20 Viewing Documents

In Oracle WebCenter Content, you can view content items and their associated revisions and metadata in several ways. You can also download copies of native files. In addition, you can sign content items electronically, participate in a discussion about a content item, and subscribe to content item revisions.

This chapter has the following sections:

• Viewing a Content Item

• Discussing Content

• Subscribing to New Revisions of a Content Item

• Signing Content Electronically

20.1 Viewing a Content Item

After you find a content item, you can view it in several ways, depending on the available renditions of the content item, the conversion setup for your system, and the configuration of your Web browser. Depending on your access permissions, you may also be able to open or get a copy of the native file.

This section covers the following topics:

• Viewing a Web-Viewable File

• Viewing a Native File

20.1.1 Viewing a Web-Viewable File

To view the Web-viewable rendition of a content item, you must have the appropriate helper application or Web browser plug-in installed. For example, to view the PDF version of a content item, you must have the Adobe Acrobat plug-in.

You can view a Web-viewable file as follows:

• From a Content Information page, click the Web Location link.

• From a Search Results page, click the Content ID link in the ID column (Headline view) or Description column (Classic View), or the thumbnail (Classic and Thumbnail views).

If a Web-viewable file does not exist, or you do not have the correct helper application or plug-in installed, you are prompted to either save the file or open it in its native application. For more information, see Viewing a Native File.

20.1.2 Viewing a Native File

When you view the native file of a content item, you are prompted to either save a copy of the file or open it in its native application. If you choose to open the file, you are actually opening a copy of the native file that is stored in a temporary location on your hard drive. You are not opening the native file that is stored in Content Server repository.

You can access a native file as follows:

• From a Content Information page, click the Native File link.

• From a Check‐Out Confirmation page, click the Download native file button.

• From a workflow review notification message, click the Review workflow item link to open the Workflow Review page, and then click the Native File link under Renditions.

20.2 Discussing Content

Content Server comes with the ThreadedDiscussions component. If enabled, it allows contributors to post questions and comments about the content item throughout multiple revisions. This component must be installed and enabled by your system administer for this functionality to be available.

This section covers the following topics:

• About Discussion Posts and Threads

• Initiating a Discussion from the Content Information Page

• Initiating a Discussion from the Search Results Page

• Initiating a Discussion from the Workflow Review Page

• Viewing and Replying to a Threaded Discussion

• Printing a Threaded Discussion

• Deleting a Threaded Discussion

• Searching with the Discussion Type Field

20.2.1 About Discussion Posts and Threads

Threaded discussions provide question and answer feedback about a content item and help record how and why changes were made to a content item. Because threaded discussion posts follow content through multiple revisions and refer to the revision for which the comment was made, threaded discussions help contributors keep track of enhancement requests or other recommendations for future changes to the content. Each discussion post conveniently lists the revision number of the content to which it refers, so you do not have to view the content information of previous revisions to post to a discussion item.

Discussions are managed content items. When you begin a discussion thread about a content item, an .hscp form for the discussion is created, given the same ID as the content with _d appended to the end, associated with the content item, and automatically checked in to Content Server.

Note:

If you have a content item that has a document name that is within one character of the database storage maximum, which is 30 by default, you cannot create a threaded discussion for it.

Unlike other content items, edits to a discussion do not create new revisions of the discussion content itself. Instead, the .hscp form that contains the discussion is modified. The Revision History for discussion content is always Revision 1. The revision number does not increment for discussion content. The number of the post represents the chronological order in which the comments were posted.

In Figure 20-1, each top-level post represents a thread. Posting number one (#1) and posting number two (#2) are threads. The reply (#3) to thread number two represents a post within a thread.

Figure 20-1 Threads and Posts

Figure 20-2 shows posts #1, #2, #3 and #4. The reply to "Change to Introduction (#1)," "RE: Change to Introduction (#3)" was made after "Change to Conclusion (#2)."

Figure 20-2 Posting Order

20.2.2 Initiating a Discussion from the Content Information Page

To initiate a discussion from the content information page of a content item:

1. Browse or search to locate the content item and open the Content Information page for the item.

   If you are checking in a new content item, you can access the Content Information page by clicking the Content Info link on the Check-In Confirmation page. For more information about checking in content items, see Checking In a New File.

2. In the Links area, click the Create Discussion link.
3. On the Post Comment form, enter a subject for the posting in the Subject box.
4. Enter your discussion question or comment in the comment text box.
5. Click New Post. The Post Comment form (Brief Content Info page) displays the new post.

20.2.3 Initiating a Discussion from the Search Results Page

You must be using a search results view that provides access to the Content Actions menu, such as the Headline or Thumbnail views. If you are using the thumbnail view, then you can click the discussion icon to access the discussion.

To initiate or enter a discussion in progress from the Search Results page:

1. From the main menu, choose Search.
2. On the Advanced Search page, enter any search metadata fields to narrow your search, and click Search. For example, to exclude content items that are discussions, select Discussion Type=Not applicable. Your search results are displayed.
3. In the Content Actions menu for the content you want to discuss, click Create Discussion.
4. On the Post Comment form, enter a subject for the posting in the Subject box.
5. Enter your discussion in the comment text box.
6. Click New Post. The Post Comment form (Brief Content Info page) displays the new post.

20.2.4 Initiating a Discussion from the Workflow Review Page

To initiate a discussion about a workflow document:

1. Open your My Content Server tray and click the My Workflow Assignments link.
2. In the Actions column on the Workflow in Queue page, click the Workflow Review icon.
3. In the Links list on The Workflow Review page, click the Create Discussion link.
4. In the Subject box on the Post Comment form, enter a subject for the posting.
5. Enter your discussion in the comment text box.
6. Click New Post. The Post Comment form (Brief Content Info page) displays the new post.

20.2.5 Viewing and Replying to a Threaded Discussion

Users with read permissions can view the messages within a threaded discussion, but only those who can edit the content can post messages. You can access an existing discussion from the following links:

• On the Content Information page, click the ID of the content item to discuss link.

• On the Workflow Review page or Search Results page, click the Discuss This Item link.

• On the Discussion Info page, click the Web Location link.

• On the Search Results page of a discussion, click the Content ID link.

The Discussion link indicates how many discussion posts have been created for the document. The Discussion Count custom information field generates the number of items.

To view and reply to a discussion thread:

1. On the navigation bar, click Search.
2. On the Advanced Search page, specify the search criteria for the content you want to discuss. In the Discussion Type field, select N/A.
3. Click Search.
4. On the Search Results page, click the Content Info link or icon for the item you want to discuss.
5. To view the discussion, in the Links area on the Content Information page, click the Go to Discussion link.
6. To reply to a post, beneath the post to which you want to reply, click Reply To This.
7. Enter your reply in the comments text box, and click Post Reply. Your post is added to the discussion.

20.2.6 Printing a Threaded Discussion

To print a threaded discussion.

1. On the navigation bar, click Search.
2. On the Advanced Search page, specify the search criteria for the discussion thread. In the Discussion Type field, select Single Content, and click Search.
3. In the ID column of the Search Results page, click the ID of the discussion thread. The ID should have an underscore d (_d) suffix.
4. In the discussion thread, click the Print View option.
5. On the print view page, click the Printer icon or use any of the print options supported by your browser.

20.2.7 Deleting a Threaded Discussion

To delete a threaded discussion. You must have delete permission for the content to delete the discussion.

To delete a discussion:

1. In the Search Results page, click the Content Item info link for the discussion you want to delete.
2. On the Discussion Info page, click OK. A message indicates the revision has been successfully deleted from Content Server.

20.2.8 Searching with the Discussion Type Field

You can use the Discussion Type metadata field to narrow your search criteria when searching documents. The Discussion Type search field enables you to refine a search for content associated with discussions. The discussion type options are:

• N/A: A search applies to all documents including those without associated discussions. A search returns content both with and without a discussion, but does not return any content that is a discussion itself. That is, content IDs with an underscore "_d" are excluded from the search.

• Single Content: A search applies to documents that have a discussion focused on a single content item. A search using this option returns the discussion content itself (it returns only content that is a discussion). Only content IDs with an underscore "_d" are included in the search results.

  Note:

  If you do not select any criteria for Discussion Type, all content with or without discussions are displayed, including the discussion content itself.

20.3 Subscribing to New Revisions of a Content Item

This section covers the following topics:

• About Subscriptions

• Subscribing to a Content Item

• Viewing Your Current Subscriptions

• Unsubscribing from a Content Item

• Unsubscribing from a Criteria Group

20.3.1 About Subscriptions

Subscriptions notify you automatically whenever a content item is revised. There are two types of subscriptions:

• Content item subscription: Users manually subscribe to individual content items.

• Criteria subscription: The system administrator sets up a subscription based on one or more metadata fields. When a user subscribes to the Criteria subscription, they are automatically subscribed to all content items that match a particular value of those metadata fields.

  For example, the system administrator sets up a criteria subscription with Author values as the criteria. Whenever you view a Content Information page, you can choose to subscribe to all content items checked in by the author of the current content item.

The system administrator can subscribe users to specific content items or to criteria subscriptions, but users have the ability to cancel these subscriptions.

20.3.2 Subscribing to a Content Item

To subscribe to a content item:

1. Display the Content Information page for the content item.
2. From the Content Actions menu, choose Subscribe.
3. If the item is part of a criteria group, on the Subscribe to "content_item" page, click Subscribe under the Subscribe To This Item section.
4. If no e-mail address has been specified in your User Profile page, you are prompted to enter an e-mail address for this subscription. Enter an e-mail address, and click OK.

20.3.3 Viewing Your Current Subscriptions

To view your current subscriptions, Open the My Content Server tray, and click My Subscriptions.

20.3.4 Unsubscribing from a Content Item

To unsubscribe from a content item:

1. Open the My Content Server tray, and click My Subscriptions.
2. From the Actions menu on the Subscriptions page, choose Unsubscribe.

20.3.5 Unsubscribing from a Criteria Group

To unsubscribe from a criteria group:

1. Open the My Content Server tray, and click My Subscriptions.
2. From the Actions menu on the Subscriptions page, choose Unsubscribe.

20.4 Signing Content Electronically

If the Electronic Signatures component is enabled, you can optionally sign a content item with an electronic signature that uniquely identifies the contents of the file at a particular revision and associates the revision with a particular user.

This section covers the following topics:

• About Electronic Signatures

• Signable Objects

• Signature Metadata

• Signature Verification

• Signing a Content Item Electronically

• Viewing Electronic Signature Information

• Search for a File in Revisions

• Search for a File in the Repository

20.4.1 About Electronic Signatures

An electronic signature is a unique identifier computed from the binary content of a content item and associated with other metadata such as the name of the user who signs the content item. Unlike a digital signature, which uniquely identifies both the document and the signer and encrypts the information with the document, an electronic signature is not stored with the document.

When you check in a content item, Content Server generates the identifier and stores it with the revision metadata for the content item. When you sign a content item, a copy of the identifier is stored with the electronic signature metadata. When you check in a modified revision of the content item, a new identifier is calculated.

Content Server can compare the identifier stored with the content item to the identifier stored with the electronic signature to help you determine if a signed content item has changed and if existing signatures for a content item are valid.

Note:

The identifier is computed from the content only, not the associated metadata. A change in the metadata for a content item does not invalidate the electronic signature for the content item.

Because electronic signatures are stored separately from both the content item and from its metadata, multiple users can sign a particular content item revision. For example, in a workflow approval process, multiple reviewers may sign a revision of a content item.

Any user with access to the Document Information page for a content item can sign the content item. You can also provide an electronic signature as part of a workflow approval step. For more information, see Reviewing Revisions in a Workflow.

You can access signature information for a signed content item from the Content Information - Signatures tab. For more information about signing a content item, see Signing a Content Item Electronically.

20.4.2 Signable Objects

The following table describes the restrictions on objects that you can sign electronically:

Object	Description
Content Items	You can sign any content item, such as a document, an image, a zip file, and so on. You can sign the native file, but not other renditions, such as web-viewable versions of the native file.
Folios	You can sign a folio, provided it has been frozen.
Metadata-only	You cannot sign items that do not have an associated content item, such as metadata profiles or Content Server folders. Because metadata itself is not used to calculate the signature ID, a change to the metadata for a content item does not constitute a change to the electronic signature for the content item.

20.4.3 Signature Metadata

When you sign a content item electronically, the signature is automatically associated with your user name and certain information about the content item such as the content name and revision ID. You must provide your user name and password to sign a content item revision, and you typically provide additional information such as the reason for signing the document.

Your system administrator may also define additional metadata fields that are stored as part of the metadata for the electronic signature.

Note:

Because signature metadata is stored separately from content item metadata, you cannot search for electronic signature metadata with the standard search options provided.

A system administrator can use signature metadata in a watermark to indicate that a PDF document has been electronically signed. For more information, see Types of Watermark in Managing Oracle WebCenter Content.

20.4.4 Signature Verification

When a content item itself is modified, it produces a different computed identifier. By comparing the identifier of a content item with the stored signature, Content Server can determine whether the signature for a particular revision is still valid.

Because identical files produce the same calculated identifier, you can compare a file in a local file system to a particular content item revision to determine if the files are identical. For more information, see Search for a File in Revisions.

You can also verify a file from a local file system against all signed or unsigned content to which you have access. For more information, see Search for a File in the Repository.

20.4.5 Signing a Content Item Electronically

To electronically sign a content item:

1. Display the Content Information page for the revision you want to sign.
2. From the Content Actions menu, choose Sign Content.
3. On the login page, specify your user name and password to provide signature authentication.
4. On the Sign Content Item page, your user name is preselected. Specify additional metadata fields as necessary.

   Note:

   The Reset button returns the fields to their original values.

5. Click Sign.
6. To view signature information for the current revision, on the Electronic Signature Confirmation page, click the View Signature Information link.

   The Content Information - Signatures tab opens. This page is also accessible as a tab on the Content Information page.

20.4.6 Viewing Electronic Signature Information

To view signature information for an electronically signed content item:

1. Display the Content Information page for the content item.
2. In the Revision column, click the revision for which you want to view signature information.

   If the selected revision of the content item has one or more electronic signatures, a Signatures tab is included at the top of the page.

3. Click the Signatures tab.
4. To view complete signature metadata for a signature, on the Content Information - Signatures tab, click the Signature Details icon in the left-most column for the associated signature.

   The Content Information - Signatures tab provides information about the all signatures for the selected content item revision, including any associated workflows the validation status of each signature.

5. To view signature information for all revisions of the current content item, choose All Revisions from the Change View menu.

   The Signatures tab updates to show signature information for all revisions of the current content item.

   Note:

   The column with validation status is replaced by the revision number in this view with the currently selected revision in bold and surrounded by brackets. Validation of signatures is provided for a single revision only.

6. To view complete signature metadata for a signature, click the Signature Details icon in the left-most column for the associated signature.

20.4.7 Search for a File in Revisions

To compare a file in a local file system to the signed revisions of a content item:

Note:

The external file is compared to signed revisions only.

1. Display the Content Information - Signatures tab for the signed content item you want to compare with the external file.
2. Click Search For Local File In Repository in the menu area.
3. To select an external file, on the Search for Local File page, click Browse.
4. In the File Upload window, navigate to the location of the external file, select the file, and click Open.

   The file path for the selected file is shown in the File Path field. Click Reset to clear the field.

5. Click Validate.
6. If the external file matches a signed revision, in the signature validation window, you can click the View Content Info link to display the Content Information page with the matching revision selected.

   If the external file matches a signed revision other than the most current revision, you can click the newer signed revision link to display the Content Information page with the newer revision selected.

20.4.8 Search for a File in the Repository

To compare a file in a local file system to all signed or unsigned content in the system to which you have access:

Note:

The external file is compared only to revisions to which you have access.

1. In the Content Management tray, click Search For Local File In Repository.
2. To select an external file, on the Search for Local File page, click Browse.
3. In the File Upload window, navigate to the location of the external file, select the file, and click Open.

   The file path for the selected file is shown in the File Path field. Click Reset to clear the field.

4. Click Validate.
5. If the external file matches a signed revision, in the signature validation window, you can click the View Content Info link to display the Content Information page with the matching revision selected.

   If the external file matches more than one signed revision, the results are displayed in a table format. You can click the Information icon to the left of the matching item to display the Content Information page for that item.

   If there are multiple matches, the window remains open until you click Close Window.