eRoom now sends all email alerts and notifications in UTF-8. In eRoom 6, these emails are sent using the locale-specific codepage for the language setting you are using. For example, for a user with a language setting of English, emails are sent in ISO-8859-1; for a user with a language setting of Japanese, emails are sent in ISO-2022-JP. In version 7, however, eRoom sends all emails in UTF-8, regardless of the user's langauge setting. As a consequence, some email clients that correctly displayed v6 notification and alert email, might not do so in v7.
Option to merge members on import.
Ability for site administrators to merge site member accounts.
The following are new features and enhancements in eRoom version 7.2.
Microsoft Windows 2003 is fully supported. Windows 2003 Standard and Enterprise Editions are certified for use with both the eRoom server and the eRoom plug-in client. Microsoft Office 2003 is fully supported for use with eRoom 7.2.
Conditional use of reverse proxies lets customers specify the types of users who must access the eRoom server through the reverse proxy, while allowing other users to access the eRoom server directly. This is commonly used when customers have users accessing their site from outside the corporate network and connecting via a reverse proxy server, plus internal users connecting directly to the eRoom servers.
Administrators can specify whether all users accessing the site must go through the reverse proxy server, or only users from outside the corporate firewall. All URLs in email sent by eRoom correctly reference the reverse proxy server, not the internal server name.
Content Server Single Sign-on: For increased security and ease-of-use, the single login interaction between eRoom and WDK applications has been enhanced. A WDK application can send a user to an eRoom without requiring an additional login. Additionally, a WDK application could use this to access eRoom content remotely via eXQL in the context of a particular user. When Content Server Single Sign-on is enabled, eRoom servers will honor login tickets generated by Content Servers. The login ticket is passed to the eRoom server, and if accepted, will start an eRoom session based on those credentials. Members’ eRoom login names can differ from their Content Server login names.
View/update Content Server-linked file properties from eRoom (requires Webtop server): The properties of any linked file can be exposed in eRoom. These properties can be viewed or edited, simplifying the task of finding more information about a file, or of modifying its properties by not forcing the user to access the repository to get this information.
Support for mandatory properties for content server linked file properties from eRoom (requires Webtop server): Many organizations require that certain file properties be included when a file is saved to a doc base. By requiring that these fields be filled out, the data and file are cataloged in a predefined, consistent way. Then the data may be used to drive other actions such as correctly routing a file based on a predefined workflow, and are also used for searching and organizing data in the repository. Mandatory file properties have been added to eRoom 7.2; therefore, when a file is uploaded, if there are mandatory fields for the selected doctype, the user will be prompted to add those properties.
Support for custom properties for Content Server-linked file properties from eRoom (requires Webtop server): Many customers invest in customizing the properties screen that requires users to enter specific data about content. eRoom Enterprise leverages these same customizations allowing for full support with zero additional cost to the customer.
File templates for eRoom can be centrally stored in a repository and shared across multiple eRooms: Centrally managing file templates simplifies updating and maintaining master files that can be used in multiple contexts. In eRoom 7.2, a single file in a Content Repository can be linked to from multiple eRooms, thereby making the file instantly accessible. Any changes or updates to the file are immediately available in the eRooms.
Preview the default rendition of a Content Server-linked file from eRoom (requires Media Services): If there is a default rendition of a file, it will automatically be displayed in eRoom when the file is opened.
Search the Content Server to find a file to link into eRoom: To expedite the task of finding and linking a file in a repository to an eRoom, users can now search Content Repositories from the Documentum file picker within eRoom. The search will only return results for files to which the user has the proper access rights. The search results are read-only, and include a rank and check box for selecting the file.
Allow linking of Web Publisher files: eRoom 7.2 now supports linking of WCM files thus allowing preproduction collaborative solutions. The following features are provided for Web Publisher.
eRoom can browse WCM content servers and link files
WCM appropriate API calls are made for checking in/out files, etc.
Activating the “go to Content Server” menu option will launch the Web Publisher client instead of the default WebTop content management client.
Users are required to select a Web Publisher template when linking a file into the content repository.
Only major file versions will be checked in.
Allow linking of a top level virtual document: In eRoom 7.2, links can be created and importing will be permitted for the top level of a virtual document. This feature will act in the same manner as for any other file. Note that this is the only virtual document feature directly exposed through the product; additional functionality may be exposed through customization.
Thumbnail view of linked files (requires Media Services): Thumbnails provide a quick snapshot of a file for easy viewing and visual retrieval. On Content Servers configured for use with Media Services, any file with a predefined thumbnail will be viewable as a thumbnail in an eRoom folder in a thumbnail layout. The files will appear in large-icon mode or in a folder attachment box at its full native resolution.
Linked files are not cached on the eRoom server: To maintain a secure system and not duplicate files in many locations, linked files are not cached on the eRoom server. They will always reside primarily in the Content repository.
New support for DM 5.2.5 Content Server and DFC 5.2.5.
Right-click file item menu has renamed "go to Content Server" command.
Display name field in member information: This field in the member profile allows users to provide a different name for display purposes. This is particularly important for the Asian version of eRoom. The display name appears in addition to the current first name, middle name, and last name fields. All display of names in the eRoom other than in columnar lists will now show only the display name, as entered. Display name will also be searchable.
Self-service password recovery option: Self-service account recovery: Lost or forgotten passwords are one of the most common tickets logged with corporate help desks. New to eRoom 7.2, users may directly recover a lost or forgotten password by successfully answering a self-selected Personal Question and Answer pair, e.g., What is the city of your birth? The user will not need to contact the help desk or the Community Administrator to obtain or reset their password. This is an optional setting available as a password option in site settings, and like all password options, only applies to Local members.
Option to allow members to set their own initial passwords: Allows batch creation of members.
Assigned password for new members: To increase the security of password distribution and initial account creation, eRoom 7.2 provides a new feature which allows coordinators or Community Administrators to create a new member in a community with a secret password automatically assigned and emailed to the user. The password must be changed by the user upon first login. Therefore, a coordinator (or community administrator) creates a community member, but doesn't provide the member's password; instead, the member is sent an email containing a secure key, which allows them to specify their own password and personal question/answer.
Account locking after a specified number of failed recovery attempts.
Exchange 2000/2003 SMTP support: In eRoom 7.2, SMTP inboxes replace the POP3 inboxes available in previous versions. With this change, inboxes in eRoom 7.2 work with Microsoft Exchange 2000 and 2003; end-users can set up their own inboxes without requesting that an associated email account also be created; eRoom will directly receive emails sent to the inbox. The elimination of POP3 also means that eRoom will use a more secure method for capturing incoming email.
Site- and community-level options for allowing/disallowing inboxes: The use of inboxes is still optional, and is enabled at the site level and at the community level. If inboxes aren't allowed, either at the site or community level, any existing inboxes will still continue to work, but new ones can't be created.
New inbox-naming conventions: Existing POP3 inboxes will be converted to SMTP inboxes as part of the upgrade process.
Community locks: Individual communities can be locked by the site administrator. This feature provides additional security and flexibility around administering communities, restricting access to old communities or to new communities which are not ready for production use. A customizable “locked” message will indicate that a community has been locked. Each community has its own locked message. When a community is locked, no one, including the community administrator (except, of course, for the site administrator), can access any pages in any rooms in the community. Rooms in a locked community cannot be searched, and no eRooms or facilities can be created in a locked community. Databases, calendars, and Projects in a locked community cannot be synched into Outlook.
File view/edit transition (plug-in only): Users with edit rights will be prompted to save the changes on files opened for viewing but which they edited. This addresses the problem of a user mistakenly editing a read-only file and not necessarily uploading those changes to the eRoom.
Attachment boxes allowed at top level of project plans: An attachment field has been added to the eRoom Project Plan tool. One common use of this field is as a place to store a master project plan, or to store additional high level files associated with a project schedule. The field works the same as attachment fields in databases, and can be used to store any type of attachment, including a master plan document to the top level of a Project Plan. When shown, the attachment box appears on the project plan's summary page below the list of project tasks and the comments/votes, if any.
Coordinators and administrators are prompted to backup an eRoom or facility before deleting it.
The Rich Text Editor (RTE) supports .gif images: These images appear when inserted, in the same manner as .jpg images do already.
A new item called a project plan is now available within eRoom. You can use a project plan to organize, manage and report on complex and interdependent project tasks and milestones. A project manager uses this tool to capture all of the work items associated with the project. This provides quick visibility into structured data like task relationships and dependencies, resource availability and progress, status and level of completion -- all within a very flexible, collaborative environment. It also enables knowledge workers to update and report on the progress of their own project items from within their work environment. Items can be viewed in a Gantt chart format and a more detailed view. eRoom notifies the users when a progress report is needed and tasks that are assigned to them are displayed in the task section of the navigation pane.
eRoom 7 provides a fundamentally new product architecture, which breaks down artificial boundaries across eRoom servers. Administrators can define provisioning groups and control how back-end server resources such as database servers, file storage and full-text indexing services are utilized amongst the user population. This improved flexibility allows easy growth of the environment as the user population and its needs grow. Users can now login once to an eRoom "site" and access eRooms across multiple servers contained within that site. eRoom servers can be added to an eRoom site as the needs of the user population grows, allowing unprecedented administrative flexibility for future growth.
eRoom provides users with a single place to visit in order to access their personalized list of commonly accessed eRooms. eRoom 7 extends My eRooms to include a server-side location, so users can access it from any workstation; single sign-on authentication; a listing of "Active" eRooms as well as a listing of all eRooms that are available to that user; site-wide search capabilities; and the ability to update personal profile information and create new eRooms.
eRoom 7 also provides users with a single place to go in order to locate content or workspaces, no matter where they are within the larger site environment. By visiting the "My eRooms" page, users can initiate a full-text search for content within eRooms that they have access to. The search results that are returned are ranked in order of relevance, making it easier for users to locate the exact data they are searching for. The search results also provide contextual location information so that users can visit the folder or eRoom that a found item resides in. When used in conjunction with the eRoom Enterprise product, this search will also locate and display file items that are linked from a Documentum Content Server.
Items can now be cut/copied and pasted (or dragged and dropped) from any eRoom to any other eRoom within the same site, regardless of the facility or server each eRoom is in. Database templates can also be copied and pasted from one facility to another.
Documentum eRoom 7 features improved security as well as flexible integration with third-party authentication products. Some of the new security features include:
Account lockout options (after n login attempts, you’re out)
Improved permission flexibility for group management
Selected permission granting for tasks such as resetting passwords
Support for Public Key Infrastructures and x.509 certificates
Support for the Microsoft encrypted file system
Flexible integration with third-party authentication systems
Integrated support for RSA SecurID environments
FIPS-140 compliant encryption algorithms
Improved support for authenticating reverse proxy servers
Larger environments and user population bring new member management challenges. eRoom 7 simplifies member management by consolidating external directory connections within a multi-server site environment. Supported external directories include Windows NT/W2K domains, LDAP and MS Active Directory.
User selection within a large list of users has also been improved with the introduction of a tabbed alphabetically sorted selection interface. This reduces the number of clicks needed to select users for addition to eRoom member lists, access control lists, notification alerts and other areas.
Whether via the web browser or from within MMC, administrators have a single place to go to perform important management tasks Administrative benefits:
Centralized administration
Centralized usage reporting
Centralized diagnostics and monitoring
Provisioning of resources amongst user communities
Simple movement of data and resources between servers
Simplified connectivity to external directory servers
There is one member list for the entire site, which eliminates redundant server member list management. The site member list will contain one or more communities of users. Communities provide more flexible logical grouping and segregation options to administrators. Communities can be public or restricted, depending on how much isolation is required. User communities let you manage user populations and the rooms that they need to get to and also provide a way to distribute administration tasks to selected personnel.
eRoom provides integrated real-time meeting capabilities for users who take advantage of eRoom Real Time Services. Version 7 includes the ability to:
Invite non-eRoom members into meetings.
Use a "presentation" mode that allows meeting leaders to present Microsoft PowerPoint (.PPT) slides automatically to other meeting participants; .PPT slides are automatically converted to graphic files for faster screen manipulation.
Capture meeting annotations and chat conversations and save them within an eRoom. These transcripts allow you to revisit the meeting activities later.
Assign control to a specific user within a meeting and display to the other participants who has control.
eRoom 7 provides a new, three-tab interface at the top of the navigation pane on the left of the interface. In addition to the display of the navigation map and the search interface, eRoom 7 adds a third tab that lets users see their active tasks within the eRoom. This allows users to see their task list on the left of the screen while working on the task details in the main window. This Task Summary page lists all entries from all databases and project plans in the eRoom to which you are assigned, either directly or through a group or role, as an owner.
Logging of user activity within the entire eRoom site is now consolidated within a single SQL database for easier access to relevant usage data. Results can be filtered and restricted to single servers, user communities, rooms or members and can be viewed over selected periods of time. The SQL database used for data storage is accessible via any data connectivity API (for example, ODBC, ADO, JDBC) to allow customized reporting and viewing implementations as customer demand warrants.
eRoom 7 consolidates client licensing for all servers within a site. Administrators can control how many licenses are available to each community. For upgrading customers, licenses from existing servers will be consolidated into one location for easier management.
There are no real-time licenses for v7. Any member can potentially use the real-time meeting feature, although the site administrator can enable/disable real-time usage per community, effectively limiting the number of members who can use Real Time Services. As in v6, non-eRoom members can still be invited to real-time meetings without consuming a license.
The Server Administration MMC plug-in is enhanced to contain eRoom diagnostic tools that provide a centralized place to do both administration and diagnostics. There is also the ability to find and collate all relevant files in the unfortunate case of a system failure, so that information can be sent back to Documentum Technical Support for assistance.
The new eRoom Extension Manager provides a single method for deploying customizations across a single or multi-server environment, including custom commands, UI customizations, API modifications and other changes to eRoom. This centralized manager allows an administrator to update and modify customizations across multiple servers quickly and efficiently. The Extension Manager also lets you deploy many customizations to selected communities of users, providing you with even more flexibility.
Custom commands allow developers to add new features and UI commands that extend functionality to perform custom operations. These commands can replace existing command buttons and can be displayed as buttons on the item-box command bar, or within the button bar at the top of the interface. Custom commands can also be invoked from script or inserted into a rich text field. Custom commands are deployed using the Extension Manager for easy deployment across one or more servers.
The eRoom Synchronous Events functionality allows developers to create custom code that is triggered by a specific eRoom event, for example, dynamically calculating a database row, creating a new eRoom based on a specific event or condition, or automatically invoking a virus scan when a new file is uploaded. eRoom 7 provides a more robust set of events that can be handled synchronously by a custom event handler. Each synchronous event is called at two points in the operation: before the operation is executed, and after it is committed. Handlers can use the "before" event to block an operation or to modify behavior of an operation. The "after" event is used only to receive notification that an operation has successfully completed, and cannot block or change the operation. For a full listing of all available sync event handles, please see the API section of the online help system.
The eRoom 7 server provides two install options. The "Standard" installation is a single, stand-alone server. The "Advanced" server installation provides a federated, multi-server environment that allows for provisioning and other multi-server management features.
eRoom 7 now lets you send alerts to users solely via email. The Instant message alert option present in eRoom 6 is no longer available.
The eRoom solution runs on virtually all client operating systems, allowing team members with different computer configurations to participate in eRoom projects. Users can access an eRoom using just a browser, which involves no client software installation, or with a browser plus plug-in, which provides a more enriched user experience for Windows users. This type of ubiquitous access allows teams to draw on the expertise of more members across their projects.
eRoom 7 supports the current versions of virtually all popular browsers in use today, including Internet Explorer, Netscape 7, Mozilla, Apple Safari and others. To make sure your browser is completely supported, please check the client requirements listing at the eRoom product section of the Documentum web site.
To enhance the user experience for Microsoft Office 98/2000/XP users, eRoom is well-integrated. Office files can be accessed and saved directly to an eRoom, allowing the user to stay within the Office product while completing their work. Users can launch an eRoom from Outlook, using Outlook as a personal dashboard for tracking mail, tasks, contacts, and project eRooms. eRoom tasks and events can be synchronized with Outlook tasks and events to keep work up-to-date. eRoom supports the WebDAV environment so that eRoom folders can be navigated using the Web Folders interface within Office and operating systems that support WebDAV.
eRoom provides the ability to select users from a variety of different directory sources including LDAP, Active Directory, and Windows 2000 Domains. Administrators can pick and choose users from multiple directories at the same time, providing maximum flexibility.