What makes tekReader tick?

We have had tekReader on the market now for 5+ years and have businesses across many sectors using it. We have partnered with Allette Systems here in Australia and over the past two years have integrated their PageSeeder product with tekReader. We have branded the PageSeeder product as tekAuthor (editing) with two sub-components called tekTeam (collaboration) and tekManage (versioning, history and more). The platform is called tek.PS. It gives businesses a complete "online" end-to-end publishing solution all under one roof.

tekReader always sits at the end of the workfow and is the facilitator of structured content that is served up in an HTML5 eReader environment. In fact, it really does not care about workflow, processes or content that comes before it ... it can still integrate with existing publishing platforms if large investments have been made in them ... we just hang our hat on PageSeeder/tekReader combination as our productisation strategy.

This article will provide some insight on what makes tekReader tick, components that surround it and what we need to do to glue it all together into one cool eReader.

tekReader Architecture

The following diagram shows the tekReader Platform architecture.

Content editing environment

The tekReader platform does not rely on any specific editing environment. Content can be edited and managed from desktop applications or cloud-based platforms.

The publishing service expects structured content that validates against an agreed DTD/Schema. The DTD/Schema will establish a format from which content resources and cross references can be extracted. The publishing service will contain transformation logic to convert the defined structure into the required HTML5 format.

A content package will bundle all necessary asset files according to a defined data source. A push or pull model can be used to deliver the content package to the publishing process.

The published content may come from different editing environments provided they are configured within the publishing service.

Publishing Service

To facilitate a flexible content publishing model the tekReader platform supports custom publisher configurations. Each publisher defines a data format and data source.

Data formats adhere to custom or standards based (DITA, Dockbook, S1000D, etc.) DTDs/Schemas with the option to create additional custom formats based on the content structure.

Data sources define the package format for content and can be as simple as ZIP packages or as complex as full external CMS integrations.

The publishing process is divided into A-B-C components; Adapter, Binder and Collator, and each can be customised based on the data source and format.

• Adapters - prepare package source files for processing by the publisher.
• Binders - define logic for structuring documents based on package contents and manage the transformation of the source xml data.
• Collators - gather processed package contents into the final structure and resources required to deliver the published version of the content.

The publisher configuration is thus defined by the DTD/Schema and the integration of Adapter, Binder and Collator combine to deliver tekReader content from any valid source of structured content.

Progressive Web Application

The tekReader web client uses the latest browser technologies to deliver an optimum end user experience. The progressive web application provides a responsive layout that seamlessly adapts to any screen size for desktops, tablets and mobile devices.

The HTML5 content delivered to tekReader is rendered along with CSS and Javascript modules to provide client-side functionality. Custom Javascript module extensions can be included that use the client side objects and event model for extending and enhancing the UI.

Advanced browser features such as Web App Manifest, Service Workers and Push Notifications provide an installable, app-like experience on the desktop and mobile that is fast and reliable.

tekAdmin

The tekAdmin client provides a UI for interacting with the API and managing the publishers, publications and publishing jobs that deliver content to the tekReader client.

The administration area provides access to the data objects that persist in the database. The functions provided by the administration area are implemented using the API. Any task can be completed outside the admin area through the API provided that the requests contain sufficient authorisation.

The roles and permissions that control access to the API and the more fine-grained permissions to the data objects within the database can also be controlled through the administration area.

Roles & Permissions

The tekReader API controls access through user roles and user permissions. Authentication providers are configured for authentication by a number of mechanisms; basic authentication, OAuth, API keys and JSON Web Tokens (JWTs).

This flexibility allows the API to be used in a variety of scenarios from the standard browser login with tekReader, eCommerce API integration using server-side scripting and external web applications authorising access with JWTs in the URL.

For enhanced single-sign on and two factor authentication custom integrations can support technologies such as Active Directory Federated Services, universal login from Google and Facebook and IP restricted access through corporate network proxies.

Support

tekReader is backed by our Service Level Agreement (SLA) that is included with the tekReader License Agreement. The SLA provides a basis for close co-operation between us and our clients, for on-going maintenance and support services, thereby ensuring timely and efficient outcomes for our clients' membership base.