View file or folder metadata

The columns created for a file or folder metadata iSheet can be viewed in a few ways in the Files module:

When viewing a file in the files module, the

Details

pane displays the file metadata.

If the metadata needs to be displayed against all documents within the

Files

module, this can be set as the

Default metadata view

. Go to

Admin

>

Module settings

>

Files

and scroll down to the

Default

folder and file settings and select the required

Default metadata view

in the

Files

section.

You can then choose to apply this view to all existing files. Default folder metadata views can be applied in the same way. Once set, any

Folders

or

Files

added to the site will have the same metadata view applied.

Once applied, you can view the metadata in, for example, the Files module with Column view.

It is possible to display different sets of metadata on different folders. Whilst you can only have one

File

or

Folder

metadata iSheet active in a site at a time, you can create multiple views which can then be applied on a folder-by-folder basis.

To apply a File or Folder metadata view to a Folder, first select

More actions

, then

Edit details

.

In the

Edit folder

window, you can now use the

Folder view

or

File view

dropdown lists. Select the desired view and select

Save

.

You can apply a file or folder metadata view that has filters configured, but such filters will restrict the folder and file list when viewed in the files module column view. For example, if the file metadata view has a filter to only show items where 'Document type' is equal to 'Contract', then the list of files in the main panel will contain only files that match this criteria, even though the folder file count on the folder panel indicates there are more files.

A user could select another view from the

View

, either the

List view

or

Thumbnail view

to access and view the other files.

File and folder metadata iSheets are a useful place to use

conditional columns

, to allow you to vary which input fields are displayed when a certain type of file or folder is added.

For example, you could create a site to manage real estate leases with folders for commercial leases and retail leases. The two types of leases need different sets of data fields to be tracked so you could set up a choice column called 'Type of Lease' with the choices for 'Commercial' or 'Retail'.

Depending upon which lease type a user selects, column conditions display appropriate columns, ready to be filled in.