How to import multiple Files

Squiz Matrix General Discussion
1

Ok, not being a Unix or PHP guru (yet!) it took me a little while to figure out how to import multiple files into Matrix using the command line. For others about to do same here are the steps:


1)create a folder on your server, "import" for example

2)inside that folder create a folder with the name of the asset ID you would like the files to import to. So for example, if you have a folder in you asset tree with ID 899, name the folder 899

2.5) add the files you wish to import into this 899 directory(in your case, your asset id#)

3) navigate to matrix_install_path/scripts/import/

4)run the php script import_files.php with the following params:

    php import_files.php /pathTomatrix/ /pathtoImportFolder/


for example on my system it's:
    php import_files.php /home/dale/matrix/ /home/dale/import/


5) sit back and watch the fun
6) your files will now be inported under the asset ID you named the folder after

ok, hope that helps someone.

Cheers
Dale
2

For those twits like me that got sidetracked trying to install the cli version of php - first check that it is not already installed! I did this on RHEL4 with the command

    php-cli -v

If you get a response - you are good to go. Substitute php-cli for php in the example scripts above.

3

Ok, so you don't need to specify the 899 directory when running the script?

4

[quote]Ok, so you don’t need to specify the 899 directory when running the script?
[right][post=“10517”]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]

Correct, I’ll look in the folder specified and see the 888 sub folder and interpret that as the asset ID to import into

5

[quote]Correct, I’ll look in the folder specified and see the 888 sub folder and interpret that as the asset ID to import into
[right][post=“10518”]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]

Ass long as you have created the parent asset ID folder etc, all will work.



You may also want to check the php script execution.



importing a couple of hundred files took a couple of goes the first time…

6

[quote]For those twits like me that got sidetracked trying to install the cli version of php - first check that it is not already installed! 
[right][post=“10504”]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]



On your server, we installed the Squiz PHP CLI RPM (part of the service). :slight_smile: RHEL4/CentOS does not ship with a php-cli binary by default.

7

[quote]importing a couple of hundred files took a couple of goes the first time…
[right][post=“10519”]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]



Yeah, you may need to set a much higher memory limit, particularly for mass importing PDF or Word documents. Remember, Matrix has to index them all during the import, which requires memory.