I'm currently readjusting the permissions strategy in my main Cumulus catalog and it's best put as "hurry up and wait!". As I write this I have a scheduler action applying a permissions template for several of my user groups to about 100K records Continue reading
To Delete $Sources Categories or Not To Delete $Sources Categories?, that is the question. Specifically, should the ability to restrict or implicitly allow an action be hard-coded into the DAM client? Or should that fall to the realm of the permission framework in the DAM system? Recently, I think Canto overstepped a bit by trying to answer that for everybody. Back when Cumulus 8.5.1 came out there was a "bug" in the Desktop Client that prevented all users except for the Cumulus SuperUser to delete or rearrange/reorder $Sources Categories.
A $Sources Category, FYI, is more involved than simply being under the $Sources Category Tree. There are three distinct types of Source categories. Directory Category Mac, Directory Category Windows and URL Directory Category. Continue reading
Advances in Adobe's XMP Specification (PDF, Part 2 - Additional Properties) means by-and-large the Cumulus DocWatch plugin for InDesign can go away! Adobe CS5 applications (verified for CS5 but CS4 has most of the required elements) can take advantage of newer properties, most notably in the Media Management Schema.
All of this beg's the question: What the heck do we an InDesign Plugin for, anyway?
I think the answers is: Not much.
XMP has matured to the point were Canto can (almost) ditch the Cumulus DocWatch Plugin for InDesign CS5 and above, possibly CS4 too.
I mostly deal with Mac OS X at my "day job", so I'm a bit platform biased. But I can tell you, as a Cumulus Systems Administrator one of the single most frustrating things to do is a large-scale Desktop Client installation or upgrade. Why is that, you may ask? Well to be perfectly blunt, the InstallAnywhere installer is a piece of garbage; yet another product of misguided cross-platform mediocrity. (OK, that may have been a bit harsh. But, this is my blog and my rules. So there.) Fear not, there is a solution.
Here's why I'm so down on the installer Canto chose. The OS X version is incapable of being deployed to multiple computers remotely. Since I work at a Macintosh centric publishing house, that's pretty much a deal breaker for me. Until I decided to take matters into my own hands. The following details my adventures in creating an Apple Installer Package to be used with Apple Remote Desktop for remote deployment of Cumulus Desktop Client.
This DAMageTip is all about taming the Cumulus Desktop Client Menus. They’re a beast. There’s a ton of options and commands. Some, you — or your users — will use often, some hardly at all. Power users who love keyboard shortcuts can become frustrated by the lack of shortcuts for common functions.
Let’s get to work. To edit the menus you’ll need a text editor. An editor that can do syntax highlighting (such as TextWrangler on OS X) is helpful but not required.
Continue reading
Somewhere between Cumulus 8.5.2 and 8.6.1, Canto made a change to the way User Live Filtering works in the Native (Desktop) Client. At my "day-job" as a DAM admin, I put in an inquiry with Canto to see if this new behavior was really the intended one or if it was a bug. They had asked if it was possible for me to screen cast the differences between the features functionality in the two client versions. Continue reading
Canto has apparently gotten the message: Apple wants developers to stop using things like cron and "StartupItems" and instead use launchd. A message they've been trying to get though developer's heads since Mac OS X Tiger (10.4) came out. This is a huge and welcomed change to manage the startup and shutdown of the various Cumulus system components on Mac OS X. Continue reading
I’m rather ashamed to admit I don’t know nearly enough about ILM. Moreover how to integrate an ILM solution into an existing DAM like Cumulus. The frustrating thing is I just don’t seem to know of many (or any) ILM integrations for my DAM. The one thing that comes close is the PresSTORE Integration developed by Canto Partner, Moksa.