File management
File management in ShareAspace is divided across two distinct areas, referred to as unmanaged files and managed files respectively.
Unmanaged files
The unmanaged files are the files that a user and/or system can manage directly. There are four storage areas for the unmanaged files:
Collection Store, files handled on collection level, accessible by all users (Read) in all spaces. Only the Collection Administrator can add/remove/update there files.Space Store, files handled on space level, accessible by all users (Read) in the space. Only the Space Administrator can add/remove/update these files.Participant Store, files handled by a Participant, accessible by user with access in that Participant.User Store, the private store for the user in current space.
Regardless of the store being used, the process for managing files and folders is the same.
Note
Unmanaged files are not connected to the PLM-information. However, in order to copy a file to the Managed File store, it must first be put on the unmanaged store.
Handle unmanaged files
In the ShareAspace Web User Interface, there is a file module and a file pop-up that can be used to manage files and folders. The file module must be configured in the Space Template in order for users to access it. The file pop-up (with file module capabilities) is accessible in all ShareAspace installations under the User settings menu. The file pop-up can be found in other dialogs as well, e.g. when scheduling a DataExchange Job. With the file module it is possible to create and delete folders and upload/delete files.
The file management has zip support. If a folder or a multiple files are selected when downloading, all those files and folders will be downloaded as a zip-package.
If a zip-package is uploaded it can be extracted into a folder.
Managed files
Managed files are those files that are connected to the PLM data using the DigitalFile
entry object. The managed files are stored in the Managed File Store.
A user needs FileVaultAccess rights as well as access to the Unit of Information where the
DigitalFile entry resides to be able to add/remove/download managed files.
Handle managed files
A managed file is created during commit of data to a Space, e.g. after an import or when
creating SoftTypes in the Web-UI. A user cannot create a managed file directly,
instead the user has to upload a file to an unmanaged file store and then create the
PLM data (DigitalFile). When creating a DigitalFile a reference to the unmanage file
store is used. The file at this reference will be copied to the managed file store on commit.
A managed file is deleted when either the DigitalFile entry is deleted or when
DigitalFile.Location is set to an empty string. This can be done via the API as well as via
an import. For the import scenario this is possible as long as the DigitalFile in the
incoming file has the same uniqueness as the one already in the database. Note that the import
file must have the Location attribute set to an empty string.
File size
There is no limit to the size of a file that a Space can handle as long as the configured file vault used by the ShareAspace installation has room for the file(s).
When uploading files to ShareAspace there are two options. Streamed upload and chunked upload. The stream upload is recommended for files smaller than 1.5MB. The chunked upload has no limit on the file size, instead the file will be uploaded in separate pieces.
The ShareAspace Web UI uses the chunked upload for files. This also allows for pausing and resuming file uploads.
Note
For loading large amounts of files or when uploading "really big" files there is a third option available called Bulk upload. The Bulk upload is not loading the files over HTTP. Instead the files are loaded into the ShareAspace file vault by having the ShareAspace host directly accessing a drive where the original files are put. While this method can be faster than loading the files over HTTP it will require initial involvement from the team installing and hosting the ShareAspace installation.
API
All operations for uploading, downloading, managing folders, and moving files can be done using the ShareAspace REST APIs. Even the bulk upload is controlled using the REST APIs, however the bulk setup requires additional configuration during the installation of ShareAspace.
File vault setup
During the setup (bootstrap) phase of ShareAspace it is possible to set the file vault location for the collection. That location will also be the default location for each new space created. It is possible to set a custom file vault location for a space when it is created (the space must first be created before the custom file vault path can be changed). The custom space file vault location can be changed using the ShareAspace REST API.
When the space file vault location has been changed, all the old files for that space will be copied to the new location and new files will be saved to that new location.