Archiving files to Elvis 6 from Enterprise 10.0 – 10.7

In a typical production process, publications reach their end of life once they have been published. They are subsequently archived to make room in the system for other publications while still having access to the files for reference or re-use.

With the integration of Elvis with Enterprise, publications (Issues, Dossiers and layouts) can be archived from Enterprise Server to Elvis Server, including all related images, print articles and produced PDFs.

This article describes how this is done using Enterprise Server 10.7 or lower.

Note: For archiving in higher versions of Enterprise Server, including archiving Digital articles, see Archiving files to Elvis 6 from Enterprise 10.8 or higher.

How it works

The process of archiving works as follows:

1. Files that need to be archived are set to a dedicated Workflow Status in Enterprise. This will typically only be done for Dossiers and layouts because the archive feature will automatically archive all files that are part of a Dossier or that are placed on a layout, regardless of the Workflow Status these files are set to.

Note: This process does not support archiving Digital articles.

2. A scheduled action is run in Elvis to archive all Enterprise files that have the dedicated Workflow Status assigned. During this process, the following takes place:

• Files that do not yet exist in Elvis are copied from Enterprise; files that do exist in Elvis are updated with the version from Enterprise.

• For each field, the metadata is populated with values from the corresponding Enterprise properties such as publication, Category, Publication Channel, Issue, and so on. (For a full overview of these fields, see the list of 'Enterprise' fields in Metadata field information for Elvis 6.)

• An additional metadata field named 'Archived' is also set. This allows the files to be easily found and actions to be performed on them (for example setting restricted access or moving them to a dedicated 'Archive Zone').

3. Any archived layouts or Dossiers are set to a different Workflow Status in Enterprise so that they are not archived when the process is run the next time. For files that are placed on the layout or are part of the Dossier, the Workflow Status is not changed.

At this point, the files exist in Enterprise as well as in Elvis. The following is then typically done:

• The files in Enterprise are either removed from the system altogether or at a minimum set to read-only, with the exception perhaps of files — such as images — that are still used in publications that have not yet been archived.

• The files in Elvis are set to read-only; it should not be possible for users to change their content.

Requirements

This feature requires the following:

• Elvis 6 Server
• Enterprise Server 10.0 – 10.7, together with the Enterprise Import plug-in (this plug-in is shipped with Elvis Server).

Configuration

Configuration steps need to be performed in Elvis Server and in Enterprise Server.

Note: It is assumed here that an integration between Enterprise Server and Elvis Server is in place and fully working.

Steps in Elvis Server

In Elvis Server, the Enterprise Import plug-in needs to be installed, configured and activated.

Step 1. Installation

Move or copy the folder named 'ww_enterprise_import' from:

<Elvis Server>/Config/plugins/samples/schedule_plugins

to:

<Elvis Server>/Config/plugins/active

Step 2. Configuration

The import plug-in consists of the following configuration files:

• field-mappings.xml. For mapping Enterprise properties with Elvis metadata fields.
• schedule.config.xml. For setting the schedule when the import should be run and for setting up the connection between Enterprise and Elvis.

Configure both files as needed. See the comments in the files for more details.

Step 3. Activation

On the Scheduled plugins page of the Management Console, click Scan Elvis Server for plugins. Verify that no warnings are shown.

Show me how to access this page

Step 1. Do one of the following:

• Access the following URL and log in using system administrator credentials (a 'Super user' account):

<Elvis Server URL>/console

• Access the Elvis Pro client by accessing the following URL, log in using system administrator credentials, and choose Management Console from the Avatar menu.

<Elvis Server URL>/app

Step 2. Choose Plugins > Scheduled plugins in the menu on the left side of the page.

Steps in Enterprise Server

In Enterprise Server, Workflow Statuses need to be created and Access Rights set correctly.

Creating Workflow Statuses

Workflow Statuses in Enterprise are used to track files that need to be archived, files that have already been archived or files for which the archiving process failed. These Workflow Statuses need to be set up.

In Enterprise Server, set up Workflow Statuses with the following names:

Note: Other names can be used but when doing so, make sure to modify the schedule.config.xml file so that it matches those names.

• DoNotArchive. Used for objects which should be excluded from being archived when they are placed on a layout or part of a Dossier which is going to be archived.
• Archived. Used for indicating that the object has been archived to Elvis.
• SendToArchive. Used for objects that should be archived. Select the 'Produce' check box so that PDFs are generated for layouts. Set 'Next Status' to 'Archived'.
• ArchivingFailed. Used for marking any object which could not be archived for some reason. Information about the failure can be found in the log files.

Setting Access Rights

Once objects are archived to Elvis, they still exist in Enterprise unless they are removed. When maintaining archived files in Enterprise, make sure that they cannot be modified by users. Do this by not giving them edit privileges for files that have the above mentioned Workflow Statuses assigned. For more information, see Adding a user to a Brand in Enterprise Server 10.

Preventing updates to images related to an "archived" layout

Any layout that is archived should preferably never change anymore. Consider the following scenarios though:

Scenario #1: A layout with images is archived. Next, the layout is deleted in Enterprise.

In this case, the layout relations for the images placed on the layout should not be deleted; this should only be done for layouts that are not archived.

Scenario #2: A layout with images is archived. Next, an image is added to or removed from the layout.

Because the layout is archived, relations for related images should not be added or removed.

Scenario #3: A layout with images is archived. Next, a change is made to the layout (for example: an image is added or removed) and the layout is set to a non-archived status.

In this case the layout relations should be updated in Elvis again as the layout is no longer "archived".

How to handle these cases

To prevent layouts from being updated in the above mentioned cases, set the following option in the config file of the Elvis plug-in in Enterprise Server:

Show me the location of this file

<Enterprise Server folder>/config/plugins/Elvis/config.php

ELVIS_ARCHIVED_STATUSES

Note: For Elvis 6.9 and earlier, this setting should match the statuses from the Elvis import plug-in property archivedStatuses.