Asset Relationship Tracking

Canto's AXR (Asset Cross Referencing) technology enables Cumulus Core applications to "look" inside assets being cataloged to see if relationships exist to other assets. If related assets are present, Cumulus Core can establish the relationship inside the catalog and even catalog cross referenced assets automatically.

Users can also establish asset relationships manually by grouping a selection of assets from within a Cumulus Core-based application, such as the Native Cumulus Clients.

By selecting a "preferred" alternate in the top pane, two alternates automatically appear in the bottom pane. With the Show Masters Only button enabled (top), the two alternates visible in the bottom pane won't also be displayed in the top pane.

AXR supports the following types of inter-asset relationships:

• Referenced Assets   The asset is linked to from a master document, but not embedded in it.
  
  
• Contained Assets   The asset is contained (embedded) inside the master document. That is, it has been copied inside the structure of the master document itself, thereby becoming a part of it.
  
  
• Contained Pages   AXR considers the various pages of some multipage asset formats to be contained in the master document.
  
  
• Alternates   A group of assets the user determines are related, based on content or some other criteria. Multiple shots of a subject from a photo session might be grouped as alternates. Each alternate group has a preferred alternate, which is considered the master of the group.
  
  
• Variants   When an asset has been modified, but still maintains a contextual relationship to the master, it's considered a variant. A PDF file created from a MS Word master would be considered a variant of that MS Word master file. A grayscale, low-resolution version of an asset generated on the fly by a Cumulus Core application would also be considered a variant.

AXR enhances user searching by making is possible to display assets related to the selected asset by way of one of the relationship types described above. Select an asset and see all alternates assigned to it. Select an asset and see all files it references or contains. Select an asset and see all master documents that contain it. Select an asset and see its original source file.

Alternates grouping offers an easy way to keep track of files that are linked to one another by content, such as shots from a photo session. One of the alternates is chosen as the preferred alternate.

Variants are files that are derived from other files, such as a PDF file made from a MS Word file, or a cropped variation of a larger image. If Cumulus generates the variant, it creates the relationship automatically.

Cumulus considers a file "contained" when it has been embedded into another file. A file is "referenced" when it has been linked to by another file, but remains a standalone file. A contained file is copied into a master document (the Container file); a referenced file is pointed to by a master document (the Referencing file).

Each page of a multipage document is considered "Contained" by Cumulus. The overall document is called the "Container" document.