Archibus Web Central

Using the Document Management System

From some views, you can access a document associated with the data you are viewing. For example,  the Leases table has a Lease Contract field which can hold the file name of the lease contract, which is a Word document. From an edit form in Archibus Web Central, you can use the document management features to launch Microsoft Word to view this document. Depending on your permissions, you may also be able to check out this file for editing, check in your changes, delete the file, and lock and unlock it.

Fields that can launch associated documents have a series of buttons, as shown below. You can mouse over a button to see a tooltip that describes its function.

screen shot showing all the document management buttons

From left to right, the buttons are:

This topic has the following sections:

Supported File Types

The System Administrator at your site determines the file types (docx, dwg, jpeg, etc.) that can be checked in and also whether the system supports tracking multiple versions of a document. The system administrator can change the supported document types by editing the <documentManagement> section of \webapp/WEB-INF/config/context/compatibility/afm-config.xml.

By default, Archibus supports:

View a document

Click on the Show Document button (the first button on the left), and Web Central extracts the file. If your browser has the appropriate plug-in to view the document, it appears in a separate browser window. Otherwise, the system prompts you to save the file locally so that you can launch the appropriate application yourself. You will receive a read-only version of the file. All documents stored using the Document field can be opened in this way.

Check in a document for the first time by using the Check In button

  1. First, save the record. This ensures that the document is always filed correctly, and associated with the correct record. After saving the record, the Document field activates the Check In New Document button.

  2. Select the Check in New Document button (it is the only button available), as shown below.

    The system prompts you to browse and select the file to check in. You can also drag-and-drop a file.

    Note: If you have trouble dragging and dropping MPP and DWG files, you can use the Upload icon. Alternately, clear the browser cache. Once you clear the cache, you might find that the file is not highlighted as you drag, but once you drop the files into the document field, the uploading popup opens so you can complete the field. (AD-11417)

  1. The system completes the field value with the original file name, and stores it in the document vault by naming it according to the structured convention (such as, ls-001-lease_contract.doc or the work request number, as shown below). If you drag-and-drop the file, it is stored in the vault under its original name.

  1. You can choose to enter a comment about this document, and also set the lock status. Typically, you will want to unlock the document so that others can check it out.

Sometimes you may have several documents that you want to import at one time. For example, if you are working with the SDS application, you might have 1000+ SDS sheets currently on file that you need to load into the Archibus document system. For information, see Importing Documents in Bulk to the Document Management System.

Check out a document for editing

If you want to edit a file, you must check it out. Click on the Check Out Document button. Web Central prompts you for a local folder in which to place the document, and automatically names the file according to its data relationships.

For instance, if you extract a document associated with the Lease Contract field of Lease 001, the program names the document after the table name (ls), document field name (lease_contract), and primary key value (001), such as ls-001-lease_contract.doc.

You can access the Check Out Document button only if you have edit security permissions. If the document is locked, you cannot check it out.

Other Options

Check in a changed document

Once you have finished editing a document, you need to check it in. Click on the Check In New Version button. The system prompts you to select the file to check in.

If the field supports multiple versions of a document, Web Central stores this version as a separate file instead of overwriting the current version.

Before you can check in a document, you must save other changes to the record. This ensures that the document is always filed correctly, and associated with the correct record.

If you drag-and-drop a document to a document field that already has a document, the system automatically replaces the existing document with the new document that you dragged, regardless of whether this is a new version of the existing document or a different document.

Other Options

Lock or unlock a document

The goal of locking documents is to prevent two or more people from editing the same document at the same time, which results in two or more different branches of changes. Typically, you lock documents as part of the check out procedure and unlock documents when you check them in.

However, in some circumstances you may need to change the lock status separately from the check-in and check-out processes. In these cases, use the Lock or Unlock Document button.

Delete a document

Use the Delete Document button to remove the field's reference to the document. Web Central clears the file name value from the document field.