Publish Acrolinx Terminology Changes via RSS

Transcription

1 Publish Acrolinx Terminology Changes via RSS Only a limited number of people regularly access the Acrolinx Dashboard to monitor updates to terminology, but everybody uses an program all the time. This document describes how to use RSS to publish terminology changes to applications like Microsoft Outlook. Then, anybody can add the RSS Feed to Microsoft Outlook and stay informed about changes. The RSS feed can also be syndicated to other programs such as a company s web portal. 1

2 Overview Acrolinx terminology information can be exported to different XML formats. RSS is a standardized XML file format. It allows feeds to be published to other programs or websites. An RSS file can be created using the standalone Acrolinx term transfer tool. Because the tool is script-based you can automate a regular export using the Windows Task Scheduler or a UNIX cron job. Microsoft Outlook can then subscribe to the RSS stream. The RSS stream can also be evaluated by other systems, such as a company portal. 2

3 Server Configuration Set up a user and role Create a new role with the appropriate user privileges to use the term transfer tool. Add a designated user for the automated export and assign the required role. You can also re-purpose an existing user ID, but the password will be exposed in a plain text script file. 3

4 Create a Saved Configuration Use the term export wizard to create a saved configuration for the RSS export. Use the filter to define a range of terms to export. Acrolinx can filter terms that were changed in a time period relative to today s date. Select in the last days and enter a number, but do not enter a number that is too high. 4

5 Click the Save Export Configuration button to save your filter criteria with a meaningful file name. Install the Term Transfer Tool The automated process can be run on any machine, but it is probably easiest to use the Acrolinx server. If you have not already installed it, install the Java JRE. You can also use the Java JRE delivered as part of the Acrolinx server. Unpack the Term Transfer Tool to a location on your computer. Set the JAVA variable in transfer.bat. Example: SET JAVA_HOME="c:\Program Files\acrolinx\acrolinxIQ\server\java\" Create a server directory for saving the feed files. The directory needs to be available on a Web server such as the Acrolinx built-in Web Server. We suggest creating a directory feeds under output. Example: C:\Program Files\acrolinx\acrolinxIQ\server\www\output\feeds 5

6 Create a directory to hold the feed batch files. Example: C:\Program Files\acrolinx\feeds In this directory, create a Batch File that calls the export. Example content of the batch file: cd "C:\Program Files\acrolinx\feeds\acrolinx-term-transfer" transfer.bat --export --config 50days --user feeds --password "GJurv37-H" --server localhost --output "C:\Program Files\acrolinx\acrolinxIQ\server\www\output\feeds\50days.xml" The parameters have the following meaning: C:\Program Files\acrolinx\feeds\acrolinx-termtransfer 50days feeds GJurv37-H C:\Program Files\acrolinx\acrolinxIQ\server\www\output\feeds 50days.xml location of the Term Transfer tools Name of server export configuration Name of the user created for the automatic export Password of this user Path to feed file directory Name of the feed file to be created The example batch file above creates a feed file 50days.xml in the feeds directory. The URL of the RSS feed has the following format: 6

7 In this example: Set up a scheduled task The Windows Task Scheduler can be used to execute a program at a pre-defined time or after specified time intervals. The following screenshots show how to Schedule Tasks in Windows XP. 7

8 Schedule a new task. 8

9 The new task now appears in the list. 9

10 You can also start a task manually. Style Sheet Adaption The style sheet used for the RSS feed can be customized to the local needs. Server URL: You need to configure the server name in the style sheet, so the links to the term database work correctly. Update interval: Configure how often clients shall retrieve the feed, e.g. how often the feed is renewed. Feed description: o You can define what fields from the terminology database should be displayed in the description area. o You can display comments with the term. Client Configuration The RSS feed can be displayed by many different clients. This section shows some prototypical examples, and explains how to configure them. Firefox The RSS Feed can be loaded directly in web browsers such as Firefox. 10

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12 Thunderbird Thunderbird has a separate Blogs & News Feeds option that can be used to subscribe to feeds. 12

13 Links open in the default web browser 13

14 Outlook Click the File tab. Open the Account Settings. On the RSS Feeds tab, click New. Type the URL of your RSS feed. 14

15 On the RSS Feed Options dialog box, click OK. 15

16 The RSS postings appear in the RSS Feeds directory. New postings also appear in Unread Messages. 16

17 Embedding the feed for Web-based applications You can also publish the RSS feed to web-based applications, such as your Intranet Portal. Many web content management systems (WCMS) support RSS feeds as a standard feature. 17