I have now heard from multiple sources that D6 is about a month out. I have even heard rumors, stress rumors, that it may trip over into September. While I am saddened by this, I would rather wait another month for a solid product than have something that I can’t use show up on my doorstop, wasting my time.
If I hear anything to the contrary, or anything else related, I’ll share. This is, of course, unofficial and it could be out tomorrow.
I’m just not holding my breath.
Been slowing down a bit as I focus on several work and family activities that have precluded me from writing many entries. However, today I saw something in the Documentum Developer Site News feed on the side of my blog. EMC is gearing up for the release of D6 and I am starting to get excited. I’m not the only one if the hits on my blog are any indication.
So the question has gone up repeatedly since this dialog began, what problems are we trying to solve? I’ve tried to explain this and I think I’ve been getting through. However, I still encounter pain in real life because of this. In fact, this just may be a punishment for raising such a ruckus.
Here is my most recent problem. A client has a legacy Records Management solution. It works well, though is a little dated. The client is now going to implement a Web Content Management solution. The approved web pages need to be automatically declared as a record. If these were the same ECM platform, there wouldn’t be any problem. However, they aren’t. In fact, one is Microsoft based and the other is Java based. Neither of them is Documentum, though that wouldn’t change the problem significantly.
Several weeks ago, I promised a reader [EDIT: Read the comments here.] to discuss why I would think twice before adding a TaskSpace interface to a solution that already included an eRoom interface. Aside from the obvious that TaskSpace is a brand new interface and could most likely use service pack or two, I am always hesitant to provide too many interfaces into a solution. There are times for it, but it is important not to add them just because you can.
In the next few weeks, a number of Documentum Architects will be gathering in Pleasanton, CA to define a Documentum Architect’s job description. I use the term Architect loosely because I imagine that for every true Architect that has been invited, at least one Documentum Developer has been invited as well. I could be wrong, but I know from experience that a lot of Architects out there are just senior developers.
However, that isn’t the point of my post. Due to conflicts that are preventing me from traveling to the West Coast for anything outside of a family emergency, I am was unable to accept my invitation to attend the Job Task Analysis (JTA) Workshop. The JTA workshop is the first step to building the certification exam that is due out by the end of the year. So I am writing an open letter to the actual attendees on the subject.
I’ve wanted to keep my Documentum Tips easy to find. I started with a category, but I wanted to draw more attention to them. I also tried to keep them elevated in the Words of Choice, but that took more effort than I originally anticipated. Plus, it would implode over time.
So I’ve created a page that will house a link to every tip that I have written. I am including the date they were updated and a quick blurb on each one. Right now there are only three, but I plan to start writing them at a slightly faster rate. Not that I will be learning that much more that much faster. I am just going to be more diligent to write things up as I come across them. Enjoy.
Time for some more dialog with James McGovern. I love this kind of discussion because it raises awareness of the issues in the community. James replied to my last post on Standardizing Authentication. There is a problem with written communication sometimes. No matter how clearly you think you write or explain something, someone will always either misread, misunderstand, or misinterpret something. Before I get into that, two things first.
In another post, James says something nice about ECM. Understand that ECM provides value regardless of whether it has standards. Can you feel the love? He does qualify that he isn’t pleased with the vendors, but we now know how he really feels.
Second, I wanted to say that James is dead on with this statement regarding SAML and Documentum. The beautiful thing is that you shouldn’t have to learn how to write this type of thing as this should be out of the box. He is absolutely correct. I shouldn’t even need to think about how I would implement SAML in Documentum. That is EMC’s job. Now on to the rest of James’ response/analysis.
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Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture
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I saw this book on the desk of a colleague. I had already been thinking of picking it up, so I did. I learned two things from this. One, ownership of a book does not equate to an endorsement. Second, take more time when determining if a book is going to meet the desired goals.
Been a busy week on the ECM standards front. There has been a lot of discussions going around. I’ve been silent on the topic as I’ve been focusing on learning more about SAML and XACML so that I can respond to James’ question. Plus, the dialogs are going great and I haven’t needed to keep them going.
I am not ready to give James an answer on XACML, yet. I feel I am ready to start a dialog on SAML though.
Going to start categorizing my Tips/Documentum advice into a separate group. I want these things easier to find. Their relevance doesn’t really fade, so hopefully this will help keep them around.
I just helped someone install Content Server. I sometimes don’t even think about many of the details of an installation. I’ve installed it so many times that I just do it by instinct. I decided to put down some tips into this to help those starting the process.
Word of Pie 
