Skip to main content
Documentation & User Guides | Fotoware

Adding document folders to an index

Adding document folders to an index

Up to 32 document folders can be added per index. Each of these document folders can contain any number of subfolders, so long as the hierarchy does not produce a path length that exceeds 225 characters, including folder path, file name, and extension. In some languages, a character is composed of several bytes and this will affect the number of characters a full path can have. If the path becomes too long, Index Manager will not index these files but will record a "Path too long" error in the log with a reference to the files that could not be indexed to allow you to correct the issue.

To add a document folder to an index

  1. In Index Manager Settings, open the Document Folders tab for the relevant index.

You can also set up Windows share paths (UNC-based) and Macintosh volume mappings to enable network clients to access the high-resolution files, for instance, to open them in third-party applications from FotoStation.

Note: Recent versions of FotoStation and FotoWeb can retrieve the file using the FWP (Fotoware Protocol), UNC (Universal Naming Convention) paths are only used as a fallback mechanism or in network configurations that exclude the possibility to use FWP(S) on port 7000/7001.

  1. To add a new document folder, select +Add
    Note: The document folder does not have to be on a local drive, it can point to a network shared drive.
  2. In the Select Folder window that opens, locate the document folder. Then fill in the Windows Share path and the Macintosh Volume name if access to the high-resolution files is required.
    Note: You must manually enter a valid Windows Share path, it is not added automatically.
  3. In the Unique name column, you can change the text, if necessary. This can be useful to make it easier to tell the different folders apart. Once the unique name is set, it should not be changed, since the permalinks in FotoWeb are based on the index' unique name. For more information, see FotoWeb permalinks.

Index document folders.png

  1. Each time you add or edit a document folder, a number of options appear below the area where you enter the path information: 

  • Include subfolders: If the document folder contains subfolders with files that you also want to add to the index, you must select this. Index Manager will scan and monitor all subfolders within the top-level document folder.
  • Enable background scanning: When you enable background scanning Index Manager will check all file folders for changes at regular intervals. If it finds that the modification date of a folder has changed it will scan the files in that folder and update the changes in the index.
  • Background scanning increases network traffic if the document folders are on a different server to Index Manager, and is generally intended for non-NTFS (New Technology File System) file systems and SMB (Server Message Block) connections that do not support the hot folder system which automatically notifies Index Manager of file changes.
  • Scan unchanged folders: This option is related to the background scanning option above. It forces Index Manager to scan the contents of the document folders at regular intervals even if the folder's modification date is not changed. This is typically required when indexing files on certain Unix disk systems where modification of a file in a folder does not change the folder's modification date. Enabling this function increases the amount of scanning performed and may reduce system performance.
  1. Select Save.
    You have now created a working index with document folders that will be scanned when you start the service.  Each index also has a number of more advanced options associated with it, for more information, see Creating and configuring indexes. 

Important - FotoWeb permalinks

When setting up a FotoWeb system, the asset paths that Index Manager serves to FotoWeb are used to create permalinks to the objects. If a document folder's Unique name changes, so do the ​permalinks to all objects in that document folder.
 

Changing the unique name of a document folder has the following consequences:

  • Permalinks to archives, folders, and files become invalid.
  • Assets disappear from albums and pins.
  • Exported assets may be lost and cannot be exported again after they expire or are revoked.
  • Comments disappear from assets.

Changes that do NOT affect permalinks:

  • Changing the physical path or folder name of a document folder (as long as the Unique name is not changed).
  • Changing the name of an archive (however, when accessing an existing permalink, the user is redirected to the new archive - a 301 redirect).