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Filter Group Concepts

A filter group may be assigned via an extension of the existing filter configuration in the project type or AIS Property. The value of the filter configuration in the project type or AIS Property is either a filter configuration or a filter group.

A filter group can only be applied to a directory in the AIS. It is not possible to assign a filter group to an individual asset via the AIS property.

Filter and Filter Configuration Resolution

When filtering, WorldServer tracks the MIME type based on the source asset, but obtains the value of the filter configuration in the project type or AIS Property from the target asset. This section describes in detail how WorldServer determines which filter configuration and filter to use for an asset.

When a filter is requested by the system to filter from a source asset S to a target asset T, both with MIME type M, the following process will be used to find the correct filter and filter configuration:
  • The MIME type configuration for M is consulted to obtain a base filter F and filter configuration C. If no further configuration is found elsewhere, these will be used.
  • The filter configuration in the project type or AIS Property for T is examined.
    • If the project type or AIS Property has no filter configuration value assigned, F and C are used.
    • If the project type or AIS Property value is a filter configuration that is valid for F, F is used with the filter configuration specified by the property.
    • If the project type or AIS Property value is a filter group, the filter group is searched for an entry that contains MIME type M. If one is found, the filter and filter configuration in that entry are used. If not, F and C are used.

Use of "Not Translatable"

A filter group also allows a MIME type to be designated as having a filter of "Not Translatable". If the filter resolution process finds that a MIME type is set to "Not Translatable", it treats assets of that MIME type as not translatable.

This behavior is the same as if the MIME type configuration listed the given MIME type as “Not Translatable”.

Configuring multiple filters for a single MIME type

With filter groups, it is possible to use a different filter for two files with the same MIME type. For example, say you have several files with the MIME type text/properties, and one of these files requires a custom filter, while the others can be processed with the Java Properties Filter. You could create a filter group for the file requiring the custom filter, and configure the project type or AIS Property for that file's directory to use this filter group.

The other properties file would have to be in a different directory, and could default to the Java Properties Filter, based on their text/properties MIME type.

Assigning multiple filter configurations for a single AIS property value

You can use a filter group to effectively assign multiple filter configurations, using the project type or the AIS Change Properties dialog. If your project has a combination of different types of documents, with some that use a non-default filter configuration, you might have a filter group ABC_Project with the following entries:
MIME TypeFilterFilter Configuration
application/dita+xmlOASIS DITA XML File TypeDefault
application/xhtml+xmlXHTML 1.1 File TypeDefault
text/xmlAny XML File TypeMy XML Config

Then, when you select the directory in which the files to be filtered reside, you can select the appropriate filter group from the filter configuration drop-down list in the "Change Properties" dialog.

Effect on Filter Groups of Deleting Custom MIME Types, Filters, or Filter Configurations

WorldServer lets you configure and use special MIME types, filters, and filter configurations to match your specific requirements.
When you delete a custom MIME type, the delete confirmation dialog displays any possible impact on configured filter groups. For each MIME type marked for deletion:
  • The list of filter groups in the system is examined to see if the MIME type is referenced.
  • If at least one filter group references the MIME type, a warning is issued listing all filter group references.
If you click OK to delete the MIME type, each filter group that references that MIME type is modified. The filter group entry for that MIME type will be deleted.
When you delete a custom filter, the delete confirmation dialog displays any possible impact on configured filter groups. For each filter marked for deletion:
  • The list of filter groups in the system is examined to see if the filter is referenced.
  • If at least one filter group references the filter, a warning is issued listing all filter group references.
If you click OK to delete the filter, each filter group that references that filter is modified. Each filter group entry that references the filter is set to “Not Translatable” and its filter configuration field is cleared.
When you delete a filter configuration, the delete confirmation dialog displays any possible impact on configured filter groups. For each filter configuration marked for deletion:
  • The list of filter groups in the system will be examined to see if the filter configuration is referenced.
  • If at least one filter group references the filter configuration, a warning will be added to the delete dialog that lists all filter group references.
If you click OK to delete the filter configuration, each filter group that references that filter configuration is modified. Each filter group entry that references the filter configuration is set to use the default filter configuration.

Effect of Deleting a Filter Group

If you delete a filter group that is used by one or more project types or AIS property assignments, the assignments remain, but the values of the assignments become empty. This changes the affected region of AIS to the default filter and filter configuration values defined by the MIME type configuration.