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Filters, AssetStores & AssetProcessors
Cumulus Core applications access, read
and manipulate assets using Canto-developed modular technologies:
Filters
Filters
are modules that extract metadata from assets. Cumulus Core
applications are capable of cataloging any type of digital
asset, but Filters enable enhanced metadata support. When
assets are cataloged, they are handed to the stack of active
filters. Each Filter processes the asset and extracts whatever
metadata it can. The asset is then passed down the stack
to the remaining (activated) Filters. (Learn about the Filters
currently available with Cumulus Core.  )
Some Filters can extract text
from the documents they catalog. Here, the PowerPoint Presentation
Filter is configured to extract all text used in the presentation,
turning it into searchable metadata.
Asset Storage Modules
Cumulus
Core uses Asset Storage Modules (AssetStores) to enable
it to communicate with asset storage media. The ability
to read from and write to Macintosh, UNIX and Windows file
systems is made possible by the AssetStores for those file
systems. In addition, the URL AssetStore enables Cumulus
Core systems to use ftp volumes for asset storage. AssetStores
have also been developed for certain file formats, such
as PowerPoint, InDesign, QuarkXPress, Open Document and
more. These AssetStores enable Cumulus Core applications
to access data elements contained inside those files, rather
than just the file itself. This is what enables Cumulus
Core to perform its asset-relations tracking: an AssetStore
for, say, InDesign, enables the Cumulus Core application
to parse the file to determine which other assets have been
referenced in it, and extract pointers to those files.
Asset Storage Modules enable
Cumulus Core to "speak" to various storage media,
including filing systems, ftp volumes, Zip archives and more.
Asset Processor Modules
To
enable Cumulus Core applications to actually process assets,
Asset Processor modules are used. Asset Processors commonly
packaged with Cumulus Core applications include a module
to process bitmapped images (resolution and color space
conversions, blur and sharpening, compression and more),
and another to compress asset files into Zip format. AssetProcessors
are executed "on-the-fly" based on user or system
requests. 
Asset Processors process original
assets. Here, the 2PDF Asset Processor configuration page is
shown. it's set to use the local computer\'s Distiller program,
using a "PressReady" job option.
Custom Filters, AssetStores and
AssetProcessors can be developed by third parties using the
Cumulus Core APIs.
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