External content providers and the file system dialog

External content providers, managed within the Configuration Workbench, can be used to provide access to files persisted in external file systems – for example, in an Amazon Web Services S3 bucket or SharePoint folder. Such files can be accessed via the File System Dialog for use within RPI – for example, an externally-hosted image might be used in an email offer or landing page. However, they cannot be opened in an RPI Designer, and a different set of actions is available at each, when compared to a standard RPI file.

The following considerations apply when viewing external content providers, folders within an external content provider, or the files persisted in such a folder in the File System Dialog:

Treeview: one folder per external content provider is displayed at the left-hand treeview at the File System Dialog. External content providers are only shown if the current user is a member of a group associated with the ‘File System – View External Providers’ functional permission. A custom icon is shown for each external content provider type. External content providers are shown above the Recycle Bin. Within an external content provider, a subfolder is shown for each folder checked at the provider in the Configuration Workbench. Subfolders therein are displayed as configured at the external provider itself. Context menus are available at each of the following. Note that context menu options specific to external content providers are documented in detail elsewhere.
- External content provider:
  - Refresh
- Root folder:
  - New folder
    - Not supported at the Drupal provider.
  - Refresh
  - Upload to Folder...
    - Note that files uploaded to the Drupal provider are always publicly accessible.
- Subfolder:
  - New folder
    - Not supported at the Drupal, Concrete5, or Magento providers.
  - Refresh
  - Upload to Folder...
  - Delete
    - Not supported at the Concrete5 provider.
List: the contents of the list depend on whether a root folder, a subfolder or a file is displayed therein.
- Root folder: the following values are displayed within the columns in the list:
  - Name
  - Type: External Folder
  - Version: ‘-’
  - Date Modified
    The following context menu option is available:
  - Upload to Folder...: note that files uploaded to the Drupal provider are always publicly accessible.
- Subfolder: the following values are displayed within the columns in the list:
  - Name
  - Type
    - External Folder
  - Version
    - ‘-’
  - Date Modified
    - ‘-’
      The following context menu option is available:
  - Upload to Folder...
    - Note that files uploaded to the Drupal provider are always publicly accessible.
- File: the following values are displayed within the columns in the list:
  - Icon
    - Reflecting the file’s type as if an asset (e.g. image).
  - Name
  - Type: Asset
  - Version:
    - ‘-’
  - Date Modified:
    The following context menu options are available:
  - View Information...: displays details of the external file in the File Information Dialog.
  - Download...
  - Copy to Folder...
Information panel: the contents of the information panel are contingent on whether an external content provider, a root folder, a subfolder or a file is currently selected. In all cases, a ‘locked’ icon, shown at the top right of the panel, indicates that the item is read-only. Please note the following properties:
- Asset type: one of Image, Text, HTML, Video or Audio file.
- Domain name: if a standard Amazon Web Services (AWS) S3 file, set to ‘s3.amazonaws.com/[bucket]’. If an AWS S3 file, the external content provider’s CloudFront enabled property is checked and the bucket configured accordingly at Amazon, e.g. ‘https://s39l7blmmcc310.cloudfront.net’ (indicating that the asset is hosted at the CloudFront content delivery network).
- File URL: you can click this property to view the file in your default browser (subject to provider and security set-up at the content site).
- Metadata: available for AWS S3 and Azure Storage files only. All metadata key/value pairs assigned to the file are listed. See the File Information Dialog documentation for further information on managing external file metadata within RPI.
Footer: on clicking Open the selected file when an external file is selected in the File System Dialog, a message (‘This file is hosted by an external content provider and can't be opened directly’) is shown and the file is not opened.

The following sections detail external content provider context menu options:

Upload to Folder...: this option is only available if you have the File System - Upload File to External Storage functional permission. Invocation displays the Select file to Upload Windows file system dialog. You can select a file and initiate the upload process, which creates an Upload [filename] job and displays it in the My Jobs dialog (see that interface's documentation for full details of the job). Note that only image files may be uploaded to Magento.
Download...: selecting this option displays the Download File To... Windows file system dialog. You can specify a file name and location and click Save to initiate the download. Doing so creates an External file download job and displays it in the My Jobs dialog (see that interface's documentation for full details of the job). On successful completion, an Open Folder button is displayed; clicking it displays Windows Explorer, within which the file is selected.
Copy to Folder...: selecting this option displays the Save [filename] as Asset... File System Dialog. When you click Save, if the file already exists in the selected folder, the File Conflict Dialog is shown. If the file does not already exist, or if you elect to proceed with overwriting the existing file, the second File System Dialog is closed, and a Save [filename] to [folder] job is created and displayed in the My Jobs dialog (see that interface's documentation for full details of the job). On its successful completion, an Open Asset button is displayed, which, when clicked, displays the newly-created asset in the Asset Designer. Note that the job will fail if you do not have permission to write to the selected RPI file system folder.

Note that external content providers, and the folders and files that they expose, are not shown when the File System Dialog is invoked to effect a file’s being saved.