Add a new type to the list of external source types

You can specify additional external source types to the list of those recognized by IXIA CCMS.

About this task

External sources are links to sources such as documents and sites that exist outside the Content Store. Any DITA reference that starts with a declared external type is handled as an external resource, meaning it is not validated upon a status change, deletion or as part of any other validation process. In other words, an external link does not create a workflow dependency.

The CCMS evaluates links as follows:
  • If the scope attribute is set to "external", it is identified and handled as an external source type.
  • If the scope attribute is not set to "external", it checks the link against the externaltypes.xml file to determine if the link is an external source type. If the link matches a declared external type, it is identified and handled as an external source type.
  • If the scope attribute is set to "peer", it is identified as either an internal or external source type depending on how the peerasexternal is set.
  • If the link is not identified by any of these means to be an external source, then the link is identified as an internal source type and is validated.
Important: Make configuration changes in a test environment and confirm they work before copying them to a production environment.

Procedure

  1. In the TEXTML Administration perspective, connect to your server.
  2. Check out and open the system/conf/externaltypes.xml file.
  3. For each new type that you want to specify, add a <type> element.

    Use the format <type>[new source type]</type> and replace [new source type] with your external source type.

    For example, to add an external source type called scp::
    <externaltypes peerasexternal="true">
    ... 
    <type>scp:</type>
    .... 
</externaltypes>
  4. Save, close, and check in the file.
  5. Inform users of the changes.
    The changes are automatically applied once users close and then reopen their IXIA CCMS Desktop. Users can also apply the changes without restarting their CCMS Desktop by clicking IXIA CCMS > Synchronize Configuration.