DocMGR Modules

What Are They?

DocMGR has always been created on a development platform which allows the compiling of different modules into one application. Previous to 0.50, manipulating these modules required database modification, which was not efficient to allow other developers to alter modules within the system. This has all changed now, as DocMGR is not built on the latest release of this platform which creates the application structure based on xml files.

Adding and removing modules in DocMGR is now as simple as altering the xml config file located in each module's respective directory. The modules allow for automated loading of a process file, a function file, a stylesheet file, a javascript file, and a display file for outputting content to the browser. I will discuss these more later

Removing Modules

I've had several requests from users wanting to be able to remove certain modules from DocMGR. One common request is that of the Import module. This section will explain how to do that without going through all the technical aspects of how the modules work. The easiest way is to rename the module.xml file within the module's directory. So, if I want to remove the Import module from docmgr, I could cd to modules/center/import and rename the module.xml file to oldmodule.xml. After logging out and logging back in, the Import module will be gone. You can add it back at any time by renaming oldmodule.xml to module.xml and logging out/in. You could have also just deleted the import/ directory, but then you would not be able to easily add it back later.

If you want to remove a different module, you'll first need to find which directory the module resides in. First, access the module from within DocMGR. Once you've done that, you'll see the text "index.php?module=" in the Address Bar of your browser. is also the directory name the module resides in. So, cd to the modules/ directory in docmgr, and type "find -name ". The module's directory will be returned in the results, and you can remove it as described above. It should also be stated that modules in the left column reside in the "modules/left" directory, while modules in the center of the page reside in the "modules/center" directory.

Creating A New Module

You may add new modules at will in DocMGR. Modules are structured in a filesystem hiearchy type manner. If a module is located in the folder of another module, then it is "owned" by the parent. Certain modules will be automatically listed in DocMGR if in the approriate directory. For example, any module located under "modules/center" will automatically be displayed in the top right Navigation Bar. Any module located in "modules/center/file" will automatically be listed in the left column under File Properties. It is probably easiest to start by copying another module and using it as a template.

You may download a pdf version of the documentation to e-dev, the platform which DocMGR is built on. The docs are a work in progress and are probably missing information, contain spelling errors, etc. A more detailed description of modules and their use is contained in this doc.

E-Dev Documentation