Tips to avoid endless loops in the configuration.

Introduction

When using the Duplicate Asset Structure (automatic) action to generate an event-based duplicate of a whole asset structure you have to consider two configurations in the AdminClient to avoid creating duplicates of your duplicates in an endless chain of triggering events. In other words, the Administrator has to take care that the newly created duplicate of an asset is not fulfilling the criteria to trigger the automatic action again.

Asset structure (preferences)

This central preferences file holds all the Asset Structure rules to be applied to a newly created structure duplicate. Thus it is the place where the Administrator can define how the resulting duplicates should differ from their originals.

For every setting you could define that a variant should change one of the following meta information:

  • Domain

  • 2nd Domain

  • Language

  • Non-owner access

  • Workflow target

  • Workflow step

  • Approved date

When the Administrator defines the trigger for the automatic duplication, he has this meta information at hand to distinguish an original (to be duplicated) from a duplicate (that should not create another duplicate)

Trigger events

As for every asset automation, the configuration dialog of Duplicate Asset Structure (automatic) allows to define

1. Which events should trigger the action

2. Which asset filter should be applied to the assets, where the event occurred.

In conclusion, it is important that the triggering event or the applied filter can distinguish an original from its freshly created duplicate.

Some examples that would work:

The option 'Reset workflow to default step' is defined in the 'Asset Structure (Preferences)' and the triggering event is 'Asset workflow changed' for a specific workflow step.

Why? The resulting asset would have another workflow step when it is created and will not trigger the action.

The asset structure preferences define that the newly created duplicates are moved to another domain than the original.

The asset filter in 'Duplicate Asset Structure (automatic)' is defined to only be applied to assets in the domain of the original assets. Why? Although the event may be triggered on the variants as well, the filter prevents the creation of further cascading variants.