8.7. Publish&Subscribe

8.7.1. What is the purpose of publish&subscribe?

Publish&subscribe enables you to easily exchange data between users and different applications. The users are

  • internal Open-Xchange Server users,

  • external users without Open-Xchange account.

Applications are

  • the Open-Xchange Server,

  • various social networks like LinkedIn.

Goals and features of publish&subscribe:

  • Data from different social networks can be re-used.

  • The Open-Xchange Server combines the data from the social networks.

  • The data format is based on HTML and can be displayed by standard browsers without any further tools. The data format is called OXMF.

Hint: The OXMF data format can vary depending on the Open-Xchange Server version. Thus it is possible that not all data are exchanged between the different versions.

Particular contact data from LinkedIn can be exchanged with external partners in the following way:

  • By using the Subscribe function your LinkedIn contacts can be imported to a contact folder.

  • If needed, use the Open-Xchange Server functions to edit or restructure the contacts.

  • Create a folder that contains the contacts that should be made available to external partners.

  • By using the Publish function the contacts in this folder are made available. The Publish function provides a URL that can be sent to external partners by E-Mail.

8.7.2. Which data is supported ?

You can import the following data in a contact folder by using the Subscribe function:

  • XING! contacts

  • LinkedIn contacts

  • Facebook contacts

  • Google Mail contacts

  • Yahoo.com contacts

  • MSN contacts

  • Sun calendar contacts

  • Hotmail contacts

With the Subscribe function you can import the following data in a calendar folder:

  • Appointments from your Google calendars. Note: Exceptions to serial appointments are currently not supported.

With the Subscribe function you can import the following data in an InfoStore folder:

  • InfoStore entries using the OXMF InfoStore format.

You can publish the following folders:

  • Contact folders

  • InfoStore folders

8.7.3. Subscribing to data

You have the following possibilities:

  • Subscribe data to an existing folder

  • Subscribe data to a new folder

  • Subscribe to InfoStore data using an E-Mail invitation

  • Update subscribed data

  • Remove subscriptions

How to subscribe to data to an existing folder:
  1. Select a contacts folder, a calendar folder or an infostore folder in the folder tree.

  2. In the panel select Social > Subscribe. A pop-up window with data sources is displayed. Click a data source.

  3. Enter the access data for the subscription source i.e., access data, URL. If the source is using an existing authorization select an existing account or create a new by clicking the New account button. Further information can be found in 8.7.3.1: Authorization with existing account.

  4. If you want to subscribe to data from additional sources for the selected folder, repeat steps 2-3.

  5. In the panel click Save.

Tip: You can also subscribe to data by right-clicking on a folder and selecting Subscribe from the Extended submenu.

Tip: You can also subscribe to data by using the setup wizard. Information can be found in 8.2.12: Using the Setup Wizard.

How to subscribe data to a new folder:
  1. Right-click on a folder in the folder tree.

  2. Hover the mouse pointer over New subfolder > Subscribe. A submenu with folder types opens.

  3. Click on the folder type that corresponds to the source of the subscription wanted. Result: A folder named after the subscription source is created. The overview window displays the Subscriptions tab.

  4. Enter the data needed for the subscription source e.g., credentials, URL. If the source is using an existing account select an existing account or create a new by clicking the New account button. Further information can be found in 8.7.3.1: Authorization with existing account.

  5. Click on the panel entry Save.

Another Open-Xchange-Groupware user can invite you to subscribe his published InfoStore folder by sending you an invitation E-Mail. Above its E-Mail header this invitation E-Mail contain a note and the button Subscribe this publication.

How to subscribe InfoStore data using an invitation E-Mail:
  1. Create a new InfoStore folder if needed.

  2. Display the invitation E-Mail in the H Split or V Split view.

  3. Above the E-Mail header, click on the button Subscribe this publication.

  4. In the pop-up window click an InfoStore folder. You can only select folders where you have appropriate write permission to store your subscription data.

Result: The data are subscribed to the folder.

Privacy

The data and any references contained in this webpage are shared with you under the assumption that the owner of the data was entitled to make them available to you. Neither Open-Xchange, nor any of its subsidiaries or affiliates shall be liable for its publication or re-publication.

Any unauthorized use or dissemination of this data is prohibited. If you intend to store, process, or pass on this data, please make sure that you have the right to do so.

If you are one of the people listed or responsible for a resource listed on this page and you don't agree with the publication, please send an email containing the URL (the link) to this webpage to the publisher of the data:

Data published by < > on < >

How to refresh subscribed data:
  1. Select a contacts folder, a calendar folder or an infostore folder in the folder tree.

  2. In the panel, select Social > Refresh.

Note: This function is only activated if the selected folder contains subscribed data.

How to delete a subscription:
  1. Right-click on a folder and select Properties. The folder properties are displayed in the overview window.

  2. Switch to the Subscriptions tab.

  3. Select a subscription under Name in the overview window.

  4. In the Subscriptions panel section click Remove. If using the compact panel, click the panel entry Subscriptions > Remove.

  5. Click Yes in the confirmation dialog.

8.7.3.1. Authorization with existing account

Some data sources require authorization with an existing account in order to access their data within the groupware. In such cases the following elements are displayed below the name of the data source:

  • the drop-down box Select an existing account

  • the Add a new account... button

How to authorize with an existing account:
  1. Click the Add a new account... button. The Add a new account pop-up window opens.

  2. Enter a name for the new account. Click OK. You will be redirected to the data source provider's page.

  3. Follow the instructions on the data source provider's page. Usually, you have to enter your credentials for this provider and allow the access by clicking the respective button.

Result: You will be redirected to the groupware. The name you entered will be entered in the drop-down box Select an existing account. The account for this data source can be used multiple times within the groupware.

8.7.4. Publishing data

Privacy

When using this publish feature, you as the current owner of the data are responsible for being careful with privacy rules and for complying with legal obligations (Copyright, Privacy Laws).

Especially when publishing personal data you are the responsible party according to the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG, Germany) or other Privacy Acts of your country.

According to European and other national regulations you as the responsible party are in charge of data economy, and must not publish or forward personal data without the person's consent.

Beyond legal obligations, Open-Xchange would like to encourage extreme care when dealing with personal data. Please carefully consider where you store and to whom you forward personal data. Please ensure appropriate access protection, e.g.: by proper password protection.

How to publish data from a folder:
  1. Select a contacts folder or an infostore folder in the folder tree.

  2. In the panel, select Social > Publish.

  3. Choose the necessary target from the Target drop-down field:

    • When publishing a contact folder select OXMF Contacts.

    • When publishing an InfoStore folder select OXMF InfoStore.

  4. Enter a name for the publication (e.g.: your name) in the Site input field.

  5. To change the layout of the published data, select a suitable template from the drop-down menu Apply template. Information about how to adjust templates can be found in 8.7.4.1: Customizing the template.

  6. To prevent the URL from being guessed by others, activate the Add cipher code checkbox. By doing so a random character string is added to the URL, i.e.: the URL cannot be guessed.

  7. Click on the panel entry Save.

Result: The folder is published. It will be marked with the published folder icon in the folder tree. Next to URL, a URL for accessing the published folder is displayed.

Tip: You can also publish data by right-clicking on a folder and selecting Publish in the Extended submenu.

Tip: You can also use the wizard for publishing data. Information can be found in 8.2.12: Using the Setup Wizard.

How to send an E-Mail with the publication URL:
  1. Select a publication in the overview window under Name.

  2. Click the Send E-Mail notification for this publication button.

Result: The E-Mail window opens. The E-Mail text contains the URL for accessing the publication.

How to deactivate or activate a publication:
  1. In a folder's context menu click on Properties. The overview window displays the folder properties.

  2. Switch to the Publications tab.

  3. In the overview window under Name deactivate or activate the checkbox next to a publication.

Tip: You can also deactivate or activate a publication by using the overview page. Information can be found in 8.7.5: Managing subscribed and published folders.

How to remove a publication:
  1. Right-click on a folder and select Properties. The folder properties are displayed in the overview window.

  2. Switch to the Publications tab.

  3. Select a publication under Name in the overview window.

  4. In the Publications panel section click Remove. If using the compact panel, click the panel entry Publications > Remove.

  5. Click on Yes in the confirmation dialog.

8.7.4.1. Customizing the template

The layout of the web page containing your published data is set by a template. You can customize the web page layout by modifying the template. If you do not modify the template the default template is used.

In order to customize a template the following actions are required:

  • Entering a template file name when publishing

  • Downloading the template from the personal InfoStore folder

  • Customizing the templates with a text editor

  • Uploading the customized template to the InfoStore

Note: Customizing a template requires knowledge in web design, especially in HTML and CSS. If a faulty template is used, your published data might no longer be displayed.

How to customize a template:

  1. Right-click on a folder and select Properties. The folder properties are displayed in the overview window.

  2. Switch to the Publications tab.

  3. Enter a file name for the template in the Template (optional) input field.

  4. Click on the panel entry Save. Result: Your personal InfoStore folder contains the template in the OXMF Templates folder. The template has the name entered by you in step 2. Note: Prior to being able to see the template you have to retrieve the objects from the server by clicking the Refresh button in the title bar.

  5. Download the template from the InfoStore. Edit the template with a text editor. Information on the content of the template can be found later in this section.

  6. Upload the modified template as a new, current document version to the InfoStore.

Result: The page with the published data is displayed with the modifications.

Note: In order to view the changes, the page has to be reloaded.

Tip: You can also directly modify the template by using WebDAV.

Information on the template structure: A template is written in HTML. It consists of the following sections:

  • Macros

  • Page layout in XHTML format

    • Layout defined with CSS

    • HTML contents

8.7.5. Managing subscribed and published folders

In order to get an overview of your subscribed and published data and to manage them you can:

  • display all subscribed or published folders on one page,

  • activate or deactivate subscriptions or publications,

  • display the subscribed or published data of a folder.

How to reach the functions for managing subscribed or published folders:
  1. In the title bar click the Settings icon .

  2. In the folder tree under My Social Configuration click on Subscriptions or on Publications.

Result: The overview window shows the subscriptions or publications available. The left window pane displays the existing subscriptions or publications. The right pane shows the settings of a subscription or a publication.

How to activate or deactivate a subscription or publication:
  1. In the Subscriptions or Publications pane select a subscription or publication.

  2. In the right pane activate or deactivate the Activated checkbox.

  3. Click the panel entry Save.

How to display the subscribed or published data of a folder:
  1. In the Subscriptions or Publications pane select a subscription or publication.

  2. In the right pane below Folder name or Folder path click on a folder.

Result: The subscribed or published data of a folder are displayed.