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Recall that the Toolkit for Custom and Reusable Solution Information supports collecting several types of content to publish in a custom solution information center. Content can include Web pages; local files like office documents; RSS, and ATOM feeds; exported Lotus Notes® documents; and Eclipse documentation plug-ins (known as "books" in the toolkit).
For some content types, you can include a copy of the content or link to the content where it resides, such as on a Web site or wiki. The following table summarizes which approaches are supported for each content type.
| Type of content | Can include a link to it | Can include a copy of it |
|---|---|---|
| Web pages | Yes | Yes |
| Files (presentations, demonstrations, samples) | No | Yes |
| Feeds | Yes | No |
| Notes (exported Lotus Notes documents) | No | Yes |
| Books (Eclipse documentation plug-ins) | No | Yes |
Recall from earlier in this series that when you provide a link to a Web page, you configure a description of the page, such as its title, URL, abstract, and keywords. The description is used to generate an HTML page for your solution information center. The generated page provides the link to the Web page hosted elsewhere.
For example, Figure 1 shows a generated page that provides a link to the latest version of the Rational® Edge magazine. The secondary browser window shows what it looks like when the user clicks the link listed as the URL.
Figure 1. Linking to a Web page
The generated page is quite plain because the toolkit user took minimal time to provide a description of the Rational Edge. However, an advantage of linking to Web pages is that you can personalize the description to suit your information center audience. For example, if delivering the information center to a specific client, you can preface how the page to which you are linking pertains to the client's IT project.
Configuring a link to a Web page
Use the following instructions to include links to Web pages, so your information center always will reference the latest content on the Internet, or on your company's or client's intranet. Make sure that the recipients of your information center have access to the sites to which you are linking.
- Browse for an online Web page.
- Select Window > Show View > Web Pages from the menu bar. The Web Pages tabbed page is brought to the foreground.
- Click the Add Web Pages icon.
- In the Add Web Pages wizard, select a group for managing the content, such as Default.
- Specify a name to display in navigation, such as "IBM home page."
- Specify or browse to a URL, such as http://www.ibm.com.
- Ensure that Create link to page is selected.
- Click Next in the Add Web Pages wizard.
- Optionally, specify information for the page that will introduce the Web page to users.
- Specify a title to display on the page.
- Specify a description to help users decide whether to view the Web page.
- Specify publisher information.
- Specify keywords that will be available to the information center search.
- Click Finish.
- Locate the Web page in the toolkit and drag it into the navigation template.
- Return to the Web Pages tabbed page.
- Double-click the gray bar for the group to which you assigned the Web page.
- Locate the Web page by the title you gave it.
- Select the Web page.
- Drag and drop the Web page to a position in the navigation template.
When you provide a copy of a Web page, the page's contents are displayed directly in the content frame of your solution information center, as shown in Figure 2. When the user clicks a link on the page, the behavior depends on the depth you specified when you saved the page, as described in Part 2 of this series. If you captured the page at a single depth, links on the page will go to the live site from which you captured the page. At that point, the user will be navigating the Web site, rather than a copy of a page from the site.
Figure 2. Including a copy of a Web page
Configuring a copy of a Web page
Use the following instructions to save local copies of Web pages, which is a good approach when your information center needs to be used offline or when you want to preserve a snapshot of the content to guarantee that it will continue to match the specifications used in your IT solution.
- Browse for an online Web page for which to save a local copy.
- Select Window > Show View > Web Pages from the menu bar. The Web Pages tabbed page is brought to the foreground.
- Click the Add Web Pages button.
- In the Add Web Pages wizard, select a group for managing the content, such as Default.
- Specify a name to display in navigation, such as "IBM home page."
- Specify or browse to a URL, such as http://www.ibm.com.
- Select Download page content.
- Specify a depth, for example:
- A depth of 1 saves this page, its graphics, and style information.
- A depth of 2 saves this page and one layer of pages to which it links.
- A depth of 3 saves this page, the layer of pages to which it links, and the pages to which those pages link.
- Click Finish in the Add Web Pages wizard.
- Locate the Web page in the toolkit and drag it into the navigation template.
- Return to the Web Pages tabbed page.
- Double-click the gray bar for the group to which you assigned the Web page.
- Locate the Web page by the title you gave it.
- Select the Web page.
- Drag and drop the Web page to a position in the navigation template.
Deciding whether to include links, copies, or both
If you're familiar with object-oriented programming, including a link to the content is similar to using "pass by reference" for a variable. You provide a pointer to the original content. Each time the user follows the pointer (the link) to the content, the user might find that the content has changed. Providing a copy of the content is similar to using "pass by value." The copy does not remain synchronized with changes to the original. However, relative to the original, the copy can be customized for the context in which you are using it.
The following table summarizes the tradeoffs for using links to content or copies of content. The options are not mutually exclusive. Suppose you include a copy of the content as a snapshot in time, particularly for content like a programming specification level. You might also include a link to the specification where it resides online, enabling users to access the latest version easily.
| Tradeoffs | Linking to content elsewhere | Including copies of content |
|---|---|---|
| Benefits |
|
|
| Considerations |
|
|
Keeping your site fresh with RSS feeds
When you provide an RSS feed, your information center audience receives a list of links to Web pages or other online documents, as shown in Figure 3. The list is updated continually, based on the publishing activity on the Web site at which you subscribed to the feed. In this way, even if you deliver an information center to its recipient and never update it again, it is replenished with the latest content, including links to content that had not even been published at the time you delivered your solution information center.
Figure 3. Including an RSS feed
Perhaps the most difficult part of configuring a feed is determining the URL for the feed. (By the way, the URL for the feed shown in Figure 3 is http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/rss/rational.xml.)
Many Web sites that offer RSS feeds make configuring a feed quite simple. For example, IBM® developerWorks® offers a page that lists ready-made RSS feeds, including an introduction for those new to RSS feeds. If you click the link for a feed, such as the developerWorks home page, the feed is launched into a separate browser window from which you can capture the URL for the feed from the address bar of the browser.
After determining the URL, configuring a feed in the toolkit is much like configuring a Web page, except that you use the Feeds tabbed page.
- Select Window > Show View > Feeds from the menu.
- Click the Add RSS feeds icon on the Feeds tabbed page.
- Specify the group, name, and address for the feed, then click Next.
- Specify a title, author, and description for a page that will display the feed results.
- Click Finish.
- On the Feeds tabbed page, select the feed in the group to which you assigned it.
- Drag and drop the feed to a position in the navigation template.
Keeping your site fresh with queries
Maybe it's occurred to you that a link to a Web page does not have to be a link to one specific page but can be an http:// link that launches a search for multiple pages on a site. As shown in Figure 4 for example, you can configure a search of the IBM developerWorks library for tutorials. The search finds whatever tutorials are available at the moment that match the search criteria originally established in the Web page link.
Figure 4. Including a link that launches a search
Finding the URL that performs a search can be a bit trickier than finding the URL for an RSS feed. It's difficult to generalize because Web sites vary so much, but one approach is to perform the search directly on the site, then see if you can capture the resulting URL from the address bar. After determining the URL, configuring a search in the toolkit is the same as configuring any other Web page, as described previously. Figure 5 shows the configuration for Figure 4 in the toolkit.
Figure 5. Configuring a link that launches a search
Deciding among direct links, queries, and feeds
| Linking directly to one page | Providing queries | Providing feeds |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
The toolkit provides an easy way to assemble a Web site of original and reused content for use on your desktop, company intranet, or the Internet. Always be cognizant of whether and how you are legally authorized to reuse and distribute content. Consult your legal counsel if you have any doubts about reusing content. Consult the terms of use for any Web sites from which you are capturing content, especially if you plan to redistribute the content to your clients. It's likely you'll need written permission from the content source if you are going to charge clients for content you are redistributing from another source.
Learn
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"Documenting your project using the Eclipse help system" introduces the Eclipse help system technology and describes how to develop plug-ins manually, rather than having the toolkit generate them for you.
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"Gain just-in-time skills with a developerWorks skill kit" describes and provides links to
information centers produced with the toolkit to showcase developerWorks content about specific hot topics.
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Check out the "Recommended Eclipse reading list."
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Browse all the Eclipse content on developerWorks.
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Follow developerWorks on Twitter.
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New to Eclipse? Read the developerWorks article "Get started with the Eclipse Platform" to learn its origin and architecture, and how to extend Eclipse with plug-ins.
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Expand your Eclipse skills by checking out IBM developerWorks' Eclipse project resources.
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To listen to interesting interviews and discussions for software developers, check out check out developerWorks podcasts.
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The My developerWorks community is an example of a successful general community that covers a wide variety of topics.
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Stay current with developerWorks' Technical events and webcasts.
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Watch and learn about IBM and open source technologies and product functions with the no-cost developerWorks On demand demos.
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Check out upcoming conferences, trade shows, webcasts, and other Events around the world that are of interest to IBM open source developers.
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Visit the developerWorks Open source zone for extensive how-to information, tools, and project updates to help you develop with open source technologies and use them with IBM's products, as well as our most popular articles and tutorials.
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Download the Toolkit for Custom and Reusable Solution Information.
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Check out the latest Eclipse technology downloads at IBM alphaWorks.
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Download Eclipse Platform and other projects from the Eclipse Foundation.
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Innovate your next open source development project with IBM trial software, available for download or on DVD.
Discuss
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The Eclipse Platform newsgroups should be your first stop to discuss questions regarding Eclipse. (Selecting this will launch your default Usenet news reader application and open eclipse.platform.)
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The Eclipse newsgroups has many resources for people interested in using and extending Eclipse.
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Participate in developerWorks blogs and get involved in the developerWorks community.
Tricia York Garrett is an information architect for the IBM WebSphere Application Server documentation team. She has been co-leading an internal workgroup to explore simple, scalable, and automated approaches for enabling individuals and teams to document their IT projects more easily and with higher quality. She gathered requirements from IT solution subject-matter experts to initiate development of the Toolkit for Custom and Reusable Solution Information.
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