Documents and their processing
General
What is a document? For most, a Word-formatted text comes to mind.
A document is one of the object types in Flow, which mainly follows the handling instructions of other objects:
See: Objects and their handling.
A document consists of property information (metadata) and an associated file, which can be, for example, a Word document, an Excel spreadsheet, a photograph, a presentation, a computer program, etc.
The type of the associated file is not restricted.
When a document is opened or reserved, it opens in the program associated with the file extension.
In addition to the associated file, other files may also be associated with the document, which are usually derivative files of the main file, such as a pdf file for viewing.
Benefits of storing documents in the Flow system include:
All documents are in one place, making them easy to find.
Documents can be versioned, and it's always clear which version is current, the latest version.
A document can be associated with the context (event, project, product, etc.) to which the document relates.
Document processing
Create a new document
You can create a new document in the Flow user interface either with an attached file or without an attached file.
Create a new document with Drag and Drop
The quickest way to create new documents in Flow is through the so-called Drag & Drop method, where you can save multiple attached files to Flow at once, thus creating new documents simultaneously.
Reserve document for editing
When reserving, Flow copies the attached file associated with the document to the workstation, where Flow opens the attached file with the appropriate application.
Return the edited document
During return, Flow copies the attached file associated with the document from the workstation back to the server either overwriting the old file or creating a new revision.
See: Return document
Return the edited Office document
Under certain conditions, you can also return the Office document directly from the Office program.
Release the document
During the release, any changes made to the attached file are discarded, and Flow releases the reservation of the document on the server.
See: Release document
Attach file function
With the attach file function, you can add an alternative file to an existing document for various purposes (e.g., different file formats).
See: Attach file
Scheduled tasks
You can set scheduled tasks for documents, such as changing status or sending a message after a certain period of time.
See: Set scheduled task
Correct document
If incorrect reservation information is attached to a document, you can release it.
Open the file associated with the document
With this function, you can view files associated with the document. The file opened using this function cannot be returned in place of the opened file.