Abstract: A method and apparatus produces documentation from customized extensible mark-up language (XML) by generating a schema-specific Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) specialization. The DITA specialization is generated from XML schemas which define the XML documents. During the process of generating the DITA specialization, a XSL transform is also generated. The XSL transform is applied to the XML file to produce a DITA file that follows the rules of the DITA specialization. Prior art transforms can then be used to convert the DITA file and the DITA specialization to standard documentation. Generating schema-specific DITA specializations may be an automatic process or a dynamic process under the direction of a user.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for improving the efficiency of document transformation processes is disclosed. For example, more efficient XML transformations may be performed against a source document that has incurred minor or incremental changes. Rather than apply a transform (e.g., an XSLT document) to a complete document each time any fragment of the source document is modified, a document management system may be configured to apply the transform only to the modified portions of the document.

Abstract: A content management system (CMS) includes a rendering mechanism that receives a desired rendering action for a selected object in the repository, determines from defined rendering rules which elements in the selected object correspond to the desired rendering action, determines which of a plurality of applications corresponds to the desired rendering action, and renders one or more elements in the selected object that correspond to the desired rendering action in the application corresponding to the desired rendering action. The rendering mechanism may insert rendering markers in an object that define a type of data for each element in the object. In addition, nested elements may be rendered by invoking multiple applications that are active at the same time to simultaneously render different types of data.

Abstract: A content management system (CMS) autonomically generates structure for a document when a synchronization rule references structure that does not exist in the document. A dynamic structure policy specifies at least one criterion that determines if and how the structure is autonomically generated. By autonomically generating structure in a document, a CMS administrator or CMS user (such as the author) is relieved of the manual task of generating the structure before the synchronization rule can be successfully processed. Once dynamically generated, the added structure may be auto-populated with dummy data or with default data specified in the autonomic structure policy.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for improving the performance of a CMS system configured for bursting is disclosed. The CMS may be configured to automatically scan the CMS for unused document fragments and “clean up” the repository by reinserting the unused document fragments back into a corresponding source document. Thus, embodiments of the invention do not rely on beforehand knowledge and policy setting as current approaches. Rather, an autonomous method is used to manage document fragments by detecting and reinserting unused fragments back into their original documents.

Abstract: A content management system provides a profiling mechanism that automatically tags changes made to elements in a document with applicability metadata, and uses the applicability metadata when processing a request to the repository by a user to filter the query results according to a profile for the user. A profiling mapping policy defines roles for users of the content management system. When content is requested from the repository, the profiling mechanism inserts one or more additional request parameters based on the profile of the user. The results that match both the original request and the additional request parameter(s) are returned to the user. When the user views the results, additional filtering may occur to filter individual elements from the user that do match the user's profile.

Abstract: A content management system (CMS) uses a simulated containment report generation mechanism to generate a simulated containment report for elements in the repository based on logged properties that represent potential use of the element during dynamic content delivery that are not represented in formal relationships in the content management system. Properties such as probability, popularity, and recent usage that are not explicit relationships between parent documents and child elements are logged and used to determine which document maps may potentially reuse a selected element. In this manner a simulated containment report can be created for an element that allows the user to see the document maps that are most likely to include the element.

Abstract: A content management system provides a way to detect a change to one part of a document, and to generate a corresponding change in a different part of the same document. Dynamic inclusion rules define conditions that, when satisfied, allow automatically changing a link in a document to a new link when corresponding data in the document is added or changed. If a change corresponds to a defined dynamic inclusion rule, a corresponding query in the rule is evaluated according to the changes in the document. When there is enough information to run the query, the query is automatically executed in a background process. If there is a single link that satisfies the query, the document may be updated with the new link. If multiple links satisfy the query, the top ranked query result may be automatically selected, or the user may select which link should be included in the document.

Abstract: A computer system provides a way to automatically generate compound commands that perform tasks made up of multiple simple commands. A compound command generation mechanism monitors consecutive user commands and compares the consecutive commands a user has taken to a command sequence identification policy. If the user's consecutive commands satisfy the command sequence identification policy the user's consecutive commands become a command sequence. If the command sequence satisfies the compound command policy, the compound generation mechanism can generate a compound command for the command sequence automatically or prompt an administrator to allow the compound command to be generated. Generating a compound command can be done on a user by user basis or on a system wide basis. The compound command can then be displayed to the user to execute so that the command sequence is performed by the user selecting the compound command for execution.

Abstract: A content management system (CMS) provides a way to include data from an external source as an object in the repository managed by the CMS. The CMS includes an external data mechanism that processes a document with a query to a data source external to the repository. The external data mechanism executes the query, and creates one or more objects in the repository according to the type of data returned. Each object containing data returned from the query is linked to that query via a formal relationship in the CMS. When an object that has a formal relationship with a query is checked out of the repository, the query corresponding to the object may be executed, and the data returned from the query may be stored in the object. Alternatively, the data may be used directly if a corresponding lifecycle policy indicates the corresponding query should not be executed.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide for detecting and (in at least some cases) repairing XML configuration conflicts in a content management system (CMS). One method allows a CMS to evaluate various configuration components and determine when those components may conflict with one another. If a conflict is detected, the CMS may be configured to notify an administrator of the problem, and in some cases, correct the problem. As a result, administrators may not have to carefully evaluate each configuration file associated with a document type definition for a given document type before creating or modifying a content processing rule.

Abstract: A content management system (CMS) provides a way to add a phase property to synchronization rules. In one suitable implementation, each of the synchronization rules has a corresponding phase value. In another suitable implementation, there are default synchronization rules and only synchronization rules other than the default synchronization rules have a phase value. A phase synchronization mechanism uses the phase property of the synchronization rules to evaluate only appropriate synchronization rules at each step as required.

Abstract: A content management system (CMS) provides a way to include data from an external source as an object in the repository managed by the CMS. The CMS includes an external data mechanism that processes a document with a query to a data source external to the repository. The external data mechanism executes the query, and creates one or more objects in the repository according to the type of data returned as defined by classification rules. Each object containing data returned from the query is linked to that query via a formal relationship in the CMS. When an object that has a formal relationship with a query is checked out of the repository, the query corresponding to the object may be executed, and the data returned from the query may be stored in the object. In the alternative, the data may be used directly if a corresponding lifecycle policy indicates the corresponding query should not be executed.

Abstract: A content management system (CMS) provides a way to include data from an external source as an object in the repository managed by the CMS. The CMS includes an external data mechanism that processes a document with a query to a data source external to the repository. The external data mechanism executes the query, and creates one or more objects in the repository according to the type of data returned. Each object containing data returned from the query is linked to that query via a formal relationship in the CMS. When an object that has a formal relationship with a query is checked out of the repository, the query corresponding to the object may be executed, and the data returned from the query may be stored in the object. Alternatively, the data may be used directly if a corresponding lifecycle policy indicates the corresponding query should not be executed.

Abstract: A content management system (CMS) indicates stale (i.e. outdated) elements in a document according to a stale content policy that specifies one or more thresholds that determine whether or not an element is stale, and if a stale element should trigger an auto suggest mechanism. When an author checks a document out of the repository, the elements in the document are displayed to the user to indicate the element's staleness according to the stale content policy. The auto suggest mechanism populates a related elements list via a query to the repository according to an auto suggest policy that specifies which elements can be included by the auto suggest mechanism in the related elements list. The related elements list is presented to a user, who may select one of the related elements. The link in the document to the stale element is replaced by a link to the selected related element.

Abstract: A content management system (CMS) for computer software provides automatic notification and correlation of changes in a design document with corresponding code, and provides automatic notification and correlation of changes in the code with one or more corresponding design documents. Traceability rules are defined that correlate which portions of the code correspond to which portions of the design document. A traceability update policy governs whether interested parties are notified of a change to either the design document or the corresponding code, and whether the change to one causes an automatic update to the other. The result is a content management system that helps keep the code and corresponding design documents consistent with each other so the system has accurate and consistent information at all times.

Abstract: A content management system (CMS) autonomically updates one or more templates based on characteristics of documents in the repository, and based on specified criteria in an autonomic template update policy. At an appointed time, the CMS finds a template in the repository, retrieves an autonomic template update policy corresponding to the template, and determines from characteristics of documents in the repository whether the criteria in the autonomic template update policy allows autonomically updating the template. If the criteria are met, the template is autonomically updated without intervention by a CMS administrator. The result is a CMS where templates autonomically change as the content in the repository changes.

Abstract: A content management system (CMS) provides a DITA specialization processing mechanism that provides the full functions of a content management system across the full functionality of the DITA architecture. A DITA specialization is used to generate an import descriptor that describes how to import the DITA specialization, which may include required modules, stylesheets, catalogs, and content rules into the repository of a content management system. When the DITA specialization is imported into the repository, a compound document is created with appropriate parent/child links. Dependency relationships between modules in the compound document are then created. In addition, new XML content rules for the DITA specialization may be automatically generated from existing content rules.

Abstract: When creating or editing a document in a content management system and specific content is needed, documents in the repository are searched for an element that has the desired content. If an element is found in a document in the repository that has the desired content, the element is bursted on-demand by extracting the element from the parent document where it was found and creating a document in the repository for the element. A link that points to the bursted document in the repository is then inserted into the document that needed the element. If the parent document from which the element was extracted is mutable, then the element in the parent document is replaced with a link to the bursted document.

Abstract: A content management system (CMS) monitors a user's activity for a document, generates corresponding usage data for the user, and binds the usage data to corresponding sections of the document. A relevance policy may be defined for a user and/or for a user's role. The CMS may then render the document to the user based on the usage data and the relevance policy. The rendered document may include displayed sections, hidden sections, and accentuated sections. The result is a document rendered to a user in a way that hides sections that are not of interest, displays sections of interest, and accentuates sections of high interest, all based on usage data that indicates how the document was accessed in the past.