Table of Contents
Adding support for custom file types
How to add support for custom file types and extensions in your DAM system.
29. April 2025
Table of Contents
How FotoWeb handles custom file types
FotoWeb has a control file that determines how different file types are interpreted by the system. This file contains a list of all known file extensions, their MIME types, the icons that should be associated with the file type, and other information. By changing this file, you can add support for file types not natively supported by the system.
Adding file type support to your DAM system
Important: The procedure described here should only be performed by someone proficient with XML editing. Make a backup of the files first so you can roll back if necessary.
Open the FileTypes.xml file in a text editor with good XML support (e.g., Notepad++) or an XML editor. The file is found in C:\ProgramData\Fotoware\FotoWeb\Server Settings\Configuration
File type properties
Each file type is enclosed in a FileTypeInfo node and has a number of properties associated with it. To add a new file type, create a new FileTypeInfo node and add all the properties described below.
To illustrate, the JPEG image type entry, for example, looks like this:
| Property | Value | Description/Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Extension | "JPG" | The file's extension |
| Description | "JPEG Compressed Image" | The description of the file type |
| MimeType | "image/jpeg" | The file type's MIME type |
| Icon | "FtImage.gif" | The icon to use if no other representation can be made. Icons are stored in C:\Programdata\Fotoware\FotoWeb\Server Settings\Icons and are 32x32 pixels. |
| HasPreview | "True" | Determines whether Index Manager can generate previews for this file type. Normally set to False for custom file types. |
| IsPlayable | "False" | Not used in FotoWeb 8.0. Set to False for custom file types. |
| HasMetadata | "False" | Determines whether the file has metadata in a sidecar file. For JPEG files, this is false because the file supports embedded metadata (see property below). |
| SupportsIptc | "True" | Set to True if the file type supports embedded metadata. |
| AllowMetadataEditing | "True" | |
| ObjectType | "Image" |
Defines the object type. Must be one of the following: Generic Image Movie Audio Document Graphic Movie and Audio type files will be processed by the video transcoder module (when licensed). Document type files support page browsing. |
| InternalType | "JPEG" | The Internal FourCC type assigned by the Index Manager server. Should be set to "????" for custom file types. |
After you have made changes
Having made changes to the FileTypes.xml file, save it and restart the FotoWeb services to incorporate the changes in your system.