# Manage Aliases

An alias is a shorthand name path and is beneficial so that an API call does not need to understand the naming convention/URI that is used within Document Generation Services (DGS). An alias can be defined as a URL that is common to the requesting application’s language/configuration, and can then be re-interpreted to call the content library that they intend to call.

When a library gets deployed, a unique name is associated with the library (and all of the content it contains). An alias allows the calling application to use a consistent name and that name is redirected through the alias to the actual library without requiring the calling application to know the unique name when requesting documents.

Note: An alias is not required but is highly recommended. Using an alias means the calling application does not need to continually be modified when the content library name/version is modified.

The base alias structure included in the manaagement tool provides an alias for each Expere Content line of business. In addition, an alias is available to support scenarios where the DocViewer application is used in the environment that is integrated with Document Generation Services. In this case, an alias is associated with content and translated accordingly when using an association with the Doc Viewer application in a manner similar as when using an association with Expere.

See the following tasks for more information:

- Assigning Aliases
- Viewing Aliases
- Removing an Alias
- Importing New Aliases
- Updating the Version Number for an Alias Group