Essentials Overview
What is NorthStar CCM Essentials?
NorthStar CCM Essentials is the entry-level tier of MHC NorthStar CCM. It provides an API-driven document production engine that renders individual, customized documents from your data, on demand and at high volume, without the overhead of a full enterprise deployment.
Your application sends data (XML or JSON) to Essentials along with a reference to a document template, and Essentials returns the finished document: a PDF, Word file, PostScript file, HTML page, or one of more than 20 supported output formats. Essentials paginates very large documents with a low memory footprint, at rates of thousands of pages per minute.
Essentials is well suited for developers who want to build document generation directly into an existing application or workflow. Typical uses include invoices, statements, presentations, and other customer communications.
Previous product names
NorthStar CCM Essentials is the latest version of the product previously known as MHC Create, EngageCX Create, and Ecrion Develop. You'll still see the name MHC Create in the installer, the Windows services, and the default installation and configuration folders.
What's included, and what isn't
Essentials includes the core rendering engine shared by every NorthStar CCM tier. Upgrading to a higher tier extends what you can do without requiring a platform migration.
Essentials does not include the Enterprise Website, centralized project and template storage, the online NorthStar Designer, workflow management, or AI-assisted authoring and translation. Templates for Essentials can be designed in MHC Studio Publisher and stored on the Essentials server's file system.
If you need to manage templates and projects centrally, see NorthStar CCM Solutions to compare Essentials with the Enterprise and Enterprise Plus tiers.
Key Capabilities
| Capability | Description |
|---|---|
| Real-time rendering | Render documents dynamically from XML or JSON input data to PDF, Word, PostScript, HTML, text, PowerPoint, and more. |
| Data integration | Aggregate data from multiple sources, including SQL databases, XML, JSON, and CSV. |
| Document assembly | Combine additional inputs such as Word, Excel, PDF, TIFF, JPEG, SVG, barcodes, charts, and 3-D objects into a single output. |
| Template-driven design | Use templates created in MHC Studio Publisher to control layout, styles, colors, and other visual elements. |
| Document security and signing | Apply e-signatures and digital signatures, and protect PDFs with AES 256-bit encryption. |
| Modern PDF support | Produce PDF 2.0 documents, and embed files or data sources directly inside a rendered PDF. |
| Developer SDKs | Integrate using the .NET SDK (.NET 10, with a .NET 4.8-compatible version available), the Java SDK, or the REST API directly. |
How Essentials Works
Essentials is made up of four server components. You choose which components to install during setup, and you can install them all on one machine or distribute them across several.
| Component | Role |
|---|---|
| Publishing Engine | Converts XML/JSON data into finished documents in your chosen output format. Runs as the Create Engine Windows service (PublisherSvc.exe). |
| Data Engine | Aggregates data from multiple sources (XML, CSV, relational databases, and more) for high-volume document production. Works together with the Publishing Engine. |
| Web API | Exposes the rendering capabilities through a REST API, secured with an API key. |
| Licensing Engine | Manages your product keys. Can run as a single node or as a dual-node, high-availability pair. |
A typical rendering request follows these steps:
- Your application authenticates with the Web API using its API key and receives a session token.
- Your application sends a render request containing the input data and the path to a template in a server workspace.
- The Publishing Engine (with the Data Engine, if needed) merges the data into the template and renders the output.
- The Web API returns the finished document to your application.
Essentials also installs several desktop and command-line tools, including the Management Console for configuring the engine, licensing, and logging. See Requirements for the full list.
Deployment options
Essentials is available both on cloud and onPrem.
- onPrem installations run on your own Windows servers. By default, the Web API listens on port 50100 (HTTP) and 50101 (HTTPS).
- Cloud installations are accessed over HTTPS only (port 443).
To increase throughput for onPrem installations, you can deploy several Publishing Engines across different servers, all pointing to a central Licensing Engine. This is called a multiple workers deployment, and all workers share the volume limits of the license installed on the Licensing Engine. See the Multiple Workers Guide.
Getting Started
Follow this path to go from a new installation to your first rendered document.
- Check the requirements. Confirm your server meets the hardware and software requirements, including the .NET 10 runtime, the Visual C++ Redistributable, and .NET Framework 4.8. See Requirements.
- Install Essentials. Download the installer from the MHC Community Portal and run the setup wizard. See the Installation Guide.
- Configure the engines. If your templates call external URLs or read from local folders, add the required HTTP(S) and folder whitelists. See Additional Configuration
- Configure the Web API. Review the ports, HTTPS certificate, and API key in
webServerSettings.json. See Post-Installation Configuration. - Explore the API. Open the live REST API inspector at
http://localhost:50100/swagger(orhttps://localhost:50101/swagger) to send test requests and examine the responses. - Download an SDK and render your first document. Download the .NET or Java SDK from the
/sdkpage of your installation, then follow the XML-to-PDF code samples in the API Guide.
Sample templates
Essentials includes sample templates to help you get started. Open the Windows Start Menu and go to MHC Create Samples > XML Samples for Publisher templates, XSL-FO files, and document assembly (DAL) files.
Essentials Guides
| Guide | What it covers | Intended for |
|---|---|---|
| Requirements | System requirements, required software, included tools, and HTTP(S) and folder whitelisting. | System administrators |
| Installation Guide | Step-by-step setup, component selection, licensing configuration, and Web API settings. | System administrators |
| Multi-Server Guide | Distributing Publishing Engines across servers to increase throughput. | System administrators |
| API Guide | Authentication, template management, using the .NET and Java SDKs, error handling, and date formats. | Developers |
| API Reference | Endpoints for authorization, direct data and rendering, the publishing and data repositories, and server status. | Developers |
Upgrading from a Previous Version
If you're currently using Ecrion Develop or EngageCX Create (versions 12.0 through 14.0), upgrading to NorthStar CCM Essentials gives you the same functionality, plus PDF and encryption enhancements. Your existing templates remain compatible, and the upgrade introduces no breaking changes to your code, although you'll need to reconfigure the new version after you install it.
If you're using Ecrion Engage or EngageCX Converse, upgrade to NorthStar CCM Enterprise or Enterprise Plus instead to keep your current functionality.
For version details, changes in system requirements, and upgrade steps, see Upgrading to Essentials. For the latest features, see the Release Notes.