censhare Feature Summary
Version 4.10. as of August 20th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014 censhare at a glance: Concise summary of components, characteristics, features, technologies and contents of the censhare publication system for decision makers, project managers, sales people and IT personnel
1 Summary
The intention of this document is to provide a keyword-based overview of the censhare publication system, to help decision makers to appraise the system’s capabilities and compare it to competitive products on the market. This feature summary is technically oriented and divided into the major building blocks of the censhare system. Some descriptions might overlap in the different chapters. Features described in this summary might be available only in certain versions, license models or distributions of the censhare system and are subject to change. Many features might appear under different terminology and arrangements in censhare’s sales literature when pre-configured for specific application areas and trades. For more detailed information about the censhare publication system please refer to a censhare AG representative or one of censhare’s distribution partners.
2 Table of Contents
1. censhare System Architecture 1.1 Fundamental Technologic Architecture...... 6 1.2 XML Technology...... 6 1.3 Virtual File System for Client Applications...... 6
2. censhare Databases 2.1 Core Database...... 7 2.2 Embedded Database...... 7
3. File Management 3.1 Supported File Storage Architectures...... 8 3.2 Mime Types...... 8 3.3 Distributed File Systems...... 8 3.4 Archiving...... 8 3.5 censhare FailSafe...... 8
4. censhare Clients 4.1 censhare Client...... 9 4.2 censhare Web-Client...... 9 4.3 censhare Admin-Client...... 10 4.4 censhare Render-Client...... 10 4.5 censhare Service-Client...... 10
5. Domain Concept 5.1 Domain Features...... 11
6. User and Privileges Management 6.1 User Management...... 12 6.2 Privilege Management...... 12 6.3 Security...... 12
7. Asset Management 7.1 Asset Data Model...... 13 7.2 Asset Management...... 13 7.3 Asset Behaviour...... 13 7.4 Duplicate Asset Handling...... 14 7.5 Address Management...... 14 7.6 Asset Relations...... 14 7.7 Version Management...... 14 7.8 Asset Search...... 14 7.9 Asset Content Indexing...... 15
8. Collaboration and Communication Capabilities 8.1 Messaging Service...... 16 8.2 Email...... 16 8.3 Asset Notes...... 16 8.4 Workflow Management...... 16 8.5 Rating...... 16
9. Content Management 9.1 XML Content Editor...... 17 9.2 InCopy XML Content Editor...... 17 9.3 Microsoft Office Suite Documents...... 17 9.4 Text Editor...... 18 9.5 Interface to Oxygen Editor...... 18
10. Image Management 10.1 Image Files...... 19 10.2 Preview Generation...... 19 10.3 Image Editing...... 19 10.4 OPI Support...... 19 10.5 Supported Image Formats...... 19
11. Video Management 11.1 Video Transcoding...... 21 11.2 Preview Generation...... 21 11.3 Supported Transcoding Engines...... 21 11.4 censhare Services and Modules...... 21
12. Ad Management 12.1 Ad Administration...... 22 12.2 Ad Production...... 22
13. Time Management 13.1 System Basics...... 23 13.2 Schedule Application...... 23 13.3 Calendar Application...... 23
14. Geographical Information Management 14.1 Geographical Metadata...... 24 14.2 Map Widget...... 24 14.3 Address Conversion...... 24
15. Variant Management 15.1 Basic Variant Features...... 25 15.2 Transformation Variants...... 25 15.3 Asset Structure Duplicates...... 25 15.4 Variant Templates...... 25
16. Language Management 16.1 System Localization...... 26 16.2 Translation Application...... 26 16.3 Translation Memory Application...... 26 16.4 Translation Management 3...... 26 16.5 Glossary Application...... 26 16.6 3rd Party Support...... 27
17. Flatplan 17.1 Flatplan Application...... 28 17.2 Sheet Plan...... 28 17.3 Classified Page Assembly...... 28 17.4 Statistic Function...... 28 17.5 Preview Function...... 29
18. Layout Management 18.1 Adobe InDesign Integration...... 30 18.2 Data Integration...... 30 18.3 Asset Structure Placements...... 30 18.4 XPress & FrameMaker Integration...... 31
19. Template Management 19.1 Basic Template Features...... 32 19.2 Asset Structure Duplicates...... 32 19.3 Layout Editor...... 32
20. Article Management 20.1 Basic Article Features...... 33 20.2 Article-Editor...... 33
21. Importing into censhare 21.1 Client Based File Imports...... 34 21.2 Server Based File Imports...... 34 21.3 Interfaces...... 34 21.4 Developer Interfaces...... 34
22. Exporting from censhare 22.1 Client Based Exports...... 35 22.2 Server Based Exports...... 35 22.3 Output Channels...... 35
23. Mobile Channel 23.1 Mobile Channel Basics...... 36 23.2 Viewer App...... 36 23.3 Adobe Digital Publishing Suite (DPS)...... 36 23.4 Mobile Content Deployment...... 36
24. Online Channel 24.1 Online Channel Basics...... 37 24.2 Architecture...... 37 24.3 Presentation Layer...... 37 24.4 Online Content...... 37 24.5 User Generated and Personalized Content...... 37 24.6 Extensibility, Performance and Scalability...... 38 24.7 Datastore and Hosting...... 38 24.8 Integration with 3rd Party Products and Partners...... 38 24.9 Searching and SEO...... 38 24.10 E-Marketing...... 38 24.11 Online Channel Builder...... 39
25. Customizing the censhare System 25.1 General Customization Features...... 40 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
1. censhare System Architecture
1.1 Fundamental Technologic Architecture
• 3-tier-architecture • service-oriented architecture (SOA) • one centralized Oracle database per system • any number of distributed, individually customizable application servers • specialized proprietary embedded database for performance enhancement in the application servers • all network traffic based on TCP/IP protocol with customizable ports • interface for hierarchical asset exchange among different censhare systems • optional server-to-server desaster-recovery feature (Unix/Linux/Solaris-based servers only) • integration of given file systems • Nagios support • Server- and client code written in Java and available for Windows XP/Vista/7/8, Mac OS-X 10.5 or higher, and Linux/ Unix/Solaris (server only)
1.2 XML Technology
• own implementation of XML, XPath and XSLT in JAVA • extensions in XPath - access to assets - access to master data - access to client preferences • extensions in XSLT (since version 4.7) - asset management (create, check-out, abort check-out, check-in, update, duplicate, delete) - XML transformations - image transformations (scale, crop, rotate, flip, …) - barcode transformations (create EAN, QR, …) - FOP transformations - Microsoft Office (read Word and Excel documents) - file I/O (copy files, read and write XML) - render (execute Adobe InDesign Server rendering commands) - PDF transformations (combine, get info, get formula data) - Twitter interface (search, read, post) (since version 4.8) - Facebook interface (get friends, search, get info, post link, post message, post photo, post video) (since version 4.8) - Youtube interface (get video info, list video categories, upload video) (since version 4.8) - Email interface (send, list, read, delete) (since version 4.8)
1.3 Virtual File System for Client Applications
(introduced in version 4.7)
• own implementation of a virtual file system which is mounted by censhare client applications • communication goes through the censhare client applications (no separate connection required) • access to all allowed files and transformations • desktop applications (Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe PhotoShop, …) can work with file links to the mounted virtual file system • files can be placed with drag&drop from the censhare client to the desktop applications • file links get a new modification date in case of a new file version
6 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
2. censhare Databases
2.1 Core Database
• centralized, high-performance Oracle database • data model fully constrained • standard database maintenance tasks are operated by censhare automatically, for example: verification of the data model, index consistency check, database statistics update, resolution of database locks, pre-emptive index rebuild, purging • data model entirely Unicode-based • automatic multi-language scheme handling • database extensible by the customer; data model is represented by an extensible XML database scheme to the application logic • self-creating HTML documentation of the data model
2.2 Embedded Database
• in-house developed, proprietary, non-transactional, high-performance database engine for caching purposes and special applications. This database is embedded into the application servers, the translation memory management module and the Online Channel webservers • automatic synchronization with core database • automatic error-recovery • maintenance-free • unlimited scalability • monitor for all index data of a given asset in the embedded database (since version 4.1) • optional compression of database files (saves about 25% file size) (since version 4.5) • diacritics removed for full text searches • stemming of full text index data and search terms can be disabled in the embedded database settings
7 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
3. File Management
3.1 Supported File Storage Architectures
• support for most common file sharing protocols and solutions like Helios Ethershare, Mac OS 9/X (afp/Apple Double), Samba and more • support for Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) (since version 4.8) • integrated file system replication for backup and preemptive data distribution • integrated file management maintenance tools for volume cleaning, verifying asset/file consistency, file system size monitoring and more • integrated file streaming allows client file access without mounting volumes on client computers. File streaming support for InDesign (CS4 or higher)
3.2 Mime Types
• more than 130 predefined mime types • mime type list fully customizable and extensible by the customer • automatic magicbyte recognition of mime types by on-the-fly file content analysis • mime type specific behaviour for many system features • support for Mac OS-X bundle files (since version 4.8)
3.3 Distributed File Systems
• support for any number of distributed file systems in one censhare environment • automatic file system allocation by domain-based rules • integrated tools for data exchange between distributed file systems, either manually or automatically based on customizable events, schedules or rules • all file transfer between distributed file systems is transparent for the user and requires no external tools
3.4 Archiving
• support for any number of distributed archiving file systems • integrated support for file archiving • manual archiving and de-archiving of single assets or entire hierarchical asset structures • automatic archiving of single assets or entire hierarchical structures based on customizable schedules, events or rules • support for selective archiving of dedicated file types and versions • automatic inter-asset dependency checks during archiving • archived assets remain fully searchable in the database • support for archiving solutions like EMC Centera, IBM Sharc, HSM
3.5 censhare FailSafe
• support for database-less emergency file access by web-based backend of the file systems • automatic live synchronization of the FailSafe web-backend • file access in the web client by essential asset metadata, previews, version history information and rule-based lists • direct file transfer to local client computer from the web-backend
8 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
4. censhare Clients
4.1 censhare Client
• Java-based, highly configurable, all-purpose client application for Windows XP/Vista/7/8 and Mac OS-X 10.5 or higher • censhare Client includes the following applications: - asset query (including search and filter capabilities, attribute editing, overview, version and history managers, user/team editor, and much more) - tag-based content editor - InCopy-exchange-format-based content editor - translation client - translation with memory client - image editor - layout editor - address editor - schedule application - calendar application - manual import and export - flatplan - collection editor - basket & wishlist docks - field-based content editor - text editor (since version 4.3.) • user interface defined in censhare’s proprietary XML-based GUI-description language • freely customizable, role-specific windows with a docking framework, tabs, multiple toolbars, lists and a plethora of widgets like hierarchical popup menus, edit fields, calendars, check buttons, auto-completion and much more • widgets for tabs, radio-buttons, image-crop and define slices (since version 4.5) • variables can be defined to be used in widgets (since version 4.5) • zoomable thumbnails in gallery view • comparison view displays previews of two assets side by side (since version 4.6) • optionally show new created assets in a new asset query tab (since version 4.6) • Mac OS-X-like quick look for asset selection • customizable, switchable look and feel schemes (bright and dark) • censhare Client is fully preconfigured for full functionality out of the box • special “protected” client version for high-security environments (administrative options are removed from code before compilation) • hierarchical local and server-based client preferences • multithreading allows up to 5 parallel operations at a time • all client communication is TCP-based with customizable ports and optional SSL-encryption • client-server communication can optionally be compressed up to 9 levels for low-bandwidth connections • support for multiple hosts; rapid switching between two hosts • native PDF preview, utilizing the client computer’s PDF-plugin of the default browser. According to the PDF-plugin capabilities the PDF preview supports zooming, browsing, printing and email dispatching (since version 4.4.) • installer, based on Windows Installer (.msi), is available to install the client on Windows based platforms (since version 4.5) • possibility to have read and write access to the client preferences in asset dialogs via XML Editor (since version 4.6)
4.2 censhare Web-Client
• highly configurable, multi-purpose client application for all modern browser versions • based on Ajax/Web2.0 technologies • censhare Web-Client includes the following applications: - asset query (including search and filter capabilities, attribute editing, overview, version and history managers) - tag-based content editor - InCopy-exchange-format-based content editor - translation client - translation with memory client - image editor - layout editor - address editor - schedule application - calendar application - manual import and export
9 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
- flatplan in read-only mode - collection editor - basket & wishlist docks - text editor (since version 4.3.) • user interface defined in censhare’s proprietary XML-based GUI-description language • freely customizable, role-specific windows with a docking framework, tabs, multiple toolbars, lists and a plethora of widgets like hierarchical popup menus, edit fields, calendars, check buttons and much more • auto-completion widget for fast and comfortable metadata editing • zoomable thumbnails in gallery view • Mac OS-X-like quick view for asset selection • bright and dark look and feel schemes • censhare Web-Client can be branded in colors and logo for corporate purposes • censhare Web-Client is fully preconfigured for full functionality out of the box • drag&drop support • user preferences are stored in the database • support for secure (https) connections • support for keyboard shortcuts • filter-based “grub” mode for casual asset browsing
4.3 censhare Admin-Client
• Java-based censhare frontend for system customization and monitoring • available for Windows XP/Vista/7/8 and Mac OS-X 10.5 or higher • user interface for maintaining “regular data” in the database • user interface for accessing the XML customization layer containing the configuration files of the server modules and services • built-in XML editor with text search capability, syntax coloring, line counter, validation and error location support • extensive list-based monitoring tools for system states, connected users, pending tasks and system errors • graphical, customizable long-term monitoring of some 50 vital system parameters • full integration into the privilege concept, allowing domain-specific sub-administrators with arbitrary restrictions
4.4 censhare Render-Client
• Java-based censhare frontend for Adobe InDesign Server CS-3/CS-4/CS-5/CS-6/CC/CC 2014 • available for Windows XP/Vista/7/8 and Mac OS-X 10.5 or higher • censhare Render-Client can run chromeless as a Microsoft Windows Service (since version 4.1.) • support for multiple Adobe InDesign instances via SOAP interface (requires Adobe InDesign CS-5 Server or later, a multi-instance license and censhare 4.0.2 or later) • support for the distribution of different Adobe InDesign version numbers to multiple dedicated servers (since version 4.1.) • automatic execution of content and geometry updates in layout documents (since version 4.1.) • preview generation for layout editors, translation editors and content editors (since version 4.1.) • automatic PDF generation with multiple configurable profiles • optional auto-start, auto-login and automatic application recognition • chromeless execution mode for maximum throughput (since 4.1.) • automatic load balancing among all active Render-Clients (“Round Robin”) (since version 4.4.) • reliability verification (monitoring of availability and bandwidth of remote Render-Clients) (since version 4.4.)
4.5 censhare Service-Client
• Java-based censhare frontend for 3rd-party-software like ImageMagick, Ghostscript and Helios for distributed image processing • available for Windows XP/Vista/7/8, Mac OS-X 10.5 or higher, Oracle SUN Solaris, Linux (provided that the desired 3rd-party-software is available for the respective platform)
10 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
5. Domain Concept
5.1 Domain Features
• two independent, freely extensible and customizable hierarchical domain trees • domain trees can be extended and nodes be re-arranged and renamed on-the-fly in the running system • all assets and most regular data are domain-bound, thus implementing a multiple client environment on node-level • server based domain access verification for highly secure multiple client distinction • the domain structure is part of the user permissions rule set • the domain structure is responsible for asset – file system association • the domain structure is available throughout the customization layer for domain specific distinctions • smart domain-to-asset assignment in dependence of user’s and asset parent’s domain
11 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
6. User and Privileges Management
6.1 User Management
• individual user accounts with global access and visibility flags • support for virtual users (representing, for example, system processes) • support for external, email-triggered collaborators • assignment of any number of roles and domains to each user account • support for Kerberos-based authentication services like LDAP and AD, including support for single-sign-on • support for collaboration teams (groups) and optional on-the-fly creation of teams by users • the user account can be linked to an asset of type “web user” to allow standard login of system users as users of Online Channel websites and to provide a source of user-related content and metadata (like a photo of the user and alike) (since version 4.1.)
6.2 Privilege Management
• five levels of privilege control: - domains control which assets a user can see - roles control which actions a user can perform on all the assets that belong to the accessible domain scope - asset user ownership allows access control for individual assets - permission keys can be assigned to the assets metadata to allow tiered access to individual assets based on roles, rather than domains (since version 4.2.) - user interface customization controls, which metadata become accessible for the role • more than 80 individual permission keys • permission keys extensible for customized server modules • permission sets for common permission key constellations • roles combine privileges of any selection of permission sets • permission sets can be limited to workflows and subsets of workflow steps • individual assets can be associated with any selection of permission keys, allowing role-specific, domain- independent asset access (since version 4.2.) • individual assets can be associated with one or more asset owners. Non-owner access can be defined to no access, read only access or full access (since version 4.7)
6.3 Security
• encrypted passwords • optional expiring passwords • optional user changeable passwords • password strength verification with customizable regular expressions • support for server-side creation and distribution of passwords • optional SSL-encrypted client-server-communication • optional protected client versions without administrative features
12 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
7. Asset Management
7.1 Asset Data Model
• an extensive default metadata model of more than 200 parameters describes every aspect of an asset, its relations, elements and files • default metadata model contains (among many others): - global unique asset identification numbers (UUID) - file information (mime type, file size, image-parameters, relative storage locations ...) - status information; manually assigned and calculated deadlines - keyword thesauri, free text fields, authorship information, language codes, comments, domains - production history (modification timestamps and involved users) - utilization parameters; priority; rating; validity • easy metadata extension with censhare’s “features”, which provide 27 different data types, hierarchical value lists, groups and categories and domain-dependency • “context sensitive features” allow hierarchical metadata-structures (since 4.2.) • “relevance” defines the relevance of a feature for an asset (since version 4.8) • “unit sets” can be assigned to “features”. About 530 pre-defined units, based on the “Unified Code for Units of Measure” (short UCUM), can be grouped to unit sets. Units can have a base unit with a factor to allow conversions between units (since version 4.5) • automated server modules allow schedule-, rule- and/or event-based inheritance of metadata up and down the asset hierarchies • “address” asset type provides a dedicated metadata model for the storage of address-related data and contact persons • “website” asset type allows drag&drop creation of URL assets from a browser with customizable preview creation and preview updates (since version 4.1.)
7.2 Asset Management
• manual asset creation; file import asset creation; asset creation from within layout applications and asset-planning • server based automatic asset creation from emails, hotfolders and interfaces • role-specific, multiple, fully customizable forms for editing asset metadata in censhare Client and censhare Web-Client • support for batch-editing metadata of any selection of assets • drag & drop assignment of metadata between related assets (since version 4.4.) • check-in and check-out of assets (locking of assets) • read-only (non-locking), check-out and read-only (non-locking) asset metadata access • 3-stage manual deletion of assets (suggest for deletion, mark for deletion, override dependency checks, version-only deletion, file-only deletion) • administrative features for automatic, rule-based asset purging
7.3 Asset Behaviour
• freely extensible, customizable, hierarchical “asset types” • native plugin support for master files of the following applications: - Adobe InDesign CS-3, CS-4, CS-5, CS-5.5, CS-6, CC, CC 2014 - Adobe InCopy CS-3, CS-4, CS-5, CS-5.5, CS-6, CC, CC 2014 - Adobe FrameMaker 8 - QuarkXPress 4/6 • some 20 pre-defined asset types for media management and publishing • 16 built-in “asset application types” that control the check-out behaviour of assets • dedicated metadata asset application type for file-less assets • asset types are associated with default “asset application types” • manual and automatic (mime type steered) overriding of default asset application assignments • files of all other applications without native censhare plugins can be checked in and out over the standard client • comprehensive feature set for layout applications: - deconstruction of pages into subtext-, pagearea- and image-assets (enables concurrent collaboration on the same document) - automatic deconstruction of image-assets - automatic page number to metadata extraction - OPI image toggling - drag&drop support for placing assets - geometry update to synchronize the layout documents to the flatplan
13 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
- manual and automatic content update to synchronize interim changes of child assets - XML placeholders for dynamic content (InDesign only) • optional role-specific mime type-to-application assignments • shop behaviour: users can collect assets in baskets and wishlists, swap items between lists and check-out order baskets. Customizable export of basket contents. Automatic creation of administrative order assets upon check-out (since version 4.1.) • external applications can be defined to open or view asset files. By default Apple Preview, Safari, Adobe PhotoShop, Adobe Digital Editions, Adobe Illustrator, TextWrangler, Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome are pre-defined (since version 4.5) • serveraction to generate slideshows (since version 4.6)
7.4 Duplicate Asset Handling
• built-in duplicate asset detector as server action with arbitrary matching criteria of the entire metadata set • detector available for all asset types • multiple instances of an asset (according to the matching criteria) are collected in a dedicated grouping asset type for simplified comparison • support of hashcodes as matching criteria (since version 4.4.) • support of fuzzy matching criteria for text, numbers and dates (since version 4.4.) • support for geodata range matching (since version 4.4.) • support for complex matching criteria utilizing censhare’s XPath language • duplicate assets can be merged, based on a customizable rule set for the asset’s content and metadata, preserving all dependencies and relations (since version 4.4.)
7.5 Address Management
• pre-configured address editor for persons, companies and employment relationships with contact cards, photos/logos and map display
7.6 Asset Relations
• all assets, regardless their type, can be linked to each other with relations, thus building hierarchical, semantic asset structures • customizable rules for permissible dependencies between asset- and relation-types (since version 4.1.) • multiple parent- and child-relations per asset • default relation types for technical dependencies (actual relation), planning associations (target relation) and arbitrary user-generated relations (user relation) • fully customizable, extensible, directional and non-directional asset relation types • extensive visualization of asset relations by icons, colors, tree-views, a dedicated column view and a semantic, animated, mind map-like relations browser – the censhare Network View (since version 4.4.) • support for subsequent manual modifications of existing asset relations • asset relations contain their own metadata model (allowing, for example, different placement instructions for an ad asset that is placed in different issues) • customizable, user-editable metadata as censhare “features” for relations (since version 4.2.) • “collection” asset type groups related individual assets into a super-asset structure for common treatment
7.7 Version Management
• full version history of an asset’s files, metadata, previews and relations • any old version of an asset can be restored together with the respective versions of related assets • customizable version preservation rules and safekeeping periods • version history access restricted by privileges • manual and automatic version creation • manual version skipping • automatic, selective deletion of version • optional history of actions applied to assets • four different version visualization tools: version short list as asset query window dock; activity report (history); version overview window; asset version comparison window, summarizing metadata-, text- and preview changes (since version 4.4.)
7.8 Asset Search
• fulltext search of file contents
14 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
• search facilities for all metadata • customizable common meta-index for selected metadata • role-specific, fully customizable query forms and multiple query forms per role • pre-defined query forms for standard search, advanced search and a dynamic query builder • pre-defined query criteria for common production control tasks (“own tasks”, “checked out assets” ...) • all search functionality is performed within censhare’s embedded database • instant search results providing number of results for each search criteria • and/or/not combination of search criteria within single metadata fields and across metadata fields • search for asset relations (e.g. search for all layout assets that have a planning relation to assets of type issue and name contains "ipad") (since version 4.7) • “quick search” performs live search on every keystroke across a wide range of metadata • “facette search” features combines search queries with customizable filters that can perform immediate subqueries • results of search queries can be easily transferred into new windows or tabs • search queries of any complexity can be stored for individual users, teams, roles or domains and show up in the favorite dock • “smart query asset” feature allows to save search queries of any complexity as asset attributes
7.9 Asset Content Indexing
(introduced in version 4.7)
• automatic text indexing with Averbis technology (www.averbis.de) • semantic and morphological analysis of sentences and context in English and German • word extraction for all other languages
15 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
8. Collaboration and Communication Capabilities
8.1 Messaging Service
• integrated message application in all censhare clients • user-to-user and user-to-group/team messaging • system-to-asset messaging implements asset-specific notification functionality • schedule-, event- and rule driven generation of messages • reply, reply-to-all and forward functions • message history with customizable safekeeping period • visual and acoustic message notification
8.2 Email
• customizable centralized setup of in- and outgoing mail services • email sending application in all censhare clients • asset assignment email-notification for external collaborators • schedule-, event- and rule driven server modules for automatic sending of emails with customizable addresses, subjects, body texts and asset storage items as attachments • outgoing emails can contain download links for assets within baskets, allowing the receiver to download the files of the linked assets directly from a browser (no client and no web-client required). The links can have a limited lifetime and the mails can be sent by censhare or an external mail client (since version 4.3.) • support for .zip-packing for outgoing email traffic • dedicated error-triggered email notification server module • support for ingoing email-traffic that allows the automatic creation of assets and hierarchical asset structures from emails and their attachments • automatic .zip-unpacking support for ingoing email traffic • emails can be created with XSLT transformations (since version 4.5) • support for drag&drop of Microsoft Outlook emails and attachments into the censhare Client (since version 4.5)
8.3 Asset Notes
• sticky text notes available for assets with previews • unlimited number of notes per preview • asset notes behave like discussion threads and keep a history of participants and timestamps • detailed permission concept for the participation in asset note threads • asset notes can be freely moved and placed within the preview • support for displaying asset note info flags in the customization layer
8.4 Workflow Management
• unlimited number of fully customizable workflows and sequential workflow steps (status) • workflows can be defined, associated with asset types and renamed on-the-fly in the running system • support for automatic assignment of default workflows to assets, default workflow-steps and workflow-step specific default targets • support for automatic assignment of workflows and workflow steps according to server actions, events and rules • fully customizable color schemes to all workflow elements • global common system workflows (workflow states) to implement production phases and user permission restrictions to dedicated workflow sections • hierarchical analysis of workflow information down any structure of assets (worst-status escalation) • numerous tools for the visualization of workflow information in asset views and flatplan application • all workflow information fully search- and filterable • all automatic server modules can be workflow-triggered • workflow management is directly connected to the time management modules • administrative tools for workflow migration and workflow statistics
8.5 Rating
• trackable, collaborative rating of assets – works as well with web users and common users and displays individual and averaged results
16 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
9. Content Management
9.1 XML Content Editor
• editor application within the censhare Client and censhare Web-Client for XML-based content with field- and tag- based input modes • field-based (widget) input mode: - fully customizable XML input template assets in the censhare GUI language to create screen forms - large selection of GUI widgets for input templates, including dynamic structures and censhare’s formula language • tag-based (DTD) input mode: - standard DTD-syntax for input templates - support for complex, multi-file and zipped DTD-frameworks like DITA or Docbook - full write access to all elements and attributes of the input template DTD - live DTD validation - support for additional tag-style information for display purposes (renaming of tags, font-styles, -sizes and - colors) in separate add-on files - optional automatic insertion of tags for repeating elements (smart newline feature) - various display modes (short and long tag banners, raw XML) - customizable content building blocks define (hierarchical) groups of elements and content, that can be selected like single tags from the user - tagging of selected text with complex tag-structures - drag and drop of any assets into the content editor. This complex feature visualizes possible placements for the dragged asset in dependency of its type, automatically tags the inserted asset and produces valid links that translate smoothly for the online publication • live switching of input- and output templates within the editor • fully customizable input- and output template relation dependencies • spellchecking based on Hunspell dictionaries (since version 4.7) • preview function renders content reliably against freely selectable print templates (InDesign- or XPress-Server required) • preview function delivers live, clickable websites of freely selectable online templates • content-in-content feature: metadata or XML-content of any asset can be referenced and embedded in the content- editor following XSL-conversions • preview for placed content of the content-in-content feature (since version 4.4.) • automatic PDF storage item and JPEG preview creation based on formatting objects processor (FOP) • formatting objects processor (FOP) and XSL transformation infrastructure integrated in censhare – XSL stylesheets can be maintained as “transformation assets” (since version 4.2.) • in-house developed, proprietary, highly performant censhare formatting objects processor (FOP) with close and dynamic integration to the data model. Xalan-J and Saxon FOPs have been dropped with censhare Version 4.3 (since version 4.3.) • support for complex, multi-file output templates for XSL-FO transformations • quick-saving without version creation • auto-saving feature
9.2 InCopy XML Content Editor
• editor application within the censhare Client and censhare Web-Client that allows lossless editing of Adobe InCopy- documents without the InCopy application • full support of the InCopy interchange format • preview function renders content reliably against freely selectable print templates (InDesign-Server required) • access to all character and paragraph style sheets of the document • support for numerous special characters and markers • click on a box in the preview scrolls text to the position where the text starts that corresponds to that box (InDesign- Server required) (since version 4.6) • support of footnotes (since version 4.6) • spellchecking based on Hunspell dictionaries (since version 4.7)
9.3 Microsoft Office Suite Documents
• parser for office open documents (Excel and Word) • automatic lossless translation of Excel- and Word-documents into InCopy format
17 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
• support for multiple, customizable Excel/Word-to-InCopy XSL transformation templates (allowing for example automatic CI-normalization) • modified version of the tag based XML content editor for editing table oriented content like spread sheets • support for MS Word Template files (.docm, .dotm, .dot, .dotx)
9.4 Text Editor
(introduced in version 4.3)
• universal editor for plain text, RTF and XML data (incl. well-formed validation) • available for censhare Client and censhare Web-Client
9.5 Interface to Oxygen Editor
(introduced in version 4.9)
• Oxygen Editor is available as an asset application • XML master files of assets can be edited in the Oxygen Editor with a check-out, if the Oxygen Editor is the asset application for the asset, or via the “Open with Oxygen” menu • internal “censhare:/” URLs are supported in the Oxygen Editor
18 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
10. Image Management
10.1 Image Files
• predefined mimetypes for all common image formats • display of all IPTC-, EXIF- and XMP-data of the image file • customizable mapping of IPTC-, EXIF- and XMP-data to database fields for advanced metadata search either in censhare’s mapping language or JavaScript (since 4.2.) • predefined import- and export metadata mapping for the most common EXIF tags (since version 4.1.) • predefined import metadata mapping for IPTC 1.1 metadata set (plus fields are not supported) (since version 4.1.) • automatic correction of undefined or inconsistent encodings in IPTC-, EXIF- and XMP-metadata (since version 4.1.) • automatic extraction of geographic metadata • automatic extraction of duration, audio format, video format, frames per second and bitrate for videos • customizable mapping of asset metadata into the IPTC-, EXIF- or XMP-header of an image file upon export, utilizing JavaScript (since version 4.1.) • dedicated views in the client applications for displaying images (gallery mode, preview) (since version 4.1.) • automatic extraction of relevant technical image information like size, pixels, resolution, color space and mime type into dedicated searchable metadata fields • metadata model extensible for images to incorporate free and/or predefined keywords, utilization policies, descriptions and alike • automatic tracking and limitation of the image usage
10.2 Preview Generation
• automatic and manual preview and thumbnail generation of all image files and many other document formats like PDF, InDesign and more • previews for xls, xlsx, doc, docx, dotm, docm, dotx, ppt, pptx, rtf, odt, odp, ods, odt, otg, otp, ots, ott, stc, std, sti, stw, sxc, sxd, sxi, sxw can be generated with OpenOffice or LibreOffice on the Application Server or the Service- Client (since version 4.5) • support of color workspace specific profiles for preview rendering • support for watermarked previews • optional limitation of the preview generation to file size and number of elements
10.3 Image Editing
• built-in user application for common image manipulation tasks like scaling, cropping, flipping • image editor application available in the censhare Web-Client and censhare Client • server based image editor for automatic image manipulation (cropping, scaling, rotation, flipping, color space transformation, resolution changes) based on customizable schedules, events and rules • server based image file creation (placeholder images) with customizable textual database content • incorporation of external image tools (like Adobe Document Server, Agfa Intellitune) via hotfolder-based interfaces • native support for Xinet image service (since version 4.3.) • native support for ImageMagick service • native support for JAI image service • native support for Helios image service • automatic creation of additional image storage items for existing assets • automatic creation of new assets from existing storage items (image branching)
10.4 OPI Support
• support of Helios OPI • censhare proprietary OPI solution based on ImageMagick • automatic lowres image creation with dedicated OPI file type • manual or automatic toggling of lowres/hires images in the layout application • manual or automatic toggling of lowres/hires images with InDesign Server (since version 4.6)
10.5 Supported Image Formats
• supported standard formats: JPEG, PNG, TIFF, GIF, PSD, PDF, PS/EPS, SVG, PICT, Adobe Illustrator, XMP- thumbnails of Adobe InDesign, JPEG-XMP-thumbnails in Microsoft Excel/Word/PowerPoint OOXML
19 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
• supported RAW formats: Hasselblad 3F (.3fr), Sony Alpha (.arw), Canon 2 (.cr2), Canon CIFF (.crw), Kodak (.dcr), Adobe Digital Negative (.dng), Epson (.erf), Kodak DC25 (.k25), Kodak DC (.kdc), Minolta (.mrw), Nikon (.nef), Olympus (.orf), Pentax (.pef), Fuji (.raf), Sony 2 (.sr2), Sony (.srf), Sigma X3F (.x3f)
20 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
11. Video Management
11.1 Video Transcoding
(introduced in version 4.9)
• convert videos from one format to another and store in master storage item e.g to save all imported videos in a normalized format • convert videos from one format to another and store in separate storage items to have appropriate video files for different contexts. E.g. for broadband and low bandwidth internet connections
11.2 Preview Generation
(introduced in version 4.9)
• create still image previews; E.g. for poster images • create video previews in a normalized format E.g. to make sure previews can be viewed on most devices
11.3 Supported Transcoding Engines
(introduced in version 4.9)
• FFmpeg • Sorenson Squeeze Server 2 • Amazon Elastic Transcoder (since version 4.10.)
11.4 censhare Services and Modules
(introduced in version 4.9)
• one dedicated service and module for each transcoding engine • transcoding and transformation commands are also available via XSLT
21 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
12. Ad Management
12.1 Ad Administration
• dedicated, pre-defined asset type for advertising media • customizable import interfaces for any commercial advertising system, allowing the automatic creation, update and cancellation of ad assets and their placement relations to publications • storage of full booking information of the commercial advertising system within dedicated tables and XML-blobs in the censhare database • dedicated views and search queries for the ad departments’ staff • automatic assignments to the issue’s flatplans • analysis functions and reports (advertising space per page/issue and others) • support for motif administration information of the commercial advertising system (no need to manually treat repeating motifs) • distinction between booked and actually produced parameters (size, color-dependencies, placement) • feedback interface to the commercial advertising system (e.g. occurrence, size, placement)
12.2 Ad Production
• support for InDesign and XPress as ad production tools (automatic document creation in dependency of booked size parameters) • administration of templates and customer-specific media • administration of headers and fillers for page production • automatic creation of placeholder images, as long as ad assets contain no motif • manual and automatic ad placement in the flatplan and classified application • automatic PDF-email to ad customer for author’s approval
22 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
13. Time Management
13.1 System Basics
• database-model freely extensible with datetime-fields • date/time/datetime-datatypes for “features” • dedicated calendar-widgettype “editdate” for the GUI-XML-editor supporting customizable date/time-display- formats, absolute or relative value display and a search mode supporting exact search, before/after-searches, range-searches and offset-searches • datetime values are fully supported in the censhare-formula-language, allowing calculations with dates within the XML- customization level • one predefined deadline-attribute in the asset-table • numerous default timestamp-datafields for asset creation, modification, history, storage-item creation/modification and the like
13.2 Schedule Application
• creation and maintenance of any number of dates per schedule • date-definition in absolute values or durations • three alternative values for each date (target, alternative, actual) • dependencies between dates (predecessor, successor) • visualization as gantt-view or list with different zoom-levels (day, week, month, range) • display filters for role-specific date-types and value-type • user-definable holidays • user-definable weekend rules • user-definable display colors for each date • automatic inheritance of deadline values by workflow-steps recursively down any hierarchy of assets • multiple asset-type-independent assignments of dates to workflow-steps • support for schedule-templates and variants • display of deadlines in absolute or relative mode in all GUI-dialogs • support for range-searches • customizable date/time-display-formats • realtime calculations and notifications • all features are fully supported in the browser-based censhare Web-Client
13.3 Calendar Application
• combined display of any number of schedules in calendar-overview • display filters for date-value-types • all features are fully supported in the browser-based censhare Web-Client
23 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
14. Geographical Information Management
14.1 Geographical Metadata
• pre-configured asset metadata attribute for longitude/latitude information • database-model freely extensible with geodata related metadata • dual-float-number-datatype for geographic positions in the WGS84 map datum • automatic geodata extraction of IPTC metadata in image files during import (since version 4.2.) • geodata to image IPTC metadata export feature (since version 4.2.)
14.2 Map Widget
(introduced in version 4.3.)
• customizable widget allows to display numerous map-services and overlayed position pins of assets with geo- metadata in the censhare Client and censhare Web-Client • supported map-service providers: Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps, Bing Maps and OpenStreetMap with their respective display styles (Map, Satellite, Hybrid) • API access license keys for commercial map-service providers are maintained by the system • customization allows to pre-define map service, display style, fixed map section, dynamic map section in dependency of asset selection and zoom level in the map display widget • position pins in the map display can be moved and will update geo metadata accordingly • asset search by coordinates, coordinate ranges or from visual map selections
14.3 Address Conversion
(introduced in version 4.3)
• bidirectional address conversion (address to coordinate and coordinate to closest address) as available from the supported map-service providers • dedicated text field widget for address entry and search • realtime funnel search of addresses
24 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
15. Variant Management
15.1 Basic Variant Features
• basic types of asset-branches (variants): - independent asset duplicates - asset branches that remember their source asset - asset branches that receive notification upon source asset’s changes - asset branches that receive notification upon source asset’s changes and allow a manual merging with the source asset - asset branches that have individual metadata but share the same file set with the source asset (alias behaviour) - asset branches that are a result of a transformation. This can be used for content based on XML (e.g. convert to HTML), images (e.g. convert to another image section) or asset structures (e.g. convert to HTML) (since version 4.5) • manual creation of all variant types • possibility for subsequent manual transformation of any variant relation • visualization of variant dependencies between assets with dedicated relation types and icons
15.2 Transformation Variants
• variants are a result of manual or automatic transformations • types: - XML content transformation (XML based format to another XML based format) - image section transformation of an image - image and video transformation of a video (start time and duration can be optionally given) (since version 4.9) - PDF transformation based on XSL-FO (since version 4.6) - barcode transformation (EAN-8, EAN-13, QR code) of asset meta data (since version 4.6)
15.3 Asset Structure Duplicates
• manual or automatic generation of asset variants over entire hierarchical asset structures • support for comprehensive variant creation rules based on asset- and relation-types and exception behaviour • automatic language adaption in content files (like InCopy documents) during creation of language variants • options for automatic modification of metadata like domains, language flags, access restrictions, description and workflow information upon variant creation • options for automatic asset renaming (based on regular expressions) upon variant creation • customizable presets for structure duplication rule sets • possibility for hierarchical asset structure duplicates of arbitrary depth (variants of variants) • any variant relation created by an asset structure duplicate can be manually overridden by the user • asset structure synchronization allows to run a new rule set over existing hierarchical variant structures
15.4 Variant Templates
• hierarchical asset variant structures of any complexity can be defined as template structures • each asset in a hierarchical asset variant structure template can have its own template behaviour status (copy, refer, visible/invisible)
25 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
16. Language Management
16.1 System Localization
• centralized management of language schemes • multilingual censhare clients with localization features, full Unicode support and live language switching • localization dictionaries for user interface customization • multilingual support for all metadata (regular data and “features”) • default system delivered in english and german language • possibility to override default terminology in all languages
16.2 Translation Application
• translation application embedded in censhare Client and Web-Client • dual view of source and target language and versioned source text changes • full translation support for InCopy documents • live WYSIWYG preview of translation results (requires censhare Render-Client)
16.3 Translation Memory Application
• translation application embedded in censhare Client and censhare Web-Client • dual view of source and target language • translation on a segment-(sentence)-basis • automatic storage of all translated segments of the past and automatic translation of recurring segments • support for multiple translation variants of the same segment (since version 4.3.) • translation features are available for content as well as for metadata (metadata has to be declared as language specific to appear in the translation editor) (since version 4.3.) • full translation support for InCopy documents • automatic on-the-fly translation of office documents • dedicated translation mode for tables • live WYSIWYG preview of translation results (requires censhare Render-Client) • translation suggestions
16.4 Translation Management 3
(introduced in version 4.4)
• Translation Management 3 is a new implementation of the Translation application and Translation memory application, introduced in censhare 4.4, combining and extending the features of both modules. The former are kept for a transition period for compatibility reasons. • common user interface for all translation tasks (with or without Translation Memory System (TMS)) • translation management 3 is embedded in the censhare Client and Web-Client • support for keyboard shortcuts for all vital functions in both the censhare Client and Web-Client • dual view of source and target language and versioned source text changes • full translation support for InCopy documents (INCX, ICML) • full translation support for XML documents • live WYSIWYG preview of translation results (requires censhare Render-Client) • translation on a segment-(sentence)-basis • automatic storage of all translated segments of the past and automatic translation of recurring segments • support for multiple translation variants of the same segment • translation features are available for content as well as for metadata (metadata has to be declared as language specific to appear in the translation editor) • automatic on-the-fly translation of office documents • dedicated translation mode for tables • translation suggestions
16.5 Glossary Application
• integrated centralized glossary application for censhare Client and censhare Web-Client • synchronization feature for external glossaries
26 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
• glossary suggestion feature for users
16.6 3rd Party Support
• XLIFF interface • an integrated TMX interface allows automated, hotfolder-based, high-performance import from Trados, Across and Transit (since version 4.4.)
27 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
17. Flatplan
17.1 Flatplan Application
• planning application available for every asset type (typically issues and layouts) • assets with previewable master files produce two planning modes for actual and target planning • multi-user access to flatplan (no check-out-locking) • multiple layer planning with automatic layer order rules • single or double page display modes • individual sizes for each page and page element • unlimited number of pages per flatplan • all pages and elements can freely be moved and modified • plethora of display options including WYSIWYG previews, workflow status colors, gridlines, page numbers and much more • customizable display of metadata in pages, page-elements and tooltips • four role-specific text fields per page for descriptive information on pages and page elements • live update of previews • live earmarking of geometry-modifications to affected layout-assets • full access to all metadata of related assets within the flatplan; check-out of assets from the flatplan • markers for cancelled elements and size deviations • markers for special placements like stickers, insertions, coupons and supplements • predefined and freely configurable display filters • read-only display of the flatplans in the censhare Web-Client with most of the display options and PDF-export capability • customizable printing and PDF-export of flatplans • manual and optional rule-based element placement • hierarchical flatplan allows for complex structures (chapters-to-books, regional variants with varying number of sizes and common pages) • “planning mode” defines at layouts and issues two possible modes: planning determines layout or layout determines planning (since version 4.5) • pages can be defined for selectable regions. Complete flatplans can be displayed for selected regions (since version 4.8) • range markers (e.g. “25%”, “First half”, ...) can be defined and are optionally displayed between pages (since version 4.8) • placement checks can be used from implemented standards (priority, even/odd pages, horizontal and vertical position, inserts) or can be enhanced by XSLTs. Placement check errors are displayed in an own area. (since version 4.8) • different page number formats (numeric, roman, small roman, alpha, small alpha) can be defined for pages and are used in Adobe InDesign (since version 4.8)
17.2 Sheet Plan
• independent, exchangeable sheet structure for each flatplan • support for saddle stitch, perfect binding and asynchronous sheet-arrangements • sheet-dependent schedules • individual sheet markers • support for sheet templates
17.3 Classified Page Assembly
• classified page assembly on dedicated page-areas within the flatplan applications • automatic rule-based placement of headers and fillers • headers and fillers can be maintained as assets • manual and automatic vertical adjustments
17.4 Statistic Function
• asset placement report • per issue page report • per asset type report • available advertising placements report
28 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
17.5 Preview Function
(introduced in version 4.7)
• issue can be displayed in a page flip view with thumbnails
29 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
18. Layout Management
18.1 Adobe InDesign Integration
• support for InDesign versions CS-3, CS-4, CS-5, CS-5.5, CS-6, CC, CC 2014 • almost no limitations to the design features, number of pages, structure, pagination, layers and typography of the InDesign documents (InDesign’s proprietary book feature is not supported) • close integration through the censhare InDesign Plugin • censhare palette in InDesign shows information about current layout asset, placed and unplaced sub-assets in multiple customizable views and gives access to all censhare-specific additions to InDesign • layout asset creation from within InDesign • mighty page deconstruction options: all text and image boxes within an InDesign document can be deconstructed into independent assets from within the layout application. Text boxes can be deconstructed into plain text or InCopy documents. • deconstructed text from the layout can be organized in single boxes, chained boxes, groups of unchained boxes and combinations thereof. Boxes can be added or removed from existing textual sub assets • optional automatic deconstruction of image boxes • drag&drop support for image placement and replacement • any rectangular area of an InDesign-document can be deconstructed into an independent “page part asset” (this enables multiple layouters to work on one document) • page part assets can further be hierarchically deconstructed into sub page parts, -texts and -images • reverse deconstruction deletes sub-assets but leaves the elements in the layout document • manual and automatic updates of deconstructed document elements (content update) • automatic notifications to deconstructed elements about geometric changes of the layout • textual sub assets can be checked out within the layout document • one-click check-out and check-in of all textual sub assets of a document • enhanced features for handling deconstructed document elements natively (deletion of locked frames, pages with locked frames, image replacement) • live matching of actual InDesign-document attributes to the target attributes of the flatplan application • notification flag on mismatch • remote adaption of InDesign documents to the planning state (geometry-update) allows for automatic creation and re- pagination of pages • tiered adaption of variant layouts upon updates of the source document • automatic plausibility checks on check-in, like image resolution or missing content updates • automatic creation of indices like tables of contents, tables of chapters, lists, registers, page links and content links; based on stylesheets, formats and book structures. This feature replaces parts of InDesign’s proprietary book feature (since version 4.4.) • full support of Adobe InDesign’s scripting architecture, including JavaScript, Visual Basic and AppleScript (since version 4.4.) • InDesign scripts are stored within the censhare system and can be used by all users without installation (since version 4.4.) • InDesign scripts can be executed manually or automatically, triggered by workflow steps (since version 4.4.) • optional creation of assignment relation, if placed assets are detached (since version 4.5) • support of alternate layouts feature (since version 4.6)
18.2 Data Integration
• support for dynamic content from the censhare database, by utilizing InDesign’s XML capabilities and censhare formula language • support for InDesign’s built-in Office document import filters and censhare’s own Office document import and transformation filters • XML content can be placed into Adobe InDesign documents by using transformations to the Adobe InCopy format. The transformation can be selected in a dialog, if more than one transformation is possible • content, which has been placed over a transformation, can be unlocked for editing. Parts of the content can be defined in the transformation that they are kept up to date. If the source of the defined parts of the content is different from the content in the Adobe InDesign document, then they can be updated (since version 4.9)
18.3 Asset Structure Placements
(introduced in version 4.5.)
30 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
• text and picture boxes can be grouped to “layout groups”. Each box can be configured with an asset search, a content transformation (for text boxes) and an index (if more assets are found). When placing an asset on the layout group, the defined searches and transformations are executed in relation to the placed asset and all assets retrieved are placed with it
18.4 XPress & FrameMaker Integration
• basic support for Quark XPress and Adobe FrameMaker provided by censhare PlugIns. Supported versions and feature subsets for both applications upon request
31 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
19. Template Management
19.1 Basic Template Features
• dedicated template flags can define any asset or asset hierarchy in the system as future template • invisible templates within a template hierarchy • usage-related template types (content editor input-/output-form and copy-templates) • templates can be domain- and asset type specific • subsequent switching of templates on certain asset types (e.g. asset-planning, schedules) • trackable relation between templates and their derivations in the metadata • different user modes for applying templates: - automatic prompting of possible templates when checking-out assets without master file - “create asset from template” action - “create asset by type” action - drag&drop usage from template favorite’s dock - “apply template” on existing assets
19.2 Asset Structure Duplicates
• ad hoc usage of any asset or asset hierarchy as template structure • backup of any asset hierarchy • rule-based metadata modifications
19.3 Layout Editor
• layout editor application in censhare Client and censhare Web-Client allows to place collections of media assets into template pages and pageareas without the need of a dedicated layout application • live, reliable preview of the actual layout (InDesign-Server required) • template pages are created in InDesign with an administrative frontend for structuring layout documents and to associate pageareas, boxes and text snippets with data-structures • data-layout assignment follows rules containing media types, priorities, validity, arbitrary metadata keys, order and media condition • layout editor allows pre-assignment and manual asset search for available media • hierarchical page construction (support of pagearea templates) • exchange of media components in the layout • scaling and cropping support for image media • InDesign scripts as described in chapter 17.1 are supported by the Layout Editor (since version 4.4.)
32 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
20. Article Management
20.1 Basic Article Features
• an article usually is a complete asset structure and consists of different assets (the article itself, text, images, persons, videos, slideshows, ...) which are connected via specific relations. • the Article-Editor is an asset application which provides a simple, unified user interface for transparently editing the complete asset structure including content and metadata in different languages for all output channels.
20.2 Article-Editor
• the selected article is opened for editing in the Article-Editor • additional assets can be searched and opened inside with a XSLT transformation that's use the information about the selected asset and the current logged-in user • a dialog for all assets is defined in a dynamically way through a XSLT transformation, that's use the information about the selected asset and additional assets and the current logged-in user
33 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
21. Importing into censhare
21.1 Client Based File Imports
• import of single files or entire hierarchical directory structures per drag&drop • hierarchical import of anchored images in layout documents • rebuilding of import directory structures as asset hierarchies • automatic creation of time stamped import groups for immediate access to imported assets • comprehensive matching criteria (filename, path, file size and id-codes) to prevent file duplicates • live-preview of re-import-matches • on-the-fly OPI file exchange when importing layout documents • joint check-in dialog for multiple file import • metadata mapping for image files • mass import • import “censhare Assets” files from other censhare systems including metadata, files and used master data (since version 4.5)
21.2 Server Based File Imports
• import of files per email • import of files per generic hotfolder server module • any number of import hotfolders • hotfolder scanning with inclusive and exclusive regex patterns for file- and directory names • extensive ruleset for the hotfolder module allowing creation of assets, replacement of storage items, generation of metadata from filename with regular expressions, multi-value id matching, hierarchical imports and more • automatic metadata updates on import (like workflow and receiver information) • automatic, reliable mime type recognition • metadata mapping for images • mass import • optional asset locking during import
21.3 Interfaces
• asset creation from dataset files and job tickets by generic asset interface server module • import server module works on all types of CSV- and XML files • import server module fully customizable with censhare’s attribute mapper language • large number of pre-configured, fully customizable import interfaces for: - commercial advertising systems (e.g. Verlagsmanager, AdWare, NTX, SAP IS-MAM, ...) - page planning and classified assembly systems (e.g. JournalDesigner, ClassWizard, ...) - customer relations management (CRM) systems - enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems - product information management (PIM) systems • administrative XML-import of “regular data”
21.4 Developer Interfaces
• SOAP and Webservice access to the database (requires developer training and tools)
34 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
22. Exporting from censhare
22.1 Client Based Exports
• export of any selection of assets or entire hierarchical asset structures (filtered by relation type) • hierarchical export of placed images in layout documents • filtered exports of storage items or asset’s XML content • rebuilding of asset hierarchies as directory structures • optional ID-suffixes on export file names for subsequent re-import matching • on-the-fly OPI file exchange when importing layout documents • server action for exporting asset metadata as CSV-spreadsheet files • server action for exporting PDF-files associated with printing sheets in the flatplan • server action for exporting dedicated storage item types • export server actions allow export to target destinations, that are not visible to the client • administrative XML-export of “regular data” in the censhare Admin-Client • export assets with metadata, all files and used master data in a “censhare Assets” file to import it into other censhare systems (since version 4.5) • export asset structure as EPUB file (since version 4.5)
22.2 Server Based Exports
• export of files and metadata per email • export of files and metadata per generic content-export server module: - XML based meta language for complex export rules - configuration file for multiple export settings - export allows filtered parsing up and down an asset hierarchy and combination of any number of assets into one export file - freely customizable, self-creating export paths - numerous “content providers” give access to all aspects of an asset’s information, like metadata, files, hierarchy, collection-content, file content and internal XML-structures - numerous “output transformers” allow the modification of the asset information, incorporating XSL conversion, PDF creation by XSL-FO transformation and image manipulation (scaling, cropping, color space conversion, resolution and more) - export into any type of document (text, html, xml, interchange formats) allows the creation of indexes, table of contents, advertiser registers, social media contributions and any standard exchange formats (like KML, GPX, PMG, NITF ...) - export settings provide the technical behaviour of censhare’s “output channels”, that can be assigned to assets by the user • optional asset locking during export • manual or automatic export based on schedule, rules and/or events • export of PDF documents to the Remote Director proofing solution (since version 4.8)
22.3 Output Channels
• complex export settings including transformation operations and file generation can be preset as “output channels” • predefined output channels for print, web-publication, social media like Twitter and Apps • support for OAuth 1.0 and 2.0 authentication to social networks (since version 4.3.) • Facebook support: "Export to social networks" module allows to export any asset-related information like status information, articles, videos and pictures to Facebook (since version 4.3.) • YouTube support: "Export to social networks" module allows to export video assets to a given YouTube account and stores the assigned YouTube-ID and URI as asset metadata (since version 4.3.)
35 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
23. Mobile Channel
23.1 Mobile Channel Basics
(introduced in version 4.2)
• App export server module for the generation of mobile content like Interactive Magazine Apps, Catalog Apps and News Apps • support for all censhare content sources (censhare’s internal XML-based content editors, InCopy, InDesign or external structured data) • mobile content creation is fully integrated in censhare’s core technologies, supporting workflows, templates, hierarchical asset relations, scheduling, versioning, variants, automation and more • seamless integration with the print production, as mobile rich media content can be attached to print assets • mobile publication planning with censhare’s asset-planning application • pre-defined and customizable metadata sets for mobile content • different asset types for extended Media supported (since version 4.6)
23.2 Viewer App
(introduced in version 4.2)
• censhare’s native publication Viewer App builds customer specific Apps ready to be published in the AppStore • support for mixed media (InDesign, PDF documents, HTML content, video and audio) • HTML content for help/contact/about pages • support for display rotation • Rich media and interactivity support modules within censhare’s Viewer App: - slideshow - video - inter-publication link - external content - turntable (360°) - pop-ups - related content - zoom mode for images - colorizer - image reveal - HTML5 • support for typical mobile user interface gestures like swiping, single/double tabs and two finger pintching • page zooming • navigation bar, table of contents, page overview navigation based on publication, articles or chapters
23.3 Adobe Digital Publishing Suite (DPS)
(introduced in version 4.4)
• comprehensive support of the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite (DPS), including movies, multi-state objects, file-links and the creation of folio-documents via acrobat.com • preview functionality within censhare for App-pre-testing • fully embedded in censhare workflows and the parallel production of all channels (print, online, mobile)
23.4 Mobile Content Deployment
(introduced in version 4.2)
• support for the AppStore and In-App purchases • support for the AppStore newsstand (since version 4.4.) • kiosk mode for In-App purchases • support for free and paid publications • support for own subscription models • automatic deployment of mobile content to webservers, which will be automatically recognized by the App
36 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
24. Online Channel
24.1 Online Channel Basics
(introduced in version 4.2)
• Feature rich online content management system, fully integrated into the censhare system • dedicated web-editor for website construction elements in the censhare Client • support of W3C web standards • support for Ajax and JSON • support for Cascading Stylesheet and arbitrary HTML • support for auto-combination and -compression of CSS and Javascript files (since version 4.3.) • support for accessibility and barrier-free websites like WAI and BITV • support for any popular JavaScript Framework like JQuery, YUI, mootools, ExtJS, ... • fully functional, clickable WYSIWYG-previews of the websites within the web editor, selectively from the staging or publication web-servers • easy to learn for experienced web developers
24.2 Architecture
(introduced in version 4.2)
• “Component“ model: business logic, configuration, presentation (skin) layer and content are separated from each other • hierarchical construction of components • reusable components • catalogue of components is constantly extended
24.3 Presentation Layer
(introduced in version 4.2)
• customizable skins • skins are assigned to components and have read access to the component data model as well as the data store • multiple skin engine implementations (Freemarker, XSLT)
24.4 Online Content
(introduced in version 4.2)
• online content creation is fully integrated in censhare’s core technologies, supporting workflows, templates, hierarchical asset relations, scheduling, versioning, variants, automation and more • all censhare content sources are supported for online deployment • enhanced default metadata set for online content (validity, cancellation, URLs, priority, duration, privileges, sorting, webmodule parameters) • manual assignment of content to online deployment • dynamic assignment of content to online deployment by rules, semantic tagging or stored queries • support for multilingual websites (integrates the censhare language management) • form generator • flexible URI construction allows for language specific URL-components, automatic redirection of path-variants, tiny URLs and alternate URLs (since version 4.3.)
24.5 User Generated and Personalized Content
(introduced in version 4.2)
• support for user generated content (UGC) • user generated content is stored as assets in the central data store of the censhare Application Server • user generated content can be integrated with censhare workflows for content approval • social network support (user accounts, profiles, followers and more) • user generated recommendation and rating
37 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
• personalized content based on arbitrary metadata like target group association, geo location, language or personal preferences • notification services • dynamic related content based on any combination of meta data (like topic, author, similar products, target group and more)
24.6 Extensibility, Performance and Scalability
(introduced in version 4.2)
• modular and dynamic architecture • well defined and stable API’s and extension points • support for custom components, skin engines and complete Java web applications • integration with familiar tools like Eclipse • easy and natural integration of current and future web technologies and standards • horizontal and vertical scalability
24.7 Datastore and Hosting
(introduced in version 4.2)
• backend identical with the AssetStoreService on the censhare Application Server (common data object model and query API’s – QBuilder, XML, XPath) • assets and storage items are synchronized from the censhare Application Server for configured channels • modified assets are written to the censhare Application Server and synchronized after successful commit • web delivery servers can be hosted at any Interne Service Provider or data center • optional fully managed hosting services by censhare AG • support for staging service on internal web-servers
24.8 Integration with 3rd Party Products and Partners
(introduced in version 4.2)
• integration with statistics providers like Google Analytics, AdWords, Webtrends, eTracker, IVW and others • integration with e-commerce providers like Oxid, Magento, Konakart and others • integration with newsletter distributors like inxmail, emarsys and others • integration with advertising providers like DoubleClick, OpenX and others • customizable, role specific user interfaces for component or frontend developers, webmasters, system administrators and editors
24.9 Searching and SEO
(introduced in version 4.2)
• superfast website search functionality for metadata and full text in all common file formats • Live search with suggestions • funnel search • related search • dynamic lists and filters • RSS feed support • native SEO support: - Meta data SEO - lightweight indexing - extra link strategy - secondary site strategy - custom URL’s - SEO Check-Up - landing pages - sitemap.xml
24.10 E-Marketing
(introduced in version 4.2)
38 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
• support for newsletter generation • support for microsites • support for landing pages • support for tracking, statistics and conversions • SEM Check-Up
24.11 Online Channel Builder
• user interface for web developers and web masters for the censhare Online Channel • available as window in the censhare Client
39 Feature Summary censhare Version 4.10. as of August 19th, 2014, revised on October 20th, 2014
25. Customizing the censhare System
25.1 General Customization Features
• administrative parameters that are subject to changes at a daily basis like workflows, user accounts, privileges, metadata-extension definitions, colors, paper size specification, asset types and the like are stored as “master data” in the database and can be edited by administrators at any time in the running system without maintenance windows and without restarts of connected clients • each “master data“ can be activated/deactivated (since version 4.5) • administrative parameters in the “master data” model can be extended as so-called “resources”-assets. This adds version control, ownership and highly dynamic access control to administrative parameters (since version 4.2.) • each censhare core service and service module comes with XML-based configuration files that can be customized by administrators. Most XML-based configuration files contain a graphical user interface (GUI) description and can be edited without any XML-knowledge • each service module can be classified with custom command names, license information, administrative knowledge level and quick help (most attributes are preset) (since version 4.3.) • the system keeps a history log of changes in the configuration layer (since version 4.3.) • censhare contains a built-in XML-based configuration language for the design of graphical user interfaces, that allows far-reaching customization of the censhare Client and censhare Web-Client applications, as well as the design of field- based content-editor input templates • censhare contains a built-in XML-based configuration language for the conversion of attributes, the so-called “attribute mapper language”. It allows the splitting, reformatting, concatenation and transformation of values, supports regular expressions, embedded BeanShell scripts and XPath-like data extraction. This language is used in all interfaces, in asset attribute inheritance, image metadata mapping and many other places of the censhare system • besides the “attribute mapper language” censhare also supports JavaScript as an all-purpose, highly dynamic programming language for mapping purposes (since version 4.2.) • censhare contains a built-in simple programming language (“formulas”), that allows data extraction, string manipulation, numerical calculations, if-clauses and case-statements in a one-line-syntax. Formulas support a large subset of the XPath syntax and implement XSLT 2.0 transformations in the HTML-widgets. Formulas can be embedded into many places of the configuration files throughout censhare’s customization layer • any customization in the system is automatically transferred into a dedicated customization repository and automatically incorporated on system updates • all application servers can be individually customized from within the master application server. Configuration updates to remote application servers are automatically executed • developer API’s for REST and SOAP access • OSGi support: censhare provides an OSGi API for the development of plugins for the censhare client applications. The OSGi-modules are maintained as assets within the system and are loaded automatically by the client in dependency of the user and privileges settings (since version 4.3.) • generic high-level access to asset files, XML-formatted metadata and asset icons based on Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI’s), provided by a dedicated API-webservice (since version 4.2.) • seamless content-to-content conversions with the built-in “transformations”-architecture, allowing to maintain XSL stylesheets as assets within in the system (since version 4.2.) • in-house developed, highly performant XPath parser with support for regular expressions, embedded images in Base64 format, MD5 hashcode generation and more (since version 4.3.) • XPath implementation is enhanced with custom functions: “cs:evaluate" to evaluate XPath expression of a string and “cs:match-asset-rel-type” to get the allowed asset relation types between one or two assets (since version 4.5) • XPath function "cs:asset" is enhanced with optional parameters for number of results and search in SQL database • statistic features to measure user activity like performed queries or file downloads for system optimization (since version 4.3.) • customizing asset tables by customizing the icon columns or predefine columns to in-/visible (since version 4.6) • custom asset icons can be accessed with REST-URL's (since version 4.6)
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