A resource for the Arbortext Community
April 24th, 2010 — video
This video goes with the meeting notice posted here. This video is a recorded version of:
“Dynamic Publishing with Arbortext Data Merge”
Presented by Clay Helberg, TerraXML
April 2010 Arbortext PTC/User Group Meeting
This is a recorded version of a live Go2Meeting webcast. The video is posted as is. It has not been edited. You should go read Clay’s biography here. Every last bit is completely live.
March 30th, 2010 — meetings
Update: Video will be posted here. Intro slides here.
Please join us online for our next meeting:
“Dynamic Publishing with Arbortext Data Merge”
Presented by Clay Helberg, TerraXML
Date: Saturday, 24 April 2010, 9:00-10:30 AM Pacific/US
Location: Online via GoToMeeting. You must Register to receive the GoToMeeting invite.
Cost: Free and open to all who wish to attend.
Registration Web Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/220360699
Topic
There are many situations where documents need to incorporate information stored in a database. A simple approach is to generate a report of the data from the database, and then copy and paste the data into the document. Unfortunately, that approach tends to be labor-intensive and error-prone, and can easily lead to out-of-sync documents if the database is updated but the document is not.
To make the process of embedding data in documents easier, Arbortext Editor and Publishing Engine support Data Merge, a framework for embedding data queries in your documents and for formatting the data results for publishing.
Data merge lets you set up query types tailored to your database. When a query is inserted into a document, it pulls current data from the database to complete the document. You can parameterize the general queries, allowing content authors to use straightforward dialog boxes to create specific queries. You can also control how the system handles updates. You can update the data every time the document is saved or published, or you can set it to only update when an explicit update command is given by the author. Finally, you can embed the data in your document as a table, or you can create your own transformation to format the data exactly how you need it for your document.
This presentation will demonstrate how Data Merge works in a simple publishing application, and will also give an overview of how to configure a publishing application to use Data Merge, including defining the queries, formatting the data results, and how it looks from the author’s perspective.
At the end of the session, attendees should be able to:
Bio
Clay is a Senior Consultant at TerraXML. He has worked with XML and XSLT since 2000, and with Arbortext software since 2002. He provides consulting and development services on a variety of projects. He has presented at several Arbortext User Group meeting (including the last three PTC/USER World Events). He telecommutes from Duluth, MN.
Note
This meeting will be held online. You must RSVP to receive the GoToMeeting invite. After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.
Acknowledgements
This meeting is brought to you by the SF Bay Arbortext PTC/User Group.
We want to thank Single-Sourcing Solutions for coordinating our meeting logistics, administration, and for providing access to their GoToMeeting resources and conference bridge facilities.
