XML defines "external entities" as the only widely supported content reuse mechanism. Entities are XML fragments stored in a different file to the XML document. Entities are included in documents by reference. SiberSafe tracks the relationship between the external entities and the documents that use them, and the relationship between documents and the entities they use. SiberSafe provides many features that make it easy to create, find, use, and opt out of using external entities, such as: With SiberSafe, users can create entities from fragments at the click of a button. SiberSafe moves the fragment that was converted into a file, and replaces the content with a reference to that file. The created entity is stored in the repository and is immediately available to any member of the team for inclusion in other documents. Entities can be organized in any grouping in the repository using a folder hierarchy model. Teams can define and implement the organization that best suits them.

Entities are directly accessible from most popular XML authoring tools via the SiberLogic entity catalog. Entities can be edited in the context of the full document or as an entity. If only the entity needs to be edited, SiberSafe generates the required XML wrapping so the entity is a valid XML document. This wrapping is stripped when the changed entity is returned to the repository. SiberSafe allows users to easily locate all relevant reusable entities for processing in an XML editor. Relevant entities can be located as follows:

• Select from a central alphabetically-sorted catalog of all entities defined in the repository
• Search via keywords that were specified by the user when the entity was placed in the entity catalog
• Search via keywords or phrases that are contained in the entity content itself
• Search via keywords that are contained in attributes to elements in the entity

SiberSafe automatically copies selected entity names into the clipboard for easy pasting into the XML editor. SiberSafe's link management features enable users to track what content is being reused in what document. By including reusable components directly in their documents, users can ensure that all updates are included in the document at publishing time. The user can see all changes made to all included entities by verifying the document history. Once an author has located a relevant entity, it can be included in a document under construction using one of the following mechanisms:

• An XML editor that allows inclusion of external entities, usually via the "insert" command. Entities included this way are discovered by SiberSafe when the author invokes the "Restore Entity References" command.
• SiberSafe's Document Composer provides a straightforward interface for XML content authors to find and include external entities into existing documents.
• SiberSafe's Document Builder enables non technical staff to enter criteria in queries included in document templates constructed by the document administrator. The result of the queries is a set of entities from which the user can preview and select those he wants to include in the custom document. The purpose of the Document Builder is to leverage product description content so members of the sales organization (for example) can create custom documents to meet the specific queries of different customers and prospects.

See the Document Builder demo

All three mechanisms are intended for use within the framework of a reuse architecture. While SiberSafe will support almost any reuse architecture, SiberLogic offers a white paper outlining a recommended reuse architecture for organizations that prefer not to develop their own.

See the white paper on recommended information architecture
See the white paper on reuse strategies
See the demo on parallel development