Spark ERP Docs

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File manager - cabinets, folders, files and versions ​

What it is for ​

The file manager is where people keep files: contracts, policies, training videos, scans. Files live in cabinets and folders, every change keeps an earlier version, and what a person may do follows their rights.

The idea in one minute ​

  • A cabinet is the top container, for example "Legal" or "HR". It holds folders.
  • A folder holds files and other folders, as deep as you need.
  • A file has versions. Uploading a new version never destroys the old one, and you can restore any version.
  • Types (Cabinet, Folder and Document types) can add fields to what you store, such as a custodian or a confidentiality level. A type can extend another type, so a "Contract" type can start from the standard fields.
  • The folder tree loads as you open it, so large cabinets stay quick.

In Studio ​

Open Files and documents from Home, the Explorer tree or the command palette, then Browse.

  1. Make a cabinet and, if you want extra fields, choose a type for it. Make folders inside it the same way.
  2. Upload by choosing files. A file over 25 MB goes up in parts with a progress bar and retries (see Store large files and play video and audio).
  3. Open the menu on a file for: download, rename, move to, copy here, version history, upload a new version, and delete.
  4. Check out a file you are editing. While it is checked out nobody else can rename, move, delete or replace it. Check in releases it. An administrator can force the unlock.
  5. Preview shows the first page of a PDF or an image. For other formats it shows the text that was extracted, when there is some.
  6. Download as ZIP is on every cabinet and folder. The folder structure is kept.
  7. Search filters by name, file type and text inside the file. Text is extracted from PDF, Word, Excel and plain text files when they are uploaded; files over 25 MB are stored without it.
  8. Duplicates: if a new upload has exactly the same content as a file already in the cabinet, you see a warning. It never blocks the upload.
  9. Virtual folders are saved searches. They look like folders but hold nothing; they show whatever matches right now.

Attachments ​

Records elsewhere in Spark ERP, such as an employee or an invoice, attach files through the same service. The attachment is a link, so the file stays in its cabinet and the same rights apply.

From the command line ​

bash
erp plugin op dms-cabinets
erp plugin op dms-folders --cabinetId 1
erp plugin op dms-file    --id 42
erp plugin op dms-delete  --id 42

Large uploads use the SDK (client.dms.uploadLarge). See the large files guide.

What to know ​

  • Deleting a file marks it deleted rather than erasing the bytes at once.
  • Rights are checked on every action. A person who can see a file cannot necessarily download it. See Storage and access.
  • Text extraction from scanned images (OCR) needs an OCR provider. Without one, scanned pages are stored but not searchable by their text.

Where next ​