[TYPO3-dam] Featue File Variants & extend dam_list_batch

[Oliver Rowlands]

Hi list,

Whilst on the subject of language variants, we were recently asked by 
one of our clients to implement multiple language variants of physical 
files in the DAM. The resulting proof of concept extension (EXT:ll_dam) 
can be downloaded from the following address:

http://www.liquidlight.co.uk/repository/ll_dam/T3X_ll_dam-0_0_0-z-200903051407.t3x

It has only been tested in conjunction with DAM 1.1.1

We did have to resort to XClass'ing a number of core DAM classes in 
order to achieve the desired end result.

This extension alters both the back-end and front-end processing of DAM 
media records.

In the back-end:

- Extends the DAM 'List' view to render indented localised records 
(similar to the 'Localisation view' in the standard TYPO3 'List' view).

- Adds an additional 'Manage localisation' function to each record in 
the 'List' view.

- Simplifies the DAM 'List', 'File' and 'Batch' interfaces (please note: 
this might not suit everyone's needs...).

In the front-end:

- Alters the rendering of the <media /> tag.

- Provides an altered version of 'tx_dam_tsfe' (for use with TS 
generated DAM record links).

 From an editor's point of view two use cases were considered:

1) The need to localise the physical files of existing DAM records: this 
can be achieved by using a combination of the default DAM record 
localisation and the 'Replace file' functionality.

2) The need to link language variants of existing DAM records: this can 
be achieved by using the new 'Manage localisation' functionality.

The end result is not perfect but it could be used as a starting point 
for further discussion.

Known issues are:

- Use case 1 will not work for DAM records which were localised before 
EXT:ll_dam was installed.

- DAM records which are localised but whose physical file is not 
localised will not get updated correctly if the default language file is 
replaced.

On a side note: Jerome Schneider posted a patch (#0009271) on the bug 
tracker last year which achieves a similar result. However it requires 
the translated files to be placed in an 'un-indexed' localisation folder 
with the same file names as the original records. Unfortunately in our 
case scenario this was not a suitable option.

HTH

Oliver

georg kuehnberger wrote:
> ben van 't ende [netcreators] wrote:
>> Francois Suter wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>>> I'm not really sure what you mean by file variants... If you mean
>>>> versioning support, then yes, there are plans for it.
>>> I guess Georg means real variants, like a hi-res and low-res image being
>>> variants of the same picture. Or a Word document and a PDF version. I
>>> know this was originally planned, but I don't know if it still is. It
>>> sure would rock.
>>
>> +1 ;-) We would love that.
>> gRTz
>> ben
> 
> +1  in case "variants" also include language-versions of the same file; 
> think of manuals in different languages for the same product;
> 
> regards georg
> 


-- 
Oliver Rowlands
:: Liquid Light ::

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