EMC DOCUMENT SCIENCES INTERACTIVE DOCUMENT DEVELOPMENT KIT

Transcription

1 White Paper EMC DOCUMENT SCIENCES INTERACTIVE DOCUMENT DEVELOPMENT KIT Integrating interactive document generation with line-of-business systems Abstract This white paper describes the need to embed interactive document creation, editing, and output in LOB systems. It then provides an overview of the EMC Document Sciences Interactive Document Development Kit (IDDK), which enables developers to integrate the assembly, interactive editing, and document output capabilities of EMC Document Sciences xpression with these systems. July 2011

2 Copyright 2011 EMC Corporation. All Rights Reserved. EMC believes the information in this publication is accurate of its publication date. The information is subject to change without notice. The information in this publication is provided as is. EMC Corporation makes no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to the information in this publication, and specifically disclaims implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Use, copying, and distribution of any EMC software described in this publication requires an applicable software license. For the most up-to-date listing of EMC product names, see EMC Corporation Trademarks on EMC.com. Part Number h5110 2

3 Table of Contents Executive summary... 4 Audience... 4 Line-of-business systems drive document processes... 4 Bridging the gap: the... 5 IDDK functionality... 5 Template selection... 6 Document generation... 7 Document editing... 7 Workflow... 9 Publish and distribute Report and track Conclusion Appendix Technical overview Standards and development environment References

4 Executive summary The majority of business communication is driven by line-of-business (LOB) systems. These systems require the generation of specific types of customer correspondence at particular points in a business process such as insurance claims review, mortgage loan servicing, and global trade settlement. Typically, these documents need to be created and distributed in real time, often in response to customer inquiries or to communicate changes in customer information. The quandary that many organizations face is how to incorporate robust, interactive customer correspondence functionality within the LOB system. Standalone document generation systems can provide the functionality but often don t play well within the workflow confines of an operational system. Custom integrations fashioned by IT are time-consuming, expensive to build and maintain, and are often fragile. When the LOB system changes, the integration is likely to fail. EMC Document Sciences has brought its considerable expertise and experience to this issue. The Document Sciences Interactive Document Development Kit (IDDK) is a set of web services coupled with an interactive document editor that enables developers to quickly and easily build highly customized, interactive correspondence applications and embed them in LOB systems. Audience This white paper is intended for line-of-business managers and application developers who want to more fully integrate compliant, on-demand, and interactive document generation capabilities with their existing systems. Line-of-business systems drive document processes Whatever the core competencies of an enterprise, they are realized through line-ofbusiness (LOB) systems. These systems link business objectives to operations. Likewise, documents connect LOB systems to customers. But although LOB systems incorporate a lot of domain knowledge and process automation capability, they typically have very limited communications functionality. They can t handle complex document creation and assembly, integrate with ECM systems, or publish to multiple channels. About all they can do is extract data and export it to the batch process of a standalone document generation system. This is a critical shortcoming because documents, especially correspondence, are central to any company s efforts to get, keep, and grow customers. 1 And today s customers expect high quality, relevant, personalized and customized correspondence, delivered quickly via their preferred channels. These expectations increase the need for on-demand and interactive document generation capabilities that are specific to a line of business. 1 "Interactive Documents Get Smarter." Peppers & Rogers Group (2009) 4

5 Note: Personalization and customization use variables and business rules to automate the inclusion of certain types of information in documents. Personalization adds information based on individual customer data. It can be as simple as adding a first and last name but could also encompass customer account details or charts and graphs generated from that data. Customization enables documents to include content, such as jurisdiction-specific legal language or targeted marketing messages, which are only applicable under certain circumstances and match attributes associated with a group of customers. Document creation and editing need to be in the hands of those who have direct contact with customers. Yet organizations are challenged to bring the power and control of standalone document generation systems to the point of sale or service. Instead there is a technology gap between document generation and line-of-business systems that requires the labor-intensive involvement of IT to bridge. Recognizing this, Document Sciences created the Interactive Document Development Kit (IDDK). Bridging the gap: the The IDDK enables developers to cost effectively integrate the rules-based assembly, interactive editing, and document output capabilities of the EMC Document Sciences xpression customer communications management platform with LOB systems such as mortgage loan servicing, customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), and insurance claims review. Such integration reduces development cost and time to market while eliminating the need for business users to master separate tools and interfaces to generate or edit documents integral to their business processes. In addition, the IDDK gives application developers complete control over the business user experience. IDDK functionality Every interactive document has a slightly different process, but all share a set of common tasks and functions. Those tasks and functions will differ from document to document, even within a single line of business. Since it s impossible to anticipate every possible variation, Document Sciences created the IDDK, which is a set of web services coupled with an interactive document editor that enables developers to quickly and easily build highly customized, interactive document applications. With IDDK, any functionality of xpression can be embedded into an LOB solution so that its document creation capabilities align with underlying business processes. The graphic below depicts the steps in creating a change of address notice in a CRM application. 5

6 Figure 1 An interactive document process in a CRM application The following sections use a change of address example to illustrate the functionality of an interactive document application developed with the IDDK. Template selection The template selection function allows templates to be organized and presented in a flexible business-oriented hierarchy so that end users in this case customer service representatives (CSRs) can quickly select the right template to use for a particular interactive document process. With the xpression DevKit Catalog interface, developers can add metadata to document templates in the form of tags and custom fields. After metadata is attached to each template using the Catalog interface, the xpression DevKit Catalog web services can be used in the front end application. For example, the getcataloginfo web service allows the developer to retrieve all tags and custom fields that have been associated with templates and employ them to create a search interface such as a drop-down menu. To find a template, a CSR would select metadata and, using the searchfordocuments method, the search interface would locate the templates that matched those criteria. The same interface could also 6

7 enable the CSR to preview the templates returned in thumbnail form (iquickdoc thumbnailfordocument method) and retrieve additional information about the template (descriptionfordocument method). Template Selection Web Services xpression DevKit Catalog Web Service getcataloginfo searchfordocuments iquickdoc Web Service thumbnailfordocument descriptionfordocument Document generation Once a template is selected, the createdocumentitem method can be utilized to generate a document instance a fully assembled, personalized document populated with data from the LOB system. After previewing the document, the CSR would proceed to editing to make any necessary changes. Document Generation Web Services xpression DevKit Web Service createdocumentitem publishandreturndocumentitem Document editing Often correspondence must be edited prior to publication and distribution. Businesses want users to be able to edit some, but not all, content and will require approval for certain types of changes. The IDDK features xeditor, which provides a controlled, Microsoft Word-based environment in which sections and variables can be locked down using Word s read-only protection mechanism. To integrate xeditor with an LOB application, the application needs to call the createauthenticationtoken web service to obtain a licensed IDDK seat. Then HTTP query strings are used to launch the editor. The editor can be configured in xpression Admin to enable only the functionality needed. The application administrator can create as many configurations as needed for the user base. Once in xeditor, the CSR can edit the content and variable data of the document instance, which might include adding optional paragraphs. Consistent with the CSR s permissions level, she could make free-form text changes to portions of the 7

8 Figure 2 xeditor can lock down sections and variables, while permitting addition of optional paragraphs and free-form editing in other sections. document that are not locked. The CSR can preview changes in PDF format, and each document template can be linked to a PDF output profile so operation features such as barcodes and watermarks can be previewed. An IDDK interactive application can track and report all changes to variable data. Content changes are tracked at the Revision Unit level and can be reviewed within xeditor using Microsoft Word s Track Changes feature. Event notifications can be triggered on the Open, Save, and Close events in xeditor. Event messages use a RESTful architecture. If the CSR wants to update variables in the document instance without regenerating the document, an IDDK application can do this by making web service calls outside of the xeditor environment with the updateprimaryvariables, updateruvariables, and publishandreturndocumentitem web services. Likewise, by going outside xeditor using the addexternalcontentbylink and addexternalcontentbystream methods, IDDK can enable CSRs to add enclosures via attachments such as PDF, Word (doc or docx), or TIFF files. Notes can also be added to a document instance using the addannotation method. The searchdocumentitem web service gives developer the ability to add powerful search capabilities to the application interface. 8

9 Document Editing Web Services xpression DevKit Web Service createauthenticationtoken addexternalcontentbylink addexternalcontentbystream updateprimaryvariables updateruvariables publishandreturndocumentitem addannotation searchdocumentitem getdocumentiteminfo Workflow Although IDDK provides a set of web services to provide simple workflow capabilities, any workflow tool can be used to move document instances through the approval process. This can include the LOB system s workflow, as well as the workflow of any third-party application such as IBM FileNet or commonly used open source applications. xpression document generation and publishing can also be integrated with workflow through EMC Documentum TaskSpace. TaskSpace enables business users to build a workflow using a graphical, drag-and-drop interface. xpression includes a standard and advanced activity template for TaskSpace. The standard template accommodates simple documents that use a small number of variables. The advanced template enables XML to be supplied directly to the template, which is appropriate for complex documents with many constant values that must be mapped to process data. Workflow Web Services xpression DevKit Web Service submitdocumentitem approvedocumentitem rejectdocumentitem completedocumentitem 9

10 Publish and distribute The multi-threaded Java EE architecture of xpression is ideally suited for high-speed interactive publishing in a variety of formats. Using the publishandreturndocumentitem web service, a document instance such as a changeof-address letter can be previewed in any format appropriate for the business purpose. The same web service can also handle final output. Document instances can also be previewed by Revision Units, which enable different departments to review and approve separate sections of a single document instance. To do this, the Revision Unit information from getdocumentiteminfo is used in combination with the publishrevisionunits web service. Publish and Distribute Web Services xpression DevKit Web Service publishandreturndocumentitem publishrevisionunits getdocumentiteminfo Report and track Every action involving a document instance is recorded for reporting purposes and can be retrieved with the getdocumentiteminfo web service. Data is returned in an XML format, which makes it usable by third-party reporting tools. Using the getdocumentiteminfo web service, the CSR in our use case could review: Template used Annotations Revision Unit changes Optional paragraph selections Variable values History Attached external content Audit data Documents locked for editing by other users Report and Track Web Services xpression DevKit Web Service getdocumentiteminfo 10

11 Conclusion The IDDK enables developers to cost effectively integrate the rules-based assembly, interactive editing, and document output capabilities of Document Sciences xpression with LOB systems. Embedding this functionality in LOB systems puts document creation and editing in the hands of those who have direct contact with customers. Document creation capabilities align with underlying business processes while customers receive high quality, relevant, personalized, and customized correspondence, delivered quickly via their preferred channels. Appendix Technical overview With version 4.0, EMC Document Sciences xpression introduced a new web service API that conforms to the WS-I Basic Profile. As a result, the old xframework web service API, Java API, and xadapter have been deprecated. Although these items will be supported for backward compatibility in the current version, EMC Document Sciences encourages developers to use the new web service API, which offers better performance, greater flexibility, and enhanced security. Standards and development environment When the original xpression API was developed, it conformed to accepted SOAP standards. These standards have undergone significant changes in recent years. The new API provides many improvements to the old API. In this new iteration, xpression offers the IQuickDoc and IDocumentItem web services. The IQuickDoc set of web service methods provides the simplest and most commonly used xpression services, which are delivered as part of any xpression installation. The IDocumentItem web service serves as an extension of IQuickDoc for solutionspecific capabilities. These web service methods add considerable power to the ways in which developers assemble, edit, manipulate, publish, and return data about published documents. They allow external systems to query, and in some cases, update information in Document Sciences xpression without accessing the xpression database. The web service methods are powerful and use complex types that require more sophisticated coding. Although more IDDK web service methods will be released in the future, currently IDDK contains only the IDocumentItem and Catalog web services. IDDK also contains xeditor, a component that can be embedded in applications. xeditor is a Microsoft Word-based editor that enables Microsoft Word s powerful editing and composition features to edit work items in correspondence applications. 11

12 References To learn more about Document Sciences IDDK, refer to the xframework Developer s Guide available on EMC Powerlink. 12