C-EMS  Site Clipper is one of the modules of the Convertigo Enterprise Mashup Server (C-EMS) platform.

C-EMS platform has  the feature called Site Clipper. Site Clipper can be used to automate navigation on a specific web site, for example login in, filling forms to access specific pages, click buttons or links to perform some useful actions. When this automation is done, Convertigo will return control to the end user giving him the opportunity to interact with the web site transparently starting from the state left by the previous automation.

Site Clipper is also able to 'Clip' parts of the original site to present to the end user a streamlined web page to remove logos,  headers, footers, or even some parts of the original web page. In this way existing web sites will fit as portlets or widgets to be inserted in portals.

Site Clipper is also able to change the "Look and Feel" of an original web site to make it look in a different style , for example to match a corporate look and feel or to rebrand a existing web application.

Architecture

Site Clipper is based on a type of reverse proxy enabling end users to connect to application through this proxy.  In this way, any HTML page passing by Site Clipper is analysed by Convertigo before being sent to the user. Site Clipper will use a set of rules to modify the original HTML and to insert some specific Ajax Based javascript that will be executed on the user's browser. This Ajax code is responsible for hiding (Clipping) some parts of the page when needed. It can also to add some specific HTML DOM nodes to the resulting page for creating new action buttons for example. Replacement rules can also change CSS style sheets references having the modified page to point on new CSSs giving a different "look and feel"

By mixing Web Integrator module with Site Clipper, we can use a Web Integrator transaction to automate navigation through pages, forms and links in order to bring a user session in the required state (page). Then, control is passed to the Site Clipper acting as a reverse proxy as stated before. At any time it is possible to call back a Web Integrator transaction to automate a new navigation giving back the control to the end user.

How does the replacement rule work.

Replacement rules are based on the very well know Regular Expression standard. The rules can be applied on specific pages or even on different resources of the page such as HTML code, Javascript or CSS resources.

The Convertigo project writer will only have to specifiy on wich pages / resources the rules can apply.