Understanding the Build Manifest feature

A Build Manifest is an object that allows you to configure a list of different outputs for a map.

For each map, you can specify the following information:
  • Types of output to generate (PDF, HTML, xHTML, etc.)
  • Languages to output; you can specify default languages for all the output types or specify them per output type
  • Ditaval file to use; you can specify a default ditaval file for all the output types or specify it per output type
  • User parameters that must be applied; these are the user parameters that are defined in the transformation scenario for the output type. You can specify default parameters for all the output types or specify them per output type.

Sample use case

Let's take the User Guide as an example. This document is generated in three different output types:
  • xHTML
  • PDF
  • Eclipse help
For the purpose of this example, we'll also assume that the User Guide is available in 3 languages:
  • English
  • French
  • Japanese

This means that a total of 18 outputs (3 output types * 2 flavors * 3 languages) need to be generated for the User Guide. With the Build Manifest, instead of having to call the Generate Output command 18 times, you generate the output of a single object—the Build Manifest object—which generates these 18 outputs.

Build Manifest workflow

Just like any object, the Build Manifest goes through a workflow. When you create a Build Manifest object, it's in Authoring:work (or the equivalent in your workflow). The object must be locked before you can work on it, and you release it when the work is completed.

You can also create a snapshot of a Build Manifest object.

Using the NightBuild

IXIASOFT provides a script that you can run to process multiple Output Generator jobs in batch without having to use the IXIASOFT CCMS Desktop. You can call the NightBuild script directly on the command-line or create a batch file that will store the parameter values you want to use for the script.

Using the NightBuild with the Build Manifest can be very useful. You use the IXIASOFT CCMS Desktop to create the Build Manifest for a map, and then you output the Build Manifest from the NightBuild script.

For more information about the NightBuild script, contact IXIASOFT Support.

To create a Build Manifest for a map

  1. You create a Build Manifest object.
  2. If applicable, you set default values for ditaval files, languages, and user parameters.
  3. You create and configure all the output types into which you want to generate the map.
  4. You output the Build Manifest with the Output Generator, which generates all the outputs configured in the Build Manifest.