What's new

Enhanced support for HTML output

Kofax Communications Manager now produces seamless HTML output for electronic delivery based on the same Content Wizards and Text Blocks as for Word output. The HTML output is generated out of these building blocks without the need for custom transformation code. This new feature is available in addition to HTML Quick Templates.

HTML output supports the concept of interactive document composition similar to Word output and the same applies to brand-specific styling. When testing a Document Template or a Document Pack Template in KCM Designer for Web, the HTML output is immediately displayed.

For more information, see Task 5: Work with HTML output in the Kofax Communications Manager Designer Help.

Multi-channel support for Document Pack Templates

With the Kofax Communications Manager 5.6.0 version, multiple channels for document output are configurable to support business communications in both print (Microsoft Word) and electronic (HTML and XML) output formats. Documents created with KCM can be configured to any supported output format or a combination of formats. The configuration determines output distribution over corresponding channels.

You can define channels at the KCM instance level and at the project level, and also configure a selection of channels. Typically, channel names are localized, but you can also manually create translations for custom languages. Custom channels can be imported from Batch & Output Management and their translations will be part of the channel metadata file.

HTML output for existing projects

KCM provides the ability to configure existing projects that generate Microsoft Word output so that the same content generates HTML output.

Improved hyperlink support for HTML and XML output

The target URL of the hyperlink formatting function is stored in the Data Backbone field in DocXML. The named field, an optional attribute, is introduced into the <text> element in the _xml file. When the text is the result of a formatting function, this attribute contains the value of the Data Backbone field before applying the formatting function. It enables HTML output to be generated for the hyperlink formatting function, as its target URL is stored in this Data Backbone field in DocXML.

Default style documents

KCM Designer for Web preloads default style documents for Word and HTML output into the Corporate Design folder when a project is uploaded or upgraded.

Enhanced Brand concept

In KCM 5.6.0, the concept of document styling is extended to support multiple output formats including a fallback mechanism. All documents of the same Document Type within a Brand have the same layout. A Brand folder can contain multiple Document Types, and four style documents can be created for each Document Type: Word Page Style, Word Style Sheet, HTML Page Template, and HTML Style Sheet.

The layout is retrieved from the Corporate Design folder based on the Brand and the Document Type. When a style document does not exist in the folder or even the folder does not exist, the style documents are searched in the parent folder. This process repeats until the Corporate Design folder is reached. The Corporate Design folder includes default style documents for Word and HTML output.

The introduced fallback mechanism for Word Page Style, Word Style Sheet, and HTML Page Template documents as well as the cascading mechanism for HTML Style Sheet documents adds flexibility. To allow fallback and cascading, the Corporate Design folder is filled with default style documents of each type after installation.

The extended concept introduces the "No Brand" folder to store all Document Types that require no special branding.

The new DOCUMENTSTYLE template scripting construct defines the Brand and the Document Type in the Master Template when output of a template is created. The script command declares BRAND and DOCUMENTTYPE expressions, and they control which style documents will be selected. Document Templates without the DOCUMENTSTYLE definition are supported with a different behavior. If BRAND is empty, it is substituted with "No Brand."

For more information, see Work with Corporate Design in the Kofax Communications Manager Designer Help.

KCM Designer for Web enhancements

This topic lists new enhancements related to the KCM Designer for Web.

Preview of output formats

When you test Document Templates or Document Pack Templates, you can now preview the results in all specified output formats.

New Project configuration option

KCM Designer for Web has a new project configuration option to configure the project description and the group, and also to select channels for the output.

Batch & Output Management enhancements

This topic lists enhancements related to Batch & Output Management.

'Abandon' functionality improved

KCM Studio now supports moving items with the "Waiting" status to the "Error" status for all Odin Views (Request view, Correspondence view, Communication view, Process view, Envelope view, and Stack view). When an item is in the "Error" state in the Odin View, it can either be abandoned or changed to "Waiting" again.

Support for 64-bit architecture

Batch & Output Management has been changed from 32-bit to 64-bit.

New slots element added to metadata

The XML metadata file provided as input to the exit point for electronic delivery now contains a description of the slots that make up the electronic communication and their slot types. For each slot, the slot name, the correspondence type, and the slot type are now provided in metadata (CcmBomElectronicCommunicationMetadata.xsd).

Support for new attributes

The input for correspondence rules, communication rules, electronic delivery exit points, and streaming exit points has been extended. The new RequestReference and CorrespondenceReference attributes are available in the following cases:

For correspondence rules of input correspondences (CcmBomCorrespondenceInput.xsd);
For communication rules of input communications: (CcmBomCommunicationInput.xsd);
For communications in the input metadata for electronic delivery, including the Label attribute (CcmBomElectronicCommunicationMetadata.xsd).

In the OnDocumentStart and OnDocumentEnd exit points, the StreamingUnit and StreamingPage contexts for exit point scripts in streaming are extended with RequestReference, CorrespondenceReference, CommunicationLabel, as well as the SlotName and SlotType properties.

Support for TLS 1.2 added

TLS 1.2 is now supported in Batch & Output Management.

Support for new databases added

Microsoft Azure SQL and Oracle Database 19c are now supported for Batch & Output Management.

For more information, see the Kofax Communications Manager Technical Specifications.

General enhancements

This topic lists general enhancements to the KCM product.

Support for new Java version

A new ReconfigureKCMJava.exe tool has been introduced to reconfigure KCM to use a different Java version.

Microsoft Windows support extended

Support for Microsoft Windows is extended:

Microsoft Windows 2022 is now supported.
Microsoft Office 2021 is now supported.

Predefined channels added for all projects

The predefined Word and HTML channels are now available for all projects without any installation of Batch & Output Management. This enhancement eliminates Batch & Output Management dependency for the customers that do not use it, and also provides an easier control for Word and HTML output production for a Document Pack. These channels will not only be available for newly created projects, but also for projects that were upgraded from an earlier version.

AttachFilesToPDF command extended

Attaching an XML file to a PDF/A-3a document now keeps the PDF/A-3a status of the document.

IterateDocumentPack command extended

The IterateDocumentPack command is extended with the new *all value for the parameter channel to iterate over all channels.