Defining a custom Studio folder for storing temporary Server files

When a file that is stored in Studio Server is opened in InDesign or InCopy, it is temporarily saved in a sub folder in the user’s documents folder so that it can be edited.

For sites that are using roaming profiles where the user’s folder is located on a server, this results in a degraded performance as the file is transferred at least 3 times across the network.

For such scenarios a custom local folder can be defined in which the files are stored:

• File: WWSettings.xml file
• Name of option: UseCustomBaseFolder
• Location: anywhere between the <Settings> </Settings> tags
• Value: the path to the local folder
• Example:

Important: Make sure to validate the WWSettings.xml file for correct content. See Validating the WWSettings.xml file.

Tip: This action can also be used to improve the performance of InDesign Server when files are stored on a file share.

Take note of the following:

• We recommend to configure the UseCustomBaseFolder such that the temporary server files are stored on a local disk.

Note: Putting the temporary server files on external storage may have a considerable negative effect on the user experience in InDesign. InDesign has had significant stability issues with network storage in the past and with new releases of InDesign such problems still regularly occur. As mentioned above, with external storage the performance is not optimal because every file from the server has to be written to disk over the network and opened in InDesign, again over the network.

• The path is shared with all users using the computer. Using this setting in combination with the Offline Documents setting will lead to confusion and can cause potential problems. Use with care.

• Using the ‘~’ character to point to a folder in the user’s home directory is not supported.

• (macOS) When using this option, make sure that the folder is not indexed by Spotlight. This can be done by changing the Spotlight preferences or by adding '.noindex' to the folder name.

• (Windows) Use the KNOWNFOLDERID as variables in the path. Variables are enclosed between ${ and } markers. A complete list of known folder IDs that can be used can be found on http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/dd378457.aspx.

The most useful known folders are:

• FOLDERID_Desktop
• FOLDERID_Downloads
• FOLDERID_LocalAppData
• FOLDERID_LocalAppDataLow
• FOLDERID_ProgramData
• FOLDERID_Public
• FOLDERID_PublicDocuments
• FOLDERID_UsersFiles