automated external glossary publishing (with flare)

qt_ky · Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2018 8:06 am

For general reference and consumption of glossary terms and definitions, enterprise terminology would be vastly more accessible in our organization if we exported IGC glossary content into file, convert that into a document, and make that available on the intranet or internet. I would like to automate and repeat the process weekly, monthly, or quarterly.

It is a relatively simple task to run a command to export IGC content as XML or as a CSV file, but what I am really wondering is how to go about automating the next step of converting the file into a final glossary PDF document with a professional look and feel, such as a complete document that you might imagine an author creates in Word with a cover page, table of contents, intro, glossary, possibly an index, etc. (I am a DataStage Developer/Administrator after all, not a desktop publisher...)

As I type this i am thinking about searching on "automated document publishing tips."

Thoughts?

qt_ky · Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2018 8:19 am

A quick search on "free open source automated document production and publishing" pointed me to https://www.scribus.net/ as a possibility.

Has anyone already gone down a similar path?

ray.wurlod · Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2018 11:38 pm

What options does the Information Server Reporting Console provide?

qt_ky · Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2018 7:18 pm

Information Server Console > Home > Reports

Categories include:
> Administration
> FastTrack
> Information Analyzer
> QualityStage

ray.wurlod · Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2018 3:41 pm

I'm pretty sure you can produce reports of published glossary content. Alas I can't check that (or how) till I get back to work in another week from now.

qt_ky · Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2018 11:56 am

Getting all of the glossary content is the first step in assembling a complete document.

IGC 11.7.0.1 (we currently have workflow disabled on this instance) > Queries

Query: Glossary Categories and Terms
Description: View a list of Categories and their Terms.

List Options > Save as Data Format (CSV) or Save as Report Format (XLS)

The latter file format resembles the same layout as the web page report results.

This is disturbing. I just discovered that both options automatically filter and limit the output files to the first 25 terms in any given category.
- The CSV file just truncates the output without letting you know it has done so.
- The XLS file still truncates but at least gives clues mixed in the results, like "There are 38 instances in total" or "There are 120 instances in total."

I might try an admin export or istool command next, as I am sure they do not truncate results.

eostic · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2018 7:51 am

I happen to like XML, so I would probably research doing this via a stylesheet. I've only touched stylesheets lightly, but found it very easy to create attractive displays of xml content without too ...

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