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relationship between database and arbortext

eb
4-Participant
4-Participant

relationship between database and arbortext

ıs there anybody to help me here?
ı wanna get data from Access database and mirror it to Arbortext editor or styler, so if ı change my data, ı want, my document also is changed.
Is it possible? Or should ı use excel or sql or xml ? Could you help me about which way ı should follow?

6 REPLIES 6
GarethOakes
16-Pearl
(To:eb)

The simplest method would be to implement some Java code from within Arbortext Editor. It has a full JRE running. You could use JDBC libraries to query your database for the data and update upon save. Arbortext is an XML application so you would convert your database records into some XML format, and back again to database records on the way out - unless you plan to store your Arbortext data as XML blobs in the database.

Gareth answer sound about right. We use PTC's Windchill to store our XML and DITA data. One concern, even PTC which has its own dedicated interface does not mirror data. It checks out the data from CMS into Arbortext where the system validates the data. then upon completion you check back in the data to the database. Most system work this way since Arbortext needs the complete set of module/module you are working on to do the validation and link resolution if possible. If anyone has different information please respond I would be interested.

Gareth's answer is solid, though I would amend it to say that if you're using Access as your database, you could also use Arbortext's ACL COM functions to drive Access directly instead of going through Java/JDBC. The choice would really just depend on which programming approach you're more familiar with, MS COM/ActiveX or Java.

eb
4-Participant
4-Participant
(To:ClayHelberg)

Thanks to all. 
Your informations're really useful but ı wanna ask more now.
 ı don't know anything about coding. software, java etc., how can ı do? 
Firstly Should ı learn writing code and programming?
Don't I have any other option?

RayStachowiak
12-Amethyst
(To:eb)

My opinion:

Before you start learning coding, etc. you need a road map, plan.

1. Is you data in XML or DITA/XML, do you want it to be. If it is database fields/table data, then maybe XML is not for you. You have Arbortext so I presume some of you data is in XML.

2. Determine how you will use the data, this will affect how you organize it, structure it, quantify the data with relative attributes.

3. Determine how you will use the data, what are your outputs. Are you going to  output to PDF and /or HTML?

Once you have this plan built you will know what tools might be best and what you need the tools and database architecture to do.

Get consulting help. If you want to do it yourself fine, but get guidance and a development plan first and a good consultant will be valuable. For faster results consider hiring help to do the work. The folks who responded here are excellent sources to talk with. there are many XML/DITA experts out there who can provide you valuable assistance.

GarethOakes
16-Pearl
(To:eb)

Ray is quite right, from what I can tell your best option would be to engage a third-party to develop the integration for you. Our company www.gpsl.co offers these services, and there are other companies too.

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