Enfocus Community

Hello everyone,

I have a some really basic questions.

In the flows I'm building I work with a few different folders:
- some are located on different servers in our network
- others are dedicated local on the server which runs Switch
- and finally the automanaged ones

Can I use the Folder element to simply transport files and and folders between the 3 categories mentioned above? When I don't need the specific properties available in the Submit/Archive elements (like processing subfolders etc.).
Or is is better to use Submit+Archive at all times?
In that case you always need to pack and unpack the jobfolders before leaving and at entering a flow to prevent loosing metadata. Or not?
Or is it also necessary to pack+unpack with the Folder element when jumping from one flow to another?

What's the fastest way for the network (load balance) to proces the jobs?
At the moment I take the files in from the network, proces them local on our Switchserver in the dedicated and automanaged folders. And then place the result back on the netwerkfolders. Or is it better to place the backing folders all on the network servers? I thought that delays the whole system to much.

Hopefully you can help me out

Thanks in advance!

With greetings from Holland,
Mireille

I don't have the answers to all of your questions, but the big difference is that Switch will continue to watch all of the contents of the folders using the Folder element and will also turn everything into jobs, adding the _prefix_ to anything it finds. If you want to forgo that, then you need to Archive, which also means you need to Pack if you need to hang on to metadata. For me, I like to Pack and Archive because it gives me the ability to have an outside user re-process a job through a flow manually, if needed, but it is extra work and sometimes it doesn't make sense -- especially for external folders near the beginning of a flow.