Visual Annotate

Planning to use visual annotate (VA) for reviewing and approving. We are using ATG Dynamo as application server and preview is doing by sending (http post) data content to the JSPs for rendering.

With this environment we are (almost) sure we cannot use VA natively (content is not previewed within TS), do we need a real ATG Dynamo/IW integration?, is there other easiest way to do that?
Thanks and Regards.

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The VA toolbar will only activate when you're previewing a file in TeamSite. If you don't use TeamSite to preview files, I don't see how VA can help you.

Michelle Neuringer
Interwoven Engineer

Ok, thanks.

So, if we have JSPs (an the rest of the site code) versioned in TS, is it possible to use VA during preview by redirecting to a Dynamo App server instance? (files are in TS even though Dynamo is running the site :-))

Regards.

Can you give me an idea of what a sample preview URL looks like to you?

E.g., does it look like:

http://servername/iw-mount/some_vpath?

Michelle Neuringer
Interwoven Engineer

Now, when we click preview in TS, we have a dummy template that allows TS to generate an html page that inclides a submit button with an URL that looks like:
http://AppserverMachine Smiley Tongue

ort/AppserverRoot/pageToPreview.jsp,
where Appserver is ATG Dynamo.
This way TS users use the real JSPs to view the content. We know that this configuration is not OK to use VA.

Question is: is there any other possible configuration we can use VA when Dynamo does the preview?
If tpl+DCR generates Dynamo JSP when we do "preview" (so this JSP file in TS), can we redirect this preview action to ATG Dynamo to run the JSP?, could it be possible for TS users to use VA on the HTML generated by Dynamo JSP?.

I am not sure if it is clear enough. Sorry if I am into darkness (in a very strict sense).

Unfortunately, there is no standard configuration that would allow you to do what you want.

You could file a feature request (or some other request for technical assistance) -- though in all honesty, I don't think VisualAnnotate will be enhanced anytime soon.

Michelle Neuringer
Interwoven Engineer

Almost six months after your last post in this thread... do you still think VA is a moribund product?
Thanks
-Gene

That's a pretty frightening comment give the current level of functionality and stability of VA. Is it to be interepreted as "VA is so mature and feature rich that it never needs to change" or as "VA no longer fits the strategic direction of IWOV and is going to disappear in the future"? Personally, I think it's eye candy, but given the way we've hyped it to our users, it would be pretty embarrasing if it went away.

Since I was asking a question, not making a comment, I assume your reply is directed at the statement made by Michelle six months ago.

I get nervous when an Interwoven product doesn't get rev'd for a while and I have an internal client clamoring for it's inclusion as a tool his users should rely upon. (Yeah! He saw a demo.) Whenever any vendor's tool is dormant development-wise I wonder if it is going away or it's functionality will be subsumed by another product. Either disposition means going back to the drawing board to redesign a workflow or some other aspect of a process involving it -- which I'd love to avoid.

When you call VA "eye candy" are you suggesting that it offers no functionality that can't be duplicated with other tools and techniques? My sense of it is that it might offer a compelling feature or two to a "sophisticated" user but is NOT something that a computer-shy person should use (figure someone in Legal who just knows Email and Word, hates to learn new apps, and is being dragged kicking and screaming into a workflow as an approver/reviewer).

I don't think VA is EOL but I would avoid it anyway if at all possible.

Edited by john on 10/13/04 03:05 PM (server time).

By eye candy, I mean that its a feature that demos nicely ("Look, you can draw on the page in purple! and red! and green!"), but which in the final analysis doesn't really offer much beyond what could be conveyed in the task comments (e.g. "Please change the headings to bold"). Moreover, there are a number of issues with it:

1. There's no Edit button on it. The user has to un-click the Review button ("The one on the left. No, I'm sorry, I can't tell you why the vendor would choose to put two options right next to each other, one named Review and the other named Reviews"), then click edit on the Visual Preview bar.
2. The transitions are pre-defined. What if I want to have three possible transitions from a task (back to the author, on to prod, or over to another reviewer for a second opinion).
3. It's fragile. We have a lot of problems with it, which I think are caused by it not recovering well after a browser crash (I've had a case open with support about this for 22 days now).
4. It doesn't interact will with the wizards in 6.1. When an author revises their work and clicks through the process, it goes back to the editor who then clicks Review and Annotate, only to be presented with his previous set of annotations by default rather than the new, unannotated page. It should be smart enough to know that if the page is newer than the last snapshot it should show the unannotated page.

I could probably come up with a few other annoyances if I thought about it for a minute, but those are the ones that chap my hide on a regular basis.

And yes, you are correct, my comments were directed back to Michelle. I was agreeing with you after a fashion.

Hi,

I am having problem accessing VA. Here is the what i am doing.

I opened the html document in a workarea for review. The html doc is opened in a New browser Window where i can see VA tool bar. When I click on the review button, it shows a prompt to login. When I tried to click the Interwoven Login which is in IE tool bar .. Nothing is happening. Can body explain me what the problem is? And how to review a document with VA.

Thanks

Do you have SCE (Smart Context Editor) enabled? If so, you need to click on the "Review" link provided in the "File" menu on that. This also assumes your workflow is VA-ready.

Dave

Current Environment(s):
(1) TS 6.1 SP1 on W2K3
(2) TS 6.1 SP1 on W2K
(3) TS 5.5.2 SP2 on Win2K

Hi,

Thanks for your quick reply. Is VA is something that only works with workflows. Can we open a document in workarea and do the review. I am clicking the Review button from SCE even then it is asking me to login.

No, it's only associated with workflows. You can get some very basic VA-enabled workflows by looking in the wft/solutions directory.

Dave

Current Environment(s):
(1) TS 6.1 SP1 on W2K3
(2) TS 6.1 SP1 on W2K
(3) TS 5.5.2 SP2 on Win2K

Ok, As said I used one of the configurable workflow .. I got a mail with links .. I cut paste "review and annotate" link into new browser window .. After I choose review from SCE.. It asking me to login .. Even after i login .. it is showing me the same message .. pls help ..

Thanks

I know this doesn't exactly address your issue and I've had that problem, too, but those emails are 100% configurable. Like I said, sometimes it prompts me to log in again, sometimes it doesn't. It seems random. I'm not the biggest fan of VisualAnnotate, but I've had to work with it a few times.

I should know this, but could you paste the URL that the email provides to log in?

Dave

Current Environment(s):
(1) TS 6.1 SP1 on W2K3
(2) TS 6.1 SP1 on W2K
(3) TS 5.5.2 SP2 on Win2K

Email doesnt provide anything for login. It just give three link one for review and annotate, approve, please revise. When i cut and paste the url in new browser window .. it keeps asking me to login ...

It really depends on what your cookie is set to.

We have had the same issue here until I started standardizing the book marks.

i.e. I log into:

http://tsserver/iw/

but my email is:

http://tsserver.complete.domain.com/iw/

cookies do not match and it asks me to log in again.

might this help ?

Andy

I'd scrap the preformatted email and put your own links in there. There's a documented list of URL's that you might use to access certain areas of TeamSite quickly (and without having to log in, if you already have a session).

Dave

Current Environment(s):
(1) TS 6.1 SP1 on W2K3
(2) TS 6.1 SP1 on W2K
(3) TS 5.5.2 SP2 on Win2K

Nope. I look at the url they are same for teamsite and email http://tsserver/... And also noticed the approve and please revise links are working fine. Only that review and annotation is not working. I can go the page but then when i click the review button it ask me to login ...

Thanks for all your help.

if you do log in what happens ? if it works, try it a second time (though it sounds like it is not a cookie issue)