BROWSE CATDV SUPPORT MANUALS

How file naming works

Many operations in the Worker involve creating new files (copies of existing files or rendered converted files) or renaming existing files, so various mechanisms are available to choose both the destination name and the folder structure.

A key concept is that of “relative paths”, ie. the remainder of the file path relative to a particular root directory. When an action is triggered by a watch folder the watch folder itself is used as the root folder, but when the action is triggered by drag and drop or by a server trigger you can explicitly specify a root folder.

If you choose “Use filename only” the folder hierarchy is ignored and files are placed directly in the destination folder, whereas if you choose “Preserve entire path (from root)” the folder hierarchy relative to the root folder is maintained within the destination folder.

If you choose “Number files consecutively” or “Use current timestamp” then files are placed directly in the destination folder and the name is either an incrementing number (the next available number which isn’t already in use in the destination folder) or based on the current date and time.

“Expand variables” gives you the most flexibility when naming files, and most of the other options can be implemented with variables, although it can sometimes be a bit tricky defining exactly what is required. When the action is “Rename files” the pattern you specify defines the filename only (as the file is being renamed, not moved to another folder) so you might enter something like “$Q_$f” as the destination. When copying or moving or converting a file, however, you need to specify both the destination folder and the filename, for example “/Media/Converted/$P/$D_$g.mp4”.

When converting or exporting a file the correct filename extension (such as “.mov”) is normally added automatically depending on the format being exported, unless you check the “exact name” option.

As there is so much flexibility in how files can be named (and in functionality that can be programmed with the worker more generally) you should always test your Worker scripts carefully with some simple test files before relying on a workflow. In particular, you should make sure that your worker configuration matches the media search paths configured in the CatDV client application preferences (and in the Live HTML/Web Publisher configuration if you are using the web interface) and that you have a thorough understanding of CatDV’s concept of file paths relative to a particular root directory.

This complexity is necessary because no two workflows or installations are the same. Although it is usually possible and can be very tempting not to specify a root folder (so the entire file path is treated as if it was a relative path relative to the file system root “/”) you should always try to consider what the logical root folder for a particular operation is because of the benefits this brings:

  • Flexibility – if you add a new disk or need to move a folder it is much easier to reconfigure the system if you use relative rather than absolute paths. It is also possible to specify different actions or different search paths for different root folders.
  • Efficiency – relative file paths are shorter, and in the case of the CatDV client searching for files using a search path vastly fewer file locations need to be checked if you correctly specify the root folder
  • Security – rather than giving users access to the entire file system you can restrict it to particular folders and don’t need to expose complete file paths (for example through the web interface)