Planning for an external IBM Content Navigator

Edit online

You can configure IBM® Business Automation Workflow with an external IBM Content Navigator.

IBM Content Navigator is a web client for content management. It features a web console for working with content that is stored on IBM Enterprise Content Management repositories, such as IBM Content Manager, IBM Content Manager OnDemand, or IBM FileNet® Content Manager.

IBM Content Navigator includes several components that you can use to integrate client applications with your repositories, such as an API toolkit that you can use to extend the web client and build custom applications.

You should consider using an external IBM Content Navigator under the following conditions:

  • You have an existing IBM Content Navigator that you want to use with a new installation or an existing upgrade of IBM Business Automation Workflow.
  • You have a legacy IBM Case Manager installation that you want to upgrade to IBM Business Automation Workflow.
  • You want to build integrated solutions and use IBM Content Navigator as a unified user interface for other Enterprise Content Management components in the IBM Digital Business Automation portfolio.

To use an external IBM Content Navigator installation, you must have a common user repository and it must contain the users that work with your applications. This repository is an enterprise-wide Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) repository that contains all the users and groups. You must also ensure that IBM Content Navigator is set up on WebSphere® Application Server.

When IBM Case Manager is used as a legacy stand-alone product or it is upgraded to IBM Business Automation Workflow, the Case Client and Case administration client work in the IBM Content Navigator user interface (UI) framework. The LDAP standard is used for user access and authorization.

The following graphic shows the typical architecture of the Case Client and Case administration client in the context of the IBM Content Navigator UI framework on a single server:

Architecture of Case Client and the Case administration client in the context of the IBM Content Navigator UI framework on a single server

The following graphic shows the typical architecture of the Case Client and Case administration client in the context of the IBM Content Navigator UI framework in a distributed development environment. It also shows the features with which the case tools can integrate:

Architecture of Case Client and the Case administration client in the context of the IBM Content Navigator UI framework in a distributed environment

For more information about IBM Content Navigator, see the following topics in the IBM Content Navigator documentation:

If you want to upgrade IBM Case Manager to IBM Business Automation Workflow for a production environment, you must use an external IBM Content Navigator. This is also the recommended approach for upgrading in a development environment. Information about how to upgrade IBM Case Manager to IBM Business Automation Workflow is found in topic "Upgrading your system with an external IBM Content Navigator".

For information about how to configure IBM Business Automation Workflow for use with IBM Content Navigator, see the topic "Configuring IBM Business Automation Workflow with an external IBM Content Navigator".