The Endeca Content Acquisition System is a set of components that add, configure, and crawl data sources for use in an Endeca application. Data sources include file systems, content management systems, Web servers, and custom data sources. The Endeca Content Acquisition System crawls data sources, converts documents and files to Endeca records, and stores them for use in an Forge pipeline.
The following image shows the Endeca Content Acquisition System
components as they work together in a typical implementation to crawl data
sources and produce Endeca records:
The Endeca Content Acquisition System is made up of the following
components:
- The Endeca CAS Service is a servlet container that runs the CAS Server, the Component Instance Manager, and any number of Record Store instances (one per data source).
- The CAS Server is the component that manages all file system and CMS crawling operations. The CAS Server is documented in the Endeca CAS Developer's Guide.
- The CAS Console for Endeca Workbench is a Web-based application used to crawl various data sources including file systems and content management systems. During the Content Acquisition System installation, the CAS Console is installed as an extension to Endeca Workbench. The CAS Console is documented in the Endeca CAS Console Help.
- The CAS Server API allows users to write programs that communicate with the CAS Server. The CAS Server API has a WSDL interface and also a CAS Server Command-line Utility. The API is documented in the Endeca CAS API Guide.
- The Dimension Value Id Manager is a CAS component that creates, stores, and retrieves dimension value identifiers.
- The Endeca Web Crawler manages all Web crawl-related operations. This component is documented in the Endeca Web Crawler Guide.
- Endeca CMS connectors are available for use in the CAS Console for Endeca Workbench or the CAS Server API. CMS connectors provide a means to access and crawl data sources in a wide variety of CMS types, such as Documentum, eRoom, FileNet, JSR-170 compliant repositories, Lotus Notes, Microsoft SharePoint, and Interwoven TeamSite.
- The Component Instance Manager creates, lists, and deletes Record Store instances. The Component Instance Manager has a WSDL interface and also a CIM Command-line Utility.
- The Endeca Record Store provides persistent storage for generations of records. The Record Store has a WSDL interface and also a Record Store Command-line Utility. The CAS Server writes crawl output from each data source to a unique Record Store instance.
- The CAS Extension API provides interfaces and classes to build extensions such as custom data sources and custom manipulators. You package extensions into a plug-in and install it into the Content Acquisition System. After you install the plug-in, the extensions are available and configurable using the CAS Console, the CAS Server API, and the CAS Server Command-line Utility.
