Cmwforms File Management is an application designed to automate electronic file registration, storage and retrieval.
Using cmwforms File Management applications has the following key benefits:
Cmwforms is designed for situations where a small number of users are maintaining a large number of files or a large group of users working and sharing files together.
Cmwforms is well suited for situations where files are used by a large number of reader users, i.e. as a file library. In this situation, you can create a single “Guest” cmwforms user and share this across tens or hundreds of users. Sharing a Guest user in this manner significantly reduces your cmwforms licensing costs
Cmwforms is composed of a server component, which you access using a web browser, and a Windows application, which you start from the server home page.
The server may include one or more workspaces and you will only be able to access applications and data in workspaces to which you have been granted access.
Cmwforms will warn you if you have not been granted access to workspaces.
Once you have logged on, you should select the workspace with which you wish to work.
Records saved in one workspace cannot be seen or accessed from another workspace. Therefore, it is important that you create records in the correct workspace as records created in the wrong workspace cannot be copied or moved across to the correct workspace.
A workspace will support one or more applications. The supported application list will appear in the cmwforms Process Explorer.
The administrator will grant you certain rights to workspaces and applications. These rights will determine the applications that you can use.
Your role and access rights will be displayed in the cmwforms status bar.
User roles include:
1. Workspace Admin. This allows you to administer the workspace in addition to having all User role privileges.
2. Guest. This allows you to read records only.
3. Submitter. This allows you to read and create records.
4. User. This allows you to create, modify and read records.
The administrator can override the permissions that are assigned to you on an application-by-application basis. Therefore, you may have Guest role in a workspace but the administrator can grant you User or Submitter permissions on one or more of the workspace applications. The permissions that you have are visible in the cmwforms status bar.
Cmwforms commands will be enabled or disabled based on your role and permissions.
Following is a list of the main tasks that you may need to perform whilst using cmwforms File Management application:
· Register new file
· Attach and save file
· View file
· Modify file saved in cmwforms
· Replace current file version with new version
· Add new version of file
· Find file using file title
· Find file using other file attributes
· Find file using CMW Number or record Id
· Approve a draft file
· Revert an approved file to draft status
· Obsolete a file
· Relate files to each other
· View child and parent hierarchy
· Setup subscription and monitor updates to files
To register a file in cmwforms:
1. From the Process Explorer, double click the File Management folder. Cmwforms will create a new file registration record.
2. In the Title text box, enter the title for the file that you wish to register.
3. From the Author list, select the name of the user to be assigned as the file author.
4. From the Type list, select the file type.
5. In the Description text box, enter a short description of the file.
6. From the File menu, select Save and Close.
7. From the main toolbar, click Refresh record list.
Cmwforms will create a registration record for the file. Cmwforms will automatically add you as the record creator and update the record create and modify dates to the current date and time.
The File Management application includes a process workflow. The process workflow has the following states:
1. Draft
2. Approved
3. Obsolete
All newly registered files will have a default status of Draft.
To attach one or more files to their registration details:
1. From the Process Explorer, select the File Management folder.
2. From the Record list, locate and double click the required file registration record.
3. Select the Attachments tab and click Add.
4. Navigate to the folder containing the files to be attached and select one or more files and then click Open.
Cmwforms will update the registration record by listing the file names in the Attachments tab. In addition, cmwforms will copy the attached files to the cmwforms server. The local copy of the file will remain intact.
Since you have saved a master copy of the files on the cmwforms server, you should consider deleting the local copies to avoid confusion and duplication.
To view a file that is saved in cmwforms:
1. From the Process Explorer, select the File Management folder.
2. From the Record list, locate and double click the required file registration record.
3. Select the Attachments tab and select the files that you wish to view and click Open.
Cmwforms will open each of the selected files using the designated application. If cmwforms cannot determine the correct application then you will be prompted to select the application to start.
Cmwforms uses the Windows Default
Programs feature to determine which program to start for a given file type. If
you wish to modify the default program then you need to change this using the
Windows Default Programs tool or by changing the association between the file
type and program.
To modify a file that is saved in cmwforms:
1. From the Process Explorer, select the File Management folder.
2. From the Record list, locate and double click the required file registration record.
3. Select the Attachments tab and select the files that you wish to view and click Open.
Cmwforms will open the selected files using their designated program. Use the designated program to save the file to a private location, My Documents folder for example.
Once you have finished the above, you will have two copies of the file. The first and master copy will be saved on the cmwforms server. The second working copy will be saved in the private location.
You can now make changes to the local copy without affecting the master copy that is saved on the server.
Before you update the current file version with a new version you should follow the process described under Modify File saved in cmwforms to get hold of the master file and make changes to it in a private location.
To replace the current file version with a new version:
1. From the Process Explorer, select the File Management folder.
2. From the Record list, locate and double click the required file registration record.
3. Select the Attachments tab and click Add.
4. Navigate to the folder containing the updated files that you wish to attach and select one or more files and then click Open.
Cmwforms will update the registration record by listing the file names in the Attachments tab. In addition, cmwforms will copy the attached files to the cmwforms server. The local copy of the file will remain intact. The original copy that was saved on the cmwforms server will be over written with the new version.
Before you update the current file version with a new version you should follow the process described under Modify File saved in cmwforms to get hold of the master file and make changes to it in a private location. Since you do not want to replace the old version that is saved in cmwforms then you should rename the new version by adding a version number to the filename. For example, if the master file was called design.doc you should call the new version design_v1.doc.
To add a new version of a file to cmwforms:
1. From the Process Explorer, select the File Management folder.
2. From the Record list, locate and double click the required file registration record.
3. Select the Attachments tab and click Add.
4. Navigate to the folder containing the updated files that you wish to attach and select one or more files and then click Open.
Cmwforms will update the registration record by listing the file names in the Attachments tab. In addition, cmwforms will copy the attached files to the cmwforms server. The local copy of the file will remain intact. Since the new version has an updated name, cmwforms will have two attachments, the original version and the new version.
One of the key advantages of using cmwforms is that it allows you to provide file registration details when you add the file and then enable you to use this registration details to locate files later. This can be achieved using the cmwforms quick filter tool.
The quick filter is composed of the following parts:
1. Attribute Name. This will be populated automatically with the attribute against which you can create a filter.
2. Criteria. This will allow you to specify if the criteria that has to be satisfied. Current list of criteria is:
a. =
b.
<>
c.
>
d.
<
e. Like
3. Value. This will be populated automatically for certain attribute types and will be left blank for others. The list will be pre-populated for fields of type lookup for example.
4. Clear command. This will clear the filter and returns the record list to its unfiltered state.
5. Filter command. This will apply the filter to the current record list.
To find a file using its title:
1. From the Process Explorer, select the File Management folder.
2. From the Attribute Name list, select Title.
3. From the Criteria list, select Like.
4. In the Value text box, enter the text that you wish to search find and click Filter.
If you are looking for all files with the word link then enter %link% or *link*.
Cmwforms will search all file titles and only display those that contain the work link in the title.
If you wish to search for several contiguous words then include these in the
value text box. For example, a value of %links to staff% will return all records
that contain the words “link to staff” in the title.
If the words are not contiguous then separate them with the wild card delimiter
“%” or “*”.For example %link%staff% will return all records where the title
contains the words link and staff and these may be next to each other or
separated with other text.
The file registration record includes the following attributes that you can use to help you find files:
· File number
· Title
· Date created
· Date modified
· Originator or creator
· Last modified by
· Author
· File status
· File type
· Description
You can use the cmwforms filters feature to create a filter to find records based on one or more of the above attributes.
The filters feature has its own dedicated toolbar. This toolbar includes the following four commands:
· New filter
· Open (edit) filter
· Apply filter
· Delete filter
To create a filter to show all draft letters:
1. From the Process Explorer, select the File Management folder.
2. From the Filter toolbar, click New Filter.
3. From the Attribute Name list, select CmwFileType.
4. From the Criteria list select “=”.
5. From the Attribute Value list, select Letter.
6. Click Add to add this query to the filter.
7. From the Attribute Name select, CmwFileStatus.
8. From the Criteria list, select “=”.
9. From the Attribute Value list, select Draft.
10. Click Add to add this query to the filter.
11. Click Save to save the filter. You will be prompted to provide a filter title.
To apply the filter you need to select the filter and then click Apply Filter.
Cmwforms will update the Record list so that it only shows the records that satisfy the specified criteria in the filter.
Cmwforms allows you to create a
filter with a prompted criterion. Therefore, if you want to filter not to use a
fixed status value you can enter “?” instead of “Draft” and cmwforms will prompt
you to specify the status when the filter is run.
The file registration record contains two special attributes that can be used to locate and retrieve files without the need to create custom filters. The attributes are CMW Number and the Record ID.
The CMW Number is a sequence number that is incremented each time a new file is registered. This number is unique as long as the record is not transformed.
To find a file using the CMW Number:
1. From the Process Explorer, select the File Management folder.
2. From the Attribute Name list, select CMW Number.
3. In the Value text box enter the unique CMW Number for the required file and click Filter.
Cmwforms will update the record list so that it contains the single file with the required CMW Number.
The Record id is a number of the form “47a7c493-9e54-4d67-88a0-6ea1993d926b” which is associated with the file registration record. This number will remain unchanged even if the file registration record is transformed from one type to another.
To find the record number associated with a file registration record:
1. From the Process Explorer, select the File Management folder.
2. From the Record list, locate and select the required file registration record.
3. From the main toolbar click, Get record id.
Cmwforms will copy the record id into the Windows cut and paste buffer. You can save this number by pasting it into a file.
We recommend that you add the Record Id and CMW Number to the front page of each
registered file. With this in place, users will be able to locate the electronic
master copy of any file by using the Record ID or the CMW Number.
To find a file using the Record Id:
1. From the Process Explorer, select the File Management folder.
2. From the main toolbar, paste the Record Id into the Record Id text box.
3. From the main toolbar, click Find Record.
Cmwforms will retrieve and open the file registration form for the required file.
The file management application includes a file workflow. The states in this workflow are:
1. Draft
2. Approved
3. Obsolete
The default status for new files is draft. To promote a file to approved:
1. From the Process Explorer, select the File Management folder.
2. From the Record list, locate and double click the required file registration record.
3. From the Actions menu, select Approve.
Cmwforms will update the status of the file to Approved status.
The actions menu will only show the valid transitions for the current state. If
the file that you wish to promote is already in approved status then the Approve
command will not be available.
To return a file to draft status:
1. From the Process Explorer, select the File Management folder.
2. From the Record list, locate and double click the required file registration record.
3. From the Actions menu , select Modify.
The obsolete command is available for Draft and Approved files. To obsolete a file:
1. From the Process Explorer, select the File Management folder.
2. From the Record list, locate and double click the required file registration record.
3. From the Actions menu, select Obsolete.
The default file workflow does not allow you to move a file out of obsolete
status. If you wish to allow transitions out of obsolete status then ask your
administrator to modify the file workflow to allow this.
You can use cmwforms to create relationships between different files. Cmwforms does not associate meanings to relationships and therefore you need to agree a convention with your users and follow this convention.
If you are an IT worker then you may be familiar with the term Product Breakdown
Structure. You can use cmwforms to
create a PBS for your files.
To relate a file to another:
1. From the Process Explorer, select the File Management folder.
2. From the Record list, locate and double click the required file registration record.
3. Select the Relates To tab and click Add.
4. From the Form Name list, select File Management.
5. Select the file to which you wish to create a relationship and click Add.
Cmwforms will update the Relates To tab and list all the related files. The current file will be treated as the parent and the related to files will be treated as child files.
To view the files related to the current file:
1. From the Process Explorer, select the File Management folder.
2. From the Record list, select a record then click Child Hierarchy command from the main toolbar.
Cmwforms will display a tree view showing the current file and the child records that are related to it. Cmwforms will show all child records related to all records in the tree view.
The cmwforms subscription feature is a facility that allows you to receive automatic notification when selected files are updated by other users. To receive these notifications you need to modify each file, for which you wish to receive notification, and add your name to the subscription list.
To setup a subscription for a given file:
1. From the Process Explorer, select the File Management folder.
2. From the Record list, locate and double click the required file registration record.
3. Select the Subscription tab and click Subscribe.
Cmwforms will add your name to the list of subscribers and will send you notifications, via E-mail and internal messages notification, when the file or its registration details are modified.
Cmwforms can be customized to allow you change and enhance the way it supports your own internal processes.
You administrator has access to detailed documentation which describe how to customize cmwforms. This section contains some information about customisations that are relevant to file management.
The default value list that appears in the file type list is based on the list defined in the data dictionary for the file type field.
Cmwforms allows you to customise the value list for each workspace and therefore if the list of file types in the current workspace is not correct, i.e. has unused types or missing types, then you can ask your administrator to update the file type value list for the workspace.
This change will not affect users of other workspaces.
The file management application is composed of a single registration form that is used for all file types.
Cmwforms allows you to create new file registration forms for each file type that you wish to manage. To do this your administrator will need to create additional forms in your workspace. Therefore, if you wish you can have a generic File Management form and then create dedicated forms for Memos, Contracts and the like.
Creating dedicated forms for each file type has the following benefits:
1. Improved record navigation by providing a new top-level folder for each file type in the Process Explorer.
2. Allows you to use different registration attributes for different file types. For example, you can remove the workflow attribute from the Memo file type.
3. Define user access rights to different file types. With the default, file management configuration users have a single permission to all file types. If you create separate files, registration forms for different file types then a user can have different rights to different file types.
If you use cmwforms to register
different file types using the default file management registration form and
then later on define type specific file registration forms then you can use the
cmwforms
transform command to transform the generic file registration records into
type specific records. The transform process will preserve most data that is
common to both registration forms; the only attribute that will change is the
CMW file number.