Documentum content server basics

Documentum Basics

WHAT IS CONTENT ?

Files stored on the file system are generally unstructred and can contain information in any form.

Such files and information they contain are collectively reffered to as "Content".

A check Image ,an email,a manual in PDF format, and a vedio clip are all example of unstructured content . Some file formats,such as a comma seperated values(CSV),may contain data that may be considered as structured.

"However every file can be considred 'content', irrespective of its format"

WHAT IS METADATA ? 

As the content itself unstructerd ,it is not possible to read and understand the content without any prior knowledge of it.Therefore,each content item is associated with some structred data,which desribes the content item.this data that provides information about the attached content item is called "metadata".

Metadata consists of a set of data items called "properties" or "Attributes".

In other words Metadata is "Data about the data"

DESCRIBE REPOSITORY ?

A Repository is a managed unit of content and metadata storage and includes areas on the file system and a database.

Content management systems need to manage both content and metadata. Documentum uses the host file system (by default) to store the content and a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) to manage metadata and its association with the content items.

Note: Content can also be stored in other types of storage systems, including an RDBMS, a content-addressed storage (CAS), or external storage devices.

The organizational details of files and metadata in a repository are hidden from the users and applications that need to interact with the repository. The repository is managed and made available to the users and applications via standard interfaces by a Content Server process.

1). A repository can include full-text indexes if an Index Server is a part of the installation. Full-text indexes enable rapid searching within content files and metadata.

2).A repository can also include an XML store to provide native XML persistence and management capabilities.

3). The repository infrastructure can include directory services as an authentication mechanism.

Note : The repository was officially referred to as docbase in pre-5.3 Documentum versions. The term docbase is still popular and is used interchangeably with repository.

Repository Basic Structure :

What is Content Server ?

1. Content Server Serves content to applications ,which provide friendly interfaces to human users.Content  Server brings the stored content and metadata to life and manages its lifecycle. It exposes a known interface for accessing content while hiding the details of how and where the files and metadata are stored.
2. Content Server core functionality is that allows users to 
3. • Create
   • capture 
   • Manage
   • Deliver
   • Archive Enterprise Content.
4. Content Server provides an Application Programming Interface (API) and therefore needs applications in front of it to expose a friendly interface to human users. Documentum provides desktop and web-based client applications and supports the creation of custom applications of either type.
5.  The following figure shows several client applications interacting with a Content Server instance: