Creating Folder Paths in using a Custom Folder Type with DFS

mark.bell

I'm using the DFS .NET Productivity Layer to insert a document to a folder path in Documentum that may or may not exist. We are using a custom folder type, that inherits from dm_folder. This means I can't use the ObjectService's CreatePath method; e.g., objectService.CreatePath("/mycabinet/invoices/2017/2017-05/2017-05-02"). I came up with a brute force method below that tries to create each folder in the path, ignoring errors any errors because the folders may already exist. After I call this method, I associate my document with the folder path and insert it.

This approach requires a lot of service calls and seems kind of messy. I'm curious if anyone is aware of a better approach. Thanks!

public void CreateCustomFolderPath(string folderPath, string folderType)
{
    var folderPathItems = folderPath.Split(new char[] { '/', '\\' }, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);


    // The first item in the path is the cabinet. There must be at least one subfolder
    if (folderPathItems.Count() < 2)
    {
        throw new Exception($"There must be at least 2 items in the folderpath: {folderPath}");
    }


    // The first item in the path is the cabinet. We can assume that the cabinet
    // exists and not try to create it. Furthermore, it is a different type of Documentum
    // object
    string parentPath = "/" + folderPathItems[0];
    string childPath = string.Empty;
    string childFolderName = string.Empty;


    for (int i = 1; i < folderPathItems.Count(); i++)
    {
        try
        {
            childFolderName = folderPathItems[i];
            childPath = parentPath + "/" + childFolderName;


            // Create the object that represents the parent folder that already exists
            ObjectIdentity parentPathIdentity = new ObjectIdentity(new ObjectPath(parentPath), _repository);


            // Create the object that represents the child folder that needs to be created
            DataObject childFolderDataObject = new DataObject(new ObjectIdentity(_repository), folderType);
            PropertySet childFolderProperties = new PropertySet();
            childFolderProperties.Set("object_name", childFolderName);
            childFolderDataObject.Properties = childFolderProperties;


            // create the relationship between the parent and folder
            ReferenceRelationship parentFolderRelationship = new ReferenceRelationship()
            {
                Name = Relationship.RELATIONSHIP_FOLDER,
                Target = parentPathIdentity,
                TargetRole = Relationship.ROLE_PARENT
            };
            childFolderDataObject.Relationships.Add(parentFolderRelationship);


            // Invoke the service to create the child folder
            var serviceContext = CreateServiceContext(_repository, _userName, _password);
            IObjectService objectService = ServiceFactory.Instance.GetRemoteService<IObjectService>(serviceContext, "core", _serviceUrl);
            objectService.CreatePath("")
            OperationOptions operationOptions = null;
            DataPackage resultDataPackage = objectService.Create(new DataPackage(childFolderDataObject), operationOptions);


        }
        catch (Exception)
        {
            // ignore all errors and hope this works 
            // We are attempting to create each folder in the folder path every time an object is added
            // so there will be many many errors because folders already exist
            // Unfortunately, there is not a better way to do this.
        }


        // finally set the parentPath to childPath and create the next child folder in the loop
        parentPath = childPath;
    }
}