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Subject:Re: Document Databases & Intranets (#601741) From:wburns -at- MICRON -dot- COM Date:Tue, 21 Jan 1997 12:45:07 MST
21-JAN-1997 12:07:52.76
>From: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
>To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
>Subj: Document Databases & Intranets
>
>Dear Techwizards,
>
>I searched the archives for information on document databases as they
>relate to intranets (as in storing documents in a database, allowing users
>to specify what they are looking for, and returning dynamic HTML documents
>suitable for viewing or printing through a browser.)
>
>When this discussion surfaced last summer, it seemed that there were
>tools/technologies/methodologies available, but no one had much experience
>with them - although a few people were exploring the idea.
>
>Does anyone have any new insights to report? (1st hand experience
>preferably.)
Well, it depends on what you mean by "dynamic." If you mean having a flatfile
with links that can call other documents, then we're doing that. If you mean
compiling documents from a database on the fly, I'm working on it. IBM's DB2 can
do this. Check out http://www.software.ibm.com/data/db2/ for more details.
We've been publishing documents on our intranet from Saros Mezzanine for quite
some time. I'm working on a way to run a query to find document elements and
copy those elements into a single file, and publish them on the web (and I've
heard that it can be done with VB and a few macros). A quick VB frontend (got
the first form done), some ActiveX controls, and I may be rolling (but I'm not
holding my breath--ActiveX has a way to go).
Calling documents from a database and delivering them to the web is the easy
part. Compiling document elements into a single file and displaying them is a
bit trickier, but it can be done ('specially if you got one o' them there SGML
O-O databases). Developing a workflow system for approvals and notifications can
be a real headache (if you need those features).
Feel free to contact me for more details.
Bill Burns
Assembly Documentation Supervisor
wburns -at- micron -dot- com
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