Is a default folder in every group and it is also a verb that describes a feature of the system. The archive folder is created by the system as soon as the first document is archived. How the feature works is easier to understand with some background.
is a human-readable name provided when a comment is posted by someone that doesn’t have an account on a PageSeeder server. This happens when a group is open to the general public, as opposed to the PageSeeder public. When someone who is not a member, posts a comment using an API call such as Service: /comments/forurl [POST], they can be prompted for a name. This would be the @name attribute on the <author> element.
When editing a document, there is an autosave feature that stores the current draft version of the fragment every five minutes. A message appears at the bottom of the edit window whenever a draft is saved.
There are two ways to batch process PageSeeder documents through the user interface. One is using the search results and the other is to configure a publish task to run at the folder level.
Berlioz is an open source Java library, written by the PageSeeder team to provide a simple developer framework that uses URI template notation to allocate services and XSLT for serving XML to the web as HTML. Although Berlioz can be used to serve any type of XML, it comes with native support for processing PageSeeder Markup Language (PSML) and includes the following infrastructure:
A type of cross reference that references content that is to appear as a standalone element. The different ways a block xref can be processed are the following:
Open source library that simplifies the task of accessing the PageSeeder service API from Java or Kotlin applications. Bridge allows applications to support the following:
A fundamental capability of PageSeeder, comments are a class of XLink that can be attached to different locations in the data or system. Because commenting is so integral to PageSeeder’s architecture, understanding how they work can help to explain the broader concepts.
Comments posted by email or through the user interface are stored in plain text. However, to leverage the formatting capabilities of modern browsers, comments can include basic formatting through the use of the popular language, Markdown.
There is a uriid for every PageSeeder comment. Known as the “comment id” or “task id”, this value is a useful way to reference tasks from outside PageSeeder. For example, when using project management tools such as Jira or Bugzilla.
Do not have to be a specific document type, "component" reflects the role of the documents that are bound together by a references document to create a publication.
Content labels are a class of label used to describe information inside PageSeeder documents. The two types of content labels: block label and inline label are analogous to the idea of paragraph and character styles in publishing or word processing systems, or to the HTML elements of <div> and <span>.
There are four contexts in the interface: server, project, group and document. They are exposed in the horizontal navigation menu and are used for configuring user interface components such as pages.
Correctly understanding where the date and time are sourced and applied is important for getting the most out of PageSeeder. The orderly processing of edits or comments is critical to efficient collaboration, but it isn’t always straightforward with globally distributed group members.
These are the settings used to initialize a group. They include the folder structure (documents, image, attachments and more) and files like the homepage and quick links.
In general, PageSeeder does not encourage ‘deleting’. Even when it isn’t obvious by appearance, the PageSeeder XLink architecture means that most information objects are created by processing links to users, content and context.
The developer license for PageSeeder allows developers to create unlimited projects, groups and members as long as they access PageSeeder through localhost or *.localhost only. This license is configured by setting the product key to ‘dev’ and website address to ‘localhost’ or ‘[x].localhost’.
Selecting the developer perspective exposes the developer tab, the developer action icons and the performance block. It can be selected by holding the cursor over the perspective icon underneath the user name in the top left corner of the interface.
There is both a developer perspective and a developer tab in PageSeeder. As the names suggest, both these options expose tools that help develop or support PageSeeder applications.
The PageSeeder server allows any document—XML or binary—to be assigned a server-wide, unique, permanent identifier. This value is commonly referred to as the DocID and it has the same use case for both developers and end-users. That is, the DocID is an alternative method to folder path and filename for locating a document, like a primary key.
is a way of associating a group member with a document, a task and a date. The primary objective of the document status is to formalize lifecycle stages such as creation, review and release. Using the collaboration and reporting tools of PageSeeder, the document status can eliminate much of the overheads and inaccuracies associated with managing document lifecycles using spreadsheets and email.
In PageSeeder, a document type can be compared to a ‘template’ in Word or FrameMaker. Document types are used to customize aspects of the content such as:
As the name implies, this is a hybrid of a spreadsheet and a conventional editor. The Edit sheet makes it straightforward for users to open an entire folder of documents or binary objects and edit their metadata, properties, folder or filename. In the case of PSML documents, the Edit Sheet also exposes fragment properties or inline labels for editing.
PageSeeder provides the infrastructure necessary to support batch or bulk editing. Effectively, this process can be thought of as re-uploading PSML – PageSeeder Markup Language files. Therefore, batch editing can support use cases such as:
Like download and publish, export is simply a meaningful name for publish scripts that use PageSeeder’s batch API . By default, PageSeeder comes with publish scripts that export to the following formats:
Whether it is a normal binary file, such as .ZIP, or an Office document or a PageSeeder document, any file viewed in PageSeeder has both a filename and document title. However, because these files are physically stored on the file system of the host server, they mustn’t have names that violate the naming rules of the host operating system.
For further information about the creation and editing of electronic forms or fielded data in PageSeeder, see PSML document template, PSML properties editor or the tutorial on How to configure a custom properties editor.
A unique identifier for a fragment within a document. The fragment ID provides developers with a more precise mechanism for updating documents that have been created outside PageSeeder.
A generator is a server-side component written in Java which produces an XML response from a content request. Berlioz libraries provide a number of built-in generators for common use cases.
Group config includes the group name, description, welcome message, advanced options and group properties. They are available when the group is first created or can be accessed at any time by a manager of the group.
These settings can be found on the Advanced Options tab of the Group config page located under the Admin tab. For more information about the API, see Service: edit-group.
Is an object that acts as a container for uris in a group. All documents and folders belong to at least one group folder. Each group folder contains its own tree of documents and folders.
Is a value used to cluster, or differentiate, groups. Typically the name of an individual or organization, the “owner” is visible through the List groups page under the Admin menu. The owner value is set through the Advanced options tab of the Group config option under the Admin menu. See the following screens.
Accessed by selecting ‘Group config’ on the admin menu, these are values that control various aspects of group behavior such as whether returned email messages are forwarded to a nominated address. While these same values can be set at the project level, the rules of inheritance and overrides can prove confusing for new users.
An HTTP servlet is a server-side component that receives and responds to requests from clients to perform a particular task or retrieve data over HTTP.
An implementation technique that uses a document as a wrapper for one or more images, plus any associated metadata such as credits and captions. During editing, the image shell is referenced using a normal cross-reference. However, when the document is published, the contents can be processed differently depending on the output format.
Designed to associate custom styles or semantics to running pieces of content inside a text block (paragraph). Inline labels play the equivalent role for PageSeeder as “character” or “inline” styles play in traditional publishing or word processing systems.
The Layout analyzer is a developer tool provided in the developer perspective. It allows developers to quickly identify where the layout manager has been customized. This is particularly useful when trying to understand the consequences to the user interface of an upgrade to the PageSeeder server.
The layout manager is a framework that generates the PageSeeder user interface. Based on Java infrastructure, it uses XML and XSLT. The PageSeeder developer tools can help to explain the layout manager. See the layout analyzer that is available under the Dev tab in the Developer perspective. For further technical detail, see the following articles:
In PageSeeder terminology, ‘list’ should be interpreted as the generic description for ordered (<nlist>) or unordered (<list>) items (<item>) in a document, not as the programming term for a type of data structure.
MathML is intended to facilitate the use and re-use of mathematical and scientific content on the Web. It is supported for display and storage in PageSeeder (see following).
The groups that a user is a member of, determine the content they can see. The role attached to each specific group membership, determines the functionality the user has. Membership and role for any group is unrelated to what it might be on any other group.
The breadth of objects and processes incorporated into PageSeeder mean some terms require qualification. ‘document’, ‘properties’ and metadata are all such terms.
Support for converting PSML documents to DOCX and DOCX to PSML is a standard feature of PageSeeder. Available under the export action icon on the Document -> Browse page, there is a standard conversion that processes any PSML document without modification.
PageSeeder uses the MIME type of a document as a trigger to invoke document processors that have specific capabilities to process data formats such as XML or PDF.
A group with property that assigns the role of moderator to a member. PageSeeder then directs different transactions to the nominated individual for approval. Transactions that can be moderated are: anyone applying to join the group, comments being posted to members, and whether a document is allowed to advance a value of status or workflow.
When certain events occur on the PageSeeder server, email notifications are sent to members. Who is notified and when depends on the options of the event and the notification settings for the member in a particular group.
A significant amount of development effort has been invested to ensure that even the most complex numbering schemes can be supported in PageSeeder. In many cases, this is achievable with less effort than using Microsoft Word or similar applications and produces superior results. However, the issue of numbering can span the entire document lifecycle, which makes it hard to cover in a single article.
With no predetermined semantics, a label can be used for any purpose. The most fundamental difference for PageSeeder is whether the label is attached to an object, or part of the content. Native objects that support labels include document, fragment, comment, task, version or xref.
One of PageSeeder’s main design strengths is how quick and straightforward it can be to import, edit and publish complex XML documents. The reason for this is PageSeeder’s object model (see document) and how it is used to represent XML data in an easily editable, generic form.
The omnibox is the search box that appears to the right of the group name in the navigation and can be used to search any PageSeeder item within that group.
An aspect of the service provider license that supports branding of the PageSeeder interface and messages, such as lost password and group invitations.
A common requirement for PageSeeder is to process numerous files through multiple stages. To support this, a version of the PageSeeder API can be called from a batch processing environment, Apache ANT. This is the basis of PageSeeder publish.
The PageSeeder approach to XML publishing workflows is different from that of conventional applications. PageSeeder was conceived and implemented as a web-based platform, not adapted from a desktop app. The orientation of the product has always been around collaboration and the constraints that are necessary to effectively and productively coordinate groups of users.
Is a somewhat ambiguous term. It can be the conceptual term for the overall PageSeeder solution or it can refer to the main software component of the system (and counterpart to the publish engine).
A widely-understood concept that is part of most unstructured document editing and publishing apps. A style groups a collection of format settings under an arbitrary name so a user can apply the identical settings elsewhere.
Performance details of every processing step in the user interface can only be viewed in the performance block, which is visible on every page when using developer perspective.
Lab perspective displays features that are experimental or still under consideration for inclusion in PageSeeder. It can be selected by holding the cursor over the perspective icon.
Standard perspective is the default perspective for end user, day-to-day use of PageSeeder. It can be selected by holding the cursor over the perspective icon.
PSML (PageSeeder Markup Language) is an XML markup language designed to represent a broad range of documents. It is natively supported by the components of the PageSeeder platform with no need for additional configuration. This includes the editor, publishing processes, validator, index/search engine and more.
is a specialized PSML fragment editor to add to, delete or reorganize a list of xrefs (cross-references). The second fragment of a references document is configured to invoke the psxreflist editor. Adding it must be done through the PSML document template, there is no way to call it through the standard end-user interface.
A server-wide, unique value represented by a document property. Any document with a value in this field is displayed in the list of Group Publications.
A concept of batch processing in PageSeeder. Publish can mean exporting PageSeeder XML into non-PageSeeder formats such as PDF, DOCX or arbitrary XML formats. It can also mean importing Microsoft Word or Excel into PageSeeder XML.
A key component of the PageSeeder solution, the Publish Engine handles all import, export, publish and some process operations by executing customizable ANT scripts. It is included as part of each PageSeeder server, but one PageSeeder server can use the Publish Engine on a different PageSeeder server so CPU-intensive tasks, such as document composition or transformation, can be distributed.
The conceptual foundation of the search service is the idea of “question field” and “question”. Examples of question fields are “document title” and “author”. A questions would be one or more word that appear in either or both question fields. After processing the question, the search service will return a list of results in the specified format (documents, comments, URLs) where the content of a question field fully or partially matched the content of the question.
Prevents a document or section from being edited through the standard PageSeeder user interface. This is especially useful for content that is being maintained externally but integrated with PageSeeder content for publishing. An example of this class of content are comments that are maintained in source code.
Is a feature available under the Dev menu option on the horizontal menu bar. This service will process all XRef originating from the document open when it is invoked.
PageSeeder comes pre-configured with two document types. default is a simple, general-purpose document structure for use in many different circumstances. The other type, references, is more specialized. It has been designed to represent a book structure, with front matter, a table of contents and then a collection of documents.
For a bi-directional link, the reverse cross-reference (or reverse xref) is the component that exists on the link target and refers to the link source. By default, PageSeeder cross-references are bidirectional. This means that, by processing a document, it is possible to know what other documents link to them.
Is an ISO standard with powerful validation capabilities and configurable error messages. Further information about the standard is available via the Schematron Wikipedia page. See XSD files.
Built on the Apache Lucene technology, PageSeeder offers end users and developers several interfaces to find and retrieve content using the search capability.
Typically a property value or a label, facets work best when they are consistently applied to most of the documents in a collection. For example, if most documents include a property of "city", the value of that property can be used to navigate or categorize documents in the collection.
A section title is stored outside the editable area of a section. It is displayed but cannot be removed or altered using the standard editing interface. This can be a useful way of building documents that are composed of specifically defined, or ordered, sections.
A server message is a global message that an administrator can enter in the administrator console for display on all pages on the server. It is generally used to notify ALL users currently logged into that particular PageSeeder server of a server wide event, such as an imminent upgrade or restart.
Also known as PS Standard or PS XML, this format was defined by PageSeeder's Standard schema. This was the original document format for PageSeeder but is no longer supported.
A legacy developer term that continues to be used in several locations in PageSeeder code and configuration files. Although the role of the style owner has evolved over the life of PageSeeder, the easiest way to understand the current use of the term is to equate it with the PageSeeder project.
Also known as perspectives, allow users to choose from a number of customized user interfaces. Style views can be changed using the perspective icon (cube) at the top left of any screen.
Is any group with a subscription group (subgroup) as a member. There are no special characteristics of a supergroup, except that knowing which individuals can access the group requires processing the membership of the subgroup.
A transclusion is type of cross reference that is resolved directly, so that the referenced content (a document or part of a document) is included into the source document.
The universal format refers to a collection of PageSeeder files when outside PageSeeder. It consists of a file organization and uses PSML as a representation for PageSeeder documents and their metadata.
A URI pattern (or URL pattern) is simple URL-like notation to match URLs. They are used by the layout manager, the PageSeeder services and Berlioz to identify the user interface to render or service to invoke from a URL.
The weborganic folder is where PageSeeder stores the application-level styles, scripts and images to be served over the web. Where a project has been customized, the equivalent material is stored in style folders under the template folder.
The /woconfig folder is obsolete as of PageSeeder v5.97. All custom CSS, javascript and images is now in style folders under /WEB-INF/config/template/[project].
A workflow is a special type of task that uses document status values (e.g. Initiated, In Progress, Complete, Approved, Terminated). There can only be one workflow per document and the status of the document is the workflow status. It can have a current priority, due date and assigned to like other tasks and can use comment labels. Workflows can be created on multiple documents at the same time (using batch processing) but they are independent from each other.
The XFormat is a comprehensive XML representation of both PageSeeder's interface and content prior to processing through the layout manager. It is a temporary view that is assembled then transformed into HTML for display by the browser.
XLinks are a key component in the PageSeeder architecture. Sometimes their role is obvious (cross references), and sometimes it is less obvious (a new document).
There are a number of schema files that are useful for validating different aspects of PageSeeder. Both the files and documentation are available through Schemas.