How to import supplementary media with the Import Tool

The Vitalware Import Tool can be used to import supplementary media files and data into Multimedia records. The mechanism used is the same as for importing multimedia, except that the virtual column Supplementary_tab is used to contain the path of the media to be loaded.

The example import file below adds supplementary media to the Supplementary table of existing Multimedia records (identified by their IRN):

IRN	Supplementary_tab(+)
`1324`	`E:\Media\Image Text.txt`
`54765`	`E:\Media\Cropped Thumbnail.jpg`
`945632`	`E:\Media\Audio for 945632.mp3`

Vitalware calculates all the computed values and loads them into the appropriate fields as the media is loaded. The identifier assigned to the supplementary media is the file name (without the path) of the imported media.

Multimedia and supplementary media may be loaded in the same import file, as the following import file demonstrates:

MulTitle	Multimedia	Supplementary_tab(1)	Supplementary_tab(2)
`Close up of signature.`	`E:\Media\Sig\ Smith_Death_cert.tif`	`E:\Media\Sig\ signature_zoom1.tif`	`E:\Media\Sig\ signature_zoom2.tif`
`Commemorative Certificate.`	`E:\Media\Cert\ Commemorative2011.tif`	`E:\Media\Cert\ detail.doc`

It is also possible to import Usage and Notes values along with the media, as the following import file demonstrates:

IRN	Supplementary_tab(+, group='import')	SupUsage_nesttab(+, group='import':1)	SupUsage_nesttab(+, group='import':2)	SupNotes0(+, group='import')
`1324`	`E:\Media\Image Text.txt`	`Web Text`		`The text in the document contains an English translation of the audio track in the video.`
`54765`	`E:\Media\Cropped Thumbnail.jpg`	`Web Thumbnail`	`Cropped`	`A cropped thumbnail of the master image showing the spear head only.`
`945632`	`E:\Media\Audio for 945632.mp3`	`Web Audio`		`An audio description of the objects found inside the painting.`

Notice how the group= import feature is used to ensure the media, usage and notes are all added on the same row in the Supplementary table.