File Management

Files & Folders

System files for Essentials are placed in the following locations:

Application Installation Folder

This is where the product is installed. The installation directory contains all the binaries required for the Essentials components.

On Windows environments, you can set a custom installation folder during the installation wizard run.

In a default installation, it is located at:

On Windows OS: C:\Program Files\MHC Software\<product>
On Linux OS: /opt/MHC Software/<product>

Application Data Folder

This directory contains the configuration files for the Essentials components.

In a default installation, it is located at:

On Windows OS: C:\ProgramData\MHC Software
On Linux OS: /opt/MHC Software/Common/MHC Software

Configuration File

NorthStar CCM Essentials uses a configuration file to enable various functionalities. It is loaded on start-up by the Publishing Engine. The configuration file is created automatically on Windows, and it is called PublisherSvc.config. In Linux environments, it has to be created manually and saved with the following name - UDaemon.config.

The configuration file location is:

On Windows OS: %Application_Data%\MHC Software\PublisherSvc.config
On Linux OS: /opt/MHC Software/Common/UDaemon.config

Note

Any changes made to the config file require a restart of the service. Follow the steps provided below to restart the service, based on your OS

Windows OS

There are multiple ways to restart the Publishing Engine service on Windows. Here are two of the common ways for restarting the service:

Access Windows Task Manager, navigate to the Services tab and restart the MHC Create Publishing Engine service.
Access Management Console, navigate to Server Manager > Configuration > in the left pane tree view, then use the three buttons from the right to stop, start or restart the service: Stop Service, Start Service or Restart Service.

Linux OS

To manually start the service, the following command must be run: sudo systemctl start ultrascaled
To stop the service, the following command must be run: sudo systemctl stop ultrascaled
To restart the service, the following command must be run: sudo systemctl restart ultrascaled

Repository

This section provides an overview of the files and users existing with the Develop solution.

Workspaces

Essentials workspaces enable collaboration and storage of all assets involved in your customer communication management processes. These are logical divisions and allow you to store document templates (EPR, EPB, XSL, etc.), along with other dependencies assets (such as images, translations, etc.) for processing XML/JSON input into external documents.

In NorthStar CCM Essentials, document templates can be classified as local templates or server templates. The primary difference between a local and a server template is where your XSL Transformation takes place and not just where the template resides. When using local templates, the XSLT is performed on the client side and the computed XSL-FO is passed to the server for the rendering job. When using server templates, both transformations and rendering operations are performed on the server-side. Server templates can be configured from Management Console, on Windows environments, or through config parameters, on Linux.

Creating a New Workspace

This section provides step by step instructions for creating a new workspace for your server templates in NorthStar CCM Essentials.

Windows OS

If the server is running on Windows, follow the steps below:

In Management Console, expand the Server Manager > Configuration > Publishing Engine from the left tree view pane.
Select Workspaces, then use the Add button from the top-right side to create your own-brand new workspace.
You will be prompted to enter a name for your Workspace. Next, use the drop-down menu to select the XSLT engine you want to use when your document template is processed by the server. The XSLT engine is useful because in reality, different templates can use different XSL components, and you're much better off with selecting the needed processor at the beginning. The available engines are: Auto , MSXML , .NET 10 XSLT Parser or SAXON Parser. Internal parser can be used when Use MHC Create Internal Compiled Template Module is checked.
Once you're ready, select OK.

Your workspace will be added into the Workspaces list. By default, locally it will be saved in the application data folder location. (for example, C:\ProgramData\MHC Software\ServerTemplates).

Setting Up Server Templates

A workspace can contain one or more template files (EPR, XFD or XSL), images (PNG, JPG, TIFF, SVG, etc.), translation files (TXT), content fragments (EPB, XFC), and other resources used to produce the required output.

In order to make edits, the desired workspace must be double clicked. Within the Workspace dialog, you can select from several options, such as:


Add File	New Folder	Edit	Delete
XSLT Engine	Restart the service	Users

Adding Files

Follow the steps below to add a document template or other associated resources to your workspace, on a Windows OS:

Starting from the workspace edit dialog, use Add File.. to add new templates to the current workspace.
In the Add File dialog, click Browse to navigate the file system and add the needed template.
The ServerTemplateID will be automatically completed once a template is selected. It is a unique identifier that you can send to the server to specify the template you want to use as an input. It uses a two-pair combination string like WorkspaceName:TemplateName.
When a new template is added to your workspace, it can be either copied into the workspace folder, or it can be only referenced from its existing location, process also called as Add as shortcut.
Once you're ready, select OK. Your template is now added to the workspace.

Creating Sub-Folders

Within workspaces, you can create one or multiple sub-folders to arrange your assets into categories for easy access (for example, create a separate folder to store fragments, a separate folder for images, etc.).

Starting from the workspace edit dialog, use New Folder.. to create a new folder into the current workspace.
You will prompted to enter a name for your folder.

Editing Workspace Files

Follow the steps below to edit a file presented into your workspace:

Starting from the workspace edit dialog, select a file you want to edit, then click on the Edit.. button.
In the prompted dialog, you can either select another file or select the way the file is added to the workspace (copied or as a shortcut). Note that once a new file is selected, the ServerTemplateID will be automatically updated.

Deleting Workspace Files

Follow the steps below to remove a file presented into your workspace:

Starting from the workspace edit dialog, select the file you want to remove, then click on the Delete button.
Confirm the deletion by selecting OK. Your file will be now removed from the Essentials workspace.

Note

When the file is referenced as a shortcut from it's original location, only the shortcut will be removed and the file remains untouched.

Linux OS

If the server is running on Linux, follow the steps below:

Access the /opt/MHC Software/Common/MHC Software/ServerTemplates folder.
Create a new folder (for example, ServerApplicationSample), then copy the template (for example, SampleTemplate.epr) and any additional resources in it (images, content fragments, etc.)
Create a file named Application.config and insert the following line:
```
AllowTo=Guest;
```
Restart the service.

To test the created server application, use the following command:

Render -xml xmlfile.xml -parameters:servertemplateid=ServerApplicationSample:SampleTemplate.xfd

Note

The server template's id that will be used when rendering documents will be ServerApplicationSample:SampleTemplate.xfd.