Problem: in Demand Tools (legacy) 2.6 it is easy to extract content version file attachments w/ accompanying metadata file. In DemandTools V, it is not evident that it is possible to extract the actual file attachments for content version .... only the data can be extracted. The scenario of having to extract physical files in bulk comes up often enough that Legacy Demand Tool version will be in demand for quite awhile around here.
Community: I can't find any questions/answers so far in these community posts so far that address this subject w/ Demand Tools V. I can find at least one resource that indicates and gives instructions for the legacy Demand Tools.
Current Solution: I logged a ticket and recieved the response below.
That feature is on the road map. It is not available on DemandTools V yet. You can login to the customer portal my.validity.com, and tell us how important it is to you.
What is needed on a go forward basis in Demand Tools V:
Needs to have at least equivilant ContentVersion export functionality to legacy tool.
Legacy version does this task scenario far better than any other tool I've encountered as it automaticly accounts for files which may have the same name (dup file names) by incrementing a count suffix onto the file name (and tracking that in the metadata file output).
Allows Metadata exported file to have what ever data elements the exporter chooses to include.
In SF, focus on ContentVersion and ContentDocs: There are only a few other tools that can export files from the SF go-forward attachment solution (ContentDocument/Version).... plenty can export normal attachments. The few other tools that allow export of ContentDocument/Version, require messy/involved API config/credentialing for the user of the tool (not using OAuth) which often lead to blockers due to tighter security practices w/ in many organizations. Implimentation of this feature should put Demand Tools V in a distict position of having nearly the easiest solution (from permissions standpoint) and from the standpoint of being able to handle ContentDocument/Version Export.
File Import should be equally concidered if it is not already.
Nice to have: It would not be difficult when this contentversion export function is addressed in the Demand Tools V version...
...to allow the user to rename each exported file using a combination of original filename and field elements from it's corresponding/connected objects metadata. (i.e. OriginalFileName_SalesAgreement#.ext). This is already being done to an extent in legacy tool when dups are accounted for.
Additionally... to allow use of these connected object metadata to form exported folder structure to the exported file. (i.e. ..\AccountName\SalesAgreementYYYY\OriginalFileName_SalesAgreement#.ext)
Hope this comment is helpful to those determining roadmap for this tool.
Thank you for this excellent post. I apologize for the confusion, but I think Support was directing you to the My Validity page to submit or vote on a feature question. I'm going to submit this information on your behalf since you already typed everything out. I really appreciate the details!
For future requests, here's the article on how to submit them.
Also, I'm going to see if we have this scheduled yet and I'll circle back to this post.
Regards,
Anthony Customer Success Manager
Anthony Lardiere Jr Senior Customer Success Manager
