Understanding how objects are managed in DRM and Standard modes

Standard mode

In Standard mode, all the objects are stored together in the repository. Think of it as a giant open warehouse where all the objects are stored. When you open an object in Standard mode, you will see a breadcrumb path indicating the Context Map associated to the object and the object's title. For example:

Figure: Example of the breadcrumb path in Standard mode

Dynamic Release Management mode

In Dynamic Release Management (DRM) mode, the repository is organized into release management collections. This allows your documentation team to manage the documentation for several products across more than one release cycle. Think of it like a storage unit warehouse where each room has its own access-control. In DRM the collections are referred to as Products and Libraries:

• A Product is a collection of objects that is not shared with other collections.
• A Library is a collection that contains objects that are intended to be shared with other Products and Libraries.

For example, imagine you have two product lines: SmartGadgets and CoolDoodads. All the objects (topics, maps, images, and so on) that can only be used in SmartGadgets documentation can be stored in a Product called "SmartGadgets" and all the objects belonging to CoolDoodads can be stored in a Product called "CoolDoodads". Now, all the common content such as legal information, copyrights, trademarks, warnings, images, and other information can be separated into Libraries so they can be shared between the SmartGadgets and CoolDoodads Products. Or perhaps both SmartGadgets and CoolDoodads contain a part called Gizmo. The Gizmo objects can be in a Library so they can be shared with both the SmartGadgets and CoolDoodads Products.

Figure: Example of Products and Libraries in DRM

As time goes on, your content is going to be updated and you will want to identify one version of the collection from another version. In DRM these versions are referred to as Branches.

For example, imagine that you have new topics and images to add to the Gizmo Library that need to be shared with the newest CoolDoodads documentation, but the SmartGadgets documentation is not going to be using those new objects for several months. You do not want to take the chance of the new Gizmo content accidentally being added to the SmartGadgets documentation so you need to keep it separate. Since the CoolDoodads documentation and the Gizmo documentation are going to be updated, a Branch for the CoolDoodads Product (Branch B) and the Gizmo Library (Branch Y) are created.

Figure: Example of branches in DRM

When you open an object in DRM, you will see a breadcrumb path indicating the Product or Library and Branch to which the object belongs. For example: