Category and Attribute Administration

Guide

OpenText™ Content Server

Define robust Categories that can contain multiple attributes of

numerous types. Enable Content Server users to find items that
have particular attributes.

LLESWAT230100-AGD-EN-01
Category and Attribute Administration Guide
OpenText™ Content Server
LLESWAT230100-AGD-EN-01
Rev.: 2022-Sept-16
This documentation has been created for OpenText™ Content Server CE 23.1.
It is also valid for subsequent software releases unless OpenText has made newer documentation available with the product,
on an OpenText website, or by any other means.

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accuracy of this publication.
 Table of Contents
1 Administering Item Attributes .................................................. 5
1.1 Managing Additional Node Attributes .................................................. 6
1.2 Managing Categories ........................................................................ 9
1.3 Managing Category Attribute Settings ............................................... 12

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Chapter 1
Administering Item Attributes

An attribute is a standard piece of information about something or someone. A

person could have a Height attribute, whose value is their height expressed in
meters. Attributes allow you to easily group similar objects or people. For example,
you could use the Height attribute to find a group of people who have a height
greater than two meters.

In Content Server, item attributes are typically derived from:

Categories and Attributes

Categories and Attributes, created by users with sufficient permissions, are a
flexible way of assigning attributes to Content Server items. You can create
Categories and Attributes that apply to items in specific folders or volumes, and
can be modified after creation. For more information on Categories and
Attributes, see OpenText Content Server - Categories and Attributes User Guide
(LLESWAT-UGD).
System Attributes
Built-in System Attributes are fundamental item attributes that apply to items
throughout Content Server. Every Content Server item (node) type has its own
default set of System Attributes, which varies according to item type. The
General tab, on the properties page for an item, displays its System Attributes.
Here is the set of System Attributes, for example, that belong to the Document
item type:

• Name
• Description
• Modified
• Owner
• Created
• Reserved
• Reserved By
• Reserved Date
• Version Number
• Version Name
• Version Owner
• Version Modified
• File Name

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Chapter 1 Administering Item Attributes

• File Size
• MIME Type
• File Type

Additional Node Attributes

Additional Node Attributes, created by users with sufficient permissions, are
similar to System Attributes. They apply to every Content Server item
throughout your entire Content Server deployment.
Additional Node Attributes can help users locate items in the Content Server
repository by providing extra ways to sort and search for items. However,
because the Attributes you define on the Administer Additional Node
Attributes page apply to all Content Server item types, creating one can impose
an administrative burden on Content Server users and administrators, especially
if you make it a required Additional Node Attribute. If you do not need an
attribute to be applied to all item types system-wide, you should use Content
Server Categories and Attributes instead.

1.1 Managing Additional Node Attributes

The Administer Additional Node Attributes page allows you to view, create, edit,
and delete Additional Node Attributes.

Additional Node Attributes can be assigned a value of Exclude, Include, or Require.

Exclude
Additional Node Attributes with a value of Exclude do not appear anywhere in
Content Server.
Include
Additional Node Attributes with a value of Include appear throughout Content
Server.
Require
Additional Node Attributes with a value of Require appear throughout Content
Server and users are obliged to supply a value for them when they add or edit
items using the Content Server Classic View. (This obligation applies to
individual items, not to Folders and other Containers.)

Caution
Drag and drop is not compatible with required Additional Node
Attributes. If you create a required Additional Node Attribute,
OpenText recommends that you disable drag and drop. For
information on disabling drag and drop, see OpenText Content Server -
Content Server Administration Guide (LLESWBA-AGD).

When you create an Additional Node Attribute, Content Server adds the Name field
to the Content Server database table, DTreeCore, as a column name. Consequently,

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 1.1. Managing Additional Node Attributes

the Additional Node Attribute Name must consist only of alphanumeric characters
and underscores and cannot be a keyword that is reserved by your RDBMS, such as
Length, Size, Table, or Date. (For a complete list of reserved keywords, refer to the
documentation that accompanies your RDBMS software.) Attribute names are case-
insensitive. For example, the name test1 is the same as the name Test1.

If you create an Additional Node Attribute with a data type of Date, follow Content
Server's Input Date Format and use four digits for the year.

After you create an Additional Node Attribute, you can change its Display Name,
but you cannot modify its text length or data type. To change either of these
parameters, delete the Additional Node Attribute and recreate it using a different
name. After you delete an Additional Node Attribute, you cannot reuse its name for
another Additional Node Attribute.

OpenText recommends that you create, delete, and edit Additional Node Attributes
while few, if any, users are connected to the Content Server database. After you add
or modify an Additional Node Attribute, you are prompted to restart the Content
Server service. You should also restart the Content Server service on every other
instance in your Content Server cluster and restart your Web application server (if
applicable). For more information on restarting Content Server, see OpenText Content
Server - Content Server Administration Guide (LLESWBA-AGD).

1.1.1 To View an Additional Node Attribute

To view an Additional Node Attribute:

• In the Core System – Feature Configuration section of the Content Server

Administration page, click the Additional Node Attributes link.

1.1.2 To Create an Additional Node Attribute

To create an Additional Node Attribute:

1. In the Core System – Feature Configuration section of the Content Server

Administration page, click the Additional Node Attributes link.

2. On the Administer Additional Node Attributes page, click Add a New

Attribute.

3. On the Add New Attribute page, type a unique name for the Additional Node
Attribute in the Name box.

4. Select an attribute type in the Type list, and provide values for any additional
attribute settings associated with the type.

5. Type a display name that users will see in the Display Name box.

6. Click Save Changes. Content Server verifies that the attribute settings are valid.
If you receive an error message, click your browser's Back button to return to
the Add New Attribute page and correct the source of the error message.

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Chapter 1 Administering Item Attributes

7. After you have successfully created the Additional Node Attribute, on the
Administer Additional Node Attributes page, select one of the following
availability settings for it:

• Exclude, which sets the attribute not to appear for Content Server items.
• Include, which sets the attribute to appear for all Content Server items.
• Require, which sets the attribute to appear for all Content Server items, and
requires users to set a value for it when they add an item or edit an existing
item that does not yet have a value.

8. On the Restart Content Server page, click Restart to restart Content Server
automatically or click Continue if you prefer to use operating system tools to
restart Content Server.

9. Restart the Content Server service on every other Content Server instance in
your cluster.

1.1.3 To Edit an Additional Node Attribute

To edit an Additional Node Attribute:

1. In the Core System – Feature Configuration section of the Content Server

Administration page, click the Additional Node Attributes link.

2. Click Edit for an Additional Node Attribute.

3. Optional Select a new interface display type, if more than one is available, from
the Type list.

4. Optional Type a new name in the Display Name box.

5. Make any other desired changes that Content Server permits you to make. Not
all settings can be changed. To make certain changes, for example to change the
name of an Additional Node Attribute, you must delete it and recreate it.

6. Click Save Changes.

7. On the Restart Content Server page, click Restart to restart Content Server
automatically or click Continue if you prefer to use operating system tools to
restart Content Server.

8. Restart the Content Server service on every other Content Server instance in
your cluster.

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 1.2. Managing Categories

1.1.4 To Delete an Additional Node Attribute

To delete an Additional Node Attribute:

1. In the Core System – Feature Configuration section of the Content Server

Administration page, click the Additional Node Attributes link.

2. Click Edit for an Additional Node Attribute.

3. Click Delete, and then click OK.

1.2 Managing Categories

Content Server provides the ability to define robust Categories, each with any
number of single or multi-valued Attributes. A Category is a collection of Attributes
that enables you to classify, group, or search for items defined by that set of
Attributes. You define a Category by choosing the types of Attributes it contains,
their sequence and layout, and any default and valid values for each Attribute.

Assigning Categories to Content Server items helps users locate items in the
database by searching for items that belong to a particular Category or have
particular values assigned to their Attributes. Users can associate Categories with
items they add, and set their Attributes, if they have the See and See Contents
permissions for a Category. Categories that you administer are accessible to all users
by default.

A Content Server item associated with a Category has all the Attributes associated
with that Category, as well as the default set of Attributes defined for the item.
When you create a Category, it must include at least one Attribute.

Note: When you upgrade Content Server, the Categories and Attributes from
the previous version will not be functional until you re-export the Enterprise
data. This function re-extracts the data from the Content Server database
without purging the Enterprise index.

Administering Categories
Only the administrator or a user with system administration privileges can create
Categories. OpenText recommends that you restrict users' privileges to create
Categories.

Category Permissions and Privileges

A Category is a permissions-based item:

• To create a Category, a user must have the Object Creation privilege for the
Category item, and the Add Items permission to the area in which the Category
template will be stored. The Categories Volume is the default storage location in
Content Server for Category templates. Only the system administrator, by
default, can create and administer Categories. However, you could create a

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Chapter 1 Administering Item Attributes

special Category Creator group and add specific users to that group. These users
can then define new Categories and add them to the workspaces to which they
have permission. Such users must have system administration rights to add a
Category to the Enterprise Workspace or the Categories Volume. Any user can
edit a Category if this user has Write permissions to it.
• To associate a Category with an item, a user must have at least See and See
Contents, or Read, permission to access the Category.
• To change Attribute values in a Category associated with an item, a user must
have the Edit Attribute permission for the item.

Using Categories
Like any other Content Server item type, such as a Folder or Document, the
Category item type can be indexed and searched, versioned, and audited.

Category version control allows you to create a Category and modify it at a later
date. Changes to a Category definition, however, can result in loss of data since each
Attribute in the Category represents a specific piece of information about the
Content Server item with which it is associated. If an Attribute is deleted or changed
within the Category, for example, a different sequence in the layout, that
information would no longer exist for any item associated with that Category. This
can adversely affect database searches and accurate information retrieval.

With version control, previous versions of the Category can remain in use and valid
for the items to which they are associated, while other items can use the newer,
modified Category version. For example, suppose a document has Category X
assigned to it, and later the administrator, or other authorized user, removes or
resequences one or more of the Attributes. Items currently associated with the
Category are not affected until, or unless, the administrator upgrades the items with
the new Category version. Versioning of Attribute data, however, applies only to
Content Server items that are normally versioned, such as documents, compound
documents, and other Categories.

Content Server Categories can also be audited to track changes to the definition.

Note: The Category Audit page tracks modifications made to Category fields.
In order for auditing to occur on the Category fields, the Category Added
interest must be enabled. For more information about setting auditing
interests, see OpenText Content Server - Content Server Administration Guide
(LLESWBA-AGD).

Any Content Server item can be associated with one or more Categories, even the
Categories Volume and the Category.

When a Category applies to a container item, such as a Folder, Compound

Document, Task List, Project, Workflow, Channel, or Discussion, all the newer sub-
items will inherit the Category and its Attributes.

When users assign a Category to an item, the selection dialog box defaults to the
Categories Volume. Normally, only the administrator or other authorized user can

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 1.2. Managing Categories

access this volume, as its link appears only on the administration page. General
users cannot edit the Category, unless they have appropriate permission for it. You
can also copy Categories from the Categories Volume to another location in Content
Server, such as a folder, and set unique access permissions for it.

As the administrator, you can create and edit Categories, since Categories are
versioned items in Content Server, you can create and modify Categories without
having to restart the server.

1.2.1 To Add a Category

To add a Category:

1. Click Category on the Add Item menu.

2. On the Add: Category page, type a name for the Category in the Name box.
If your system has multiple languages installed and enabled, click the Click to
edit multilingual values button to edit the names in the other, enabled,
languages.

3. Optional In the Description box, type a description for the Category.

If your system has multiple languages installed and enabled, click the Click to
edit multilingual values button to edit the descriptions in the other,
enabled, languages.

4. Optional In the Categories box, click Edit to either select or add a Category to
apply to this Category.

5. To place the item in a location other than that which appears in the Create In
box, click Browse Content Server, navigate to the container where you want to
locate the Category, then click its Select link.

6. Click Add.

Note: After you create a Category, you must add Attributes to it. For more
information, see “Managing Additional Node Attributes” on page 6.

1.2.2 To Add a Category Folder

To add a Category Folder:

1. Choose Category Folder on the Add Item menu.

You can only add a Category Folder to the Categories Volume or another
Category Folder.

2. Type a name for the Category Folder in the Name box.

3. Optional Type a description of the Category Folder in the Description box.

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Chapter 1 Administering Item Attributes

4. To modify the Category or the Attributes associated with the Category, click
Edit.

5. To place the item in a location other than that which appears in the Create In
box, click Browse Content Server, navigate to the container where you want to
locate the Category, then click its Select link.

6. Click Add.

1.2.3 To Edit a Category

To edit a Category:

1. Click Functions menu for a Category, and then choose Edit.

2. On the <Category_name> page, add Attributes to the Category, or edit its existing
Attributes.

3. Click Submit.

1.3 Managing Category Attribute Settings

The Configure Attribute Value Requirement page allows you to specify that for
certain item types, users do not have to define values, even for Category Attributes
defined as Required.

This feature allows you to reuse Attributes while defining different behaviors for
each item type.

Note: The settings on this page affect Categories and Attributes. They do not
affect Additional Node Attributes.

1.3.1 To Configure Attribute Value Requirements

To configure Attribute value requirements:

1. In the Core System – Feature Configuration section of the Content Server

Administration page, click the Attribute Value Requirement link.

2. To force users to define a value for required Attributes when they add or edit an
item of that type, on the Configure Attribute Value Requirements page, do one
of the following:

• In the Available area, click one or more item types, and then click Add.
Type a few letters in the Filter box to refine the list of item types.
• Click Add All to add all of the item types to the Required list.

3. To allow users to not specify a value for a required Attribute when they add or
edit an item of that type, on the Configure Attribute Value Requirements
page, do one of the following:

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 1.3. Managing Category Attribute Settings

• In the Required area, click one or more item types, and then click Remove.
Type a few letters in the Filter box to refine the list of item types.
• Click Remove All to add all of the item types to the Available list.

4. Click Save Changes.

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