Ellsworth Document Library - Help

1. Introduction
   1. User Interface Basics
   2. Search Basics
   3. Search on the Address Bar
2. Document Management
   1. Librarian Checkbox Filters
   2. Export to Excel
   3. Editing the Document
   4. Editing the Publisher
   5. Editing the Language File
3. Document Notes
4. Document Audit

1. Introduction

   The Ellsworth Document Library consists of a web application user interface, a public web service, a private print service, and carefully designed business logic connected to a structured data source.  The user interface provides a clean palette to perform library searches and manage library components.  The web service implements easy-to-use Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) methods to perform simple text and complex criteria searches.  The service responds with an Xml collection of LibraryFile objects each with multiple properties to display.  The print service uses a list of authorized Internet Protocol (IP) addresses in the web application web.config file.  This list determines what clients are permitted to use the print service and prevents unauthorized and, likely, wasteful paper use.  This print service is called using a Url address adorned with query (or search) parameters indicating the document set and printer to which to send it.

   1. User Interface Basics

      

      File folder-type tabs at the top of the page are used to navigate the user interface.  The highlighted tab indicates the current page you're viewing.  Some tabs have menu selections when your mouse pointer hovers over it.

   2. Search Basics

      Click the Search tab to view the library search form.  The simplest search is performed by typing a key word or phrase in the document name or alias textbox right above the Search button.  More elaborate searches are performed by completing the other form elements.

      Topics and languages are "or" criteria.  You can select more than one from each of those groups and the search result will be all document records that contain any of each selection.  Click on any other element, a blank area of the page, or the close header to dismiss the dropdown selector.

      Once you get your criteria entered, click the Search (or press the <Enter> key) to get your search results.  Each row of the result set has two buttons on the left.  Click Open to download/open the document file related to that record and language, click Detail to view extra detail about the document including context messages and author identity.

   3. Search on the Address Bar

      You can save your search criteria in a Url (Universal Resource Locator) address by appending your criteria to the main page address.  For instance, if your main page address is https://webaps.ellsworth.com/edl/, then this will show all records with "dow" in the publisher name created after January 1, 2015:

      https://webaps.ellsworth.com/edl/?publisher=dow&createdstart=2015-01-01

      The criteria set starts with the question mark (?) and each criteria is separated by an ampersand (&).  Dates should be entered in the format yyyy-MM-dd, because that's the easiest format for the computer to translate accurately and slashes (/) act as address delimiters that could be misinterpreted.  Any spaces in the text criteria should be replaced with a plus (+) symbol.

      Here are all the criteria names you can use:

      alias – match any document index or part of any document title or alias
      publisher – match any part of a publisher name
      topic – a comma-separated list of topic abbreviations (e.g. tds,sds)
      language – a comma-separated list of language codes (e.g. es,en,zh,fr for Spanish, English, Chinese, or French)
      createdstart/createdend – the start or end dates of the created date range
      revisedstart/revisedend – the start or end dates of the revised date range
      modifiedstart/modifiedend – the start or end dates of the modified date range
      expiresstart/expiresend – the start or end dates of the expires date range
      --- for librarian use ---
      nofile - when set to "true" the result will run immediately displaying all document records with no active files
      deleted - when set to "true" include documents marked deleted in the search result
      internal - when set to "false" do not include documents flagged as internal use only
      myrecords - when set to "false" include all documents in the result

2. Document Management

   If you're a member of the Librarians role, then you have four more filter options in the form of checkboxes and an export feature.  You also have the ability to edit document records and contribute to notes for the document records using the Detail view from the search result.

   1. Librarian Checkbox Filters

      The checkbox filters are selected automatically from the warnings on the Librarians dashboard page.

      Show All Records Without Files	When this checkbox is checked, no other filters can be applied.  This is because there is no other filter criteria to be applied and the result set should always be very small.  Even with the best effort to prevent this in the application, it's still a web application and you have the option to simply close your browser window in the middle of defining a document. The result set will include all active (not deleted) document records that have no related files defined.
      Include Deleted Records	Use this filter to view those document records marked for deletion.  When you edit these records, you can recover them back into the active documents or permanently destroy the record. This filter can be used with other criteria to reduce the result set.  The result row for all deleted records are shaded light red to mark the record.
      Include Internal Document Records	Use this filter to view those document records marked for internal use only.  This flag can be modified with the document edit feature. This filter can be used with other criteria to reduce the result set.  The result row for all interal records are shaded light blue to mark the record.
      Search My Records Only	This checkbox is checked by default.  It tells the search engine to determine which users are available for you to view and display only the records that are created by users in that set.

   2. Export to Excel

      This is a great feature for detailed analysis of the result data.  When you click the Export to Excel button, the application performs a fresh search using the provided criteria and creates an Excel workbook for you.  This workbook has three worksheets two are blank so you can use them if you need more room for your analysis.  The fields you get in the export are the same as you see on the web interface plus these:

      DocumentId	Document record unique numeric identifier provided by the database.
      PublisherWebSite	Url address entered in the publisher record.
      CreatedBy	Account name of the user who created the document record.
      ModifiedBy	Account name of the user who last modified the document record.
      Flags	A bit field number indicating a document attribute: None (0) no flags set Archive (1) flags an item as archived Soft Deleted (2) flags an item as soft deleted Hard Deleted (4) flags an item as hard deleted Marked (7) combines archive, soft and hard delete Internal (8) flags an item as internal, hidden from public view

      This feature becomes even better when you create a hyperlink in the spreadsheet cell at the end of each row that opens a unique search to that document record.  Excel has a HYPERLINK function and the DocumentIndex is always unique to the document.  If you need more help with this HYPERLINK function, read about it in the Excel documentation.  Here's an example that can go in cell R2, change the Url address if yours is different:

      =HYPERLINK("https://webaps.ellsworth.com/edl/?myrecords=false&deleted=true&alias=" & B2, B2)

      The myrecords and deleted parameters control the two checkboxes instructing the search engine to look in all records (not just "My Records") and include the deleted items.  The alias parameter tells it to look for a document record with a DocumentIndex (referred as alias here) equal to what is in cell B2.

   3. Editing the Document

      Once you find the document records you want to manage, editing the document record requires first clicking the Detail button on that document record row.  If you're already logged in and are a member of the Librarians role, you will see an Edit button in the new detail dialog.  Click Edit to open a new page with all the edit options.  Don't worry; if you filled in an elaborate search to find your documents, your settings are saved when you click the Search tab to return.

      If you want to create a new document record, make sure to have all your information available since the wizard is strict on completeness.  To start a new document, hover your mouse pointer over the Librarians menu and click the New Document selection.

      Document editing uses a wizard to guide you through the process and ensure all required properties are completed correctly.  The document area in the middle of the Library Document Manager page is the starting point for the wizard.  Click the Edit button in that section to manage the document index, title, topic, revision and expiration dates, and the document detail supplemental message.  The document index must be unique to the database, that is, no two document records can have the same index.  That's why the index editing feature requires the extra step of clicking the index edit image button before modifying the value.  Placing a check in the Internal checkbox flags this document record as internal making it invisible to public user.

      The buttons at the bottom of the dialog box let you mark the document record for deletion, restore a deleted document record, completely destroy the document record, save it, and cancel editing altogether.  The Delete/Destroy buttons will prompt you for confirmation before performing the task.  Once you confirm "Yes" to the action, the edit dialog will close.  Since this is a two-panel process, the save button starts as "Next" and changes to "Save" when the detail portion is displayed.

   4. Editing the Publisher

      When you're completed with the document section and no publisher is defined, the wizard will automatically open the publisher edit panel.  Click the Edit button in the publisher section to open the editor dialog manually.

      WARNING: Modifying a publisher name changes it for every document record that references this publisher.  Carefully read the bulleted instructions before clicking the Save button.

      This dialog lets you modify the publisher name or create a new publisher entry.  Enter your publisher name and (optional but recommended) web page address and click Save.  If there is a question whether your publisher entry references another existing entry, a list of publisher entries will be presented and you will be given a choice.  Read the bulleted instructions and respond accordingly.

   5. Editing the Language File

      This is the most important piece of a document record definition.  The language file is the book in this library.  Without a language file defined for the document record, the document is not searchable.  This dialog appears after completing either of the document or publisher sections if there are no language files defined.  This dialog also opens after the publisher section in the new document wizard.

      The Document Language dialog provides spaces to enter the book title, select a language, and upload a file.  All sections are required before clicking the Save button.  The book title defaults to the parent document title; but it's a good idea to change it to match the language culture if applicable.

      Just like with editing the document section, this section provides you with the option to flag a book for deletion, permanently destroy it, save it, or cancel from the dialog.  It is different from the document section in that the Delete button will not appear if there are no un-deleted books available.  The wizard will not allow you to leave this box until there is at least one un-deleted book for this document.

3. Document Notes

   Any member of the Librarians role can contribute to Notes for any document record.  These notes can be emailed or just saved.  Any Librarians role member can read any note.  Notes cannot be deleted at the user interface.

   To create or view notes, click the Notes button at the top of the Library Document Manager page.  If this is the first note for this document, a new note form will appear.  If there are existing notes, a list of all notes with subject, date, and author will appear.

   In the note list you'll see a View button next to each row.  Click that button to view the note contents.  This list is arranged by date saved (Created) with the most recent on top.  It can be arranged by any field by clicking the corresponding field header.

   At the bottom of both the note list and view panels is a New button.  Click the New button to create a new note.  A Notes button appears at the bottom of the edit and view panels to return to the list.

   If you don't address your Note to any recipient, the note will just be saved with the document.  Adding recipients implies that you wish to email the note along with saving it with the document record.

   At the top of the edit form is a note recipient textbox and an Add button next to it.  If you wish to email this note, enter your recipient's name or email address in that text box and click Add (or press the <Enter> key).  If your recipient is found in the company directory, you'll see that person's name appear at the top of the recipients list.  If the information you entered in the recipient box resolves to more than one person, you'll be presented with some matches from which you can select your desired recipient.  If your recipient cannot be resolve, nothing will happen except the recipient textbox will be cleared.

   If you accidentally added a recipient, simply click the recipient row in the list and it will be removed.

   The note subject is optional.  If you leave it blank, the application will populate it with the first 40 characters of your message.

   The note body is pre-populated with instructions and links to both the document file download and document record detail.  Those are useful when reviewing the note in an email message.  Enter the rest of your message and click the Save button to Save/send the note.

4. Document Audit

   A detailed record is kept for every action modifying a document record.  This can be viewed by any librarian and cannot be modified.  Click the Audit button to show a list of all activity.  This list is arranged by date with the most recent audit entry on top.  It can be arranged by any field by clicking on the corresponding field header.