This week’s topic: Reviewing XML Content in Arbortext

The question of reviewing content is a complex one. Every year, at the annual PTC user conference, this topic gets discussion. No one agrees on how the review process should work or what should be captured or even who's responsible for what. But everyone agrees that finding a way to improve the effectivity of the review process is critical. And, tracking review comments and associating comments with the original source is essential.

In Arbortext, the question of review is likewise not as easy as it seems at first glance. There's the use and application of change tracking in the desktop client and the lightweight web client. Some people create review-conscious stylesheets that create a review deliverable. There's automation through workflow in Arbortext Content Manager, and the automatic association of review comments with originating source content.

It all depends on your business process and what works best in your environment. It's one of the areas where we get a lot of questions and for which people often want a lot of guidance.

Today, we're answering some of the more common and general questions about Reviewing XML content in Arbortext.

Question: Highlighting

Can a writer highlight specific parts of a draft for review?



Note that reviews can be addressed in multiple ways in Arbortext.

Question: Review Software

What software is required for reviewers? Please list the software applications needed and the associated cost for each license.


There is no special software or license.

If you're looking for a review tool that is integrated with your CCMS and that can create associative links between reviewer comments and the source material, ProductView addresses this need. ProductView provides a mechanism for reviewing content directly from the CCMS without having to check out that content by subject matter experts. ProductView comes packaged with the Arbortext Content Manager out-of-the-box at no additional cost.

Question: Collaborative reviews

Does the ACM support collaborative reviews? In other words, can more than one reviewer access the source content and provide comments at the same time?


Yes, to both questions.

Question: Yellow Stickies

Can you add the equivalent of a "yellow stickie" to a file in which a reviewer needs to provide feeback?


Yes, through a comparable mechanism that is always associated with the original source in ACM.

Question: Incorporating review comments

How are review comments incorporated into the source?


Through the Change Markup mechanism

(We'll talk more about in a future post...)

Question: Change markup

How can one track/audit the comments that a writer or editor accepts/rejects/modifies for each review?


Through the Change Markup mechanism. We did a webinar on change tracking in the Arbortext TC Dojo.

Question: Viewing comments

Can each reviewer see comments from other reviewers who have previously provided feedback so they do not have to review the same contents twice?


Yes, if they have sufficient permissions

Question: Reviewing translated content

Can translated content be integrated into the review process?



Question: Reviewing versioned content

Can you version a commented document or component?


Yes - There are revisions, iterations, and baselines available in ACM/Windchill.


arbortext content manager (windchill), arbortext editor, basics, xml authoring

%d bloggers like this: