In an eRoom you can view, add, and edit files created in other applications. Other members can share these files as long as they have the same or compatible applications (example).
When you add a file to your eRoom, you are its owner and initially the only person who can edit it. However, you can add other members' names to the list of people who can edit it. You can also keep track of different file versions.
See also:
If you have eRoom Enterprise, see Working with Content Server-linked files.
If you have eRoom Real Time Server, see Sharing file items into a meeting.
Note: If file
protection is turned on in your community, the only members who can
delete a version-tracked file or turn off version-tracking for a file
are the eRoom's coordinator and administrators. Further, if the related
community option to version-track all new files is turned on, only the
coordinator and administrators can turn it off when adding a new file,
or for an existing version-tracked file.
Click its icon.
Or, right-click its icon and pick "View" from the pop-up menu.
When you view a file, others can still access it. Reading a file does not reserve it for you, nor prevent others from viewing or editing the same file.
Plug-in only: If you edit a file you have open
for viewing, and you have edit rights to the file, when you close the
file, eRoom asks if you want to save your changes. If you click "Yes",
eRoom reserves the file, uploads your changes, and releases the reservation.
You can add files to eRoom either by creating them in eRoom or by adding (uploading) them from your computer or from a Content Server.
Plug-in only: You
can drag and drop a file or
folder from your Windows desktop into an eRoom item or attachments box.
Also, if you are using the plug-in, you can create
files in eRoom.
Go to where you want to add the file.
Locate the file you want to copy from your desktop, or a local or network drive. (You can also use the Windows Explorer to locate the file.)
Drag the file onto an eRoom item box, folder, or attachment box.
Go to where you want to add the file.
Open the Add File page directly by doing the following:
Right-click an empty area of the item box,
folder, or attachment box and pick "Add File" from the pop-up
menu.
Or, in the command bar, click "add file".
The Add File page opens.
Or, open the Add File page from the Create page by doing the following:
In the button bar of the eRoom's front page,
click 
.
Or, in a folder's button bar, click 
.
Or, in the command bar of an item box, folder, or attachment box,
click "create".
Or, in empty area of an item box, folder, or attachment box, right-click
and pick "Create Item".
The Create page opens.
Pick "Other
File".
The Add File page opens.
On the Add File page, do one of the following:
If you are using eRoom with your browser only (without the plug-in), click "Browse" to select the file you want to add from your computer.
If
your site/community uses eRoom Enterprise,
you can pick "Add a file
from the Content Server" and click 
to select
the file from the repository.
If more than one repository is available, the "Content Server
Link: Pick a repository" page opens. In that case, pick a repository
and click "OK". (You skip this step if there is a default
location specified for the current eRoom,
folder,
or database
attachment field. In this case, you can click "Change Repository"
to select a different one.)
Log in if you are asked to do so.
From the "Content Server
Link: Pick Files" page of the target/template picker, browse
or search the cabinets and folders
within the repository to locate the file(s)
you want to link to, and then click "OK". The "Add File"
page re-opens with the path to the file(s)
you selected visible in the text box.
When you click "OK", eRoom creates Content Server-linked
files that point to the ones you selected in the repository.
If you are using eRoom with the plug-in, you can pick "Create a new file in eRoom", type a File name, and select a File type from the list. When you click "OK", the file is created in your eRoom.
Pick the options you want.
Select "Track versions" to track versions of the file you are adding. This option is only available when you upload a file from your computer or create a new file in eRoom without linking to the Content Server.
With eRoom Enterprise only, you can select "Link to the Content Server" if you upload a file from your computer or create a new file in eRoom and you want to link it to a repository (see the following procedure). This check box is already selected if you are creating the file where Content Server linking is on by default.
Select "Upload, then add another" to upload a file and return to the Add File page. This option is only available when you upload a file from your computer.
Select "Private draft" to add the file with its Open list set to just the file creator -- access control can be edited later.
Click "OK" to add or create the file in your eRoom, or to create a Content Server-linked file, depending on your choices.
Note: Your site might block some file types (for example,
.bat, .exe,
.doc, etc.) from being opened
or put into eRoom, in case they might pose a security risk. This is an
option set by your site administrator.
Open the Add File page.
Pick either "Upload a file from my computer" or "Create a new file in eRoom" and select the "Link to the Content Server" check box. (This check box is already selected where Content Server linking is on by default.)
After locating the file on your computer or specifying a file name and file type to create, click "OK".
From the "Content Server Link: Pick Location" page, browse the cabinets and folders within the repository to where you want to store your file(s). Or, you can click "Change repository" to select a different one, if available.
Pick the target cabinet or folder, and (if available) pick a template from the drop-down list. Click "OK" when you've make your choice.
On the "Content Server Link" page, either pick an alternative location, or click "OK" to confirm that you want to store the file(s) in the specified repository location.
If file properties are required when files are linked to the Content Server (a site or community setting) then the WDK Properties component opens in a new window. If you picked a template that has mandatory properties, you must specify those properties before you can store the file on the Content Server. If your file has no mandatory properties, you can specify properties or not, as appropriate. Click "OK" to set the properties and close the window.
When you click "OK" on the Add File page, eRoom uploads the selected or created file(s) to the specified location in the repository and, at the same time, creates one or more Content Server-linked file icons in your eRoom.
Note:
If you click "OK" on the Add File page and then click "Cancel"
on subsequent target/template picker pages, eRoom uploads or creates the
file in eRoom but does not store it in a repository.
Note:
If any of the new links
have the same name as a file that already exists in the same container
in your eRoom, an incremental number is appended to the name of the link
(for example, filename.txt,
filename (2).txt,
filename (3).txt,
and so on).
While you're editing a file, eRoom prevents other members from editing
it by reserving it exclusively for you. When you either replace the file
in the eRoom or abandon your changes, eRoom releases the reservation.
After you make changes, eRoom puts an unread mark (
) on the file so others know it is updated.
Note: If necessary,
the eRoom coordinator can release
a reservation on any file in the eRoom so that others can edit it.
If you want to hold a file for editing later, you can put a manual reservation on it. This prevents other members from editing the file until you have time to finish editing it and can release the reservation.
Note: With eRoom
Enterprise, you can reserve, edit, and release reservations on Content
Server-linked files in eRoom. When you do, the corresponding action is
applied to those files in the repository. For example, if you edit a Content
Server-linked file in the eRoom application, that file is checked out
to you and locked in the repository until you save your changes and release
the reservation. At that time, a new version of the file is checked back
in to the repository, and the lock is removed. Conversely, actions performed
on Content Server-linked files in the repository have the corresponding
effect on those files in eRoom.
Right-click the file's icon and pick
"Access Control" from the pop-up menu.
Or, in the item or attachment box in details view, select the file's
check box, and then click "access" in the command bar.
On the Access Control page, select the "Reserved for editing" check box.
Reserving a file for editing copies the file to a local folder that you can access while offline by choosing Start > Programs > eRoom Files for Offline Editing.
When you enter an eRoom, and if there is a changed file in your offline editing directory, eRoom asks what you want to do with that file. You can either
Upload -- copy the changes to eRoom
Keep Working -- do not copy the changes, and leave the reservation intact (eRoom will ask again the next time you enter the eRoom)
Abandon -- discard the changes
If you choose to upload or abandon the changes, you can also decide whether to release the reservation afterwards. If you check "Same answer for all files", eRoom handles all files the same way.
In Internet Explorer, when you view or edit offline a file that has version tracking on, only the current version is available.
See also: Offline reading in Internet
Explorer in Keeping track
of new information
Click the file's edit icon (
).
Or, right-click the file icon (in either the item box or the map),
and pick "Edit" from the pop-up menu.
eRoom reserves the file for editing and opens it in its native application.
Edit
the file and save your changes.
eRoom automatically uploads the changes and releases the reservation.
Plug-in only: To
upload a file you've edited outside of eRoom, you can drag
and drop it from your desktop onto the old copy in your eRoom.
Click the file's edit icon ().
Or, right-click the file icon (in either the item box or the map),
and pick "Edit" from the pop-up menu.
On the Edit File page, pick "Edit it."
and click "OK".
This reserves the file for you to edit.
Using the link that the Edit File page provides, either open the file in the same or a new browser window.
Edit the file.
If you opened the file in the same browser window,
click "Back" to return to the Edit File page.
Or, if you opened the file in a different browser window, click to
close the browser's window.
In the prompt dialog for the modified file, click
"Yes" to save your changes.
This opens the browser's "Save As" dialog box so you can
save the file to your disk.
After saving the file to your computer, return
to the Edit File page (in the same or different browser window).
Note: If you close
the Edit File page by clicking "OK" before adding the file back
to eRoom, eRoom keeps
your editing reservation on until you release it (or a coordinator
or administrator releases it).
On the Edit File page, click "Add" to save the edited file back to eRoom.
On the Replace File page, browse for the saved
file.
To turn on version tracking for the file, select the "Track versions"
check box.
To keep your editing reservation on the file, clear the "Release
the editing reservation afterwards" check box (otherwise, eRoom removes
the reservation).
Click "OK" to replace the file in your eRoom with the file that contains your changes.
You can keep your editing reservation on a file and edit it outside of eRoom. In this case, the next time you edit the file from eRoom, the Edit File page opens and asks if you want to Replace it with a new version or Abandon your changes and release your editing reservation. If you pick "Replace...", the Replace File page opens, as in step 9 of the preceding procedure.
eRoom can keep an automatic archive of all previous versions of a file.
Files set to track versions have a version icon (
) next
to their name in list and details view
(not viewed as large icons).
Right-click the file and pick "Track Versions"
from the pop-up menu.
Or, with your browser only, select the "Track Versions" check
box when you are adding or editing the file.
Once version tracking is on for a file, each time you upload changes to that file, a dialog box lets you provide a title for the version and enter notes about your changes.
Right-click the file's icon and pick "Show
Versions" from the pop-up menu.
Or, with your browser only, click the version icon ()
next to the file name.
A page opens that displays the version history of the file, listing
each version with information about who made the changes and when, and
any notes about the changes in each version.
Go to the file's version history page and edit
an earlier version.
That version becomes the current version of the file.
Go to the file's version history page and click "add a version note".
With eRoom Enterprise, eRoom files stored on a Content Server are automatically version-tracked. While you can only access the most current version of those files in eRoom, the Content Server stores their version histories so you can access them there.
Each time you upload changes to a Content Server-linked file, the eRoom version-tracking dialog box has an additional option for you to flag the new version as a new major version in the Content Server. If you leave that check box clear, the version is saved as a minor version. The version's name is passed to the corresponding value in the Content Server.
If you link to the Content Server an existing file that is already version-tracked in eRoom, you can either move all versions to the Content Server, or just the current one. If you move only the current version to the Content Server, previous versions are discarded (that is, they do not go into the eRoom Recycle bin).