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Build a collection index

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Indexing adds item metadata to the database so that items can be searched and browsed. You can build a collection index if you have the right to approve items and build indexes.

Using this function, CONTENTdm administrators can build an index that includes all recently added items in a collection and reflects any changes made to it. This ensures all items and changes are visible when viewing the collection on the website.

You can build the index:

  • Immediately
  • At a scheduled time, either one-time or recurring

Most of the time, CONTENTdm indexes your collections incrementally. Incremental indexing means that only changes are made to the index, eliminating the need to rebuild the entire collection index for minor edits. For example, CONTENTdm incrementally builds the index when new items are added or when edited items are updated. A full index is built when you have made global changes to the collection. For example, if you add or remove a searchable field, a full index is built. A full index is also built if you have made changes using the global find and replace functions.

It is recommended that you plan regular indexing in your workflow to keep your collections up to date. Using the scheduled indexing option is recommended.

 Note: Only one approval or index process can run at a time for the same collection (i.e., approval and index processes do not run simultaneously). For example, when a scheduled index is running on the server, the subsequent scheduled approval is queued and executed when the scheduled index completes.

To access the index page

After logging in to CONTENTdm Administration, click the items tab, then click index. Project Client users with appropriate rights can access the Index page from the Administration menu. You can review information about past index builds and set up or manage scheduled and pending indexes.

 Note: Items and metadata changes will not be included in the index process unless they have been approved. You can initiate an index process using the Approve & Index All option. For more information, see Approve items.

Build the index immediately 

Building the index begins immediately when you initiate it. Indexing can take some time to complete, but it runs in the background. You can continue working in CONTENTdm Administration after it is started.

Build the index immediately

  1. Open CONTENTdm Administration and navigate to the Index page.
  2. In the Index Scheduler box, click Index Now.
  3. The Index page reloads, displaying a status message while the index builds. You cannot start another index until the current one completes.

When the index process completes, the Index page displays an updated index status and history.

Scheduled indexing 

You can choose to set up an index process to start once at a specified future date and time, or to use recurring index processes, set to start at a specific time and day(s). This is a useful way to automate some of your collection management tasks and allow indexing to run in the background during convenient times. You may want to schedule related approval processes, as well. For more information, see Approve items. After you have set up scheduled indexing, you can view and cancel pending indexes.

When a scheduled index process is running, you cannot start another index (i.e., the Index Now button is unavailable).

 Note: All times are displayed in the time zone of your server.

Schedule a one-time index process

  1. Open CONTENTdm Administration and navigate to the Index page.
  2. In the Index Scheduler box, select the Once On option and specify the date and time that the index process should start. Clicking in the date field displays a calendar that you can use to select a date.
  3. Click Schedule Index to save. The Index page reloads, with the new scheduled index process displayed as pending. (You may need to click See All in the Scheduled Indexes — Pending box to see all pending indexes because the box displays only the next three index processes.)

You can confirm that the process was successfully run by viewing the index history.

Schedule a recurring index process

  1. Open CONTENTdm Administration and navigate to the Index page.
  2. In the Index Scheduler box, select the Recurring At option and specify the time and day(s) that the index process should always be started
  3. Click Schedule Index to save. The Index page reloads, with the new scheduled index process displayed as pending. (You may need to click See All in the Scheduled Indexes — Pending box to see all pending indexes because the box displays only the next three index processes.)

You can confirm that the process was successfully run by viewing the index history.

Cancel scheduled indexes

  1. Open CONTENTdm Administration and navigate to the Index page.
  2. In the Scheduled Indexes — Pending box, find the scheduled index process you want to cancel, and then click Cancel. If you have more than three pending indexes, click See All. The Scheduled Indexes page displays a list of all pending indexes. You can choose to cancel one or all scheduled indexes.

After clicking Cancel or (Cancel All), a dialog box displays, confirming that you want to cancel the index process(es).

 Note: Canceling recurring pending indexes cancels all occurrences.

  1. Click OK to confirm the cancellation. The Index page displays, with the canceled scheduled indices removed from the pending list.

Index History 

The index history enables you to review the date, time, duration, and number of items included in the index. If an index failed, you can access a log to learn more.

To review the index history:

On the Index page in the Index History box, review the recent index history. To learn more about any failed index, click View Log. To review more index history, click See All.

Index command line utility 

This utility is located in the server's bin directory. To run it, open a command prompt and change directories to the bin directory of your server.

Use the build command-line utility

  1. Open a command prompt on your CONTENTdm Server.
  2. Navigate to the bin directory of your CONTENTdm Server. The default location is /bin.
  3. Enter the following:

buildcmd /alias where alias is the alias of the collection. (To look up the alias name for your collection, check your configuration settings in the collection tab of CONTENTdm Administration.)

Example:

buildcmd /uw

Upon completion, the command-line screen indicates that the index build succeeded.