Document

Any file uploaded from your local system is represented in BSCW as a document. A docu­ment may contain text, spreadsheets, graphics, print files, pictures, sound, video, etc., typi­cally stored in various proprietary file formats. On the Internet, these file formats are identi­fied by their MIME types. Each document in BSCW is associated with a MIME type when it is uploaded. This MIME type is represented by a specific icon in front of the docu­ment name (or by the  icon for a MIME type that does not have an individual icon on your BSCW ser­ver).

BSCW provides specific functions for two kinds of documents.

Plain text and HTML documents:
Documents of MIME type text/plain or text/HTML may be edited directly on the BSCW server (action   Edit ; see 5.1 Direct editing of documents).

Zip/Winzip and Tar archives:       
BSCW can create Zip/Winzip and Tar archives from objects in a folder (including personal objects like your home folder, clipboard and trash). Such archives are again BSCW documents (of MIME type application/zip or application/tar). BSCW can also extract the files from Zip/Winzip or Tar archives that you have uploaded from your local system; the files are put into your clipboard as BSCW documents and fol­ders (actions   Archive  and   Extract ; see 9.1 Archiving objects).

Depending on the MIME type of a document and on the configuration of your Web browser, several things may happen when you click on the document name in a folder page:

•      the Web browser may interpret the underlying file and display it;

•      a program on your local computer may be started to display the file;

•      a dialog box may come up that lets you store the document as a local file;

•      the Web browser may offer a set of options for handling the document.