TMCore07 SP1 Hotfix Now Available
NetworkedPlanet today released a patch for TMCore07 SP1. This patch affects only the database scripts for TMCore07 and TMCore07 SP1, updating those scripts to fix an error found in the implementation of a few stored procedures.
This procedures that are patched are used primarily by the NPCL subsystem and EPiServer Module. The patch is RECOMMENDED for all users of TMCore07 and REQUIRED for installation of the TMCore EPiServer Module.
The patch performs non-destructive upgrade of the database - no data is affected, only stored procedure implementations are replaced.
The TMCore07 SP1 Hotfix can be downloaded here.
TMCore Research Service Beta Available
The TMCore Research Service is an implementation of the Microsoft Office Research web service interface that allows Office (2003 and 2007) and Internet Explorer (6 or 7) users search and browse a topic map using the Research panel.
This initial beta is packaged as an ASP.NET 2.0 web application which you can install on any IIS server that can access a TMCore database through the Topic Map Web Service (TMWS). The package contains full installation instructions and a developers guide describing ways in which you can configure the output of the service.
This beta version has been built and tested against TMCore07 SP1. If you have a license for TMCore, you can contact us for download details. If you do not currently have a license for TMCore but want to try out this beta, please request an evaluation copy of TMCore.
You can read more about Research Services and the Office Research Panel on the Microsoft Office Web site.
title="Download TMCore Research Service">Download the TMCore Research Service BETA.
TMCore SharePoint Module 2.0 Beta 1 Now Available
The TMCore SharePoint Module is an integration between Microsoft SharePoint 2007 and the TMCore Information Server that allows SharePoint users to quickly and easily organise content in a SharePoint site using a topic map ontology defined and managed separately by a librarian or systems administrator.
Features of this first beta of the integration include:
- Classify any content against the topic map - any SharePoint site, list or list item can be classified.
- Ontology-driven classification - the classification UI uses the topic map ontology to make it easy for users to connect items to other topics and to provide only occurrence data that is relevant to the item.
- Map SharePoint Content Types to the ontology - this makes the classification of SharePoint items almost completely automated. The administrator sets up a content type to topic type mapping that defines how content items should be classified.
- Browse and edit associations as SharePoint meta-data - a custom field type allows administrators to add fields to SharePoint lists that reflect association infomation from the topic map. Users see these fields as hyperlinks taking them to the related item and can edit them on the normal SharePoint meta-data editing screens.
- Suite of WebParts - a selection of web parts allow users to search or browse the topic map as well as to display or edit the details of topics.
The beta is now available for download. Please note that this software is in beta form and should be considered UNSTABLE. To perform the installation you will need to have first installed SharePoint 2007 Server and TMCore07 SP1. If you have a license for TMCore, please contact us for download details for TMCore07 SP1. If you do not have a license, you can request an evaluation copy of TMCore.
alt="Download the TMCore SharePoint Module">Download the TMCore SharePoint Module 2.0 Beta 1.
Simple Thesaurus Ontology 1.0
This ontology provides a simple concept-based thesaurus structure for use in your projects. The ontology implements most of the Topic Per Concept Thesaurus Pattern described in the Techquila article on Topic Maps Design Patterns.
Under this pattern, the thesuarus is represented as a collection of topics representing Concepts. Each Concept topic should have one base name in the unconstrained scope giving the preferred term for the topic (additional non-preferred terms can be added as base names scoped by the Non-Preferred Term scoping topic). Concepts are related to one another using the Concept Relationship association (for related concepts) or the Broader-Narrower association (for parent-child relationships).
This simple version of the Techquila ontology omits the Part-Whole association type. The types presented in this version are:
- Concept
- Topic Type. A thesaurus entry representing a concept. Concepts can be connected together using the Broader/Narrower association (to create hierarchical relationships) or the Concept Relationship association (to create cross-cutting relationships). Each concept can have any number of Warrant, Scope Note, Editor Note, General Note, History Note or Hierarchy Note occurrences.
- Warrant
- Occurrence Type that holds information about the source warrant for the concept. The warrant usually refers to the authoritative source document that the concept and its preferred term was taken from.
- Scope Note
- An Occurrence Type that holds information about the concept. Several subclasses are defined for specific types of scope note.
- History Note
- A note providing historical information about the entry - e.g. when it was first added or last updated.
- Hierarchy Note
- A note providing information about the hierarchical placement of the entry in the thesaurus hierarchy.
- General Note
- A note providing general information about the thesaurus entry.
- Editor Note
- A note providing editors with information about the entry. For example, a note indicating that the entry should be reviewed.
- Non-Preferred Term
- A Scoping Topic that can be used to scope base names on Concept topics that define the non-preferred terms for the concept.
Simple Organisation Ontology 1.0
The Simple Organisation Ontology is a starter ontology designed to allow you to learn more about how NPCL works and to use as a starter for your own projects. The ontology has been designed around a simple intranet application. The ontology records the following topic types:
- Organisational Entity
- A high-level type for departments, teams and people in an organisation. This class has the following three subclasses:
- Organisational Unit
- Part of an organisation. Organisational units can be organised into a Parent Unit / Child Unit hierarchy.
- Cross Functional Team
- A team within an organisation that operates across the normal organisational hierarchy.
- Person
- An individual within an organisation. A Person can be leader of one Organisational Unit, a member of one Organisational Unit and a member of any number of Cross Functional Teams.
- Content Item
- This is an abstract base class for representing content such as documents, articles, memos and so on. Content Items can have any number of Project, Skill, Product or Concept topics associated as a Primary Subject or Secondary Subject. A Content Item can be an Input To or Output From a Task. A Content Item is the Responsibility Of a Person.
The Content Item class is marked as abstract, so users should choose one of the concrete base classes when creating their topics. The concrete subclasses defined in this ontology are:- Document
- Used to represent an internal document such as an MS Word document or Excel spreadsheet.
- Article
- Used to represent short content items that are intended for wider consumption. Typically these will be items written for public dissemination (e.g. content published on a website).
- Concept
- Represents any concept that is relevant to the business. This topic type is taken from
the Techquila definition for thesaurus construction. If you wish to arrange concepts into a thesaurus structure, you may want to add our Simple Thesaurus Ontology to your topic map. - Product
- A product used or created by the organisation. A Product is the Responsibility Of an Organisational Entity
- Project
- A project carried out by the organisation or some part of it. A Project is the Responsibility Of an Organisational Entity. A Project Works On a Product. A Project Has zero or more Tasks.
- Task
- Work carried out by an individual or group of individuals. A Task can be Assigned To zero or more People. A Task can have any number of Input Documents and any number of Output Documents. A Task can be Part Of a Project.
- Skill
- A Person Has any number of Skills. Skills can be arranged in a Parent Skill/Child Skill hierarchy.
NPCL Base Topic Map
NPCL is the Networked Planet Constraint Language, a simple model for defining constraints on a topic map such as the topics that can be used as topic, association, role and occurrence types; what occurrence types a topic type allows, how topics can be combined in associations and so on. You can read more about NPCL here.
An NPCL schema can be specified as an XML file or as topics and associations in a topic map. When specified in a topic map, there are a few predefined topics that are required. Normally the Networked Planet Topic Map Editor application will generate these predefined topics for you, but occassionally you will want to bootstrap an application without having to use the Topic Map Editor. The NPCL Base Topic Map XTM file provides these predefined topics in a form that can be imported into a TMCore database using the tmimport command line.
Download the NPCL Base Topic Map.
About The Ontology Library
The NetworkedPlanet ontology library has been set up to provide you with sample and starter ontologies to learn from and to use in your own topic map projects. Although it is currently quite small, we will be adding to this library over time so be sure to subscribe to the site headlines to get notification of new additions as they are made.
Topic Maps, SharePoint and EPiServer as an Enterprise Information Integration and Delivery Platform
Us Topic Mappers know the power of the paradigm - we can envision how the generic data model of topics maps combined with its robust treatment of identity can be used as the basis for powerful information integration solutions. However, thus far most people have seen topic maps exposed as part of a web content management system or as part of a stand alone portal.
This however, was all part of a very cunning plan. For once people see the value topic maps can bring to web site navigation and general content findability they begin to realise and think about how this paradigm, these benefits, can be applied across more information systems. They realise that Topic Maps is not just about related content links, but it is about harmonising and contextualising the access to information. Information that is distributed and heterogenous in nature. Topic Maps with one CMS application is the thin end of the wedge, the value and benefits of using Topic Maps across an organisation, across applications increase exponentially.
There is an obvious value proposition for topic maps, it is the glue that binds information together. The value of a single piece of information is only as useful as the means for people to find and utilise it. Thus the value of a CMS or a Web CMS is fundamentally limited unless the mechanism by which users can find content is effective. Topic Maps, this semantic binding, adds meaning to information, provides context to access and enables a semantic layer that people can interact with before delving into the depths of one of many information repositories.
Let's consider an example of how Topic Maps is the glue that binds information together. TMCore already integrates with SharePoint and EPiServer. One common problem is that people want to collaborate and create content in SharePoint but then hook it into the intranet or internet site that is published via EPiServer. In addition, they want to provide a unified Web Service for accessing all content to enable other systems to integrate.
TMCore and Topic Maps provide a topic based information glue that can hold this web of information together in a way that allows it to be exploited in many different applications and forms.
The basic metaphor is that there are two kinds of topics, there are concept topics, people, places, departments, skills, projects etc and there are content topics. Content topics are topics that are proxies for a document or piece of content in some content repository.
When content is created in any system that is hooked into the topic map technology a new topic is created. This topic is uniquely identified and can unambiguously locate, fetch or more commonly, address the piece of content that it represents.
When content is created or modified users or auto-classificaiton features can connect the topic that represents the content item to topics that are in the concept space (the people, projects, skills etc).
Now, in either EPiServer or SharePoint it is possible to query the topic map to find topics and content that are located nearby in the semantic space. The key thing here is that the amount of classification to achieve a high degree of interconnected topics is very low (4 or 5 connections between a content topic and concept topic is enough). All of this information can be rendered as clickable links that either display a page for another topic or can go directly to a content item stored in a content repository.
Furthermore, as all the binding information is in the topic map, it can be used to support the implementation of web services that provide unified access to all information is a given set of systems.
These are just a few ideas on how Topic Maps and TMCore can be used as way to deliver seamless enterprise information.
Opening downloaded help (.chm) files
We have noticed that when downloading the TMCore EPiServer Module it is sometimes the case that the help file, .chm file does not open correctly. This article explains why, and how to fix it.
The solution
Rather than tantalize and tease with the solution, to make the chm file readable on your machine open up the properties for the CHM file and click the Unblock button as shown here below:
The problem
The "problem" is caused by Windows protecting your system. Windows is aware that the CHM file originated from the internet. The help system, which is HTML based, contains code (ActiveX) which, if maliciously written, could damage your machine. Therefore, Microsoft issues are security patch (896358/890175) to disable this by default.
In order to allow the code within the CHM file to run, you must "unblock" the file.
References
The links below explain the exact nature of the problem and alternative workarounds to this problem.
Additional information about upgrading to the TMCore EPiServer 2.0 Module
A number of projects are using a Release Candidate or Beta release of the EPiServer Module 2.0. With the final release now public here are a few additional pieces of information:
Which files are added/deleted?
There have been additions to the documentation and the AJAX topic editing client. However, deploying over the top of an existing installation will work correctly; the obsolete files will simply not be used.
Is it necessary to run the EpiServerModule.sql when I am updating?
Yes, we've updated the SQL Stored Procedures. However, this does not change any of the data in the database.
Which web.config settings should be added/removed?
No settings must be removed or changed, however you should review your existing web.config configuration with the installation guide to ensure correct operation.
Adding a new Dynamic Property 'topicidentity' to the EPiServer Project. Should there be a default value?
No value is required as default. It will get filled in automatically on each page by the EPiServer Module, either during the page create post-processing, or by the consistency checker.
The first time I run the Consistency Checker I get a lot problems reported
page name has no GUID. Will create one: urn:guid:xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx page name has unwanted subject identifier http://www.networkedplanet.com/2005/01/episerver/np-gen-psi/pageid page name requires new subject identifier: urn:guid:xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx
In TEM 2.0 we require the definition a new dynamic property to EPiServer which is a GUID, or Globally Unique IDentifier. The GUID is then used, in combination with a prefix urn:guid:, to construct the subject identifier of the topic representing the page.
The result of this is that the GUID property of the page is unchanged throughout the life of the page, and is preserved through export operations. This therefore allows EPiServer administrators to export page data, export the XTM from TMCore and then import in to new systems and the system will work as expected.
The EPiServer page ID can still be derived from the a topic via an occurrence value on the topic, typed by the Page ID occurrence type topic, by default this a topic with the subject identifier http://www.networkedplanet.com/2005/01/episerver/pageid.
The old subject identifier is no longer required and will be removed by the consistency checker.
