Structured and fragmented content in collaborative XML publishing chains

Abstract

In this paper, we present the main results of the C2M project through one of its operational deliverable: the Scenari4 collaborative editing and publishing system for XML content. The purpose of the C2M project was to design a system able to manage structured and fragmented contents - as XML publishing chains do - while providing collaborative possibilities - as Enterprise Content Management systems (ECM) do. The main issue is related to transclusion relationships which are massively used in XML publishing chains, in order to support repurposing without copying. This approach is not compatible with the classical way ECMs manage content, especially in terms of propagation of modifications, rights or transactions management. We propose two complementary solutions to manage two different levels of collaboration. The workspace is designed as a highly dynamic place able to deal with live fragments, linked together in a network, that can be easily updated at any time by any user. The library is a more static and more classical way to manage content, dedicated to folder-documents, which are XML frozen versions of sub-networks extracted from workspaces. While workspaces are dedicated to content elaboration and maintenance, libraries are places to store, to read, or to exchange stable documents. Scenari4 is released under FLOSS license and has been being used in several experimental and commercial contexts since the beginning of 2012.