Configuring file system providers

Kentico allows you to modify the behavior of file system providers. You can use different file system providers to access different parts of the application’s file repository, and you can change the default locations of different types of files.

Using different file system providers for specific parts of the application’s file repository

The CMS.IO API allows you to access different sections of the application’s file repository using different file system providers. For example, you can store media files in the Azure blob storage, while all other files stay in the default Windows file system.

1. Open the Kentico web project in Visual Studio (using the WebSite.sln or WebApp.sln file).
2. Create a new class in the App_Code folder (or CMSApp_AppCode -> Old_App_Code on web application projects).
3. Extend the CMSModuleLoader partial class.
4. Create a new class inside CMSModuleLoader that inherits from CMSLoaderAttribute.
5. Add the attribute defined by the internal class before the definition of the CMSModuleLoader partial class.
6. Override the Init method inside the attribute class:
   • Create a new instance of the StorageProvider class.
   • Map a directory to the provider.

using CMS.IO;
using CMS.Base;

[CustomStorage]
public partial class CMSModuleLoader
{    
    private class CustomStorageAttribute : CMSLoaderAttribute
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// The system executes the Init method of the CMSModuleLoader attributes when the application starts.
        /// </summary>
        public override void Init()
        {
            // Creates a new StorageProvider instance
            AbstractStorageProvider mediaProvider = new StorageProvider("Azure", "CMS.AzureStorage");

            // Maps a directory to the provider
            StorageHelper.MapStoragePath("~/MySite/Media/", mediaProvider);
        }
    }
}

7. Save the file. If your project is installed in the web application format, rebuild the solution.

The application now uses the given file system provider to access the specified project folder.

Changing paths to content files

CMS.IO allows you to change default file paths. For example, when using the Windows file system, you can store media files on a different disk drive.

1. Open the Kentico web project in Visual Studio (using the WebSite.sln or WebApp.sln file).
2. Create a new class in the App_Code folder (or CMSApp_AppCode -> Old_App_Code on web application projects).
3. Extend the CMSModuleLoader partial class.
4. Create a new class inside CMSModuleLoader that inherits from CMSLoaderAttribute.
5. Add the attribute defined by the internal class before the definition of the CMSModuleLoader partial class.
6. Override the Init method inside the attribute class:
   • Create a new instance of the StorageProvider class.
   • Specify the target directory via the CustomRootPath property of the provider. This sets the root of the target path – the provider creates the relative path of the mapped folders within the given root directory.
   • Map a directory to the provider.

using CMS.IO;
using CMS.Base;

[CustomStorage]
public partial class CMSModuleLoader
{    
    private class CustomStorageAttribute : CMSLoaderAttribute
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// The system executes the Init method of the CMSModuleLoader attributes when the application starts.
        /// </summary>
        public override void Init()
        {
            // Creates a new StorageProvider instance
            AbstractStorageProvider mediaProvider = new StorageProvider();

            // Specifies the target root directory. The provider creates the relative path of the mapped folders within the given directory.
            mediaProvider.CustomRootPath = @"D:\CustomMediaRoot";

            // Maps a directory to the provider
            StorageHelper.MapStoragePath("~/MySite/Media/", mediaProvider);  
        }
    }
}

7. Save the file. If your project is installed in the web application format, rebuild the solution.

This sample code ensures that every time the application requests or creates a file in the ~/MySite/Media directory, the location specified in the CustomRootPath property is used instead. In this example, the target folder is D:\CustomMediaRoot\MySite\Media.

File system provider names and assemblies

The following table lists the file system providers that Kentico supports by default:

• The Identifier column shows the value that you need to specify as the first parameter when creating StorageProvider instances in your code.
• The Assembly column contains the name of the code assembly containing the provider’s implementation.