ResourceSpace UUID Plugin

From ResourceSpace Documentation Wiki

The UUID plugin focuses on extracting and analyzing esoteric data among files stored in ResourceSpace. The file-to-file relationships in vast archives can easily become difficult to recover, but in many cases, particularly in Adobe workflows, these relationships do exist. In theory, this means that even large and disorganized archives can become auto-organized through ResourceSpace. File relationships can be made visually comprehensible as never before.

Use Cases

Where is the original PSD file that this came from? Did it come from this version of the PSD?

Can we still find the linked imagery for this layout? Has it been modified? Can we download a whole "package"?

Have we got other versions of this file?

What layouts has this image been used in?

Method

The plugin will build mainly on existing XMP UUID data in Adobe file workflows. At the very basic level, up to four IDs will be stored for each file uploaded into ResourceSpace. There are various relationships that these IDs can reveal, and future tools and options added to this plugin will allow for the presentation of such relationships.

Current State of Development

The first phase of development involves research into various file formats and the tools to extract that data into ResourceSpace. There is no presentation of this data yet. The presentation options will be made available as they are developed based on real-world needs and funding.

NOTE: Looks like CS4 changed the UUID names and the tags for InDesign Previews, so more work will be needed to accomodate CS4 and pre-CS4.

Here's an example showing how linked imagery in InDesign files can be found in the ResourceSpace system.

Similarly, the images themselves could automatically show layouts they are used in. Other relationships such as parent/child (i.e. PSD->JPG) exports could be automatically generated and displayed based on UUID data embedded in Adobe file workflows.