The pipeline from CCMS to a Madcap Central project

You can configure the IXIA CCMS Output Generator to generate HTML output for a map and send it automatically to an existing project in Madcap Central.

Once you properly configure CCMS Output Generator, the process for your users involves invoking the process by selecting Central - Publish to Project from the Generate Output dialog. This output type initiates a base HTML transformation process to create the HTML output and send it along to the specified project in the configured Madcap Central instance. Users then access Madcap Central to manage the final output, based on the properties and styling established for that project.

To review related features, see Madcap Central Home Page or Madcap Central Project Page.

This HTML transformation process follows the flow identified in the diagram.

1. The user prepares the map for output.
2. The user selects the Central - Publish to Project output type in the conf\client\outputtypes.xml file.

   <outputtype name="Central - Publish to Project" timeout="600000" system="false">
   	 <preprocessing>
   		 <preprocessor name="ccms2central.project"/>
   	 </preprocessing>
   	 <renderer/>
    </outputtype>

3. The output type calls the new preprocessor, ccms2central.project, located in the conf\client\preprocessors file.
   Note: The configuration options specify the project name and ID already set up in Madcap Central.

    <preprocessor name="ccms2central.project" class=com.ixiasoft.outputgenerator.preprocessor.CentralProjectLoaderProcessor">
   	 <parameters>
   		 <system>
   			 <parameter name="buildfile" value="/conductor-central.xml"/>
   			 <parameter name="target" value="ccms2central.map.publish"/>
   			 <parameter name="clean" value="job_postprocess"/>
   			 <parameter name="keep.log.files" value="true"/>
   			 <parameter name="project.name" value="My Project"/>
   			 <parameter name="project.id" value="12345"/>
   		 </system>
   		 <fetcher name="target.fetcher" class="com.ixisoft.outputgenerator.central.CentralServiceClient">
   			 <parameter name="project.id" value="12345"/>
   		 </fetcher>
   		 <user>
   			 <parameter label="Target" name="target.name" mandatory="true" type="list" fetcher="target.fetcher"/>
   		 </user>
   	 </parameters>
    </preprocessor>>

4. The ccms2central.project preprocessor calls a new target, ccms2central.map.publish, located in the data\conductor-central.xmlfile.
   Note: The target generates HTML output for the map and sends it to the specified Madcap Central project.

   <target name="ccms2central.map.publish"
   			 depends="default_dependencies, 
   			 flare.project.init, 
   			 flare.repo.project.check.existing, 
   			 dita2flare, 
   			 flare.project.update, 
   			 flare.project.createtargets, 
   			 flare.repo.project.commitandpush"/>

   • A dependent target in the data\conductor-central.xml file, calls a new target, ixiasoft.xhtml.image.source.preprocessor, located in the data\commontargets-client.xml file. This target refactors all CCMS .image files back to their original file extensions, such as .png, .jpg, or .svg.
   • The image preprocessor, in turn, defines some new global taskdefs in the data\outgen-init-client.xml file for use by the ixiasoft.xhtml.image.source.preprocessor target.
   • The process uses the listed files after it creates a new MadCapCentral folder, located in the data\resources\client folder:
     1. central.properties, which requires configuration
     2. copy-target.xslt
     3. index2fltoc.xslt
     4. update-preprocessor.xslt
     5. mimetypes.xml.orig
5. After all subprocesses complete, the process is complete and CCMS Output Generator transfers the HTML output to the specified project in Madcap Central.