stylesheets.

Create schema objects, adding the schemas to the database; and relate them to publication and

topic types.

Create a tool object for each installed authoring and publishing tool and for previewing content, and

relate the tool objects to stylesheets.

Create XML attribute mapping items for exchange of metadata between XML and topic types, and

relate them to topic types.

Create graphic priority lists for editing and publishing tools.

In the Content Management Administration, create and relate the following object types to configure the

environment for different users and document types:

Publication type

A publication type is the topmost object in an XML publication structure and is used as a structure

template for new publications. A publication type can have topic types, stylesheets, XML attribute

mappings, compose policies, and transformation policies as related items.

Topic type

A topic type is a component of a publication type. You can use a topic type as a structure template

for new topics. A topic type can have topic types, stylesheets, XML attribute mappings, compose

policies, and transformation policies as related items. Each topic type corresponds to an associated

subset of the document structure. A topic type identifies the level at which the system saves content

as a reusable object. The topic type structure must be created to match the XML tag structure

defined in the DTD or schema.

Stylesheet

A stylesheet contains formatting information used to render, edit, or transform a topic or document.

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Style type

A style type is used to organize and manage the stylesheets associated with publications. The style

type helps manage which stylesheets appear in preview or publish functions.

XML attribute mapping

An XML attribute mapping enables the transfer of data between topic attributes in the XML tag

content and database object metadata and vice versa.

Schema

Schemas define the basic structure of elements and attributes used in a topic. If your company uses

the S1000D or DITA Content Management solution, you can import the schemas for those

standards. Users with administrative privileges can also create the following types of schemas:

DTD

Character entity map

Example content

SGML catalog file

SGML declaration file

SGML DTD

Editing tool

The editing tool object contains information about the editing tool to be used for editing content. In

the Content perspective, when users choose Edit Content, the editing tool specified by the editing

tool object automatically opens.

Publishing tool

The publishing tool object contains information about the XML publishing application to be used to

render content to PDF, HTML, or other formats. In the Content perspective, when users choose

Publish, the selected content is published as specified in the publishing tool object.

Graphic priority list

The graphic priority list specifies the priority with which graphic options are selected when content is

viewed or published. The editing or publishing tool that uses the graphic priority list always selects

the graphic option that is listed first. If no file with this usage is found, the graphic option in the next

position is selected, and so on.

Graphic attribute mapping

A graphic attribute mapping controls how a file name or attributes on a graphic file being imported

are mapped to properties in Content Management. For example, a graphic attribute mapping can

define how a graphic option's file name is transferred to its Public Identifier property in Content

Management. A graphic attribute mapping can map file names or attributes to both graphic options

and graphic items.

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4.2 Required Relationships in Content Management

The following lists the relationships required for each object type to support authoring. An example of

required relationships is illustrated below:

Topic type

Topic types must be related to stylesheets, an XML attribute mapping, and a schema. They are also

typically related to other topic types. Topic types are related to a different stylesheet for each

method in which they are published. For example, a topic type may be related to one stylesheet for

viewing in an editing tool and another for viewing as a PDF.

Style type

Style types are related to stylesheets, typically one stylesheet for each publishing method.

Stylesheets

Stylesheets are related to a style type, topic types, and an editing or publishing tool.

Tools

Editing and publishing tools are related to stylesheets.

Schema

Each SGML topic type must have three related schemas: an SGML declaration, an SGML DTD, and

an SGML catalog file. XML topic types are not required to have a related schema, but it is

recommended to always relate at least one.

XML Attribute Mapping

XML attribute mappings are related to topic types, including publication types. More than one can be

related to each topic type.

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A publication structure is used for Content Management publications and typically consists of one root

publication type and a hierarchy of related topic types. This structure enables you to define a typical book

structure such as a publication with a header and footer, chapters, sections, and components, as in this

example:

The lowest level of the structure typically has the primary content, such as text blocks, tables, and graphic

references; whereas the higher levels represent title information and the underlying structure. The structure

must match the composition of schemas related to the corresponding topic types. If a topic type has no

related schema, you cannot edit or publish topics at this level in the structure.

Once a publication structure is created, when content authors create a new publication with the publication

type defined in the structure, they will be restricted to adding only topics with the defined topic types.

4.3 Content Management Authoring

Using Content Management, you can:

Create and manage publications containing XML and SGML content and graphics.

Manage translations of publications.

View, print, and publish PDF and HTML output for publications.

Manage publication releases.

In Content Management, you work with topics and publications. You can create topic and publication

objects in the Publication view. You can also create topics in an editing tool.

A publication contains topics and subtopics. Depending on the topic types available in your schema, the

publication you create may contain such topics as a cover page, back page, header, footer, and manual

contents, which may consist of several subtopics such as sections or chapters.

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You can create either a blank publication or a publication based on a template. You can also create a

publication template that can be used to create new publications with the same elements as existing

publications.

You must create a publication object before you can add topics to a publication.

4.3.1 Content Management Interface

Your application administrator must assign you Content Management permissions that are appropriate for

your role and the tasks that you perform in the application.

Within the Teamcenter rich client user interface, functionality is provided in perspectives and views. Use

perspectives and views to rearrange how the functionality is presented.

Click Content Management in the navigation pane to launch Teamcenter Content Management.

Sl. No. View Description

1 Publication

view

The main work area where you create, update, delete,

and relate topics to other topics.

2 Graphics

view

The area where you update, delete, and relate

graphics.

3

Publication

Resources

view

The area where you perform database queries for all

objects other than graphics and view query results.

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4

Graphics

Resources

view

The area where you perform database queries for

graphics and view query results.

5 Preview view

The area that displays the preview of content, either

when you select a graphic in the Graphics Cache

view, or when you use the Show Content button in

other views.

6 Graphics

Cache view

The area that displays the graphic options stored in

the local cache. When you open a topic that contains

graphics, the graphic options may be placed in the

local cache. If a graphic is updated in the database,

the graphic in the cache will be updated the next time

you open a topic containing the graphic.

7 Import

Results

The area that displays recently imported objects. It

also displays newly created column setting objects.

8 Item Info

view

The area that displays information about the item

highlighted in the Publication view or Graphics view.

9 Log The area that displays the log file generated by the

application when it runs a process such as publishing.

Understanding the following basic concepts will help you use the processes and features of Content

Management:

Objects

Items in Content Management are Teamcenter database objects. Each object has an ID. As you

relate an object to other objects, it appears in multiple locations in the structure of objects. All these

locations are references to the same object. You can verify whether two items reference the same

or different objects by looking at their object IDs in the Item Info view.

Teamcenter database

The Teamcenter database stores all the objects you see in Content Management. Content

Management is the interface you use to manage these objects.

Topics

Topics are the lowest type of object in the hierarchy of objects that comprise publications.

Topic versions

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Each topic has a version number and a content version:

Version number

The version number represents the current and frozen versions of a topic in the database. It

consists of an alphabetic revision character and a sequence number, such as A.1. When a

topic is frozen and then revised, its revision character increases and its sequence number

remains at 1. (The sequence number does not change unless your system has been

configured to do that.) For example, A.1 changes to B.1.

Content version

The content version represents the number of times a topic is edited. It consists of a number

that increases each time the content of the topic is edited. When a topic is first created, its

content version is -1. The content version of a topic can be viewed in the Item Info view.

When a topic has a translation, you can compare the content version of the topic to the

content version of the translation to determine if the topic has changed since the topic was

translated.

Publication structure

A publication structure is a hierarchy of topic types that form the structure of a traditional XML (Base

Content Management) publication. The structure is created by the Content Management

administrator according to the schemas your company uses, and it defines which types of topics you

can add to specific locations in a publication.

Publish

When content is published, it is rendered to PDF, HTML, or other formats.

Translations

Content Management supports multiple language versions of topics and publications. You can

manage translation orders that are sent to a translator and the content that is returned in the

translated languages.

4.4 Creating and Editing content in an Editing Tool

The content of topics is created and edited in an editing tool. You can also create a new topic within an

existing topic by using an editing tool. Examples of editing tools compatible with Content Management

include: Arbortext Editor, XMetaL Author, FrameMaker, and XMLSpy.

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An editing tool is used to author and edit XML and SGML content and is launched when you edit a topic.

Editing tools are installed on each client, following the supplier's instructions. Create an editing tool object

for each editing tool installed. You must also install any additional add-ons required for the editing tool. To

enable authors to edit content, you must do the following:

Create a stylesheet for editing content.

Create an editing tool and relate it to the stylesheet.

Relate the stylesheet to the topic type or publication type.

4.5 Workflows and Content Management

Your system administrator can design workflow process templates that incorporate your company's

business practices and procedures into process templates. In Content Management your company can use

workflows to process topics through release cycles and between participants. Content Management

includes workflow templates specifically for translation processes and publishing to a server.

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4.6 Publishing in Content Management

Publishing tools are used to render content to PDF, HTML, or other formats, and are launched when you

publish a topic. A publishing tool is also used to view content in the Preview view, using the Preview option.

Publishing tools are installed on each client, following the supplier's instructions. Create a publishing tool

object for each publishing tool installed.

To enable authors to render content to PDF, HTML, and the Preview view you must do the following:

Create stylesheets for PDF publishing, HTML generation, and Internet Explorer Preview.

Create publishing tools for PDF publishing, HTML generation, and preview generation and relate

them to the stylesheets.

Relate the stylesheets to topic types and publication types.

You can publish output to a file system if your application administrator has configured your system to

support that. Each time you publish the same version of a topic or document, the output file replaces the

one stored in the system folder. However, if you freeze and revise content that you published to the file

system, and then publish it again, the system creates a folder for the new version, to store the newer files.

The folder structure contains folders for: the content type of the renditions (such as HTML or PDF), the XML

number of the topic or document, the language, and a subfolder for each version published. The first time

you publish the topic or document it is saved in folder A. After you freeze, revise, and publish it again, it is

saved in folder B, and so on. The most recent version of the published content is also saved i

n a folder named CURRENT. The folder names do not correspond to revision levels of the content they

contain.

You can do one of the following to Publish:

Right-click the topic or document and choose Publish.

Select the topic or document and click the Publish button on the toolbar of the Publication view

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Teamcenter software provides a PLM-driven environment that streamlines today’s technical publications

processes through dynamic publishing techniques. These streamlined publication processes enable

technical documents to be developed in concert with the product development process.

Teamcenter-driven PLM environments provide a single logical authoritative source of product definitions

and linked documents that can be manipulated by user initiated workflow and data management

capabilities to integrate engineering, manufacturing and technical publications.

5. Technology Stack

Client Tier: Rich client (Java), Thin client (Browser)

Web Application Tier: BEA WebLogic Server 7.1, 8.1, IBM WebSphere 4.0, IBM WebSphere 5.0,

SunONE Web Server 6.0 (iPlanet), 7.0, Tomcat

Enterprise Tier: Server pool Manager

Resource Tier: Oracle, SQL Server, DB2

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6. Conclusion

Companies can eliminate the isolation that separates technical publications groups from their engineering

design/development counterparts by effectively using XML in both environments. To facilitate effective

collaboration, the technical publication group’s system of choice and engineering design group’s system of

choice must use the same workflows and process automation environment.

Moving XML into an engineering environment – through the use of PLM-driven content management – is

crucial to integrating the processes and information flows common to both environments, while at the same

time delivering improved productivity and cost savings.

However, diverse development paths no longer offer sufficient justification for keeping engineering design

and technical publications in separate computing environments. Today’s common change management

processes and the configuration management capabilities of PLM now provide companies with a holistic

environment for managing both product and documentation development. This holistic environment is

especially adept at reducing the risk of inconsistent or out-of-date technical documentation while shortening

the length and complexity of the publications cycle.

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7. References

http://www.plm.automation.siemens.com

https://training.plm.automation.siemens.com

http://www-cad.fnal.gov