Document

Any file uploaded from your local system is represented in BSCW as a document. Documents may contain text, graphics, spreadsheets, print files, images or audio and video data that are typically stored in different, partly application-specific file formats. All documents in BSCW have a corresponding file type that they receive when uploaded. BSCW represents the respective file type by a special symbol in front of the document name if the BSCW server has such a symbol for this file type. File types are represented on the Internet in the form of so-called MIME types. The info page of a document shows the rather technical MIME type.

BSCW supports special features for the following two types of documents.

Text and HTML documents:      
Documents of the file type 'HTML document' (MIME types text/plain or text/HTML) may be created and edited directly in BSCW (Actions  HTML document and Ein Bild, das Tisch, Hocker enthält. Automatisch generierte Beschreibung Edit, see 8.1 Edit documents directly).  

Zip and Tar archives:      
BSCW may create a Zip or Tar archive from the objects of a folder (including personal objects like your recycle bin). Such archives are again BSCW documents (file type 'Archive (Zip/Winzip)' or 'Archive (Tar)'). In addition, BSCW can extract the files from Zip and Tar archives that you have uploaded from your local system; the files are placed on your clipboard as documents and folders (Actions Ein Bild, das Tisch, Hocker enthält. Automatisch generierte Beschreibung Archive and Ein Bild, das Tisch, Hocker enthält. Automatisch generierte Beschreibung Extract, see 13.1 Archive and transfer objects).

When you click on a document name, different things can happen depending on the file type of the document and the configuration of your web browser:

•      the web browser interprets the document and displays it as an image, text, or web page.

•      a program on your local computer, which can display or edit the document, is started.

•      a dialog box is displayed that allows you to save the document locally.

•      the web browser offers you a number of options to deal with the document.

For some document types BSCW also offers a preview of the contents. See 4.1.2.1 Open documents and document preview.