Uploading documents in Xtendis 7

One of the ways of adding documents to Xtendis is by adding them manually to the system.

This is a two-step process:

Step 1. You select the files to upload.

Step 2. You upload the files with or without indexing them.

Each step is explained below.

Note: In this article, references are made to 'files' when they are uploaded from the system, and to 'documents' when the uploaded files are present in Xtendis.

Summary

The following is a summary of the process, use it if you want to start quickly:

Step 1. On the Dashboard, click Add.

Step 2. On the page that appears, click Select files. Browse to the folder where the documents that you want to upload are stored, select them, and click Open.

Step 3. Make sure that Upload with properties is enabled.

Step 4. In the list of property fields that appears, fill out the fields as necessary.

Step 5. Click Index at the bottom of the list.

Additional file format support

Apart from the default file formats that can be uploaded to Xtendis, support for the following file formats have been added in recent versions (see how to check which version of Xtendis you are using):

In detail

The following sections describe the process in detail.

Uploading files can be done in the following ways:

1. By using the Add button on the Dashboard to access the Upload files page and manually selecting files.
2. By dragging files from somewhere on your system and dropping it onto an area in Xtendis.
3. By copying files from somewhere on your system and pasting it on the Upload files page.
4. By first opening a file and copying its properties for the new file.

Each is explained below.

Method 1: Manually selecting files

In this method, the process is started by first accessing the Upload files page by using the Add button on the Dashboard. The files to upload are then selected and uploaded.

1. Selecting the files to upload

In this step, the files to upload are selected.

Step 1. Do one of the following:

• On the Dashboard, click Add. 
   

Alternatively, do one of the following:
 

• Directly start selecting files for upload by clicking the +-sign that appears when hovering over the Add button.

Info: This feature requires Xtendis 7.2.0 or higher (see how to check the version number of Xtendis that you are using).

Browse to the folder where the files that you want to upload are stored, select them, and click Open. The Upload files page appears. Continue with section 2 Uploading the files.

• Click the three dots next to the Add button and choose New Document from the menu that appears.

• When the Dashboard is collapsed as a toolbar, click the +-icon.
   

Alternatively, hover the mouse over the +-icon and choose New Document from the menu that appears.

The Upload files page appears.

Step 2. (Optional, when not yet having selected any files in step 1) Click Select files, browse to the folder where the files that you want to upload are stored, select them, and click Open.

Tip: Hover the mouse pointer over the Select files button to see a tooltip showing the file formats in which files can be uploaded.

The files are added to the page and shown on the left side. For files in image format such as JPG, PDF, and PNG, a preview is shown on the right.

Step 3. If needed, do one of the following:

• Add more files by repeating step 2.
• Remove individual files by clicking their trash can icon next to their name (requires Xtendis 7.2.7 or higher (see how to check the version number of Xtendis that you are using)).
• Clear the list by clicking Clear list at the bottom of the list.

2. Uploading the files

In this step, you upload the files while defining if they should be indexed now or later.

Note: Indexing is the process of adding information (known as 'properties') such as the subject, owner, version, and so on. As long as a document is not indexed, it cannot be part of the main archive (also referred to as the 'functional archive' or 'active archive') and will therefore be part of what is referred to as the 'temporary archive'.

Multiple files can be added to the upload page simultaneously and subsequently uploaded in groups. This way you can for example upload one group of files and have them indexed at the same time, while uploading another group of files that you want to index later. Or, when uploading files of different types, you can first upload files of one type followed by files of another type.

Step 1. Make sure that the files that you want to upload are selected on the left side of the page by selecting or clearing their check boxes.

Step 2. Enable or disable the option Upload with properties.

Step 3. Do one of the following:

• When the option Upload with properties was disabled, click Upload files.

The files are uploaded.

During this process, the upload progress for each file is shown to the right of the file. When the file is successfully uploaded, it is added to the list of files that have been processed.

Figure: The progress of a file is shown during the upload (1); files that have been successfully uploaded are added to the list of processed files (2).

Tip: Click the green link icon to copy a link to this document to the clipboard. Use the link to share the document with other users who have access to it (typically a colleague), for example by including the link in an e-mail. Note that copying this link can also at any time be done after the file has been added. See Sharing by copying the link.

When the process is complete, a notification is shown.

• When the option Upload with properties was enabled, a list of property fields appear. Fill them out as necessary. When done, click Index at the bottom of the list.

The files are uploaded.

During this process, the upload progress for each file is shown to the right of the file. When the file is successfully uploaded, it is added to the list of files that have been processed.

Figure: The progress of a file is shown during the upload (1); files that have been successfully uploaded are added to the list of processed files (2).

Tip: Click the green link icon to copy a link to this document to the clipboard. It can then be used to share the link with other users, for example by adding it to an e-mail.

When the process is complete, a notification is shown.

Step 4. Repeat step 3 for any files that still need to be uploaded.

Method 2: Using drag-and-drop

In this method, the files are dragged from somewhere on your system such as the desktop or a folder, and dropped onto an area in Xtendis.

The following can be done:

1. Dragging files directly onto the Dashboard.
2. Dragging files directly onto the Upload files page.
3. Dragging files onto the Properties panel of an existing document to inherit these properties.
4. Dragging files onto the Properties area of a Dossier to add the files to that dossier.
5. Dragging an e-mail or e-mail attachment from Outlook onto an area in Xtendis.
6. Dragging an image from a Web browser page onto an area in Xtendis.

Each method is explained in more detail in the following table:

Method 3: Copying files

Files can be quickly added to the Upload files page by copying them from somewhere on your system such as the desktop or a folder, and pasting them onto the area under 'Step 1. Select files' by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+V.

Method 4: Copying properties from an existing file

Info: This feature requires Xtendis 7.2.9 or higher.

In this method, an existing file is first opened and its properties are copied to be used in the new file that is uploaded.

This method is similar to dragging files onto the Properties panel of an existing document as explained in method 2, but the process starts differently.

Step 1. Open the document which has the properties that you want to copy.

Step 2. On the vertical toolbar on the left side, hover over the +-sign and in the menu that appears, choose New document, copy properties.

Step 3. A dialog appears to browse to the local files that you want to upload. Use it to add one or more files.

The 'New document, copy properties' panel appears.

The properties of the document that was searched for are already filled in.

Step 4. Adjust the properties as needed and click Upload.

Tip: Re-use properties of already indexed documents by clicking the Magic wand icon at the bottom of the panel.

Where the documents are stored

The uploaded files are stored in the following locations:

• Documents that are indexed are stored in the archive that was selected during the upload. They are ready to be used by all users who have access to that archive.

• Documents that are not indexed are added to your Personal Indexing folder. From there you can index the documents one by one at your convenience.

Opening previously uploaded documents

Documents that have been uploaded are shown on the Upload files page under 'Step 1: Select files' under 'These files are safely stored'.

They remain there until the list is cleared by clicking the trash can icon.

To open a document, click the link icon to copy the link to the clipboard and paste it in a new Web browser tab or window.