Defining Digital Resource Classification for a DSM Database

In addition to obtaining the basic file information (file name and location, creation time, size, etc.) and standard metadata (image thumbnails, extended previews), the MetaData Service may be instructed to group (classify) digital resources according to the roles the corresponding files/folders play within your company’s digital workflow. For example, a file server folder may play the role of a Job Folder or an Art Catalog.

The major purpose of the digital resource classification is to extend the search capabilities of the DSM system: it is possible to create search routines (local and Global Finds) based on the digital resource roles assigned by the MetaData Service.

To configure the digital resource classification mechanism, you must specify the scope of digital resources to be processed and define the digital resource roles to be assigned by the MDS.

To view/edit the digital resource classification for a particular database:

1. Expand the appropriate database subtree under the MetaData Service snap-in and click Digital Resource Classification.

Enabling/Disabling the Digital Resource Classification

The MetaData Service will perform classification of the digital resources referenced within the DSM database only if the classification mechanism is enabled.

To enable/disable the digital resource classification for a DSM database:

1. Right-click the database in the MDS Snap-In tree.
2. Click Properties in the popup menu. The Properties window will open.
3. Click the Options tab in the Properties window.

1. Select or clear the Enable Digital Resources Classification checkbox as desired.
2. Click OK when finished.

Setting the Scope of Digital Resources to be Classified

When you switch to the Digital Resource Classification mode for a database, the MetaData Service retrieves the list of digital resources referenced within the database and displays it as a tree-structured listing in the right-hand pane of the Management Console, under the General tab. The listing reflects the hierarchy of digital resources preserved in the database.

The Servers group represents the digital resources that are either in the production use or in the online/nearline data storage. The “*” notation designates that the server name is unknown, for example, for digital resources added to the database from removable media.

The MediaShelf group may contain the user defined structure that models the physical offline storage area, for example, a tape library. The digital resources moved to MediaShelf (by means of the DSM client application) are not accessible under the Servers group.

To set the scope of digital resources to be classified for a database

1. Select the Folders branch for a database within the MDS Snap-In.
2. Right-click a Folder within the Display pane.
3. Select Properties from the popup menu. The Properties window will open.

1. Enable or clear the Enable classification of Digital Resources checkbox.
2. Click OK to save your modifications and close the Properties window.

Setting Up Digital Resource Roles

You define the digital resource classification for a database by setting up the roles to be assigned to digital resources by the MetaData Service. Each digital resource role must have a unique name and a digital resource classification (defining) condition that defines which digital resources should be classified as playing the role. A digital resource must satisfy each criterion of a role’s defining condition to be classified as playing the role. The examples of criteria are: “name matches...”, “location matches...”, “named exactly...”.

The defining condition of a role may be used to instruct the MDS to obtain custom defined metadata associated with the digital resources and reflect this information in the fields of the DSM database. For example, you can enable the MDS to automatically populate the following fields of digital resource records: “File Role”, “Job Number”, “Job Name”, “Customer Code”, “Customer Name”, etc.

For the MetaData Service to obtain the values, the custom defined metadata must be somehow associated with the digital resources, and in case of DSM it means encoded in the corresponding file/folder names, locations, or types. On the file server, digital resources used for production are typically organized by jobs or Job folders. In turn, all Job folders are normally named in a standardized way, for example, the name of a Job folder might start with the job number. In this example, the job number is the custom defined metadata encoded in the folder name and may be extracted by the MetaData Service. When handling the folder addition/modification event, the MetaData Service will populate the job number field in the corresponding database record as well as in other records representing children (subfolders/files) of this Job folder. For more information on inheritable database fields, see “Setting Fields to Be Inheritable (Digital Resources Only)” on page 350.

To configure the Classificator, you must specify its working scope and assign the digital resource roles to those files/folders you would like the Classificator to process. Each digital resource role must have a unique name and a digital resource classification (defining) condition that defines which digital resources should be classified as playing the role. A digital resource must satisfy each criterion of a role’s defining condition to be classified as playing the role.

Files and folders are classified when the following occurs for a file/folder located within on of the folders for which Classification is enabled:

The file or folder is updated manually using the client.

The InterSync File System Service detects an add or an update event for the digital resource when scanning the folder.

The Digital Resource Classification tab in the right-hand pane of the Management Console enables you to set up the digital resource roles necessary for the proper operation of the classification mechanism on a DSM database.

To add a digital resource role to the DSM database:

1. Expand a database listed in the Databases branch of the MDS Snap-In.
2. Click Digital Resource Classification. The Digital Resource Classification editor will appear in the display pane.

1. Click New.
2. Type the name of the Role in the Name field.
3. Click Modify. This will open the Role Details window.

1. Define the classification role by selecting details to use in the top portion of the window and defining the selected details in the bottom portion of the window.
2. Click OK when finished. The Role Details window will close.
3. Click Save in the Digital Resource Classification Editor.
4. Select the folders you want reclassified according to the new Classification schema in the popup window and click OK. The folders will be reclassified according to all of the most recently defined classification roles.

To change the name of an existing Role:

1. Click the name of the Role for which you would like to change the name.
2. Select the role on the left and edit the name in the Name field.
3. Click Save when finished.
4. Select the folders you want reclassified in the popup window and click OK.

To modify the definition of an existing Role:

1. Click the name of the Role whose definition you want to modify.
2. Click Modify. The Digital Resource Role Details window will open.
3. Modify the Role definition.
4. Click OK when finished. The Digital Resource Role Details window will close.
5. Click Save in the Digital Resource Classification Editor.
6. Select the folders you want reclassified according to the new Classification schema in the popup window and click OK. The folders will be reclassified according to all of the most recently defined classification roles.

Specifying Conditions for Digital Resource Roles

A file/folder is categorized as being represented by a digital resource role if the file/folder satisfies every criterion that makes up the defining condition for the digital resource role.

Note: The instructions below assume that the dialog window used to edit the role defining condition is already open. Please, refer to the “Setting Up Digital Resource Roles” subsection for the instructions on how to create/modify digital resource roles.

To add a criterion to the defining condition for a digital resource role:

1. Select the checkbox corresponding to the desired criterion. A row for the criterion will appear in the Condition Details section of the Role Details window.
2. Edit the role definition in the Role Details section of the window. Conditions can be defined according to the following criteria:

Is/is not of type—This criterion is satisfied if the file/folder is/is not of the specified DSM file type.

To toggle between ‘is’ and ‘is not’, click is/is not. Then, click <file type> and select the appropriate DSM system file type from the popup menu.

note: For more information on the file types supported by the DSM system, please refer to refer to “Setting Up File Types” of this guide.

Is/is not named exactly—This criterion is satisfied if the name of the file/folder is/is not the specified string.

To toggle between ‘named’ and ‘not named’, simply click named/not named. Then, click <file name>; this will open a string entry dialog, allowing you to enter the appropriate file name.

Name matches—This pattern-matching criterion is satisfied if the name of the file/folder matches the specified pattern(s).

To begin specifying one of the patterns the file/folder name is allowed to match, click <token> and select whether the token represents a database field defined for the Digital Resource record type in DSM, a separator, any string, or any number.

If a specific string should appear in the file name, choose the Separator option, then enter the string in the dialog window that appears.

If you have specified a database field token, the MetaData Service will use the data type of the field (Character and Integer) to construct the version of the criterion applicable for pattern matching operations. Once a file/folder with the matching name is found, the MetaData Service will use the value of the token to populate the underlying database field in the corresponding digital resource record.

To add more tokens to a pattern, right-click the token and select Insert placeholder before/Insert placeholder after option.

To add another pattern to the criterion, right-click within a pattern (patterns are outlined in black) and select Insert pattern before/Insert pattern after from the popup menu. For the criterion to be satisfied, a match must be found for any of the included patterns.

Located in/under a digital resource role folder—This criterion is satisfied if the file/folder is physically located either in or under a folder that matches the definition of the digital resource role specified in the criterion. For the purposes of this criterion, a file/folder is ‘in’ a folder only if it is located immediately within that folder (and not within a subfolder). A file/folder is ‘under’ a folder if it can be found somewhere within the directory structure of that folder.

For example, suppose that the File System Service has detected the addition of “123-Art Catalog/BMPs/Picture.BMP” file. Picture.BMP is considered to be ‘under’ both the “123-Art Catalog” and “BMPs” folders, ‘in’ the “BMPs” folder, but not ‘in’ the “123-Art Catalog” folder.

To toggle between ‘in’ and ‘under’, simply click in/under. Then, click <digital resource role> and select the appropriate digital resource role from the popup menu.

Location matches—This pattern-matching criterion is satisfied if the location of the file/folder matches the specified pattern(s).

To edit this criterion, refer to the instructions for the “Name matches” criterion.

Satisfies JScript condition—This criterion allows you to specify, using JScript, other criteria that the file/folder must satisfy.

To edit this criterion, click <undefined>. This will open a text entry dialog, allowing you to enter the appropriate script.

None of parents has the <Role_Name> role—This non-editable criterion is satisfied if none of the parent folders of the file/folder can be categorized as playing the role (<Role_Name>) whose defining condition is being edited at the moment.