Mapping links dynamic placeholders to a folder of assets or to properties files. For media placeholders the assets can be image and video files or a properties file. For audio placeholders this can be audio files or a properties file. For text placeholder you can only link to properties files. Read about properties files here.

Mapping to a Folder

By default the data to an asset needs to be a full path, for example: http://www.myserver.com/path/to/file/danny.jpg. Mapping to a folder of assets removes the need to send a whole path to the file. Instead, send the data you have (like the customer's first name) and the platform searched for a file with that name in the folder chosen.

For example: You want to greet the viewer by having the narrator say a "Hello Viewer Name" greeting. The process to follow is this:

  1. Record the narrator saying many different hello name greetings. We find that something between 700-800 names covers more than 80% of the population in a single country.
  2. After editing the narration the sound engineer exports individual files called name.wav. For example, danny.wav, julie.wav, and so on.
  3. Upload these files to a new folder in your user or media libraries. Let's say you called that folder "hello names".
  4. Create or use an existing audio placeholder. Click the icon that turns the placeholder into a dynamic one. Finally choose or create a parameter for it, for example "first name".
  5. Click the mapping button. This looks like a 'link' icon. A media browser opens. Navigate to, then click the "hello names" folder and click OK.

After completing these steps, you have created a link between the files in the selected folder and the parameter. The data you now need to send is just the name, for example: danny or julie. The platform then looks for files with that name in the selected folder.

Supported File Types

These are the supported file types for media files:

  • JET
  • MP4
  • FLV
  • MOV
  • WEBM
  • GIF
  • PNG
  • JPEG
  • JPG

These are the supported file types for audio files:

  • WAV
  • MP3
  • MP4 (only the audio channels used)

Selection Order

But what if I have two files with the same name, but a different extension in a folder? How does the platform know which one to pick?
Good thing you asked! By default the platform uses the above list's order to choose which file to use. So for audio, the platform first looks for danny.wav, then danny.mp3, and finally danny.mp4. If none is found, a default value is used if it exists. If a default value is missing, the rendering fails and an error presented. Learn how to setup a default value here.
If you only want to use one file type, there's a drop-down menu during the folder selection allowing you to choose which extension to look for.