Overview

When you define a report to the system, Content Manager OnDemand adds an application group table structure and other control information to the database.

Content Manager OnDemand uses a set of objects to describe the database tables, fields, and data that make up the system. When you define an object to Content Manager OnDemand, such as an application group, Content Manager OnDemand stores the choices that you make and the information that you enter about the application group into the database. Every time that you load a report into an application group, Content Manager OnDemand updates the database with control information, inserts rows of index data into an application group table, and stores report data and resource files on storage volumes.

Users of the Content Manager OnDemand system open a folder to query and access reports that are stored on the system. A folder is the primary Content Manager OnDemand object that users deal with. A folder provides users the means to search for and retrieve data stored in Content Manager OnDemand. Users open a folder to construct queries and retrieve the reports that are stored in the application groups referenced by the folder. A folder can reference one or more application groups.

An application group represents the index and report data that you load into Content Manager OnDemand. The Content Manager OnDemand database contains tables of application group data. Records in an application group table contain index values extracted from reports and pointers to report data (documents). An application group can contain one or more applications that have the same storage characteristics and index fields.

A Content Manager OnDemand application includes a description of the physical characteristics of a report, such as the type of data contained in the report and the record format of the input file, instructions to the indexing and loading programs that process the report, and information that Content Manager OnDemand uses to display and print pages of the report. Typically, you define an application for each type of report that you plan to store in Content Manager OnDemand. You can group applications that have the same storage characteristics and index fields into an application group.

You assign a unique name to each object that you define to Content Manager OnDemand, such as application groups, applications, and folders.

Content Manager OnDemand uses properties to describe the appearance, behavior, and internal structure of the objects that make up a Content Manager OnDemand system. For example, Display Format is a property of a folder field that determines how Content Manager OnDemand client programs display the values of the field in the document list. The properties are grouped in categories. For example, the General category under folders contains properties that describe general information about a folder, such as the name and description of the folder and the application groups contained in the folder.