Upload and modify documents in BSCW

You may upload a file from your local computer to a folder on the BSCW server where the file is treated as a document. The common browsers (e.g. Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera or Safari) feature the file transfer function by drag-and-drop: You select a file on your local computer, drag it to the browser window of the BSCW folder with the mouse button pressed, and drop it there by releasing the mouse button. This way you may also upload multiple files or the contents of entire folders.

The uploaded documents are given the names of the original files. If the names do not comply with the restrictions for BSCW document names regarding the use of special characters (see note below), the names are automatically corrected.

Besides drag-and-drop, there is also the possibility to specify the file to upload in a file selection dialog. For this purpose

•      select above thecontent list.

With this method you can freely choose the name of the document and provide additional information about the document (description and other attributes such as tags).

You can subsequently change the name and other details of uploaded documents again by

•      You can call  Change Properties in the context menu of the document.

Both actions use essentially the same action form, which consists of four tabs.

•      General: specification of local file to upload (omitted when modifying), name, tags and description of the document.

•      Release (for managers only): define a release process for the document that differs from the general rules for the folder in which the document is created (see 12.3 Document sharing).

•      Automatic versioning (for managers only): define a versioning rule for the document that differs from the general rules for the folder in which the document is created (see 8.3.6 Automatic versioning).

•      Attributes: Specification of metadata attributes for the document.

General

•      In the 'Local file' field (only when uploading), use [Browse...] to select a file from your local file system to upload. The name of the selected file is automatically entered in this field. In BSCW, the same file name applies unless you assign a new name in the 'Name' field.

The suffix in the document name (e.g. .doc) that indicates the file type on some platforms should be kept because it facilitates the recognition of the file type when the document is downloaded again by other members of the workspace: the BSCW document name is used as local file name by default!

•      In the 'Tags' field you can enter freely selectable keywords that characterize the new document. These keywords can be used when searching. Multiple tags are separated by spaces. There is no distinction between upper and lower case letters.

•      In the 'Description' field you can enter a description of the document content or instructions on how to use it.

•      The document's file type is usually correctly recognized and assigned by the web browser (default setting). You can also specify the file type yourself by selecting a file type from the menu offered. If the correct file type is not offered, you can also explicitly enter the associated MIME type (standardized designation for file types on the Internet). The info page of a document shows the MIME type.

Likewise, the coding method, if used, will be recognized correctly. Only in exceptional cases do you have to explicitly specify the encoding method in the corresponding field. Later, you can use  Change Properties in the document's context menu to change the file type and encoding again.

Attributes

•      In the 'Attributes' tab you can specify metadata attributes for the new document. These attributes can be used when searching. The default attributes are arranged in two groups. The first group contains category and priority; these two attributes are displayed in the folder overview if the display of the corresponding columns is enabled. The second group contains attributes for classifying documents according to the Dublin Core stand-ard (see 4.9.1 Metadata profiles); for these attributes you can add further val-ues by clicking .

You can also define your own attributes later, which you combine in a new or modified metadata profile and assign to the document (for details, see 4.9.1 Metadata profiles).

•      Click [OK] to upload the document or to make the changes you have made to the document effective.

•      Select Write Protect in the context menu of the document to set a (subsequently removable) lock.