File Manager
 		Previous Topic  Next Topic 

It is a common practice in the engineering industry, especially the AEC industry to store design files in shared network folders so that multiple people may access them from the shared location and relationship between files can also be maintained. However, the accessibility of such shared folders is confined to the boundaries of their local area networks. But, in a typical construction project, people from many organizations needs access to such central repositories of files. 

Many businesses work around this using FTP servers, between which files are moved when required. However, this is an error prone and inefficient way of working with files as large files may take very long time and lot of bandwidth for transfers; also, manual intervention is required for moving files between different stake holders at appropriate time. Failing this will give access to the wrong versions of designs to people, leading to catastrophic errors in construction or manufacturing.

Since moving such legacy repositories of files to WRENCH is  an arduous process,  a file explorer in WRENCH is introduced using which users can be given controlled access to file repositories from across different geographies.

Opening the file manager

File Manager can be opened from the Modules section in the global menu.

To open file manager

Searching for folders

Facility to search for folders is available in the folder section of the file manager.

To search for folders

  1. Click the Search icon. Search field is enabled.
  2. In the search field enter the folder name

Figure: Searching for folders

  1. Click on the Search button or press the Enter key to start the search.

If the matching folder exists, that folder is selected and highlighted.

Figure: Displaying matching folders

  1. Click the up arrow and down arrow to move between matching folders.
  2. Click the x icon to clear the search criteria.

Facility to search file names in sub-folders is also available.

To include sub folders in search

  1. Click the checkbox next to Include Subfolders.
  2. Enter the name of the subfolder and click the search icon.

If matching subfolders are available they are displayed.

Figure: Searching for subfolders

Option to search for files based on content is also available.

In the drop-down box next to In, if the option Content is selected, system displays the file containing the value entered in Search For field.

In the drop-down box next to In, if the option File Name is selected, system displays the files with the name as specified in Search For field.

Operations from the file manager

Different operations can be carried out on files in the file manager. All the operations can be carried out only on files that are not added to WRENCH.

Figure: File manager operations

Searching files

Search facility in File manager can be used to search the files based on file properties and file contents. If the Configured Drive/Folder is Indexed in ‘Windows Search’ and is available to WRENCH Server machine, users can search for file content by typing in the search field.

To search for files

Sharing files

Share option in the file manager helps in sharing large file through a hyperlink sent through an email. 

To share a file

Adding files to Wrench

Single or multiple files can be selected and added to WRENCH. Files once added cannot be added again.

To add files to Wrench

Replacing files

File in the file manager can be replaced with a new version when required. This operation is not available for file that are added to Wrench.

To replace files

Downloading files

Files in the file manager except files added to WRENCH can be downloaded.

To download files