This feature is only available for the Daminion Server version!
The Automatic Folder Rescan feature ensures that any external changes made to your files or in your folder structure will be detected by Daminion and automatically reflected in the catalog. You can tell Daminion what folders you want to watch for changes.
The following external changes are detected automatically in the watching folders
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- Renaming of files and folders
- Deletion of files and folders
- Addition of new files and folders to the watched folders (added without using Daminion’s import function)
- Changes to files and their metadata made by external applications
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All subfolders within a watched folder are also automatically monitored. So you can simply enable Automatic Folder Rescan for the top-level folder. Although the folder-monitoring function is relatively resource-efficient, it is not advisable to turn it on for the entire catalog. It is more efficient to limit monitoring to the most relevant folders.
Folder Rescanning Modes
Daminion Server uses two mechanisms to track changes:
- File System Watcher – Daminion Server monitors external changes in the file structure and reflects these changes in the Daminion Server. This mechanism works well for local drives but performs poorly with network devices. For some NAS devices, it does not work at all.
- Built-in File Structure Analysis System – This system is based on periodically scanning folder contents to detect changes in the file structure.
Daminion Server works best when files are added to or removed from the file structure.
Moving files externally, after they have already been indexed by Daminion Server, results in duplicate file records.
Daminion Server retains the link and all indexed data from the old file location, as well as the link and indexed data for the new file location.
Useful applications
The Automatic Folder Rescan feature has several useful applications.
Case #1
You can, for example, define a monitored folder as your “inbox”, into which all new files imported into Daminion are initially copied from external sources. This has the advantage of allowing all users to access these files in the network without having to individually import them with their own Daminion client.
In a second step, these additions can then be inspected – either in Daminion or in any image-viewing program – to sort out unwanted images.
Finally, once the inventory is deemed okay, then any Daminion user with appropriate access privileges can move these files into their final destination folders.
You can, for example, create a monitored import folder into which you copy all the files you wish to add to Daminion. This is advantageous when collaborating with other users because rather than everyone having to import the files individually, they can simply be granted access through the Daminion Web client.
In the second step, the newly added files can then be viewed – either in Daminion or any image-viewing program – and unwanted images can be deleted.
Changes in the file structure are not reflected instantaneously. For large volumes of files and complex file structures, the time required for changes to appear can be significant. Daminion Server needs time to analyze changes, import new files, mark deleted ones, and index new data for files that were modified externally.
It is also important to note that when files and folders are moved externally, files and folders in their new location will be treated as new by Daminion Server and will be imported as such.
Case #2
Another useful application is for certain folders to be automatically monitored for external modification. This is useful, for example, when working with images that you want to edit with external programs. Thus, you can open, edit and re-save these pictures using the same filename, and Daminion will automatically recognize and note the time and date of any external file modifications that have occurred since the last import or update.
Please note that when changes are made to image content by an external image editor, the thumbnail preview images are not automatically updated. To update the thumbnails of edited files in Daminion, simply use the keyboard shortcut [Ctrl + B] and Daminion will reanalyze the image files and generate new thumbnails.Another useful application is for certain folders to be automatically monitored for external modification. This is useful, for example, when working with images that you want to edit with external programs. Thus, you can open, edit and re-save these pictures using the same filename, and Daminion will automatically recognize and note the time and date of any external file modifications that have occurred since the last import or update.
Please note that when changes are made to image content by an external image editor, the thumbnail preview images are not automatically updated. To update the thumbnails of edited files in Daminion, simply use the keyboard shortcut [Ctrl + B] and Daminion will reanalyze the image files and generate new thumbnails.
How to activate Automatic Folder Rescan
We strongly recommend moving files and folders either before importing them into Daminion Server or by using Daminion Server to move them. Following this guideline will help prevent data loss and reduce the load on the CPU and database.
For files moved externally, which Daminion Server will treat as new, the system will re-index the file’s metadata and generate thumbnails and previews.