This has been a long anticipated (and delayed) release. There have been so many significant changes it might as well have been called DMX 6. But allow me to begin with the change list from the database:
Enhancement: Hyperlink clicks are now tracked in the DMX log (logged as 'download')
Enhancement: Synchronized folders to synchronize DMX with folders on your server's hard disk
Change: LastModified date now set in DB
Enhancement: Attributes global or per folder, inherited or not, and multilingual
Enhancement: SQL performance enhancements
Enhancement: New edit screen that displays everything at once instead of wizard interface
Enhancement: default edit screens as well for DMX instances (see module settings screen)
New Feature: The 'graveyard'. After a hard delete files are moved to DMX/Graveyard and data is removed from database and written to an XML file. Accidental hard deletes will no longer result in data loss.
Change: import now works completely through querystring and no longer through session variables to avoid any issues with session state
Enhancement: Import also possible to root directory
Enhancement: Categories on a zip file are permutated to unzipped files
Change: changes to permissions logic to force them to always show up in the same order in the checkbox list
As you can see the enhancements/bugfix ratio is high. And the enhancements include two major new features: synchronized folders and per folder attributes. I’ll elaborate on these here.
Synchronized folders
Since the very beginning of DMX I noticed first time administrators needed time to grasp the concept of a DB driven front-end for a virtual file store that DMX essentially was. The files are stored on disk with a hashed name and they are only legible through the DMX front-end. There is no back-end access possible (I’m not counting WebDAV as such as it also passes through the module). So you can’t give people direct access on the server disk to files. In part this was addressed with WebDAV, but some would have liked to have for instance FTP access.
So the idea of folder synchronization was born. This would allow DMX its exclusive store of files but at the same time allow the admin to set up a folder on the server where alternative access could be provided. At regular intervals a synchronized task examines the disk and makes changes in DMX or on the disk depending on the circumstances.
Read more about this feature in the manual on the help menu of the module.
Per folder attributes
Another major new feature is the ability to set attributes per folder. In fact the whole attributes engine got a bit of an overhaul. You can now specify the title in multiple languages (like so many things in DMX) and you don’t have to worry about using attribute names like ‘select’ or ‘title’ that could either throw SQL errors because of SQL syntax or doubling existing columns (title is also used by the DMX entry itself).
So now you can set attributes per folder (the ‘old’ attributes are now called ‘global attributes’). On the folder menu you’ll find the new ‘Manage Attributes’.
The list shows active attributes at this level and if the attributes will be inherited from the parent
Add an attribute with multiple language titles
Read more about this in the revised attributes manual on the module’s help menu.
Other
Other enhancements include the ability to now set the edit and view UIs per module instance.
A new edit screen has been added called EditEntryPB.ascx (the PB stands for Postback) that displays all meta data in a single screen instead of a wizard.
A ‘graveyard’ has been added to capture all content that has been ‘hard deleted’. The file itself is copied there plus all last known metadata (in a config XML file).
