Configure the File Extension Mappings

A publishing job can use different rendering profiles to render specific file types. You aren't limited to using the same rendering profile for a particular file type for all business scenarios. The file extension mapping options give you a lot of flexibility to optimize the results of the job for your needs.

You may configure up to three different actions that you want Publisher to take for each file extension depending on the success or failure of the previous action. If a rendering profile fails on the first attempt for any reason, you can configure Publisher to try again with a different rendering profile on the second attempt. You can configure a third attempt with yet another rendering profile or configure a final action for Publisher to take.

Besides actual file extensions, two special settings are available that can be mapped:

[Empty] — represents all files without a file extension
[Other] — represents all files with different file extensions than any that are explicitly mapped

If no action is configured for these extensions, errors can occur and the documents will not be published. To use these special settings, select them in the File extension list as described in the following task.

Note:

When you add a new rendering profile to a job, the default file extensions for that rendering profile are automatically added to the file extension mappings if the extensions are not already mapped to a different rendering profile. When you remove a rendering profile from a job, its existing file extension mappings are automatically removed and any existing mappings or actions are promoted to the next available action. The exception is if the file extension is not mapped to any other rendering profile. In this case, you must remove the file extension yourself if you do not want it available to the job.

To configure the file extension mappings:

In Meridian Enterprise Server Administration Console, in the Data Exchange group, click Jobs.

The All Jobs page opens with a list of existing publishing jobs. The jobs are grouped by the name of the computer (cluster node) to which they have been assigned.
Double-click the publishing job that you want to configure.

The Overview page appears.
On the menu, click Rendering.

The Rendering page appears.
In the page header, click File Extension Mapping.

A page that lists the mapped file extensions appears.
Choose one or more of the following options:
- To add a file extension to the list:
  - Click Add.
    A new row appears at the top of the list. It has no file extension or rendering profile configured yet.
- To map a file extension to a rendering profile or other action:
  - Click one or more rows that contain the file extensions that you want to configure.
    The current rendering profile mappings for the file extensions appear in the detail pane.
- To remove a file extension from the list:
  - Select the row that contains the file extension that you want to remove and then in the toolbar, click Remove.
    The selected file extension is removed from the list.
Click options or type values using the descriptions in the following table.
Click Update.

File extension mapping options
Option	Description
Select from the list	If disabled, you must type the file extension in the File extension text box. If enabled, you can select a file extension from the list. Not available if multiple file extensions are selected.
File extension	Select a file extension from the list or enter the file extension without the period (.) Not available if multiple file extensions are selected.
First	Select a rendering profile to use or an action to take on the first attempt to render this file extension. The available rendering profiles are those that are selected on the Rendering Profiles page as described in Specify Rendering Profiles. The available rendering profiles are listed regardless of whether or not they support the specified file extension. This is possible so that file extensions that become supported by third-party applications in the future can be mapped without requiring an update of the rendering module. As a consequence, be sure to select only the file extensions that are supported by the third-party application that is used by the rendering module. The available actions are: Blank — Do nothing. No rendition will be published by this job, only the source document (if enabled) and the metadata will be published. A rendition will be created in the stream folder, but it will be empty. Publish unrendered — This setting is obsolete. It was used as a workaround for a bug with PDFTron which has been fixed. Publishes the source file unrendered. Post-rendition processing can still occur. When this action is taken, Meridian duplicates the native document in a rendition file. For example, if a .dwg file is mapped with Publish Unrendered, the rendition file will be created as a .dwg file. Do not publish — Do not publish the source file if it cannot be rendered by a previous action. No error is logged and no notification is sent. The rendition is not created even if a rendition job is executed. In Explorer, you can see an error message that reads, "No file is available for the document". In PowerWeb and PowerUser, you will receive a message that says, "There is no rendition stream". Use template — Publish the default PDF template file that is configured as described in Configure Rendering Options. Fail — Skip rendering the source file, add an error to the publishing log and send notifications (if configured).
Second (optional)	Select a rendering profile to use or an action to take on the second attempt to render this file extension. The available rendering profiles are those that are selected on the Rendering Profiles page as described in Specify Rendering Profiles. The available actions are the same as described for the First option.
Third (optional)	Select a rendering profile to use or an action to take on the third attempt to render this file extension. The available rendering profiles are those that are selected on the Rendering Profiles page as described in Specify Rendering Profiles. The available actions are the same as described for the First option.