Introducing Classification and AssociatIon

Association and Classification activities are managed by the MetaData Service, and performed by the MetaCommClassificator SQL Server Agent Job running on the database. Classification and Association activities are defined as follows:

Classification: The process of classifying digital resources corresponding to files and folders in the file system as fulfilling a particular role within your company’s digital workflow. For example, a file server folder containing digital assets may play the role of a Job Folder or an Art Catalog in your workflow.

Association: The process of associating digital resources that have been classified (see above) with file collector objects in a Form. For example, digital resources corresponding to files contained within a folder classified as a Job Folder can be associated with a Job Ticket form.

The MetaCommClassificator SQL Server Agent Job works in the following manner: when a digital resource is added or updated, this event is detected by the File System Service, which writes an event notice to the database. The MetaData Service then detects this event change, and using the MetaCommClassificator, the digital resource is classified as ‘fulfilling’ a particular role (or roles). Then, the MetaCommClassificator SQL Server Agent Job considers each file collector field in the database that has an Association Rule defined for that digital resource classification role (or roles); references to the digital resource are placed in the file collector fields for any records for which the rule’s association criterion is satisfied.

Using the “Job Folder” example introduced in the illustration above, when a “1234-Brochure” folder is added to the database as a digital resource, it will be categorized as playing the role of “Job Folder” because it satisfies the defining condition of that role. Then, in accordance with the association rule of the “Job Files” file collector field for the “Job Folder” role, a reference to the “1234-Brochure” digital resource will added to the file collector for the job ticket with ID number 1234.

The scope of the Associator is limited to those folders which have been specified as requiring automated association of the digital resources they contain. Association takes place when the following situations occur for a digital resource record located within one of these folders:

The digital resource record is added or updated manually using the Digital Storage Manager or Virtual Ticket with Digital Storage Manager application.

The InterSync File System Service detects an “added” or “updated” event for the digital resource, signifying that an addition or modification of a file/folder on a synchronized file server has taken place.

Association also takes place when the set of association rules specified for a particular file collector changes.

The only steps required to configure the MetaCommClassificator, are setting up the appropriate digital resource classification roles and association rules. This is the function of the Digital Resources Classification Plug-in for the MetaData Service Snap-in in the MetaCommunications Management Console. This is done in the Digital Resources Classification and Association Rules tabs of the MetaData Service Snap-in.