This presentation will offer basic information about XBoffice which is a service oriented component for XBintegrator to create server based documents.More details and in-depth information can be found on the Invenso website or can be provided by one of our certified partners.
XBintegrator is a java based application server that offers an enterprise service bus focused on solutions rather than providing a developers framework. It’s not designed to replace ESB frameworks provided by major software developers like IBM but is rather there to enrich them when IT is moving in that direction. Till that time, XBintegrator is an easy to implement, strategic solutions environment. These solutions are provided by services delivered by a number of unique processors which can be bought separately at business need.The processor offering services for document generation is called XBoffice and integrates with Microsoft Office 2003/2007 to create professional, server side documents. Typically, back office systems, CRM and ERP applications can use XBintegrator and XBoffice to extend their document features to improve reporting and document flow.
The XBtemplate designer is the client application to design and test templates. All design is done within a project assigned to users and/or user groups. The security model is easy to use and can retrieve user and password information from an active directory configuration over JNDI.
A data definition object describes the variable content that we want to merge into a template to obtain a resulting document. In oppositionto products using a “mail merge definition”, which is a pretty basic data model, XBoffice uses a more enriched data format called a data definition object.So, we have to define such a data definition object before we can start developing the template. Select the create new object function from the menu and choose the option “data definition object”. The create item wizard suggest to build a new “empty definition” using the inbuilt designer. As an alternative, we can also import an external defined data definition object based upon an XML sample, a schema or a DTD.
A data definition object holds all the variable information to be merged into the document. The information is stored into named fields which are easy to define by using the right mouse button menu.In our sample here, we want to create a document with company information followed by the contacts within that company. The object will hold information for one company and one of more contacts.Information regarding occurrences and data types can be assigned.
The new template is now created, ready for design.Notice that the document template is divided into 5 segments. The body segment or centre part of the template is one that can be designed here. The top, bottom, right and left segments can be connected to previously made, reusable document parts. Typical examples of reusable parts are company wide headers and footer blocks.We are going to design the template by selecting the design button on the screen.
All template design is performed within Microsoft Word 2003 or 2007 where the designer is able to use all inbuilt Word features like font, rotations, tables, macros and more, without restriction. At the places where the designer want to put variable data, he simply select the corresponding field from the attached dataset on the right side part of the screen. After doing that, the field is marked on the template within a pink placeholder as in the example here. The specific mapping training which is btw standard Word is easy and can be provided in our 1 or 2 day training. The resulting template is easy to understand. The fixed presentation, the layout and the styling here is enriched with the placeholders which will be replaced by data during document generation.
A test function embedded into the XBtemplatedesigner allows us to create a sample document based upon the dataset sample created in the beginning of this presentation.
A test function is also embedded into the XBadministratorThe function provides a set of parameters we can change request from time to time. Define the output format during save (HTML, PDF, DOC, RTF, TIFF and more) Print directly to a network printer
Here, the output is saved as PDF, opened in a traditional viewer.
We mentioned documents parts before in this presentation. In our sample here, we create a simple header part which we will going to use in the previously made template.A document part is similar in design, you can use a dataset but that’s not required as you see here. Our header part only contains our company logo.
On the left side, we see the document part, which is a basic component. On the right side we have the customer template. Attach the header template to the customer template by using a simple drag and drop. Select the desired region and release the mouse button. You can use the red X to detach the document part from the template at any time to undo your request.
Notice that all document parts are also presented in the actual template design mode. The header part is presented in the customer template were we can adjust the position.
Another powerful option is the rules engine which enable to add intelligence within the template itself.The rules view on the right is based upon the selected dataset fields and the viewport in the upper portion will always present previously defined rules in an ease to understand format. Use the manage button to change the rules for the selected dataset field. The other options in the lower right part of the view are explained later into this presentation.
The manage rules function allows us to create a condition at the top and one of more action to perform when the condition is met. Here, in thissimpleexample, we have selected a barcode. If the content is a Barcode Ean8 than we want to changethatinto a barcode.Use the ADD button to close the rules manager view.
Annotations are flexible named containers which can hold content like text, pictures and more. Here we created a new annotation called “Checked” which refers to the container holding an checked checkbox. Annotations are kept at the end of a template, in a marked region called XBoffice annotation area.
Annotation are often used in combination of a reference point, were the reference point points to a specific place into the document where you want to put the content of the annotation if a certain condition is met. Use the create reference point in the rules engine panel to add these elements to your active template.Notice the rules for the dataset element ‘Administrator’ within Product. If the value is “1” then we want to have the checked checkboxat the reference point which we have set just below the Remark field. If the value is “0” than we want to have the unchecked checkbox at the reference point.
This resulting document here, requested by the test function within the template designer, provides us another PDF document now enriched by content defined by the rules engine during generation.
As easy as with document templates, designers can also choose to create spreadsheet templates. Here, we are going to create a new spreadsheet template based upon the same dataset sample called “customers”.
Ms excel is automatically called by pressing the template design button. Design in based upon cell mapping where designers use “drag and drop” to connect dataset fields within the right panel overview onto the selected cell or cells.
Again, the test feature allows us to create a document based upon the dataset sample. Here, the content regarding company and contacts is merged into the foreseen cells. Notice that the engine will detect multiple occurrences and that this will result in as many as required rows to hold the content as you can see in the sample here. It’s evidence that we can use all excel features here to add formulas, layout function and things like pivot tables. Shortly summarized, all nice features available in MS excel 2003/2007.
