NOTE:
This article represents one of four options for populating collections with remotely stored content. The topic of this article only applies to Player on Windows (and Composer).

Overview

One approach to having a Collection updated in real-time with content found in remote storage is to synchronize the Collection's local project folder with a network-accessible folder.

Pointing collections to a network folder

Step One: Set up your collection in Intuiface

We'll be leveraging Intuiface's ability to treat a folder as a dynamic data source.

1. Create a folder anywhere on the PC running Composer and place at least two images within it. These images do not have to represent the content you eventually intend to use. They are used here as placeholders and will be deleted.
2. Next, using Composer, add a collection into your experience. For this example, we'll use the Carousel.
3. From File Explorer, drag and drop the image folder prepared in Step 1 above into your Carousel. It should look something like the following:
   
4. Under the covers, Intuiface has copied the drag-and-dropped folder and placed it within the Intuiface project you're editing.
5. Save and close your experience.

Step Two: Create a dedicated content folder within a network folder 

Next, create a dedicated content folder within your network folder.

For this example, we'll use a network folder named "NetworkMedia", the path may look like this:
N:\NetworkMedia\

Step Three: Link your collection project folder to the network folder

Now, we link the folder created in Step 1 to the folder created in Step 2. We have to do this on every device the experience has been deployed.

For experiences on Player devices, the following assumes you used Intuiface's remote deployment feature. In this case, the experience is automatically placed in the folder represented by the system variable %PUBLIC% - which is usually C:\Users\Public - and represented by an Experience ID

NOTE: In order for the MKLINK method to work, it must point to a folder found on the local device, not to a shared folder located on a different device.

1. Locate the folder created in Step One.
   NOTE: The value for [DirectoryName] will be the name of the original image folder you drag-and-dropped.
   
   • Composer: C:\Users\[Username]\Documents\IntuiFace\[ExperienceName]\Files\Collection\[DirectoryName]
   • Player: %PUBLIC%\IntuiFace\[ExperienceID]\Files\Collection\[DirectoryName]
2. Copy the directory path of that image folder and save it for later use.
3. Delete the folder in your project. We're going to replace that freshly deleted folder with a link to your network folder.
4. On Windows, open a Command Prompt as admin, then type the following command to create a link. In either case, the folder with the name "[DirectoryName]" will become a shortcut to the network folder you intend to use.
   • Composer:
     mklink /D "C:\Users\[Username]\Documents\IntuiFace\[ExperienceName]\Files\Collection\[DirectoryName]" "N:\NetworkMedia"
   • Player:
     mklink /D "%PUBLIC%\IntuiFace\[ExperienceID]\Files\Collection\[DirectoryName]" "N:\NetworkMedia"
     In other words, create a folder with the name "[DirectoryName]" that is actually a shortcut to the network folder you intend to use.

A folder, with a small arrow icon, should have now appeared within the Collection folder. The arrow icon means it is a shortcut. The name of the folder will be the name of the original folder you drag-and-dropped in Step One.

See the image below for an example. The original drag-and-dropped folder was named images. This shortcut now points to your network folder.

Step Four: Enjoy!

You can now open and play your experience.

As you will see, any image added to/removed from the network folder created in Step 2 above will appear/disappear on the fly in your collection. See below a demonstration of what happens when you modify content directly on your network folder.

Left side: Network folder in Windows Explorer / Right side: Experience playing live

Warning for Multi-Device Deployment

For every PC on which you wish to run this experience in Composer or Player on Windows, you need to run mklink as described in Step Three above.

Once you do this, future deployments using remote deployment will not overwrite the virtual link.

Pointing collections to an Excel spreadsheet hosted in a network folder

The "mklink" technique introduced above can also be used in tandem with the Excel Interface Asset.

When you insert an Excel workbook into a scene, a folder will be created within the project hierarchy of your experience. For example, if the Excel workbook is named TestExcel.xlsx, the resulting folder would be located and named as follows:

C:\Users\[Username]\Documents\IntuiFace\[ExperienceName]\Files\InterfaceAssets\TestExcel_xlsx

Now use the same trick as described above:

• publish the experience and close Composer
• deploy your experience to devices running Player
• copy the folder created for your Excel workbook - e.g. TestExcel_xlsx - into your network folder

N:\NetworkMedia\TestExcel_xlsx

• delete the original folder in your experience project
• create a link from your experience project to the folder using the mklink command: For Player that would be:
  mklink /D "%PUBLIC%\IntuiFace\[ExperienceID]\Files\InterfaceAssets\TestExcel_xlsx" "N:\NetworkMedia\TestExcel_xlsx"

The result is a shortcut from the original location of the Excel workbook folder to its new location within the network folder.

You can now modify the Excel worksheets directly in the network folder, even adding/removing media files from sub-folders.

Warning for Multi-Device Deployment

For every PC on which you wish to run this experience in Player on Windows, you need to run mklink.

Once you do this, future deployments using remote deployment will not overwrite the virtual link.