IBM FileNet P8, Version 5.2.1            

Content immutability

A characteristic of Content Platform Engine is that it requires content associated with a checked in version of a document to remain unchanged. This characteristic is known as content immutability and it is a required attribute of Content Platform Engine to maintain data integrity.

In practical terms, content immutability means that Content Platform Engine does not allow content to be edited in place after it is saved and checked in as part of a document version. The only way to change it is to check out the current version and to check it back in as a new version with new or modified content. In this way, the content that is associated with the previous version remains intact and unchanged.

IBM Content Manager and content immutability

In contrast to Content Platform Engine, IBM® Content Manager does not have this restriction. For IBM Content Manager, enforcement of content immutability is configurable at the item type level by way of the versioning policy. An IBM Content Manager item type supports mutable content if any of the document part definitions specify a versioning policy of Never Create or Prompt to Create.

UsageMode

IBM Content Manager allows items to have mutable content and Content Platform Engine does not, so the content federation system must either prevent such items from being federated or take action to lock down the items when they are federated so that they cannot later be changed after federation. The mechanism for controlling this behavior is the Usage Mode custom property. This property must be defined on the IBM Content Manager connector for IBM Content Integrator and must be assigned one of the following values:

Syntax: UsageMode=value

Important: If you use the IBM Content Manager connector with content federation, you must define a UsageMode value.

Records Management Mode

You must set the UsageMode custom property to Records Management if your content federation system uses IBM Enterprise Records. Setting this value causes items with mutable content to be locked down at federation time, which makes them read-only in IBM Content Manager. In Records Management mode, items that cannot be locked down are not federated.

Search and Retrieval Mode

Set the UsageMode custom property to Search And Retrieval if you do not use IBM Enterprise Records and you want the IBM Content Manager connector to prevent documents with mutable content from being federated.



Last updated: October 2015
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