SUMMARY
ODMA is the Open Document Management API. ODMA provides
applications with a consistent method for integrating seamlessly with clients
from document management systems (DMS).
ODMA is a standardized,
high-level interface that enables you to transparently access a DMS from your
desktop program, such as Microsoft Word 2000. With ODMA, these services appear
to be an extension of the program.
Common DMS software packages
replace the standard
Open and
Save dialog boxes in Word with customized dialog boxes that provide
security and version control functions such as:
- A way to enter or remove a document
- Controlled access to documents
- Locks on any document when checked out
- Some degree of security when distributing
documents
- A means for quick searches on the names of documents in the
system
- A means of tracking access to the document
system
In order to turn on ODMA functionality in Word or Office, you
must install a DMS system along with the Word or Office software.
NOTE: Microsoft Word 2000 and Microsoft Office Binder 2000 are
ODMA-compliant applications. When you add a Word 2000 document from file or add
a new Word 2000 section to a binder, Word 2000 remains ODMA-compliant.
MORE INFORMATION
Described below are the specific calls and steps an
ODMA-compliant application goes through during integration with a
DMS.
When an application (such as Microsoft Word) first begins to
interact with the document management environment, it issues an ODMRegisterApp
call to the ODMA Connection Manager (ODMA). It typically does this as part of
its startup, but it can delay the call until the user actually initiates
interaction with the document management system (DMS). ODMA returns a handle
for the application to use for identification in all subsequent calls. When the
application quits, it calls ODMUnRegisterApp to return the handle.
As
part of this registration process, ODMA searches the Windows Registry for a
registered DMS in the following key:
HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Classes\ODMA
The application tries to connect to the first DMS
whose key has a subkey of DEFAULT. The value for the DMS key itself is for an
executable provided by the DMS vendor. This is typically a .dll whose function
is to translate the ODMA calls into calls to the DMS client's own integration
API. If the user has not already logged on to this DMS either directly or from
another application, the DMS client puts up a log-on screen.
After an
application has registered with ODMA, it either continues with API calls or can
switch to a COM interface. ODMA then becomes essentially a transparent traffic
manager, passing ODMA calls through to the appropriate DMS client. The DMS
client implements the COM interface, as an aggregation of that in
ODMA.
NOTE: Applications do not register with ODMA. They provide an
additional API call that the Connection Manager uses to "wake up" the DMS
integration, which returns an interface ID.
Requests for new
documents and searches go to the default DMS. If the application provides a
document ID that is for a different DMS, the Connection Manager starts the DMS
client, if it is not already connected, and passes the call to it.
All dialog boxes for searching, selecting, and setting properties of documents,
as well as log on, come from the DMS client. In ODMA 1.0, neither ODMA nor the
application (such as Microsoft Word) provides any dialog boxes.
To
open a document, the application calls ODMSelectDoc, and the DMS displays a
dialog box for the user to select the document and version required. The
application calls ODMOpenDoc to ask the DMS to retrieve a work copy for the
application to open.
To save a new document, the application calls
ODMNewDoc to get a temporary document ID, ODMSaveAs for the user to complete a
profile, ODMOpenDoc to get a file name to save to, and ODMSaveDoc to let the
DMS know it can take the file. ODMCloseDoc completes the process and tells the
DMS to delete the local work copy of the file.
For more information
about ODMA, please see the following Web address:
DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM SOFTWARE VENDORS
The following is a list of Document Management System (DMS)
vendors:
DOCS Open
Hummingbird
1 Sparks Avenue
North York, Ontario
Canada M2H 2W1
Telephone: (416) 496-2200 or (877) 359-4866
Web Address: http://www.hummingbird.com
Technical Support:
Telephone: (850) 942-5000
Fax: (850) 942-8085
E-Mail: support@pcdocs.com
The
third-party products that are discussed in this article are manufactured by
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implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these
products.
Microsoft provides third-party contact information to help you find
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Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this third-party contact
information.