Types of Folders
Contrary to Windows Explorer, Poolarserver supports three kinds of folders or directories, respectively, with different characteristics. In order to differentiate the varying folder types, they all have different colors. There are blue and yellow directories as seen in the example below:
Blue Folders:
Blue folders have the advantage that uploaded files will be saved in the pre-defined folders firstly under the users name and secondly after the date on which the file was uploaded. This allows an easy search for single files. You just have to know who uploaded the file and when the upload took place.
Yellow Folders:
The difference between yellow and blue folders is that although a sub-folder, named after the uploader, is created while uploading a file, a division according to the upload date and the subject does not take place. In other words, all files uploaded by a user are placed in a folder, named after the uploader. Additionally, the yellow folders have integrated version control, which means that if a file has been uploaded into a yellow folder where another file has already been uploaded into by the same user, the older file will be indexed. The new file replaces the old one, so that the older file is no longer visible for the user. If there are multiple versions of the same file in one yellow folder, it will become visible in the index. Another big advantage of the yellow folders is, that Poolarserver can automatically arrange documents with a pre-defined data name convention into directories.
This is done according to these rules:
1. The user is defined.
2. pattern is defined that describes a certain type of file name.
3. folder is assigned according to this pattern.
Files are organized according to this pattern. Folders are thereby created as required. Actually, exactly the opposite of your Explorer, where a folder is created and the data is copied subsequently into the folder. The files of the yellow folders are generating their required folders according to the predetermined rules.
Pattern
In the easiest case, the patterns are described with * and ? For instance:
File: 20302-ag-00-03-0.dwg
Coherent Pattern: 20302-ag-00-??-?.dwg
If you want the number of symbols to be arbitrary, use * symbol as a placeholder.
File: 20302-as-00-6-7-9-0.dwg
Coherent Pattern: 20302-as-00-*.dwg
With this, all files with the name 20302-as-00-are found, regardless of the following numbers.
Patterns can be much more complex, so it can be determined, that a certain spot can only be filled with numbers, or certain letters. See “more complex patterns” at the bottom of the support page. Besides, index information can also be filtered out of the filename. Additional information regarding this matter can be found in the following text under “parts of data name”.
Rules for Sub-Folders
After patterns are defined, subfolders can automatically be generated. If for instance certain ground plans for architects are supposed to be put into a specific folder, Poolarserver needs the following three infomations:
Member: Architects
Coherent Pattern: 20302-ag-00-??-?.dwg
In Folder: 1-Groundplan 1:100
This is described in the following form:
The text can be entered as displayed above, or simply typed in one line:
Architects
Of course that looks a bit complicated at the moment. Our apologies! But this syntax has, compared to entering text by means of a mask, an advantage since lines can easily be copied using Strg+C and Strg+V. That is the reason why we chose to work with this form of definition.
The syntax is called XML and reminds of the syntax of websites.
Step-by-Step Instruction
The rules are administered in the tab subfolder.
Enter the rules for the syntax as described above and click on "save".
Enter the rules for the syntax as described above and click on "save". After that, the available files are organized according to the determined rules. If rules are not applicable for certain files, they will be placed into the root directory of the „architects“folder. If more than one rule applies for one file, the first rule will always prevail. Important: Sorting can be done as often as desired. This means rules can be adjusted at any time. The files will then be organized accordingly. It goes without saying, that such changes should be made in the evening hours when nobody uses the system.