Using taxonomy values to populate metadata fields in Assets Server

Info: Performing some of the steps described in this article requires direct server access. Depending upon how your system is hosted and the level of access you have to that system, coordination may be required with your Partner or WoodWing Support team. For a full overview of the steps that need to be done by WoodWing and how to request them, see WoodWing Cloud - Change management.

When a value is added to a metadata field it is important that this value is correctly entered. This is preferably done by all users using a generally used term and the correct spelling. When this is not consistently done the chance exists that the asset is not included in the search results when users search for the asset (using these general terms and correct spelling).

To streamline this process, a metadata field in Assets Server can be set up to use a 'taxonomy list' from which the user can choose a predefined value to use.

This saves the user from having to enter the term manually and thereby ensures consistent input.

What is a taxonomy list?

A taxonomy list is a list of restricted, predefined, related terms that follow a controlled hierarchy. They are also known as 'controlled vocabularies'.

Recommended reading: Taxonomies and controlled vocabularies best practices for metadata (source: Palgrave Macmillan).

Where to get a taxonomy list from

Various taxonomy lists are provided by metadata standard groups such as the IPTC. Using such lists ensures consistent use of such terms across the industry.

Using a taxonomy list in Assets Server

For information about using a taxonomy list in Assets Server, see Working with metadata in Assets Server.

Configuration

Configuring a metadata field for using taxonomy lists is a 2-step process:

Step 1. Making the list available on Assets Server.

Step 2. Configuring the metadata field.

Note: Taxonomies can only be used for fields of data type 'text' (datatype=text). To see which fields support this data type, refer to the list of metadata field information.

1. Making the taxonomy lists available on Assets Server

Taxonomy files are stored in the following location:

<Assets Server location>/Config/taxonomies

Tip: Various taxonomy files for every format are included in the taxonomies folder which can be used as examples for setting up taxonomies in Assets Server.

Place any additional taxonomy files (and for RDF: their settings file) in this folder and restart Assets Server to make them available in the clients and to add them to the search index.

Making a list unavailable

To (temporarily) make a taxonomy list unavailable, add a hyphen "-" as a prefix and restart Assets Server.

Example: -keyword-list.txt

Supported taxonomy formats

The following taxonomy formats are supported in Assets Server:

• RDF
• CSV
• Plain text (tab-delimited)

2. Configuring a metadata field

To add the use of a taxonomy list to a metadata field, add the <taxonomy> element in the custom-assetinfo.xml file:

For information about editing this file, see Changing the Assets Server configuration for a running cluster.

<fieldExt name="tags">
    <data>
        <taxonomy source="keyword-list.txt" ancestorsSelectable="false" ancestorsSearchable="true" onlyFromList="false" sort="true"/>
    </data>
</fieldExt>

Example of a custom field:

<field group="Taxonomy Test" name="cf_MyTaxonomyField">
					<storage storeInMetadata="true"/>
					<compass index="tokenized" excludeFromAll="false" store="yes"/>
					<data datatype="text" editable="true">
						<taxonomy ancestorsSearchable="true" ancestorsSelectable="false" onlyFromList="true" source="my-custom-taxonomy.txt"/>
					</data>
				</field>

For more information about the XML structure of a metadata field, see The metadata structure of Assets Server.

Note: To do this for default metadata fields, see Changing the default metadata field options in Assets Server. To do this for custom metadata fields, see Custom metadata in Assets Server.)

• source. This is a required field and specifies the name of the source file that contains the taxonomy terms.

• ancestorsSelectable. When set to 'true', the user can set the parent value as the metadata value.

Note: When not setting this option it defaults to 'false'.

• ancestorsSearchable. When set to 'true', it is possible to search on parent values when a child value is entered.

Note: ancestorsSearchable requires the index setting for the field to be set to "tokenized"

Note: When not setting this option it defaults to 'true'.

• onlyFromList. When set to 'true', the user can only enter options from the taxonomy list.

Note: When not setting this option it defaults to 'true'.

• sort. When set to 'true', The taxonomy terms are sorted in alphabetical order.

Note: When not setting this option it defaults to 'true'.

The following example shows a taxonomy added for the tags field that makes it possible for the user to add custom values and is sorted on the order of the taxonomy:

<fieldExt name="tags">
    <data>
        <taxonomy source="keyword-list.txt" ancestorsSelectable="true" onlyFromList="false" sort="false"/>
    </data>
</fieldExt>

Editing a taxonomy list that is used in production

Changes to a taxonomy file or its settings are automatically applied after 1 minute.

Tip: A taxonomy manager can perform live edits on taxonomy files because the server does not require a restart to reflect these changes.