Work with external files
Bring non-iGrafx documents — Word, Excel, PDF, images, and other files — into the repository as External File objects. They're versioned and governed like any other item, and you can relate them to the objects they document.
Prerequisites
- The Create item permission on the folder that will hold the file, and a license that includes editing external files — see the License capability matrix.
Steps
Add a file
- Select the destination folder, then Add Object, and choose the type External File.
- In the Details step, drag the file in or select Browse, pick the version number for this check-in, and optionally add a comment, summary, and purpose.
- Click Finish. The platform scans the upload for viruses before the file becomes available.
To add several files at once, select Browse and Ctrl-click or Shift-click the files (or drag them all in) — the platform creates one External File object per file.
View a file
Open the External File object — supported file types show a preview on the file's page, and you can download the file to open it in its own application.
Update a file
External files change through check-out and check-in, like diagrams:
- Open the file and select Check Out. Others can't change it while you have it checked out.
- Select Check In, upload the new version of the file (you're warned if the file type differs from the original), pick the version number, and comment if the repository requires it. To discard your check-out instead, select Undo Check Out.
You can also check in without uploading a new file — for example to record a version with only property changes.
Relate a file to the model
External files take part in relationships — most importantly Documents: relate the file to the enterprise objects it documents on its Relationships tab, and it appears as Documented By on those objects. See Object relationships.
Limitations
- The platform virus-scans uploads and blocks a file flagged as unsafe; downloads of files that couldn't be scanned warn you first.