www.canto.com The Cumulus Administrator determines the size of a
catalog’s thumbnails in the Catalog Properties win- dow. Every user can select the quality for the thumb- nail in the Cataloging Options window. (See the Client User Guide for details.)
To find out how much space thumbnails take up in your catalog, first select the thumbnail size in the General section of the Catalog Properties window. Then open the Cataloging Options window and select a thumbnail quality from the General section. As you make your selections, the disk space required for each thumbnail (in bytes) is displayed in the Thumbnail Preview area.
Maintaining Catalogs
When you perform maintenance work on your Cumulus catalogs, you’re usually working on the cat- alog files themselves. The following sections provide you with information on keeping these files as stable and secure as possible.
Before you start doing any maintenance work on a catalog, make sure that no users are currently con- nected to it. To find out how, see “Disconnecting Users from a Catalog,” p. 58.
Renaming Catalogs
Cumulus catalogs actually have two names:
• One is the name of the catalog file, as you see it from your computer’s desktop. This is called the catalog file name.
• The other is the name of the catalog, as seen in the catalog window’s title bar. This is called, sim- ply, the catalog name.
When a catalog is first created, the catalog name defaults to the same name as the catalog file. To change a catalog name (what you see in the cat- alog window):
1. Select Catalog
Õ
Properties. The CatalogProperties window opens.
2. Click General. You’ll see a field labeled Name.
3. Enter a new name for the catalog in the
Name field and:
Close the window. / Click OK. The change is saved and the window closes. You change a catalog’s file name (what you see from your computer’s desktop) as you would any other file. On Windows, the catalog must be closed when it’s renamed. The Mac OS permits the catalog to remain open when renamed, but it’s still a good idea to close it first.
Compressing Catalogs
When records are deleted from catalogs, they can optionally remain a part of the catalog in case you need to retrieve them. (See “Recovering Deleted Records,” p. 63, for information on recovering records, and “Catalog Properties,” p. 43, for information on how to make records recoverable.) However, these not- quite deleted records take up space. You can delete them permanently by compressing the catalog. To compress a catalog:
1. Select Catalog
Õ
Compress. (If the Compressmenu option is disabled, the catalog is already compressed as much as possible.) You are warned that compressing the catalog will permanently remove the deleted records.
Backing Up Catalogs
The value and usefulness of a Cumulus catalog increases exponentially as the catalog grows. To pre- vent an unforeseen technical mishap from damag- ing or destroying your catalogs (and your work schedule), consider regular and frequent backups. It’s important to remember that backing up a Cumu- lus catalog does not back up the catalog records’ associated asset files. Make sure that all your impor- tant files are included in your regular backups.
To back up a catalog using the Backup feature:
1. Open the catalog you wish to back up and
select Catalog
Õ
Backup. The Backup win-dow opens.
2. Enter the name and path for the backup cata-
log (using the path and file naming conven- tions of the operating system where your Cumulus Server is installed on) and click OK. NOTE: You can use the name for the backup catalog file the same name as the original catalog file with the file name extension .bak. You may also choose the file name extension
.ccf. There is no difference in format, but then you may need to choose a different name or a special backup location to avoid confusions with the original catalog.
A dialog box will open into which you can enter the starting time for disconnection and
an additional message text for the clients to be disconnected.
First enter the minutes you want to wait until disconnection, then you can enter your addi- tional text for the message. Click OK.
The catalog is saved in the format selected.
Restoring a Backed Up Catalog
Backed up catalogs may be opened as you would open any other catalog. Only catalogs backed up as "Minimal Backups" with former Cumulus versions require a few extra steps:
1. Log on as Cumulus Administrator to the
Cumulus Server (see “Logging On as Cumu- lus Administrator,” p. 32).
2. In the Catalog Access window, click Restore.
A dialog appears for you to enter the name and path of the backed-up catalog and the restored version. .
3. In the top field, enter the name and path of
the backed-up catalog.
4. In the bottom field, enter the name and path
where the new catalog file will be stored . The name you give the catalog here is a file name, not a catalog name. The catalog name will be included in the backed-up information.
MAINTAINING CATALOGS 63
www.canto.com 5. Click OK. Once the catalog has been rebuilt, it
is added to the list of catalogs administered by the Cumulus Server.
Remember that by rebuilding a backed-up catalog, you are creating a new copy of it. If the original ver- sion of the catalog is still on your computer, keep track of which version of the file you’re using.
Copying Catalogs
The “Full Backup” option described above is Cumu- lus’ mechanism for copying catalogs in their ready- to-use state. You can also use the conventional ways of copying files on your computing platform to make copies of Cumulus catalogs. Remember, copying catalogs does not copy the associated asset files.
Catalog
Õ
New Empty Copy opens a dialog from which you can create a new empty catalog with the catalog properties of the current catalog.Converting Catalogs
If the corresponding database connector modules are installed you can convert a catalog to adapt to another database engine.
To convert a catalog:
1. Open the catalog.
2. Select Catalog => Convert To.
A list of the available options is displayed.
3. Select the database engine you want the cat-
alog to be converted to.
The Copy Catalog dialog appears.
4. Name the catalog using the Connect String
format which you would use for creating a new catalog based on the selected engine; e.g. for ODBC:
DSN= xyz;UID=xyz;PWD=yxz;CAT= new catalog name
or for Oracle:
UID=xyz;PWD=yxz;CAT= new catalog name
For further details on the Connect String for- mat see the documentation for the corre- sponding connector.
5. Click OK .
The catalog will be copied and the copy will be adapted to the other database engine. To have access to the new catalog, you have to add it to the list of catalogs in the Catalog Access window.
Setting Catalog Defaults
When you create a new catalog, it will have the ’out of the box’ settings unless you decide to set your
own defaults. Catalog
Õ
Set as Default opens a dia-log from which you set the catalog properties of the current catalog to be used for creating new catalogs. If you want the ’out of the box’ settings back, select Cat- alog
Õ
Restore Factory Defaults. This sets the defaults for the Record and Category Fields section of the Catalog Properties to the defaults defined by Canto.Repairing Catalogs
If a catalog becomes damaged, Cumulus may be able to rebuild it. When you try to open a damaged catalog, Cumulus asks to repair it. You can also ini- tiate the repair process from within the program by selecting Catalog
Õ
Rebuild.Catalogs are most commonly damaged by power failures or shutting off the power to your computer while a catalog is open. (Selecting the standard Shut
Down menu option to turn off your computer is safe,
even when a catalog is open.)
Recovering Deleted Records
Cumulus can recover deleted records only if the fol- lowing conditions are true:
• The asset was not deleted when the record was deleted.
• Keep Deleted Records Recoverable is acti- vated for the catalog in the General section of the Catalog Properties.
• The catalog has not been compressed since the record was deleted. (See “Compressing Cata- logs,” p. 61.)
Deleted records can only be recovered as a set, not one at a time.
To retrieve a catalog’s recoverable records:
1. Open the catalog from which you wish to
recover records.
2. Select Catalog
Õ
Recover Deleted Records.All recoverable records are displayed in the catalog window.
Then you can start to delete any records that you don’t need.
Deleting Catalogs
Unlike deleting records, deleting catalogs is undoable. (Unless you have a disk utility program that makes recovering deleted files possible.) Cumu- lus has no built-in mechanism for deleting catalogs. Delete catalogs as you would any other file on your computer. Remember that assets are not deleted with catalogs. Catalogs must be closed to be deleted.
Dividing Catalogs
At some point you may wish to divide the contents of one catalog into smaller catalogs. Reasons for doing so include:
• The catalog has grown close to its maximum size (4 gigabytes).
• Your computer can no longer accommodate the number of records in the catalog effectively (processor or RAM limitations).
• The contents of the catalog have become too diverse to be usefully categorized in one cata- log.
To divide a catalog containing a very large number of records, it may be easiest to export the records from the old catalog and import them into the new catalog. (See the Client User Guide for details.) After the export/import process is over, you can delete the records from the old catalog.
Merging Catalogs
Merging catalogs requires some forethought in order to be done properly. If both catalogs contain identical category structures, the process is easy and can be done in one of two ways:
• Drag and drop records between catalogs. • Using Cumulus’ export and import features. But if the category structures of the two catalogs dif- fer, there are a few extra steps to take. Read the sec- tion on exporting and importing records, in the Client User Guide, for details.
ARCHIVING INFORMATION 65
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Archiving Information
Many organizations maintain several catalogs: one catalog for production assets and a second catalog to manage archives. With Cumulus you can also take your assets off-line, update the file references, and still be able to search and retrieve them.
In general, archiving assets involves the following steps:
1. Copy and/or move the assets you wish to
archive to the other media. For more infor- mation on copying and moving assets, see the Client User Guide.
2. Merge the records you wish to archive into
an archival catalog by first copying the cate- gories and then the records. For more infor- mation, see “Merging Catalogs,” this page.
3. Update all asset references in the archive cat-
alog. For more information, see the Client User Guide.
4. If desired, delete the records you archived
from your production catalog.
The Importance of Updating Asset References
Cumulus tracks the location of media assets through
asset references. Whenever you move an asset, you must update the asset reference to reflect the new location.
For more information on updating asset references, please see the Client User Guide.
Many users automate the file reference updating process via AppleEvent or other OLE compliant pro- gramming tools. For more information on the sam- ple applications included with each Client, please see the Client User Guide.
About Archiving on CD-ROM
Like other read-only media, creating an archive on CD-ROM requires that all information be set up cor- rectly in advance. When creating archives on CD- ROM, remember the following:
• Create a temporary “staging” volume/drive and give it the same name as the final CD-ROM disc. • Copy and/or move the catalogs and assets you wish to archive to the staging volume/drive. For more information on copying and moving assets, see the Client User Guide.
• Update all file references. The file references within each record must point to the assets located on the staging volume/drive.
• Burn a new CD that contains the contents of the temporary volume/drive. Remember that the CD must have the same name as the staging volume/drive.
Creating Hybrid CD-ROMs
Differences between the Windows and Mac OS operating systems present some distinct challenges when archiving to external media such as CD-ROM. To avoid problems in locating information on hybrid CD-ROMs, remember to use one of the following file system combinations:
• a hybrid CD-ROM containing an ISO 9660 file system with Joliet extension as well as a MacOS HFS file system
• an ISO 9660 CD-ROM without extensions Because of operating system naming restrictions, the use of other file system combinations can lead to problems finding files on either platform. For best results when burning CD-ROMs, Canto recommends using Adaptec® Toast™.