Publish action

A type of processing action defined in PageSeeder configuration files that allows users to publish content to external systems or locations. It is one of several action types that can be configured to extend PageSeeder's publishing capabilities.

Overview

Publish actions are defined using <action> elements with type="publish"in the following configuration files:

• publish-config.xml – controls publishing across groups, folders, documents, or search results in a project
• document-config.xml – controls publishing for specific document types
• url-config.xml – controls publishing for specific URL types

Action structure

A publish action consists of:

• <action type="publish"> – the parent element that defines the action type
• <source> – specifies what content can be published (required in publish-config.xml)
• <target> – defines one or more publishing targets that correspond to Ant script targets

Source element

In publish-config.xml, each publish action must specify a source:

<source type="folder" />

Valid source types include:

• group – publish an entire group
• folder – publish a folder
• batch – publish search results
• document – publish a specific document (requires extension attribute)
• publication – publish from publication root documents (requires PageSeeder v6.2+)

Target element

Each target defines a specific publishing destination or process:

<target name="psml-to-website" role="contributor">
  <description>Publish to website</description>
  <param name="depth" 
         label="Depth of XRefs to publish" 
         type="number" 
         min="1" 
         max="8" />
</target>

Key attributes:

• name – must match the Ant script target name (required)
• role – minimum role required (contributor|manager|approver)
• perspective – controls visibility (developer|none)
• override – if true, replaces default targets with the same name

Parameters: Targets can include <param> elements to allow users to customize the publishing process with options like depth, filters, or destination settings.

Example

Publishing a folder to a website with depth control:

<publishing>
  <action type="publish">
    <source type="folder" />
    <target name="psml-to-website">
      <description>Publish to website</description>
      <param name="depth"
             label="Depth of XRefs to publish"
             type="number"
             min="1"
             max="8" />
    </target>
  </action>
</publishing>

Related action types

• export – exports content to different formats (PDF, DOCX, etc.)
• process – performs custom processing
• upload – uploads content to PageSeeder