Create a Build Manifest template

IXIASOFT CCMS includes a basic Build Manifest template, but you can create a new one for your deployment.

You create templates to predefine information that will be common to all Build Manifest objects created from this template.

Some use cases include:
  • Setting default user parameters in your template so that your users do not have to enter them manually every time. For example, the PDF transformation scenario at IXIASOFT requires three user parameters. We could create a template that presets these parameters.
  • Setting default output types per product. For example, ProductA's documentation could be generated in three formats (PDF, xHTML, and Eclipse help), but ProductB's documentation is created in PDF and xHTML. You could create one template per product with the appropriate output types already defined.
The following code shows the structure of a sample Build Manifest template:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE build-manifest PUBLIC "-//IXIA//DTD CMS Build Manifest//EN" "build-manifest.dtd">
<build-manifest xml:lang="en-US" id="id">
<title>Build Manifest Template for Product A</title>
    <globals>
        <shortdesc>Build Manifest Template for Product A</shortdesc>
        <mode otherprops="DEBUG"/>
        <mapref></mapref>
        <languages>
            <language xml:lang="en-US"/>
        </languages>
        <rootcontext></rootcontext>
        <ditaval/>
        <properties id="id"></properties>
        <notify/>
    </globals>
    <outputtypes>
        <outputtype id="id" type="" status="ENABLED">
            <description></description>
        </outputtype>
    </outputtypes>
</build-manifest>
Note: When you create a Build Manifest, the xml:lang attribute of the Build Manifest object will be set to the xml:lang attribute of the template. Note that the language of the Build Manifest object is not related to the language(s) in which the Build Manifest is output. The output languages are specified in the <languages> element.
To create a Build Manifest template:
  • Create the Build Manifest using the IXIASOFT CCMS Desktop
  • Export it to a .bmanifest file
  • Import this file in the templates collection
The steps for this procedure are as follows:
  1. Using the IXIASOFT CCMS Desktop, create a Build Manifest with the content that will be common to all Build Manifest objects based on this template.
  2. Open the Build Manifest.
  3. Select File > Export from the menu.
    The Select window appears:
    Figure: Exporting a Build Manifest


  4. Select General > File System and click Next.
  5. In the File system dialog box, browse to your desktop and click Finish.
    The file is saved and given a system name and the suffix .bmanifest.
  6. Rename the file as appropriate (for example, ProductATemplate.bmanifest).
  7. Open the TEXTML Administration perspective by clicking the TEXTML Administration shortcut on the tool bar. If the shortcut is not displayed, follow these steps:
    1. Select Window > Perspective > Open Perspective > Other
    2. Click TEXTML Administration.
    3. Click Open.
  8. In the TEXTML Administration view, double-click the server. If your server is not displayed in the view, you must add it to the view.
  9. When the Connect as dialog opens, type your username and password and click OK.
  10. Double-click the name of your Content Store to open a connection to it.
  11. Navigate to /system/templates/bmanifests.
  12. Right-click the bmanifests collection and select Insert Documents.
    The Insert Documents Dialog appears.
  13. Click Add File and browse to your desktop.
    1. Select the file.
    2. Click Open.
    The file path and name appear under Import As.
  14. Click OK.
    The file is imported into the /templates/bmanifests collection.
  15. Inform users of the changes.
    The changes will be applied automatically once users close and then reopen their IXIASOFT CCMS Desktop. Users can also apply the changes without restarting their IXIASOFT CCMS Desktop by clicking IXIASOFT CCMS > Synchronize Configuration.