Contents

• Requirements for local file linking
• How do I set up local file storage for networked resources, such as a shared element library?
  • Create multiple mount points
• How do you use local file linking in Flow Production Tracking?
  • Example: Create three reference art files with local file links
  • How do local file links appear in Flow Production Tracking?
  • Note on auto-generated file attributes
• What happens when you click on or view local file links?
• What happens when you click on or view local file links from outside the network?
• Can I set up multiple mount points?
• Can we access local files from the API?
• RV console displays a no local media warning

With local file linking, you have the option of pointing to a local networked file system rather than uploading files to Flow Production Tracking. You can even configure multiple mounted volumes, and specify different file mounting prefixes for Mac, Windows, and Linux users.

Requirements for local file linking

Local file linking requires the Flow Production Tracking Desktop app. You can download the app from the Apps menu of your Flow Production Tracking site.

How do I set up local file storage for networked resources, such as a shared element library?

As an Admin:

1. Go to the Admin > Preferences page.

2. Expand the File Management section.

3. Check the preference Enable linking to local files.

4. Click Save Changes.

   

5. Click the link Add Local File Storage to create a new mount point. You’ll see that this brings up a widget where you’ll enter additional information.

   

Create multiple mount points

You can create multiple mount points by clicking the [+] Add Local File Storage link once for each additional mount point. We recommend not getting too specific here. If you access most of your files from a project directory, such as "C:\projects", we recommend pointing to that directory instead of something like "C:\projects\this_one_project\files". This will make maintaining your local file storage easier as you add more projects.

Name the mount point

Give the mount point a human-readable name (e.g., Element Library), and then fill out different path prefixes for each operating system that has the networked resource mounted to it.

Save your changes

Click 'Save Changes' to save the newly created mount point. As soon as you do this, people can start creating files in Flow Production Tracking that just point to files inside of the networked Element library.

How do you use local file linking in Flow Production Tracking?

Once you have a mount point set up, clicking to open files in Flow Production Tracking is super fast. With local file links, you’re not actually uploading anything. Instead, Flow Production Tracking stores the paths to the files so that the applet will know how to find them on your computer. By doing this, you can keep huge files on your network volumes, but still have access to them within Flow Production Tracking.

Example: Create three reference art files with local file links

Bring up a new file entity creation form, click the 'Link to Local' tab, then 'Browse'. Once you get to your networked volume—/Volumes/Elements/—attach three files. Click 'Choose', and then enter a description of 'Reference'. Then click 'Create File'.

How do local file links appear in Flow Production Tracking?

Go to a files page to look at the three files you just created with local file links.

Note on auto-generated file attributes

Locally linked files will never result in auto-generated thumbnails, as would normally be the case if you uploaded an image file. Thumbnail images will have to be uploaded to the server. Also, the File Name, File Type, and File Size fields will never be auto-generated. You can use the API to automate this process. Read more about working with files and the API in the "Working With Local File Types" section of our API documentation.

What happens when you click on or view local file links?

When you view a local file link in Flow Production Tracking, it appears just like a normal link. Clicking a local file link from within Flow Production Tracking is exactly the same as double-clicking a file on your desktop. So, if you’ve got Photoshop installed on your computer, and that’s the application that is registered to open files of type .psd, you’re one click away from opening local file links to .psd files in the native application.

What happens when you click on or view local file links from outside the network?

If you’re attempting to click on or view local file links from outside of the network, the links will appear as links, but clicking on them will result in a dialog like the one shown below.

Can I set up multiple mount points?

Definitely. In the File Management section of your preferences page, you can click the 'Add Local File Storage' link multiple times to create several mount points.

Can we access local files from the API?

Yes! The Python API now supports local files as of v3.0.3. You can both read and modify local file links using the API now.

RV console displays a no local media warning

You're trying to play media in RV but the console displays a Warning about the version not having local media. RV doesn't use the Local File Storage setting in Flow Production Tracking, it uses instead its own parameters set through an environment variable on the workstation running in RV. There are three environment variables available to allow RV map the file, one for each supported OS:

Operating System	Variable Name
macOS	RV_OS_PATH_OSX
Linux	RV_OS_PATH_LINUX
Windows	RV_OS_PATH_WINDOWS

For more information, see Localizing media paths with RV_OS_PATH or RV_PATHSWAP in the Open RV documentation.