Light Document Import (files pre-stored on the server disk, version 2025)
General
When importing large quantities of document files at once, the size of the ZIP file to be imported may become so large that processing it becomes difficult or even impossible due to memory limitations. One solution is to divide the documents into smaller batches. A more straightforward alternative is to pre-store the files on the Flow server’s disk. This requires access to the server.
In this so-called light import, the ZIP file being imported contains only the metadata file (e.g., an Excel file), with each row referencing the file’s location on the server’s disk. In a light import, the files themselves are not transferred—they are already stored in their designated location on the server.
Metadata File Format
In the Excel metadata file for import, create a column named PATH, which refers to a subfolder under the server’s pdmfiles directory: imp/subfolder/, for example:www-servers/flow/pdmfiles/imp/LEVYNKULMA/
In the example image, the files are located on the server at:www-servers/flow/pdmfiles/imp/LEVYNKULMA/VXtst.vxm
andwww-servers/flow/pdmfiles/imp/LEVYNKULMA/VXabc.vxm
ZIP File Format
The Excel file does not need to be zipped; you can import the XLSX file directly into Flow.
Light Import Example
Light document import, meaning the document files have been pre-copied to the Flow server’s disk into the folder pdmfiles/imp/folder/. The folder name is specified in the PATH column of the Excel file.
In this example, the files are located at:pdmfiles/imp/LEVYNKULMA/X650.vxm andpdmfiles/imp/LEVYNKULMA/X651.vxm