Having not really played around with the SOAP assets in Matrix and getting a bit confused with the process from the manuals, how can assets be created using a configured SOAP Server? There seems to be two request options - PHP or JavaScript so presumably you could have a server side or client side solution, correct?
Can one Matrix system talk to another to create assets? If so, how?
I'm wondering if it would be possible to use this type of set up as a potential solution to migrate from one Matrix system to another. Perhaps not all aspects of a site but maybe page assets and their contents, files, metadata, listing assets configuration, etc. If it was possible would this be a bad idea?
What are the limits of the SOAP Server? Does anyone have an example or use case of the SOAP Server in a real world situation using Matrix?
From memory the Squiz Matrix iOS app uses some SOAP Server configuration to integrate with the system so I can already see some benefits and limits - but perhaps the limits are more down to developer resources and device platform as opposed to system capability.
Is there a reason why you couldnt use the export assets to XMLand import from XML tools to move your assets from one server to another? I have had reasonable success on that (I have a totally separate development server where I hack around with stuff before I move it across to production). The main bug I've had is where nested DIV's sometimes dont seem to hook up properly, and form assets were a complete no go, but most other stuff was OK. And I'm on a pretty old version (4.2) so any bugs may well have been fixed.
From memory the Squiz Matrix iOS app uses some SOAP Server configuration to integrate with the system so I can already see some benefits and limits - but perhaps the limits are more down to developer resources and device platform as opposed to system capability.
Yeah, I have had extensive experience with using the SOAP Server, and I don't think it is the right direction to migrate from one Matrix system to another.
Are you moving servers? If so, you could use the backup script and everything would be the same including asset IDs. If not, like Anthony said, you could use the export and import to XML scripts.
If you can explain a little more about your migration we might be able to help more.
Is there a reason why you couldnt use the export assets to XMLand import from XML tools to move your assets from one server to another?
We have also had very good success with the XML tool and do still use it.Trying to consolidate our Matrix instances into one however some sites are quite large - from 30MB to 5GB - needless to say there is a lot of functionality and we didn't think importing 5GB using the XML tool was a good idea. Would this put a lot of strain on the server? I know the HIPO would take a long time but really it is just one process although my guess is that it would have an impact on system memory.
Are you moving servers? If so, you could use the backup script and everything would be the same including asset IDs. If not, like Anthony said, you could use the export and import to XML scripts.
Since we are merging one Matrix instance into another I didn't think that the backup script would work as duplicate IDs may exist as we aren't doing a complete system move but rather just all the content within Matrix.
Also note that, although the script can handle majority of static content page fine, but it still needs manual review, fixing and configuration of imported assets after completion of import.
That's because the import process can easily handle static content but could break those dynamic assets and configuration assets because the new system environment is different.
If you are importing into a production system, it might be good idea to duplicate the system somewhere else to undergo the merge. After it's completed without a problem, replace the live system.
It's safer to do so without disturbing your production system.