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GCI Viewer is now integrated into the Application Analyzer
We are happy to announce that Ravenblack products now integrate with GCI’s PowerTools Viewer. We hope to have integrations with other GCI products in the future, but in this short blog we highlight a couple of obvious integrations with the GCI Viewer product that we're deploying in the next release of the Application Analyzer and our new Dynamic Widgets product.
Simplifying Content Server trace logs
Troubleshooting trace logs in Content Server shouldn’t feel like digging through a maze of cryptic information. That’s why we built the Trace Log Viewer in Ravenblack Application Analyzer — to give administrators and support teams a clear, browser-based way to view, interpret, and act on trace logs faster than ever. And now that OpenText has improved the raw data available, we’ve added even more functionality to our viewer tool, allowing administrators to view the trace log data in the context of the actual OScript code that generated it.
5 game-changing Dynamic Widgets features that elevate Smart View
If you've been struggling with the limitations of Content Server Smart View, you're not alone. While Smart View encourages adoption with its sleek interface, most customers quickly hit walls when trying to create truly tailored, business-ready applications. The static layouts, limited widget interaction, and restricted customization options have left many developers frustrated. But what if there was a solution that could give you the flexibility of classic ActiveView and WebReports with all the power of modern Smart View? Enter Ravenblack Dynamic Widgets — a smarter, more flexible way to customize Smart View.
Can ChatGPT really help with WebReports development? A hands-on test
With generative AI applications like ChatGPT quickly becoming a go-to for everything from data analysis to planning a vacation, we were curious how it might be able to help with WebReports development. We tasked Andrew, one of our developers, with putting ChatGPT to work for us and investigating exactly what it might be capable of.
How Dynamic Widgets improve the Smart View experience
If you’ve worked with Content Server’s Smart View before, you know it offers a newly redesigned structured way to present content, but it comes with some significant limitations—especially when it comes to customization, flexibility, and widget interactions. That’s where Ravenblack Dynamic Widgets come in. Our solution makes Smart View more dynamic, customizable, and efficient, but without the headaches of complex and burdensome development.
Simple tips to make your WebReports more robust
Ravenblack will be at OpenText World again this year with a kiosk so we hope many of you will come by to chat or ask questions about your WebReports developments, and to check out our vast enhancements to the WebReports ecosystem. In the meantime, I thought I would share a few simple pointers to make your WebReports developments more robust.
Solving WebReports scheduling congestion
In this blog we’re going to talk about the WebReports scheduling feature. Apart from a primer on how this feature works, we’ll address a very common issue with this feature (if you guessed scheduling bottleneck, you’re in the right place), and some of the solutions to this problem that partners and customers have created over the years.
Taming the Jabberwock with Application Analyzer
Sometimes it can be hard or a daunting task to try to unravel a large Content Server Application (aka “CS App”: a packaged collection of WebReports and components, to fulfil a business purpose) you have been tasked with troubleshooting, maintaining, or extending. In this blog, Steve Chan charts his journey in getting to know Ravenblack’s Application Analyzer, and how it can help you both maintain and develop new applications, in an easy-to-use, single interface.
Down the rabbit hole with Business Workspaces
In this blog, guest contributor Steve Chan explores how the new Business Workspaces functionality in Ravenblack’s Application Analyzer can help you navigate and manage your way out of the proverbial rabbit hole!
All about WebReports Constants
In this blog we talk about a well-knownfeature ofWebReportsthat is key to creating robust and flexible applications—WebReports Constants.We’llreview what they are, how they are used, and some of the commonissues that we’veseen with typical WebReportsapplications. Plus, we’llshare a few tips that you might not know about.
Content Intelligence changes: Content Suite versions 22.1 to 23.1
This is the first time we’ve added a blog reviewing Content Intelligence changes in the quarterly Content Suite updates. As there isn’t value in re-stating the release notes, this is a commentary based on our observations and discoveries related to undocumented changes, or any issues we’ve found. Given that this is inherently selective, we decided to base this blog on a year’s worth of updates from 22.1 to 23.1, with a few references to changes prior to 22.1. This is obviously not all encompassing, so if you find anything we’ve missed, please leave us a comment on LinkedIn or get in touch.
The tribble effect: getting control of your WebReports
A common concern I hear from Content Server customers is that they don’t know what WebReports functionality is running on their system. Conversely, in some cases, customers have no idea that they have multiple active WebReports enhancing their system, which makes it very hard to support any customer requests or problems!
Should I use CSApps or Transport for my WebReports?
Did you know that Content Server Applications Management (CSApps) and Content Server Transport don’t actually do the same thing? Or maybe you didn’t know CSApps is a thing, period? Either way, you’re in good company. It’s a commonly held assumption among Content Server users that these two products compete with each other, but the truth is that they’re not mutually exclusive. As one of the original developers of the CSApps product, and as someone who was party to the origin story for Transport, I’ll explain what they’re both for, and how they complement each other.
Why the WebReports language is still relevant
At a glance, some might think the WebReports syntax (and the overall framework) is unusual (or just plain weird) compared to most modern day programming languages. There is also a common misconception that the WebReports language (being proprietary) is difficult to learn. The many features of the WebReports object, and the huge library of functions (tags) can be daunting, but the actual syntax is quite straightforward, and the template-based framework is is an approach now universally used in most equivalent development languages.
How to create custom sub-tags for WebReports and ActiveView
This article provides an overview into the mechanics of WebReports “sub-tags.” I discuss how to deliver new sub-tags, or extensions to existing sub-tags. I also discuss the pros and cons of using this feature along with some useful tips and tricks you can use if you choose to take advantage of it. If you don’t know what a sub-tag is, why are they so important, or just how you can use them, take a look here, we explained the basics of sub-tags for WebReports.
Introducing Sub-Tags for WebReports
One of the most important facets of WebReports - and by extension the ActiveView module - is the extensive library of sub-tags available. But what is a sub-tag, and why are they an integral part of WebReports? In this blog post I explain the basics of WebReports sub-tags. If you'd like to learn more about our Sub-Tag Loader and Sub-Tag Suite product offering, you can check out the Productivity Suite product page.
How RavenBlack improves your ROI from WebReports products
Whether you know it or not, a significant number of OpenText customers have WebReports installed within their Content Suite environment. It is often bundled with Content Suite, and more recently, all Extended ECM products include WebReports as part of their software license.
What the Ravenblack Application Analyzer has in common with the pacemaker
Some of the world’s most important inventions and discoveries happened completely by accident. A few famous examples include penicillin, the microwave, and, the pacemaker. Inventor Wilson Greatbatch was actually attempting to build a heart rhythm recording device, but ended up creating the pacemaker instead when he accidentally installed the wrong part. The result ended up being a far more valuable product that’s now been saving lives for more than 60 years.
New training courses available
I'm excited to announce that we’ve just completed piloting brand-new versions of two WebReports training courses. What is brand new? We’ve taken the traditional two-day training program - similar to the ones that were originally developed by RKT and later modified by OpenText) and made some sensible modifications along with some format changes to make remote instruction more effective. Some of our objectives for the content changes were:
OpenText World 2021: watch now our Turbo Talk on-demand! Reinventing Content Suite Customization
Well, it’s tough to replicate a live OpenText World but this was as good as it gets. It seems the keynotes get better every year and there was a ton of great content and information. We were happy to contribute! Great job everyone!
RavenBlack is presenting at OpenText Digital World: Reinventing Content Suite Customization
One of the most common requirements for Content Suite customers is the ability to customize or configure their system to their unique business needs. “Out of the box”, OpenText Content Suite provides an infrastructure of powerful, business-critical features that are vital to companies all over the world.
Check out the latest product features!
After a few months from the release of our Productivity Suite for WebReports, and the Multi-Agent Scheduler product, we are proud to introduce you to the latest features in version 1.2 of these products.
[Deep Dive] How to build Content Intelligence “Apps” using CSApps
In a previous blog post (Using Content Intelligence for Content Suites Customizations) I described some of the great functionality and capability of the Content Intelligence(CI) suite of products for Content Suite (CS). I also described a feature called Application Management which is typically referred to as CSApps.
Catch-up on RavenBlack’s OpenText World Asia Presentation
Reinventing Content Server Development with RavenBlack Productivity Suite Founder and president of RavenBlack, Greg Petti, discussed how OpenText users are tailoring their Content Suite and Extended ECM platforms to meet their organization’s specific needs and goals.
We are sponsoring OpenText World again! OpenText World Asia
We’ve been really busy this year at Ravenblack. We announced two new product releases, joined OpenText World Europe, and now we’ll soon attend Enterprise World Asia as an Expert Sponsor, again.
[Deep dive] A Simple ActiveView example
As I haven’t written a blog for a while, I thought I would do something a bit different with this one. I’m going to create a useful example of an ActiveView override that any customer can deploy in their own system (classic view only). Using the ActiveView product, I’m going to create a simple but useful customization for any Content Server “classic” user interface that can be done with a single ActiveView.
[Deep Dive] Mitigating performance-hungry SQL queries with WebReports - Part 2
In my previous blog post, I highlighted some of the problems that WebReports customers may experience, and I shared some of the features of WebReports that are designed to reduce performance issues. You can download the free PDF if you haven’t already. This blog is going to complete the topic of performance issues.
[Deep Dive] WebReports Applications and Performance Concerns - Part 1
So far, most of the blogs we’ve posted have been very pro Content Intelligence (WebReports). However, we are now going to talk about some of the problems that WebReports customers may experience. More importantly, we’ll discuss how Ravenblack can help you to avoid these problems or remedy them. This blog is specifically going to touch on the area of performance.
Beginners guide to the ActiveView module
This week I decided it was past time to do a blog on the ActiveView product – WebReports' close sibling. ActiveView arrived a few years after WebReports and provided a way to integrate WebReports functionality into the Content Suite interface, allowing some pretty cool interface customizations without any OScript or WebLingo changes required.
6 Reasons Your Business Should be Using WebReports
Content within your OpenText Content Suite repository can be a complicated thing to master. With documents, forms, tasks and workflows scattered all over the place, it doesn’t make for the simplest of working environments. In order to generate insights and make clear, informed business decisions you need a simple and contextual overview of your organization's structured and unstructured content.
[Deep Dive] Using Script in WebReports/ActiveView
Introduction & history WebReports-based products (the Content Intelligence suite) are widely and effectively used by a wide variety of Content Server customers. Despite the broad appeal of these products, occasionally I have heard suggestions that a more traditional, scripting-based approach might be more usable - at least for some users.
[Deep Dive] Using Content Intelligence for Content Suite Customizations
Introduction – Why? This blog post discusses the use of the Content Intelligence(CI) suite of products as an alternative to Oscript based customizations. Much of this blog is devoted to some basic mechanics of how this is possible, but the first question is probably Why?