ECL for multimedia
You can combine ECL functionality with one or more Connectors to provide access to multimedia assets stored in external systems. In either Experience Space or the Classic user interface (Content Manager Explorer and Experience Manager), the ECL integration to other systems enables authors and editors to add the external content using the same methods they do for other Tridion Sites content or external data.
The following diagram illustrates the ECL architecture integrated with an external multimedia system through use of one or more connectors:
Server-side ECL for multimedia
The following definitions explain the key aspects of server-side ECL architecture in a multimedia use case:
- Connector
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A Connector is a specific type of Add-on that is specifically used to integrate Tridion Sites with other systems, either other RWS products or third-party systems. Connectors built on Tridion Integration Framework are flexible and agnostic with respect to usability within Tridion Sites—in short, write a connector once and run it everywhere. For more information on connectors, refer to the Tridion Sites Connectors publication.
- Tridion Integration Framework
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Tridion Integration Framework support multiple ways for users to access data that is external to the Tridion Sites content management system. External Content Library is one of those ways.
- Add-ons feature and service
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The Add-ons feature supports the uploading and management of extensions, including connectors, as well as the configuration for each connector as a <CONNECTOR>.json file.
- External Content Library API
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The External Content Library API is for customizing and extending the External Content Library (ECL) feature, enabling it to communicate with an external system and expose content from that system in Tridion Sites.
The API reference documentation, available as a Windows Help file (.chm), contains more detailed information about how to use the API. To download the reference documentation for this API, see: .
<CONNECTOR>.json-
A JSON configuration file in which you can configure each connector per namespace and per environment, as well as generally for the connector overall. Namespace configuration enables you to include multiple configurations per connector package.
ExternalContentLibrary.xml-
An XML configuration file that is used to control various behavior of all connectors.
- GUI Extension (Classic only)
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The GUI Extension displays external system namespaces (or mount points) in the Classic user interface (Content Manager Explorer and Experience Manager). Under the root-level nodes, users can see multimedia that is stored and available in the external system.
For Experience Space, no GUI extension is needed to support ECL functionality.
Client-side ECL for multimedia
The following definitions explain the key aspects of client-side ECL architecture in a multimedia use case:
- Mount Point
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A root node in Content Manager's user interface (Classic or Experience Space) defines a connection to an external system, which contains (within one or more directories) representations of multimedia that is stored in the external system. Each node corresponds to a namespace for the external system. Any given connector configuration can expose several namespaces for the same system but with different setups, such as "youtube1" and "youtube2."
- Stub Folders
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Stub Folders are the Folders in Content Manager (under Building Blocks) where ECL will place stub Items. There are two types of stub Items for the following Content Manager objects:
- Multimedia Components — Each Stub Item corresponds to a piece of multimedia content that is referenced in ECL but stored in an external system. When a user adds a reference to an ECL multimedia item, for example by creating a Multimedia Link, ECL generates a corresponding Multimedia Component as a Stub item, basing it on the
ExternalContentLibraryStubSchema. - Multimedia Schemas — When a connector is added to the system for use with ECL, ECL automatically generates a Multimedia Schema as a Stub Item, giving it the name
ExternalContentLibraryStubSchema-CONNECTOR NAME.
You need to manually create the Stub Folder in the user interface and then define it for the Connector by its TCM-URI.
- Multimedia Components — Each Stub Item corresponds to a piece of multimedia content that is referenced in ECL but stored in an external system. When a user adds a reference to an ECL multimedia item, for example by creating a Multimedia Link, ECL generates a corresponding Multimedia Component as a Stub item, basing it on the
The ECL integration enables Editors to add the external content using the same methods they do for other Tridion Sites content or external data.
The following screen shot illustrates Content Manager Explorer with ECL-generated thumbnail images for videos that are managed externally in YouTube:
The video content in this example is made available in the Content Manager through implementation of a YouTube Connector that is built on Tridion Integration Framework.