With Documentum 6.5 SP3 going out of support this year (August 31, 2012), we’re running several Documentum upgrade projects for clients this quarter. Unlike in the past where upgrades promised fantastic new functionality, this round of upgrades is trending more towards maintaining supported configurations and upgrading to new hardware. In addition, rather than simply upgrading the OS, companies are virtualizing servers and rolling out 64-bit hardware wherever possible. ... [Continue Reading]
Documentum Webtop 5.3 running on Documentum Content Server 6.x
We stumbled across a pretty vague reference in the cross-product dependency guide for Documentum 6.7 SP1 (on page 245) for Webtop (emphasis ours) “Note: Documentum Collaborative Services 5.3 DAR is installed with Content Server 6.7 SP1 repository so Webtop 5.3 & 5.3 SPx will work with Content Server 6.7 SP1. If Documentum Collaborative Services (formerly Documentum Collaborative Edition) 6.7 SP1 DAR is installed with Content Server 6.7 SP1 repository, Webtop 6.7 SP1 is required.” ... [Continue Reading]
Documentum , Weblogic and DM_DFC_E_BAD_CLASS error
We had a client last week struggle with a DM_DFC_E_BAD_CLASS when deploying Webtop and our OpenAnnotate product along with our DFC based OpenContent. The issue arises from the CLASSPATH having the file "dfc.jar" added to it. We thought we would document the thoughts here for other client’s reference. ... [Continue Reading]
Documentum 5 vs. 6, Databases and Dates: Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
When EMC revealed Documentum 6 a few years ago, they made a subtle—yet important—change to the way Documentum would store dates and times in the database. While most clients would never even notice the change, some of us would. In particular, when it becomes necessary to access the underlying database tables, like OpenMigrate can when preserving modification dates, confusion can be the order of the day. ... [Continue Reading]
Documentum Foundation Services – What Happened?
Unveiled with D6 in 2007, Documentum Foundation Services (DFS) was the service-oriented replacement for the Documentum Foundation Class (DFC) and the Microsoft specific Primary Interop Assembly (PIA) including lingering components of the original Documentum API still embedded within the DFC. With the announcement at EMC World that the new development environment will be a REST based API built on the DFC, Documentum customers might be wondering about the future of DFS. This post will discuss ... [Continue Reading]
Documentum Workflow Manager, BPM, and Licensing
We just finished a new 6.6 Documentum install for a client and ran into something slightly unusual. During the installation, we were not able to install a workflow template from an existing archive, a routine install activity. In the past, we could always move workflow templates between repositories using Application Builder and Installer and create new templates with Workflow Manager. While Documentum Application Builder and Application Installer became unsupported with the release of ... [Continue Reading]
Documentum Search – How to get around the user request of “I just want a search like Google”
Often times Documentum users, frustrated with Webtop Search or Advanced Search will request “Can we just have a Google Search?”. This post will provide input to Documentum developers on how to best address this ongoing request. While this post is specifically focused on Documentum developers, lessons learned about interface design apply to our Alfresco and SharePoint readers as well. ... [Continue Reading]
Documentum 6.5 Upgrade – Character Encoding Issues
Special Note: Anyone that is planning an upgrade from Documentum 5.3 to 6.5 should look closely at this note as some types of upgrades (clone or in-place) could result in content that was retrievable from 5.3 not being available in 6.5. This post was developed based on recent work for a major pharmaceutical client. The client, on Documentum 5.3, was developing a consumer interface application leveraging Lucene. As we mentioned in a previous post, the client chose Lucene over FAST based on ... [Continue Reading]
Documentum – Top 12 Tips
Every couple of months we like to step back and offer a “What’s next” post in regards to our thoughts on what Documentum customers should be considering with their implementations. For this post, we will highlight our thoughts based on a thorough review of EMC World and our client briefing discussions. ... [Continue Reading]
Documentum Implementations – "Over Customized" or "Over Sold"
Though-out EMC World, one of the main themes in many of the product presentations (xCP, MyDocumentum…) was a focus on configuration versus customization. As a buyer of Documentum software, it is easy to see why configuration can be better than customization as it: ... [Continue Reading]
Documentum and Momentum EMC World 2010 Recap
First off, a couple of clarifications The Content Management and Archiving (CMA) group of products (that included Documentum, Captiva…) has been changed to the Information Intelligence Group (IIG). We (TSG) are just going to stick with “Documentum” to keep things simple and relevant to our reader base. (Plus we save on having to explain the acronyms in every post). When we refer to Momentum, we are referring to the Documentum track at EMC World. Some telling stats from Documentum/Momentum ... [Continue Reading]
Documentum Full Text Search with Lucene – Honoring ACL Security
The last post discussed the results of an HPI Lucene Search test compared to a Webtop FAST Search as part of a proof of concept for a client looking to provide a consumer interface. As we have often mentioned on this forum, we continually see clients looking for a better search interface than Webtop, as well as some content cached outside of Documentum for business continuity, performance, and licensing. One accurate comment raised by the post was that our comparison of HPI/Lucene against a ... [Continue Reading]
Documentum Upgrade – Understanding all the Pieces
As mentioned in previous posts, many clients are struggling with the upgrade to Documentum 6.5. Typically, the upgrade of the Documentum components are only one piece of what can be a difficult puzzle. Upgrading servers, operating systems, databases, and document manipulation services all add a level of complexity and coordination. This post will highlight typical components/functions and TSG’s thoughts and recommendations. Thanks to the clients (you know who you are) that contributed so ... [Continue Reading]
Documentum – What’s Next Updated for 2010
Back in 2007, we started offering a presentation for clients, “What’s Next for Documentum?” The presentation focused on what mature Documentum clients are doing “next”. Typically, mature customers: have an existing production install of Documentum have implemented tools “out of the box” with some or extensive customizations have had some success ….and are looking for “What do I do Next?” This post will share new, innovative or just different items we see our clients doing or considering ... [Continue Reading]
PDF Annotation Tools That Work Beyond Documentum 5.3
Over the years, a variety of software tools have become available for integrating PDF annotation functionality into the Documentum client suite. Some of these tools include Brava!, AnnoDoc, Snowbound, and Documentum PDF Annotation Services. Each product has its own feature set, but all provide the ability to mark up PDF documents and store the annotations alongside the document in the Documentum repository. Each product has a client component that integrates with Documentum Webtop to provide ... [Continue Reading]
Documentum, Alfresco and SharePoint – Dispelling the Microsoft ECM Myths
Most of TSG’s Documentum and Alfresco clients are evaluating Sharepoint as a portal to ECM or to satisfy some of their ECM needs. While TSG has always provided Sharepoint connectivity to ECM with OpenMigrate, ActiveWizard and OpenContent as demonstrated in the links below, Active Wizard OpenContent OpenMigrate Sharepoint Source many of our clients are asking “Hey, why not just use SharePoint instead?” One recent client just finished an effort leveraging Sharepoint for ECM. For this blog ... [Continue Reading]
Migrating From FileNet to Documentum: Could OpenMigrate Possibly Do That?
Frequent readers of the TSG Blog know OpenMigrate is our flexible open source migration framework; that it can be configured or extended to move content and data between different types of repositories; and that it's been used in numerous successful migrations with Documentum, Alfresco, Qumas, Hummingbird and many others. But perhaps you're wondering: "There's no way it could migrate from an old FileNet IDM system, could it? I mean, that system was built for old optical disk storage devices! ... [Continue Reading]
D6.5 JMS Not Starting Properly – Client Authentication Failure
We noticed an issue with one of our Content Servers after our move to the new office a few weeks ago. The JMS wasn't starting up properly and we were seeing this error in the log file: Error [DM_SESSION_E_CLIENT_AUTHENTICATION_FAILURE]error: "Could not authenticate the client installation for reason: Client hostname in authentication string doesn't match value in registry"; ERRORCODE: 100; NEXT: null It turns out that in both D6 and D6.5, this is a known issue - if your Content Server's name ... [Continue Reading]
Documentum Client for Outlook, Notes Connector, iPhone and other thoughts on Content Management and Email
One of TSG’s manufacturing clients is currently evaluating Alfresco for control and management of project related documentation. (Proposals, CAD, Specs….). In working with the client on proof of concept efforts this week, we came across a typical requirement for storing email and attachments easily within Alfresco. In the Documentum world, many of our clients typically choose the Documentum Client for Outlook, Notes or some other 3rd party product that integrate within the email client. ... [Continue Reading]
Extends vs. Modifies in D6.5 WDK
As more and more of our clients are upgrading to Documentum 6/6.5, we've encountered many significant changes between development methods in 5.3 WDK and 6.5 WDK. The good news is they are changes for the better, allowing for more efficient and streamlined development of Webtop customizations. One of the big changes is the ability to modify a Webtop component rather than having to extend it. For those of us that have developed Webtop customizations on Documentum 5.3, we are all too familiar ... [Continue Reading]
Documentum Search – Lucene, FAST, Verity, Google and upcoming DSS
Since the new Documentum Search Services beta program just started last week, we thought we would share some of TSG’s thoughts on full-text search and our plans to add Lucene capabilities to our open source offerings. Documentum Search Services (DSS), was tentatively called Enterprise Search Services (ESS) early in the product development. DSS promises to be “the next generation of search in EMC and will be built upon xDB with Apache Lucene as the underlying indices”. Specific highlights ... [Continue Reading]
Documentum Upgrade – Inplace or Migration
For many Documentum customers, deciding how to upgrade a Documentum system often boils down to whether or not to upgrade in-place with a clone or just leave the environment alone and upgrade it in-place on the existing hardware. This year, I worked with a client on a project to explore the differences between upgrading several Documentum systems in place versus migrating the documents straight to a new 6.5 installation. Many of the in-place upgrade complexities were due to the older database and ... [Continue Reading]
Documentum Web Services – Documentum DFS and TSG OpenContent
“Why don’t I just use DFS from Documentum instead?” We get his question often from clients. TSG recently had a discussion with a client on this topic. They eventually chose OpenContent over DFS based on the following points: Documentum Support It might seem that a large company would be better positioned to enhance and support any software product compared with support from a small company. As we walked through this concern with the client, we discussed how Documentum had supported ... [Continue Reading]
Documentum Migration – Buldoser and OpenMigrate – Folders versus Nodes
In working with a client, I had the opportunity to evaluate Buldoser from Crown Partners versus OpenMigrate from TSG. Buldozer was used to change OS platforms for a Documentum 5.2 Repository while upgrading it to Documentum 5.3. Buldozer failed to migrate a second Repository due to object level complexities. OpenMigrate was then tested in the migration/upgrade of the complex Repository from Documentum 5.2.5 to new OS hardware and to Documentum 6.5. While both products were designed to assist ... [Continue Reading]
Documentum Upgrade – Planning Guide for Documentum Upgrade to 6.5
TSG is announcing the release on our web site of a Documentum Upgrade Planning Guide. The planning guide is a series of questions and tips to help guide your D6 upgrade activities. By filling out the guide, you will receive an email with a custom upgrade guide based on your answers as well as the complete Documentum D6 Upgrade whitepaper to share with your team. The planning guide is available at https://www.tsgrp.com/services_solutions/D6.jsp In building the guide, our team incorporated ... [Continue Reading]
