Customizing Import of Files

TS 6.7.2 SP2
Win2K3

I am working on customizing the OOTB import functionality. The requirement is to limit types of files and file sizes. I plan to do this through customizing the menus, calling the import link and using the done_page parameter to run a perl script to do my customizations. I have read in the customization user guide and on these forums that this is an approach that should work and be supported.

Before I build my own ipl file, I thought I would check the forum to see if anybody has done something similar and wouldn't mind sharing code/put me on the right track.

I did find one post that had some code related to this and have contacted that poster but wanted to put this question to the forum.

Thanks

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

Migrateduser

If you're running Windows Server 2003 or 2008, then you may be able to use Windows File Server Resource Manager.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc754810(WS.10).aspx

I must mention that I have not used this myself. It may or may not work on the Y: drive. If you try it out, let us know the results.

ISCBorisB

TS 6.7.2 SP2
Win2K3

I am working on customizing the OOTB import functionality. The requirement is to limit types of files and file sizes. I plan to do this through customizing the menus, calling the import link and using the done_page parameter to run a perl script to do my customizations. I have read in the customization user guide and on these forums that this is an approach that should work and be supported.

Before I build my own ipl file, I thought I would check the forum to see if anybody has done something similar and wouldn't mind sharing code/put me on the right track.

I did find one post that had some code related to this and have contacted that poster but wanted to put this question to the forum.

Thanks

We use 'done_page' to incorporate OTB Import into some of our Workflows.

Note that 'done_page' is rendered by iwwebd. Since you are planning Perl, it basically means that:
- Your Perl script location is fixed to ...httpd/iw-bin
- You have an ability to pass parameters to the 'done_page' and parse parameter values through CGI
or TeamSite::CGI_lite
- You may want to call your script through /iw-bin/iw_cgi_wrapper.cgi to impersonate the User,
follow his access credentials, etc
- Your code should return properly formatted CGI Output, even if that's just a self-closing Page

All this is trivial though. What kind of information are you looking for?

keithcolb

Thanks for replying to the post. I'm a bit stuck.

I have a perl script working (just a test script getting called and writing to a log for now and displaying a message) from the done page parameter.

I basically want to pass what file is imported as a parameter to my perl script and then run validation on it to check file type and size and reject the import if it's too big/unallowed format.

I'm not sure passing the imported page as a variable is possible. Page 93 of the User Interface Customization Guide states

"A CGI located in iw-home/httpd/iw-bin can be accessed by custom menu items.
When invoked, all files that the user has currently selected in the invoking GUI will, by
default, be passed as TeamSite vpath parameters to the CGI in an array.
If the user has selected no files and the script is being invoked from ContentCenter
Professional, then the user’s current directory is passed as a vpath parameter."

I'm not sure this is working in my scenario. Any advice greatly appreciated!

Here is the link from my ui_custom.xml

label="Import CGI 3"
description="Import CGI"
url="/iw-cc/import?vpath=/default/main/Development/Dev_Test/WORKAREA/work/sites/dev_test_eng/images&done_page=/iw-bin/simple_testing.ipl?param1=param1&param2=param2"
addPropertiesToUrl="false">

The vpath is hardcoded for now. I will need to eventually put a variable for that as well.

nipper

deleted......

ISCBorisB

Thanks for replying to the post. I'm a bit stuck.

I have a perl script working (just a test script getting called and writing to a log for now and displaying a message) from the done page parameter.

I basically want to pass what file is imported as a parameter to my perl script and then run validation on it to check file type and size and reject the import if it's too big/unallowed format.

I'm not sure passing the imported page as a variable is possible. Page 93 of the User Interface Customization Guide states

"A CGI located in iw-home/httpd/iw-bin can be accessed by custom menu items.
When invoked, all files that the user has currently selected in the invoking GUI will, by
default, be passed as TeamSite vpath parameters to the CGI in an array.
If the user has selected no files and the script is being invoked from ContentCenter
Professional, then the user’s current directory is passed as a vpath parameter."

I'm not sure this is working in my scenario. Any advice greatly appreciated!

Here is the link from my ui_custom.xml

label="Import CGI 3"
description="Import CGI"
url="/iw-cc/import?vpath=/default/main/Development/Dev_Test/WORKAREA/work/sites/dev_test_eng/images&done_page=/iw-bin/simple_testing.ipl?param1=param1&param2=param2"
addPropertiesToUrl="false">

The vpath is hardcoded for now. I will need to eventually put a variable for that as well.

Not sure I understand... You seem to be mixing different concepts.

Yes, among other things an Array of checked Files (if any) will be passed to the Menu CGI. Note that in your case
it's a CC Command "Import" (or rather JSP it's mapped to) that will receive all the posted Information. 'Import'
ignores it and that's that. It is absolutely NOT propagated to the 'done_page". In any case, why would "Import'
(or you) care what TS Files your User checked prior to clicking "Import CGI 3"? What are you going to do with them?

Further, 'done_page' is executed post-mortem. You can not approve or reject anything there, it's too late. Files are
already imported, etc.

Further still, OTB 'Import' provides no API whatever to figure out what Files were just Imported - none. The way I see
it, you may explore variations of the following options:

- Pass what you can to the done_page, Import will not do that! That includes Target Vpath, especially if you plan to
make it dynamic.

- Scan all Files in the Target Directory and delete those that do not fit. Format "Import Errors" CGI Window and inform
your User of what you did.

- Alternatively, you may try to use CLT iwfilestate to find "just imported" Collection. Imported Files *should* have "locked"
attribute set to "self" (something like locked=self in the Command's script Mode). It simply means that the File is locked by
the same process that's making a State request. Beware - this is a hack, neither documented nor supported.

HTH

Migrateduser

I basically want to pass what file is imported as a parameter to my perl script and then run validation on it to check file type and size and reject the import if it's too big/unallowed format.

Why do you want to build all of this when it can possibly be accomplished using "Windows File Server Resource Manager"? Seems like a lot of work to create something that already exists. The main downside I see to using WFSRM is that you won't get any alerts that you can display to your users. Educating your users on the set limits should alleviate most issues.

The main downside of your custom import is that users can simply use a UNC path to get to your server and upload them bypassing your custom import. You would then have to write something into your workflow to check the file constraints there as well to prevent them from submitting them to Staging.

keithcolb

To Boris:

Since this is import, there will never be a file checked prior to importing. That is not part of my idea. I was referring to passing the imported page as a variable to my perl script once the import is done. Perhaps it can't be done. I don't really want to create my own custom import page (I just want a script to clean up what was already imported) but maybe that's what I will have to do.

I will definitely look into your suggestions, thanks for those. I really like the idea of scanning the directory and deleting the files that don't meet my criteria and then notifying the user. This might solve my problem.

To taalgaard:

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm not keen on using the File Server Resource Manager because I think it will have to be installed on the server(s) and to install something on servers in my environment, I need to go jump over many large hurdles. Also, notifying the user is a key part of this requirement.

Adam Stoller

To Boris:

Since this is import, there will never be a file checked prior to importing. That is not part of my idea. I was referring to passing the imported page as a variable to my perl script once the import is done. Perhaps it can't be done. I don't really want to create my own custom import page (I just want a script to clean up what was already imported) but maybe that's what I will have to do.

I will definitely look into your suggestions, thanks for those. I really like the idea of scanning the directory and deleting the files that don't meet my criteria and then notifying the user. This might solve my problem.

To taalgaard:

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm not keen on using the File Server Resource Manager because I think it will have to be installed on the server(s) and to install something on servers in my environment, I need to go jump over many large hurdles. Also, notifying the user is a key part of this requirement.

Based on everything you've stated, it sounds like you need to write your very own import utility so that you have complete control over everything. The OOTB import facility is provided as-is and not intended to be extended beyond that.

keithcolb

So I can successfully scan the directory after import and delete large files (I will share my full solution later), however my vpath is currently hard coded. I need to be able to dynamically get the vpath and pass it, something like:

url="/iw-cc/import?vpath=dynamicvpath&done_page=/iw-bin/my_script.ipl?vpath=dynamicvpath

Previously we have determined vpath from inside a workflow object or when using DCRs. However there is neither here. Any advice?

Thanks

Adam Stoller

So I can successfully scan the directory after import and delete large files (I will share my full solution later), however my vpath is currently hard coded. I need to be able to dynamically get the vpath and pass it, something like:

url="/iw-cc/import?vpath=dynamicvpath&done_page=/iw-bin/my_script.ipl?vpath=dynamicvpath

Previously we have determined vpath from inside a workflow object or when using DCRs. However there is neither here. Any advice?

Thanks

Look at all the FORM variables that are available to the CGI - you should be able to get a vpath from within there, or check COOKIES and/or ENVIRONMENT variables - but I'm pretty sure it should be in FORM.

keithcolb

Thanks...I have been playing with that however can't seem to get anything I can use.

All the environment variables:
key: COMSPEC: C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe
key: DOCUMENT_ROOT: E:/iw-home/iw-webd/htdocs
key: GATEWAY_INTERFACE: CGI/1.1
key: HTTP_ACCEPT: image/gif, image/x-xbitmap, image/jpeg, image/pjpeg, application/x-shockwave-flash, application/vnd.ms-excel, application/vnd.ms-powerpoint, application/msword, application/x-ms-application, application/x-ms-xbap, application/vnd.ms-xpsdocument, application/xaml+xml, */*
key: HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE: en-ca
key: HTTP_CONNECTION: Keep-Alive
key: HTTP_COOKIE: iw_user=data; iw_which_ui=; iw_domain=data; IWAUTH=data
key: HTTP_HOST: data
key: HTTP_USER_AGENT: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; InfoPath.1; .NET CLR 3.0.4506.2152; .NET CLR 3.5.30729)
key: IWUSER: data
key: PATH: C:\Program Files\Support Tools\;C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Interwoven\lib;E:\iw-home\bin;E:\iw-home\sqljdbc.jar;C:\Program Files\Windows Imaging\
key: PATHEXT: .COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH
key: QUERY_STRING: file=vpath
key: REMOTE_ADDR: data
key: REMOTE_PORT: data
key: REQUEST_METHOD: GET
key: REQUEST_URI: /iw-bin/simple_testing.ipl?file=vpath
key: SCRIPT_FILENAME: E:/iw-home/httpd/iw-bin/simple_testing.ipl
key: SCRIPT_NAME: /iw-bin/simple_testing.ipl
key: SCRIPT_URI: data/iw-bin/simple_testing.ipl
key: SCRIPT_URL: /iw-bin/simple_testing.ipl
key: SERVER_ADDR: data
key: SERVER_ADMIN: you@yourdomain.com
key: SERVER_NAME: data
key: SERVER_PORT: data
key: SERVER_PROTOCOL: HTTP/1.1
key: SERVER_SIGNATURE: data

key: SERVER_SOFTWARE: Apache/2.0.63 (Win32) mod_ssl/2.0.63 OpenSSL/0.9.8e
key: SYSTEMROOT: C:\WINDOWS
key: WINDIR: C:\WINDOWS

And when I try to get the form data, all I can get at is the passed parameter, which of course is still empty (unless I hard code it).

I think I may run into a problem generating that dynamic vpath for the initial import vpath parameter. Still troubleshooting.

Adam Stoller

ISCBorisB

Thanks...I have been playing with that however can't seem to get anything I can use.

All the environment variables:
key: COMSPEC: C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe
key: DOCUMENT_ROOT: E:/iw-home/iw-webd/htdocs
key: GATEWAY_INTERFACE: CGI/1.1
key: HTTP_ACCEPT: image/gif, image/x-xbitmap, image/jpeg, image/pjpeg, application/x-shockwave-flash, application/vnd.ms-excel, application/vnd.ms-powerpoint, application/msword, application/x-ms-application, application/x-ms-xbap, application/vnd.ms-xpsdocument, application/xaml+xml, */*
key: HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE: en-ca
key: HTTP_CONNECTION: Keep-Alive
key: HTTP_COOKIE: iw_user=data; iw_which_ui=; iw_domain=data; IWAUTH=data
key: HTTP_HOST: data
key: HTTP_USER_AGENT: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; InfoPath.1; .NET CLR 3.0.4506.2152; .NET CLR 3.5.30729)
key: IWUSER: data
key: PATH: C:\Program Files\Support Tools\;C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Interwoven\lib;E:\iw-home\bin;E:\iw-home\sqljdbc.jar;C:\Program Files\Windows Imaging\
key: PATHEXT: .COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH
key: QUERY_STRING: file=vpath
key: REMOTE_ADDR: data
key: REMOTE_PORT: data
key: REQUEST_METHOD: GET
key: REQUEST_URI: /iw-bin/simple_testing.ipl?file=vpath
key: SCRIPT_FILENAME: E:/iw-home/httpd/iw-bin/simple_testing.ipl
key: SCRIPT_NAME: /iw-bin/simple_testing.ipl
key: SCRIPT_URI: data/iw-bin/simple_testing.ipl
key: SCRIPT_URL: /iw-bin/simple_testing.ipl
key: SERVER_ADDR: data
key: SERVER_ADMIN: you@yourdomain.com
key: SERVER_NAME: data
key: SERVER_PORT: data
key: SERVER_PROTOCOL: HTTP/1.1
key: SERVER_SIGNATURE: data

key: SERVER_SOFTWARE: Apache/2.0.63 (Win32) mod_ssl/2.0.63 OpenSSL/0.9.8e
key: SYSTEMROOT: C:\WINDOWS
key: WINDIR: C:\WINDOWS

And when I try to get the form data, all I can get at is the passed parameter, which of course is still empty (unless I hard code it).

I think I may run into a problem generating that dynamic vpath for the initial import vpath parameter. Still troubleshooting.

You certainly do not get passed Form Info within the done_page.

What you can do is to format your Menu Item to go directly to some "my_import" CGI.
You'll get all standard Form variables, etc. From there you can hopefully determine
what you need and dynamically build CC Import URL String, including Vpath
fragments for both Import and the done_page.

That done, you can either use window.open(Your_url_string,...) Command or change
window.location.href to it or generate a "fluff" Page with redirect to it and so on.

keithcolb

Ghoti:

This is a custom CGI? or hijacked / modified OOTB code?
-- It's a custom CGI that gets called from the done_page parameter of the import command
What language is the CGI written in?
-- Perl
Where does the CGI live (relative to IWHOME)?
-- It's in \iw-home\httpd\iw-bin
How is the CGI registered in ui_custom.xml (I assume that's where you set it up) ?
-- It's a custom link that calls the import command and uses the done_page. An example is earlier in the thread.

Boris:

Thanks, yeah it looks like I have to add the extra cgi like you mentioned. A good idea since I don't think there is a way I can pass my vpath dynamically as it currently stands. I appreciate the input. I'll keep the forum posted if I can find a workable solution.

keithcolb

I said I would update when working. I got it to work by:

- Custom import link in ui_custom.xml that links to a perl script. This perl script basically serves to just record the vpath and pass it along to the teamsite import command and done page parameter
- use the done page parameter of the import url command to call another perl script that scans the vpath directory and removes the file (and notifies user) based on business requirements (file size).

However, the requirement just changed so I have to change it. Of course, isn't that always the case!

Also I should note that it works differently in ccstd (more OOTB steps) but it still works (and of course additional customizations in ui_custom).

Visual Preview Toolbar also has import, I've yet to test through that method.

VixRox

Hi,
I want to import file using cssdk in my c# code. Any suggestion will be of great help.

kiranmai

I said I would update when working. I got it to work by:

- Custom import link in ui_custom.xml that links to a perl script. This perl script basically serves to just record the vpath and pass it along to the teamsite import command and done page parameter
- use the done page parameter of the import url command to call another perl script that scans the vpath directory and removes the file (and notifies user) based on business requirements (file size).

However, the requirement just changed so I have to change it. Of course, isn't that always the case!

Also I should note that it works differently in ccstd (more OOTB steps) but it still works (and of course additional customizations in ui_custom).

Visual Preview Toolbar also has import, I've yet to test through that method.

Hi,

I have a similar kind of request to work on.
I didnt understnad the above suggestions..Will you please give me the detailed understnding on this.

Thanks..

keithcolb

You need to read the user interface customization guide. The sections about URL commands and adding custom links.

After this, my explanation should make more sense to you.