Configuring Hot Folders (5.3 and Above)

Introduction

Hot Folders can be configured on local computers so that files placed into that folder, they will periodically get imported into the corresponding folder in Zoom. Metadata can also be applied to assets during a hot folder import. Scripts can be configured to run prior to (pre-scripts) and after (post-scripts) the actual import operation, allowing users to set up extra processing at critical junctures.
Post-script support is available only from Zoom 5.3 and above.
 
This post outlines the configuration details of the hot folder mechanism in detail.

Authenticating Hot Folder User

  1. Click the Hot Folder Settings section in Zoom Settings (Z menu -> Settings)
  2. Select the server to import the ingested assets to.
  3. Under Authenticate Import, input your Username and Password.
    The username for a Hot Folder can be different than the one that you as a user use to login into Zoom. If the username is the same, when the Hot Folder ingests occurs, you will be logged out of all sessions on other devices or desktop. Due to the Zoom named user license model, a single username account can only have one active session at any given point in time.
  4. Click Validate.
  5. Click OK.

Adding Hot Folder

  1. Click the Hot Folder Settings section in Zoom Settings.
  2. Click Add.

  3. Under Import to, click the Select button.
  4. Choose your folder in Zoom to import the assets into.
  5. Click OK
  6. Under Hot folder path, click Browse button.
  7. Navigate to the folder on your local computer you want Zoom to monitor.
  8. Under Sync every, set how often Zoom should check for updates in that folder.
    For eg: 1 minutes
  9. Click Save.

Enabling/Disabling Hot Folder

The Enabling/Disabling of a hot folder tells the hot folder mechanism whether to run hot import tasks for the hot folder or not.

  1. Click the Hot Folder Settings section in Zoom Settings.

     

  2. Click the checkbox corresponding to your Hot Folder in the Hot Folder List.
  3. Made edits to your Hot Folder.
  4. Click Update.

Editing Hot Folder

  1. Click the Hot Folder Settings section in Zoom Settings.
  2. Select a hot folder in the Hot Folder list
  3. Click Edit.
  4. Made edits to your Hot Folder.
  5. Click Update.

Deleting Hot Folder

  1. Click the Hot Folder Settings section in Zoom Settings.
  2. Select a hot folder in the Hot Folder list
  3. Click Delete.

Additional Hot Folder Configurations

There are a number parameters that can be set for Hot Folders:

Hot Folder Settings View

Metadata on Import

Specifies which metadata will be applied to assets automatically when imported into Zoom. In Zoom 5.2 or higher, we have included 2 ways of applying metadata to the assets.

1- Apply per file: This option lets you apply metadata by specifying metadata for individual assets, by providing a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file containing the assets name and the metadata to be applied on that asset.

  1. Create a new text file using your preferred text editor or Excel (Save As .CSV)
    Notepad, TextEdit, Notepad++, BBEdit, etc.
  2. In the first line specify all the metadata keys (IPTC: City; 4 letter Metadata Group code: field name), beginning with UID separating each of them with a comma(,).
  3. Next line specify the asset name and the respective metadata values separated by a comma(,)
  4. Similarly, specify other assets and their metadata which has to be imported.
  5. Save the file.

The screenshot shows a sample CSV file which contains metadata for two assets to Imported.Screen Shot 2015-12-07 at 2.45.38 PM

The HotFolder has the MD.CSV file at the root level and any other files that need to be ingested in that project. Any current folder structure can be imported with metadata like the example of the Pets folder in this screenshot.

Screen Shot 2015-12-07 at 2.51.14 PM

 

2- Apply on all: This option lets you the same set of metadata on all the assets being imported as part of the hot folder mechanism. The metadata properties must be arranged in key=value pairs for this to work. Please see below steps for the same.

  1. Create a new text file using your preferred text editor.
    Notepad, TextEdit, Notepad++, BBEdit, etc.
  2. For each metadata value you would like to apply to files, create line with [GroupCode]_[MetadataLabel]=[Value], replacing [GroupCode] with the Metadata Group Code your value is stored in, the [MetadataLabel] with the Label of the metadata field, and [Value] with the value you would like to set for that metadata field.
    IPTC_City=Zanzibar
  3. Save your file on your computer.

The screenshot shows a sample text file which contains metadata which will be applied to all the assets being imported.Key Value based Metadata

Adding Metadata Settings

  1. Click the Hot Folder Settings section in Zoom Settings.
  2. Select a hot folder in the Hot Folder list
  3. Click Edit.
  4. Under Metadata Settings, click the Browse button.
  5. Specify the metadata text file to read metadata values.
  6. Click Select.
  7. Click on the any one of the apply metadata options.
    The metadata file should contain a valid structure depending on the option selected. If you have selected “apply on all” option and have provided a CSV file as the metadata file, the import will not work.
  8. Click Update.

Email Notifications

Enables notifications by email about the details of each periodic ingest happening through this hot folder.

  1. Click the Hot Folder Settings section in Zoom Settings.
  2. Select a hot folder in the Hot Folder list
  3. Click Edit.
  4. Under Enable email notifications, click the checkbox.
  5. Under Notify them after import, list the email addresses or an alias of users you would like to notify, separating each with a comma.
  6. Click Update.

Run Pre-Script Before Import

Runs specified script before import to allow for automation during the import process.

  1. Click the Hot Folder Settings section in Zoom Settings.
  2. Select a hot folder in the Hot Folder list
  3. Click Edit.
  4. Under Run script before import, click the checkbox.
  5. Click the Browse button.
  6. Specify the script to run before import.
    The script must be a valid executable that will run successfully on the target system. Please ensure that any path dependencies etc are resolved correctly within the script.
  7. Click Select.
  8. Click Update.
  9. To understand a sample Hot Folder ingest script, check out this article here.

Run Post-Script After Import

Runs specified script after import to allow for automation during the import process.

  1. Click the Hot Folder Settings section in Zoom Settings.
  2. Select a hot folder in the Hot Folder list
  3. Click Edit.
  4. Under Run script after import, click the checkbox.
  5. Click the Browse button.
  6. Specify the script to run after import.
    The script must be a valid executable that will run successfully on the target system. Please ensure that any path dependencies etc are resolved correctly within the script.
  7. Click Select.
  8. Click Update.
  9. To understand a sample Hot Folder ingest script, check out this article here.

Backup Files After Import

  1. Click the Hot Folder Settings section in Zoom Settings.
  2. Select a hot folder in the Hot Folder list
  3. Click Edit.
  4. Under Backup files after import, click the checkbox.
  5. Click the Browse button.
  6. Specify the directory to move files to after import.
  7. Click Select.
  8. Click Update.

Moves files in Hot Folder after they are successfully imported into the specified folder.

Asset Untouched Time

Controls which files present in the hot folder are actually eligible to be imported. Any file that has been modified within the time specified in this field will be treated as being currently modified, and therefore deemed as partial files. Such files will not be ingested. Since the hot folder mechanism runs periodically, this check will continue to happen and at some point, the files will be fully written and will become eligible for import.

  1. Click the Hot Folder Settings section in Zoom Settings.
  2. Select a hot folder in the Hot Folder list
  3. Click Edit.
  4. Enter the time interval that might normally take for files to get written into your configured hot folder from any external processes. This is the time Zoom will wait, before picking up that file for importing into the repository.

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