SilverPlume - CD Support

File ID tracking

Every electronic document (TXT, HTML, PDF, etc.) published in SilverPlume is assigned a unique file id number. SilverPlume Publishers manually assign each document an original id to facilitate with links. Publishers can connect documents to another document by linking to the file id. SPPub now facilitates this by using a file id tracking system.

When activated, SPPub scans all of the TOC's in the /SPPub/ subdirectories. All the filenames that have been used are sorted into the file_id.dat file in numerical order. Then, each time a publisher adds a file to a table of contents in SPPub or imports a mainframe merge file, the file(s) are checked versus the list. It asks the following questions:

Does the file name contain eight characters?
Does the file prefix match the one assigned in the /windows/SPUser.ini?

If the answer to either question is no, SPPub warns the user that the file does not match the appropriate criteria and offers to rename the file to the first available number in the list.

The "Assign SP File ID" window pops up:
"The source file ID: FILENAME is not a valid SP File ID. Do you want to assign one?"

If you leave the Rename source file option checked, SPPub will rename the original Source file to the new number. If you uncheck the box, SPPub will assign a new number to the table of contents but leave the source file untouched (it can be renamed later).

How do I turn on File ID tracking?

Create a directory to hold the tracking file, for example X:\SPApps\SPPub\fileID\
Add the following line to the [PATH] section of your \SPApps\SPView32\siteini\site.ini
FileIDlist=X:\SPApps/S\PPub\fileID\
Open SPPub.
To make sure you have set things up correctly, use windows explorer and check your new path for a file called file_id.dat. If it exists, you are in business.

You can use file ID tracking even if you assign numbers by hand and use it as an error check for miss-formatted file ids.

File ID Tracking can support multiple file prefixes if necessary. However, this feature is not foolproof. It is still possible to add duplicate files to a TOC or across TOC's. If this happens, SPPub's standard error trapping features will catch the error later in the publishing process.