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MediaBank 3.0 ReportMarch 14, 2003 New Clients
There will be 3 tiers of connectivity to MediaBank 3.0
2. MBWeb Java client
3. MBWeb Perl New Server & Native Client Features New look and feel of the client application. Looks like a native application on Mac and PC, Motif on Unix. New buttons, redesigned graphics. The Java native client and the web clients are completely customizable. The appearance can be changed easily and unnecessary features may be removed. International versions are simple to create. With knowledge of Java, additional functionality may be added to the client as well. If you don't like the predefined look, MediaBank now offers user customizable "skins." This makes the MediaBank client easy to customize without any programming. The client may ship with additional skins as an example. We were shown 2 distinct looks during the demos. New API's mean better client response times and more feedback to the user & logs. Overall, expect to see better performance and improved user experience. The client is now multi-threaded and because of the new API's, does less work when requesting actions from the server. Initial login is much faster. When first launched, the client no longer reads in all the server settings like cataloger information, server preferences, etc. Again, this is a benefit of the new API commands. Help is available in every dialogue of the client. Customizable tool tips and menu bar. The new Job Jacket window opens faster, is much more efficient, and is "forward looking." This means that when you open a branch of the JJ tree, it shows you if there is really another level there or not. (Under 2.9 it shows each JJ as expandable until you actually click the button to open it). Job Jacket window now behaves more like Windows Explorer. The window has two panes, with the folder tree on the left, and when a job jacket is selected, the contents display on the right. Higher quality thumbnail and preview generation and client display. Clipping path display can be turned on or off per element. User definable Meta fields all located in the first section of the element properties window. Users should find this arrangement much more convenient. There is now a "Project" feature: the user adds jobs to a Project for easier reference. (One Project per user per server). The Project replaces the Job Jacket Set and is much more flexible. With Projects, you can group together subfolders from any point of the job jacket tree, not just the root level. The new transfer window now has a "Details" button. When clicked, the dialog expands to show more information about each transfer, and it will stay open until dismissed. Files are now downloaded individually not as one large bundle, which means the user may cancel a transfer more effectively. 3.0 introduces the MediaBank Explorer. This is a quick display of favorite folders and mounted volumes used for transferring files. The MediaBank Explorer allows for faster file transfers by creating mount point "favorites" and minimizing the creation of temporary files during transfers. The trade-off here is that direct drag and drop to the desktop no longer works as it did in the previous client versions. You now drag a file to the desktop icon in MediaBank Explorer, and the file will transfer to your desktop. MediaBank Explorer allows the user to view their MediaBank working and checkout folders from within the application itself - eliminates the need for the user to manually find these locations. Elements and job jackets now have their own access control lists (ACL's) which lets you control permissions at the job jacket and element level. (All previous versions of MediaBank allowed only database-level permissions). The new granular permissions settings are much easier to set up than the previous Permissions dialog window. Users can now be given permission to see only selected job jackets and elements regardless of their position in the job jacket tree or element database. Very useful and one of the most requested features. Some job jackets can be renamed: must be non-archived and empty, containing no other folders or elements. (i.e., you just created a job jacket with a bad name). Non-archived elements can be renamed. Renaming archived elements might also be allowed, but WAVE is still deliberating if this a good idea. It may cause some confusion when archiving and restoring. Each job jacket window will indicate the total file size of the enclosed elements. Job Jacket properties can be synchronized like element records previously. Job Jacket operations are allowed from inside the element properties window. This allows you to open a job jacket that contains that particular element. Improved searching for Job Jackets, including nested queries. Expanded Job Jacket color picker. Ability to launch multiple Job Jacket windows in native java app. Workflow stages can now be configured per profile. Advanced cataloger options formerly configured by manually adding lines to the intersep.cfg file have now been added to the cataloger setup interface. This also means that these options are now per cataloger and not global. (Some examples: adjusting lores/thumbnail quality, multipage thumbnails, MPEG movie thumbnails). The server will add more tagging support for automatic creation of metadata. To the already existing IPTC support WAVE has added Adobe's XMP and the popular digital camera format EXIF. During cataloging, metadata from these fields may be applied to the file record in MediaBank. Force corporate standards for file naming conventions and metadata through the use of regular expressions and field validation. Updates MediaBank to be compatible with many recent third-party apps. See WAVE's presentation about 3.0 for list. MediaBank Messenger With MediaBank 3.0, WAVE introduces a new messaging component. The idea behind this new function is to allow for greater communication from the server to the users, as well as to allow users to communicate with one another. The system behaves much like any of the popular instant messaging clients. It is not email-based, and currently users should not depend on the messages being permanently saved to their inbox (though they may save the text of important messages). Rather it is an implementation of the open-standard JDF prepress workflow specification. Messenger is implemented using the Java JMS technology. Messages are in an XML format. Because many actions requested by a MediaBank client are background server tasks that may take some time to complete - a restore or archive request for example - forcing the user to wait for a traditional progress bar is not practical. With Messenger, a user requesting a restore will now find a message in their inbox once the restore is complete, or an error condition is found. Administrators likewise will see error messages displayed in their inbox. Each user may edit the settings for how often the client polls for new messages. Finally, Messenger will foster greater collaboration among MediaBank users by allowing messages between users. This may be especially helpful for the system administrator to send alerts about system maintenance, etc. The Messenger client may be launched from the MediaBank client or separately. If launched in standalone mode it does not consume a user license. Therefore an administrator can leave the Messenger client running and monitor the server without impacting license count. As a brand-new feature, WAVE is eager to hear user feedback and how it can further improve the messaging system. Java Web Client The Java Web client requires server components. In architecture it is very similar to the current QProof. On the server side, it consists of a Java servlet that must run on a Java application server. WAVE has been using Apache Tomcat, the free and open source application server. However, any standards-based Java application server will work, so it will integrate in with an existing infrastructure if required. The Java Web client looks very similar to the native Java client but runs inside a browser window. The performance is impressive, in some cases faster even than the regular client. Like the native client, the web client may be completely customized. Floating action pallet inside Job Jacket when looking at elements. Very useful - you have to see this in the browser to truly appreciate it. Got a big response from the crowd at IMUG. This method of using MediaBank is intended for regular users and does consume one license per connection. MBWeb Perl This is the MBWeb from previous versions. It is being maintained as an option for lightweight usage. Unlike MBWeb Java, it does not require a license to connect. MBWeb Perl will continue to offer QProof and file conversion services. In the initial 3.0 release it will not tie into the new, granular permission system. This means it won't respect the new job jacket and file level permissions, but will continue to use the database level permissions. It is possible and was requested of WAVE to add this feature in later versions. If this does not meet user requirements ASI may offer customized MBWeb installations or investigate a complete replacement for MBWeb Perl that offers more features but does not require additional client licenses. Release Date Best estimate now Late March - reseller and partner client alpha version, connecting to WAVE demo server April - beta, extent of participation to be determined mid-to-late May - 3.0 release These estimates seemed pretty solid, coming direct from the engineering team. Beyond 3.0 Things that WAVE is either working on or planning for in upcoming 3.x releases: Triggers based on date/time, modification or state change of individual elements or job jacket fields. These triggers would activate MediaBank events or custom external actions. Job Jacket history. This would function much like the Element history does now, tracking events that occur at a job level. Improved ISODBC performance. Expect to see WAVE expand the capabilities of the Enterprise version beyond the Workgroup base product beginning in 3.x. One group of such enhancements would be the ability to expand the available database fields and to edit their types (string, numbers, date/time, etc).
Distributed MediaBank. Two varieties: Support for PDF & JPEG OPI Redesigned Java Output Manager for OPI New server platforms. Mac OS X and Linux under consideration. ASI would love to see Mac OS X! Additional security features. SOAP/XML/Web Services. Planning stages only right now. No timetable given for any of these post-3.0 features.
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