Getting the most out of Curator workflows
Introduction
At the heart of the Curator configuration are a set of core workflow modules that are highly configurable. These core software components are abstracted away to deliberately avoid anyone other than IPV software development making modifications. By doing this, IPV can operate under the abstraction layer providing improvements and system expansions, minimising the risk of breaking Customer configurations on upgrade.
This concept is not new - Application Programming Interfaces (or APIs) have been around a long time. In the case of IPV Workflow modules, the API is defined as MediaStores. The modules themselves are a set of individual core functions and procedures. By using the MediaStores, someone trained in the art, such as an IPV-approved System Integrator may deploy a sophisticated application of the Curator Workflows, whereby the MediaStore definitions are used to connect and define the workflows' operation.
What is a Curator MediaStore?
At the highest level, a MediaStore is a concept. It consists of a set of Key Value pairs that, when applied to a Workflow Module, provide the definitions for the software to perform given tasks.
A key-value pair consists of two related data elements: A key, which is a constant that defines the data set (e.g., Path, OutputProfile), and a value, which is a variable that belongs to the set (e.g., \\share\path\folder\ XFer Copy). By adopting this approach, IPV provides a highly configurable data structure that allows for future extension without modifying existing code or data.
MediaStore definitions are managed by the IPV Process Engine. Here you can choose templated MediaStores, clone them and edit their definitions. Useful tooltips help guide what the Key Value pair does and how to use them. Protected Key Value pairs that should only be modified by experts are greyed out to highlight the risk of changing them.
IPV Workflow and MediaStore architecture
The MediaStores are merely definitions for a given workflow module, defining the data path and actions to be taken by a given workflow module. Most of the workflow modules are transformation and transfer services, with some ancillary modules for housekeeping and reporting.
Curator Default MediaStores include
Analysis; Approval; Archive; Conform; Curator Connect; FileIngest; Ingest; Proxy; Purge; Register Assets; Search and Transfer; Storage; Transfer; XChange Manager.
Building workflow configurations – for example Chaining
Chaining MediaStores is a powerful way to build complex workflows, chaining may also be used to create parallel flows. One such method is using the Source of a store to make part of a required transfer. For example, a third-party archive system that has a staging area, would need for Curator Workflows to copy the hi-res to the staging area before initiating the archive.
In this example, a MediaStore would use the Source for the ARCHIVE store to be STAGING; and the source of STAGING to be HI-RES. Transferring to ARCHIVE would initiate a transfer to STAGING, which would copy the file from HI- RES to STAGING, then the archive job can commence.
Building workflow configurations – for example Combining
Combinations of workflow modules are also a powerful tool, using the MediaStore definitions to create combined workflow journeys. For example, STAGING for ARCHIVE, with ANALYSIS, then PURGE-STAGING.
Let’s look at a Transfer MediaStore example
IPV Workflow and MediaStore Best Practice
Configuring MediaStores is easy to do, but that does not mean it should be taken lightly. If you’re not confident with changing MediaStores, don’t guess!
MediaStores act at the heart of media management within Curator and mistakes can be costly.
If in doubt, seek advice from IPV Technical Operations under your agreed Support Contract. We highly recommend that end users are discouraged from making changes to pre-configured and delivered MediaStores.
Always back up via export before changing a MediaStore so you can reverse your changes if needed.