Managing documents and files

About documents and files

Either you or members of your project can make your project's files available for viewing and sharing through the Documents and files page. These can be binary or other file format uploads, URLs, and HTML pages. The files you include here do not come under your project's version control.

Files are organized in folders. Folders are organized in a tree hierarchy; the parent folder at the top, with child folders beneath. The folder hierarchy provides ease of organization of files. Thus, you may have a parent folder entitled "Test Scripts" with child folders "White Box Tests" and "Black Box Tests", each containing files relevant to their folder name.

Each folder name is followed by the number of files currently in that folder. Only those files to which the logged in project member has view access are included in the file count for each folder. The file count includes reserved files, suggested and pending files, and locked files. Empty folders show a file count of zero (0).

The Documents and files page displays the active folder as an open file folder. To make a folder active, click on the folder icon.

Creating folders

Folders are added on  the Add new folder page.  When adding a new folder you will need to provide a folder name.  The name of the folder can be up to 125 characters.  However, users may find a short, descriptive name easier to use.  You can use the optional Description field to further describe the folder. This field will accept up to 240 characters.

To create a new folder:

1. Click the Documents and files link from the navigation bar in your project.
2. Click the Add new folder link.
3. Enter a name in the Folder name field.

   NOTE: The folder name should be short and descriptive of the content expected to be placed in this folder. Use the Description field to provide additional information about the folder.

4. Click the Add folder button.

Maintaining folders

You can maintain the folders in your project using the folder maintenance tools available.  Maintenance tasks available include editing and deleting folders. You can edit the name and description of the folder. When deleting a populated folder you can move the files to the top directory or to delete all contents of the folder.

To edit a folder:

1. Click the Documents and files link from the navigation bar in your project.
2. Click the Edit folder link.
3. Edit the name or the description for the folder.

   NOTE: The folder name should be short and descriptive of the content expected to be placed in this folder. Use the Description field to provide additional information about the folder.

4. Click the Edit folder button.

To delete a folder:

1. Click the Documents and files link from the navigation bar in your project.
2. Click the Edit folder link.
3. Click the Delete folder link in the Other operations section.
4. Select which operation you would prefer:
   1. Click the Delete all button if you would like to delete all files in the folder.
   2. Click the Move to top button if you would like to move the files to the top folder.

   NOTE:  If a file with the same name exists in the top folder you will be unable to move the file. To resolve this you can rename the file.

Creating files

Files are added on the Add new file page. When you add a file you will be prompted to provide descriptive information about the file. You can add files as raw text, as an attachment or as a link to another page. You can enter the following information for your file:

• Name: The name for the file cannot be more than 120 characters in length.
• Status: Select the appropriate status. Status options include Draft, Reviewed, Baseline, Stable, Archival, and Obsolete.
• Description: If you would like to further describe the file, use this field to add more information.
• Contents: Select the appropriate content type for the file:
  • Text: This field allows you to enter your content directly. You can use the Text format selector to choose to save the file in raw text format, as it has been entered into this field, or as HTML source.

    NOTE: You can select HTML from the Text format menu to have HTML files rendered as a document in the browser.

  • Attachment: If you would like to include a file you have on your local drive you must first upload the file to the project storage area. To do so, select the Attachment radio button and use the Browse button to navigate to your file. Once you have located your file click the Open button to add the file location and name to the field. The default maximum file size you can upload is 25 MB.
  • Link: Use the link option to enter a link to a URL containing the content you intend to share with other project members.

To add a new file:

1. Click the Documents and files link from the navigation bar in you project.
2. Click the Add new file link. This link displays the Add new file page.
3. Enter a name in the Name filed.
4. Select a status from the Status menu.
5. Enter a description in the Description field.  This step is optional.
6. Select a content type from the Contents section.
7. Enter the appropriate information for the type you selected.
8. Click the Submit button.

Maintaining files

You can edit or delete files or folders from your project using the maintenance tools provided.  Additionally, you can make a copy of an existing file.  You can copy the file to the same folder or to a different folder in your project.

To edit a file:

1. Click the Documents & files link in the left navigation pane in your project.
2. Navigate through the folders to the folder that contains the file you want to edit.
3. Click the Edit link in-line with the file you want to edit.
4. On the Edit file page you can edit the file name, status, description and home folder. 
5. Edit the content of the file in the Content section.  You can perform one of the following functions:
   • Edit the content of a text type
   • Replace an attachment with another file
   • Edit the URL of a Link type.
6. Click the Save changes button.

To copy a file:

1. Click the Documents & files link in the left navigation pane.
2. Navigate through the folders to the folder that contains the file you want to edit.
3. Click the Edit link in-line with the file you want to edit.
4. Click the Copy file link in the Other operations section.
5. Make your desired changes to the copy of the file on the Copy file page.  You can give your copy a new name and select a new folder for the copy.

   Note: If you are copying the file to the same folder as the original file you must provide a new name.

6. Click the Copy file button.

To delete a file:

1. Click the Documents & files link in the left navigation pane.
2. Navigate through the folders to the folder that contains the file you want to edit.
3. Click the Edit link in-line with the file you want to edit.
4. Click the Delete file link in the Other operations section.
5. Click the Confirm delete button.

Approving file suggestions

Project members whose roles contain the "Project Document - Suggest" permission but not the "Project Document - Approve" permission can suggest files and/or new folders for file organization, but these are not added to the Documents and files page until you give your approval. These project members' view of this page features links to suggest new files and folders.

Suggested files appear in the Pending actions section of your My start page. Both suggested files and folders appear in your view of the Documents and files page. Links to suggested files and folders will also appear in the Pending actions section of your My start page and lead to the Approve files page where you can approve, defer, or disapprove each item using the radio buttons. Click the Perform actions button to complete the task.

The actions you take as Project owner in response to suggested files and folders automatically generate email notifications to the users who suggested the files, and include instructions for them to contact you directly by email if they have further questions about your action. When you disapprove a suggested file, you are prompted to give the reason for your decision. This reason is included verbatim in the email notification to the user who suggested the file. For example, since the maximum file upload size is 25 MB per file, if one of your project members suggests a file that exceeds this limit, you can disapprove the file but also include a suggestion to break the file into smaller pieces to address this.