Introduction

What is DocMGR? DocMGR is a full-featured web-based Document Management System (DMS). You can store any type of file in DocMGR, and the most common types of files have the ability to be indexed, and therefore become searchable. PDFs, Images, Word & Excel Documents, Openoffice Documents, Web, and XML Documents may all be indexed by DocMGR. This allows for easy file retrieval later.

It is also possible to store files in Collections. This allows for file organization similar to the most common method used in Windows, Linux, and any other operating system using a common file system. Images, PDFs, and Text files may also be previewed with thumbnails while browsing any category.

DocMGR allows for file versioning and editing control. This means that if a user checks out a file, no one else can edit that file until it is checked back in. Also, you can roll back to a previous version of a file at any time if you need to retrieve lost information or just don't like the way your changes are going.

DocMGR currently allows for Access Control Lists for all types of objects. You can assign or restrict access to users based on a per-user and per-group basis.

There is much more to this system, and it is growing everyday. Feel free to browse all available documentation for more information regarding DocMGR's capabilities.

DocMGR Object Types

All items stored in DocMGR are referred to simply as "objects". There are several types of objects possible, and more will become available as DocMGR grows. Currently, the types of objects available are Collections, Files, and URLs.

Collections are groups of files, urls, and other collections in the system. They are analogous to categories in a Windows, Mac, or Linux filesystem. These are used to organize the other objects within DocMGR.

Files are actual documents uploaded or imported into DocMGR from your computer or other source. These can be any type of files, but more common types of files are indexed by the system. This allows for the searching of content within the files from DocMGR.

URLs are basically shortcuts to websites on the internet. For example, if there is a website you want to be available from within DocMGR, you would just enter the website address when creating the new URL. DocMGR will also download the webpage and index the page if desired, so it's content may be searchable as well.

Getting Objects Into DocMGR

Creating Collections

You may create a collection in the root level, or within any other collection in DocMGR. These will be used to group your other objects in the system.

To create a collection:

• Browse to the desired destination of your new collection either in the "Browse" page, or by using the Collection Tree in the left column of the page.
• If you have permissions to create a new object in this collection, you will see a dropdown list labeled "Add New..." above the contents of the current collection. Select that dropdown and pick "Collection".
• Type a name and description for your collection, then click "Submit Changes".

File Uploading

File uploading is probably going to be your most common method for getting files into DocMGR. Users can browse to any directory and insert a file of their choice into the system. The steps for uploading are outlined below.

To upload a file:

• Browse to the desired destination of your file either in the "Browse" page, or by using the Category Tree in the left column of the page.
• If you have permissions to create a new object in this collection, you will see a dropdown list labeled "Add New..." above the contents of the current collection. Select that dropdown and pick "Uploaded File".
• Click the Browse button and navigate to the file on your computer. Click OK when finished.
• If desired, type the file's description in the box labeled "Summary".
• If DocMGR is configured to accept keywords, several boxes will be displayed for you to enter keywords for that document into the system.
• If you wish to upload another file after this one, be sure to check "Keep Window Open After Upload". This will prevent the popup window from closing so you can continue to upload more files.
• Click the "Upload" button to upload your file. This may take some time depending on the size of the file and the speed of your connection. If this is a big file and it is to be indexed by DocMGR, the indexing process may take some time as well.
• Any permissions set on the parent collection are inherited by the file you just uploaded. If you wish to modify these permissions, click the Properties icon next to your uploaded file after closing the Upload window.

File Importing

File importing allows for the insertion of multiple files and/or categories into DocMGR in a single action. For example, if your copier has a "Scan To File" feature, you can set it up to scan to the same directory DocMGR monitors for its Import utility. Your System Administrator will be able to coordinate all of this. After this is setup, you can scan multiple documents at your copier at once. You may then open DocMGR, select the files, and import them into the system simultaneously.

Let's assume you already have documents waiting to be imported into the system. Click on the "Import" link in the Navigational Menu (top right of the screen) and follow the instructions below.

• If your files are in a subdirectory, browse to them by clicking on the appropriate directory names.
• Check the boxes next to all desired files and directories you wish to import.
• In the right column, select whether or not you want the files to be deleted from the public directory after they are imported.
• Select the destination category for your imported files. If no category is selected, a category will be created with the same name as your username in the "Imported" category. So, if my username is "elawman", I could find my files in Imported -> elawman.
• If you wish your files to inherit whatever permissions the soon-to-be parent category already has on it, you have to do nothing further. Otherwise, uncheck the "Inherit permissions from parent" checkbox, and select the default permissions for your files. These work just as descripted in the Upload section. All of your new files and categories will have these permissions associated with them.
• Click the "Import Files" button to import the files and complete the process. Again, the time to complete the import is dependent on the size of the files, and whether or not they are indexed by DocMGR.

Creating URLs

URLs are just links to web pages on the internet or your local intranet. DocMGR will download the page you select and index it if desired.

To create a URL:

• Browse to the desired destination of your new collection either in the "Browse" page, or by using the Collection Tree in the left column of the page.
• If you have permissions to create a new object in this collection, you will see a dropdown list labeled "Add New..." above the contents of the current collection. Select that dropdown and pick "URL".
• Enter the address of the URL you desire. You will also enter a name to be displayed in DocMGR and a description. For example, I might enter "DocMGR Homepage" for the URL http://docmgr.sourceforge.net
• If you do not wish the page to be indexed, uncheck "Click here to download and index page".
• Click "Submit Changes".

Object Search and Retrieval

You may search for an object from one of two places, the quick search and the advanced search. Searching will return any matching object, including files, collections, or urls. The search will scan the object name, summary, and content by default. You may eliminate these options in the Advanced Search.

Quick Search

The quick search is always accessible in the left column of the page. Simply type the words you wish to search for, and click Search. When searching from here, the file's name, summary, and contents are compared to your search string when finding all matching files. If you are already browsing within a collection, you may check the "Within This Collection" box to limit your search to objects in and below the current collection.

Advanced Search

The advanced search is accessible from the Find Navigational Link at the top right of the page, or by clicking "Advanced" from the afore-mentioned quick search. Advanced search gives you many more options for finding files which match your desired criteria.

In the advanced search, you have several options. You may limit which aspects of the files you want to match your search string (like to only find files who have matching names or summaries). You may narrow down your search to return files that match one of several date criteria. You may also choose whether or not the dates you entered apply to the file's original upload date, or the date of its last modification. Your date criteria are self explanatory, and are as follows:

• Any date - The default. This adds no date specifications to your search.
• On Date - Returns files matching this date.
• Time Period - For files that fall within the time period you select.
• Before
• After

To see the desired format DocMGR will accept for the dates you enter, click the "Accepted Date Format" link before entering your dates. A popup window with all accepted formats will be displayed.

Search Results

When searching, your results are always displayed in a list format. On the left, you may see checkboxes. We will discuss these more later. Moving from left to right, you will next see an icon representing the file type, followed by the actual name of the file. Click on the file name to view the actual file. Next you see the file's description. Below the description is the category tree the file resides in. You may click on any one of those categories to view the files in that category (assuming you have the proper permissions). Next, depending on the DocMGR configuration, you may see a search rank. This is the percentage which the file matched your search criteria. After this, you will see several icons which pertain to functions allowed for that particular file. We will also discuss these in a bit.

Now, back to the checkboxes. If you have the proper permissions, you may perform certain functions to a file. You may use the Move and Delete links on top of your search results to perform the relative functions to any files or categories you have checked. Move allows you to reassign an object to a different category. Delete removes the object from the system altogether. Careful, there is no going back from this one.

Now for the icons in the right column. Their functions are described below. Remember, if you do not have the proper permissions, you may not see all of the icons listed here.

File Icons

• Properties. Click to view/edit all file properties, history, logs, and relevant discussions.
• Checkout a file for editing. If you do this, no one else can upload changes to this file.
• Update a checked out file. This allows you to upload your changes to a file. The older version is kept, and the new one is placed in the system. Warning, admins can update a file without checking it out.
• Delete. Click this icon to remove it and all previous revisions from the system.
• Email. Click this to email the file to any desired email address.
• Subscription Settings. Allow DocMGR to notify you in case of specific changes to the file.

Collection Icons

• Properties. Click to view/edit all properties and permissions of this collection.
• Delete. Click this icon to the collection from the system. This will delete any objects in this folder and any subfolders as well.
• Zip and Download. This will create a zipped archive of all objects in and below this collection. Once the archive is created, you will be prompted to save it to your hard drive.
• Bookmark. You may bookmark this collection for quick access from the Home page. You may give the bookmark any name you wish.

URL Icons

• Properties. Click to view/edit all properties, permissions and relevant discussions.
• Delete. Click this icon to remove it from the system.
• Subscription Settings. Allow DocMGR to notify you in case of specific changes to the file.

Boolean Searching

Boolean searching allows you to use certain keywords to optimize your search results. Currently, DocMGR supports "AND","OR", and "NOT". Let's describe how this works with examples. In the search string "computer AND equipment", DocMGR would return any files which it found both words in either the name, summary, or content. If you had typed "computer OR equipment", DocMGR returns files with have either word indexed. "computer NOT equipment" would return any files that have the word computer, but not the word equipment in its indexed data. If you do not enter any boolean term, DocMGR defaults to "OR". You also do not have to enter the boolean terms in uppercase.

If DocMGR is Tsearch2 - enabled (ask your Administrator), the boolean searches can get more complicated. With Tsearch2, DocMGR allows nested searches. For example, I could type "(computers AND equipment) OR desktop" to return any files with the word desktop, or both words "computers" and "equipment". If I wanted to return all files which had both "computers" and "equipment" and ignore any of those with Desktop in them, I could have done "(computers and equipment) NOT desktop".

Wildcard Searches

DocMGR also supports the use of wildcards. Put simply, I can use wildcards to widen my search a little bit. If I wanted to return all excel files beginning with the word expense in them (like all expense reports), I could type "expense*xls. Or, if I know the names have expense in them, but do not necessarily start with "expense", I could type "*expense*xls".

There are lots of searching possibilities in DocMGR. The above only touches on its capabilities.

Keyword Searching

If properly configured DocMGR allows you to assign keywords to files, and to search for files with desired keywords from within Advanced Search.

To search for keywords, click Find in the top right navigation bar. Below the Advanced Search area, you should see a Keyword Search. If it is not there, then DocMGR is not configured to accept keywords for documents.

Enter the keyword you wish to search for, then select the keyword field you wish to search in.

Click search, and any results will be displayed just as described above under Advanced Search.

Collection Browsing

There are two formats for viewing objects as you browse the collections. Detailed List and Thumbnails. Detailed Lists allow for more information about the file, and for the results to be in a compact format. Thumbnails allow for previews of certain file types (PDF, Images, & Text at the time of this writing). Files which do not have a thumbnail will simply display a plain file icon. You may switch between the two viewing formats by clicking either "List" or "Thumbnails" at the top left portion of your category search results.

You may browse collections by using the collection tree in the left column of the page, or by clicking on the names of the collections in the results section. Notice the same icons are beside the displayed objects as with the search.

Finally, you will notice your current category, and all its parent categories, display at the top right of the screen, below the Navigational Bar. You can use this to jump back to any category at any time.

File Workflow

DocMGR allows users to route documents within the system for approval, collaborative editing, or informative viewing. Due dates may be assigned to these tasks, and the task recipients may be notified of pending tasks by the DocMGR Dashboard or by email notification.

Only one route may be run at a time. If one route is in progress, and new one may not be created. A file may not be deleted if there is still a pending route in progress. If you need to delete a file with a pending route, you may "Force Complete" the route and then delete the file.

Creating A Document Route

• Access the Properties module of the desired file.
• Click Document Workflow in the left column
• Click "Create New Route".
• You may now add recipients to this route. Click "Edit Recipients" to open the recipient editor.
  • Select the task type. Select "View" for the user to be able to only view this document. This is usually used for informative routing. Select "Edit" if you wish the user to make changes to the document before completing their task. This may be used for collaborative editing. Select approve if you wish the user to approve the document before it is routed to the next stage.
  • Select a stage. Tasks are grouped into stages. All users in a stage will be allowed to completed their task simultaneously. When all users within a stage have completed their tasks, the users in the next stage receive notification of their pending tasks. When all stages are finished, the task is complete. You may add tasks to an existing stage, or create a new stage.
  • Enter a due date you wish the task to be completed by. This currently does no more than inform the user of the desired date you wish the task to be completed by.
  • Assign the task to a user. If you wish to assign the task to multiple users, hold the Ctrl key and select the desired users.
  • Click Submit to create the task. When finished, click the "Close Window" button in the top right of the window.
• Once your tasks are created, you need to begin route distribution. Click "Begin" to start distribution to the recipients in "Stage 1".

Completing A Task

When a task is assigned to a user, that user will receive a notification alert on the DocMGR Home Page and an email if DocMGR is configured correctly. The link provided will take the user to the "File Task" module for that particular file. This module is only accessible to a user that has a pending task assigned. In File Tasks, there will be instructions on how to complete the assigned task. The user may return to this module at any time to complete the task.

If the user is assigned a task to view a file, this is simply from an informative route. The originator wants all recipients to have the opportunity to view the selected file. In the File Tasks module for that file, the user is given the opportunity to post any comments they might have, and to confirm they have viewed the file.

If the user is assigned an edit task, the originator desires that the user edits the file before confirming the task is complete. The file may be checked out to perform the desired edits, then checked back in and have the edits confirmed.

If the user is assigned an approval task, the originator desires that all task recipients view and approve the file. The file may be routed to several recipients for approval before the route is considered complete. If the user chooses to reject the file, the route will be stopped altogether. Otherwise the document routing will proceed as normal.

DocMGR Administration

This section covers the administrative functions of DocMGR. Here you can manage users, groups, and the actual DocMGR database. You can access these tools, if you have administrative privileges by clicking on Admin in the Navigational Menu.

User Administration

You may use this utility to create/edit/delete user accounts in the system. Non-administrative users may use this utility to update their profile or change their password. It is accessible to non-administrative users by clicking on the "Profile" link in the "DocMGR Messages" box in the left column of the site.

To create a user, enter the user admin utility. If an account is already selected, click the "Clear Form" link on the module toolbar (Top right in the blue bar). Fill out the user's information and click "Update". If the user does not exist, the account will be created. If a user with the login you selected already exists, a warning message will be returned. Pick a new login and try again.

If you wish to update a user, select the desired username from the dropdown list in the right column. Change the desired information and click "Update" to commit the changes.

In reference to user groups and permissions, a few things need to be made clear. They are listed below:

• You can give a user any individual permissions you wish.
• Only another administrative user may give a user administrative permissions, even if the "Can manage other users" box is checked in their profile.
• A user inherits any permissions associated with any groups they belong to. For example, let's say there's a user with the permissions "Can add files to the system" and "Can alter own profile" associated with it. There's also a group called "Power Users" with the permissions "Can manage groups" and "Can create categories" associated with it. If "Power Users" group is checked in this user's profile, then that user has the ability to perform all four functions.
• It is probably a more efficient use of time to create selective groups with the desired permissions you want and associate users with those groups, rather than maintaining permisssions individually for each user.

To delete a user, select the desired username from the dropdown list in the right column. Click "Delete", and confirm that you wish to delete the user.

Group Administration

You may use this utility to create/edit/delete groups in the system. Groups are a collective way to manage and associate permissions within a common set of users. If you want to maintain a collective of files for your accounting department that no one else would need to view. You could keep all of these files in an Accounting category, and assign only the Accounting group access rights to that category. If you need to change permissions for a set of users, it is much easier to change the permissions in the common group those users share, rather than changing permissions for each user.

To create a group, enter the group admin utility. If a group is already selected, click the "Clear Form" link on the module toolbar (Top right in the blue bar). Fill out the group's information and click "Update" to create the group.

If you wish to update a group, select the desired group from the dropdown list in the right column. Change the desired information and click "Update" to commit the changes.

To delete a group, select the desired name from the dropdown list in the right column. Click "Delete", and confirm that you wish to delete the group.

Database Statistics

Clicking on "Database Statistics" will show you various information about your DocMGR database. You can see the amount of space your files are taking up, how many files are in the system, how they were inserted into DocMGR, and various other information about the system.

External Applications

Clicking "External Applications" will show you which external apps DocMGR detected. As a result, it will report to you which optional functions DocMGR has enabled. Currently, the following information is reported:

• Whether or not OCR Supported is enabled. This is determined by the presence of Gocr.
• If PDF indexing is enabled, and which application is being used (Ghostscript or XPDF).
• If file thumbnailing is enabled. It searches for imagemagick for this feature.
• Lastly, it checks for email support. DocMGR looks to see if imap support is compiled into PHP, or if sendmail is available on the system