Hi,
I am testing some features and reading some documentation; however, I am still confused about how versioning works. I would like to generate new versions of the same file based on the file name, and not the checksum or creation date/time. The idea itself is for the files to be edited in Word, generate a PDF of the file, and every time I replace this PDF file, I would like it to create a new version, not just duplicate the file with the modification.
Hi,
I’m sorry I don’t understand the goal you want to achieve. Can you rephrase your question?
Based on what I think you are trying to achieve in this part here:
I would like to generate new versions of the same file based on the file name, and not the checksum or creation date/time.
Is to create multiple versions of the same uploaded file.
However here you mention what I think is the contrary:
The idea itself is for the files to be edited in Word, generate a PDF of the file, and every time I replace this PDF file, I would like it to create a new version, not just duplicate the file with the modification.
Which is to create a new version from each file uploaded to the same document. This is the default when you add a new file to an existing document without uploading it as a new document.
Thank you for the clarification. Let me rephrase my question. But first, let me provide the current scenario:
I have a Word document located outside the EDMS structure. I want to generate a PDF file from this Word document. Therefore, I would like to automatically upload this PDF file to the EDMS, whether it’s a watch_folder, staging_folder, or any available option.
At a later date, I might make some changes to this Word document. In that case, I would export it again and replace the existing PDF file (to maintain the same name).
Currently, what the EDMS does is upload this file as a new one. However, what I would like it to do is either replace the original file or create a version of it. In this case, the generated PDF file would have the same name, but since it’s a new file from the system’s perspective, the creation date and checksum are different.
Is it possible to replace the original file with the new one (having the same name but a different checksum and creation date), or create a new version of the original file considering only the title, which remains the same?
Note: In my scenario, ALL PDFs are stored in a single folder. Therefore, it’s impossible for the PDFs to have the same name. Also, I don’t want EDMS to remove the files inside that folder.
Please keep in mind that this folder contains over 1k PDFs, and any versioning, re-upload, or other processes need to be automated since it would be impossible to handle them on a file-by-file basis manually.
Currently, what the EDMS does is upload this file as a new one. However, what I would like it to do is either replace the original file or create a version of it. In this case, the generated PDF file would have the same name, but since it’s a new file from the system’s perspective, the creation date and checksum are different.
If when you mention “file as a new one”, you refer to the “Document”, then that is not the case. If you refer to the “Document file” then, yes that is the case because this is a different binary file and cannot have the same checksum.
The checksum is determined by the binary file of the document, the “Document file”. However the Document identifier will not change regardless of the document files uploaded.
Knowledge base article: Unique document identifiers
This is why we are have the vocabulary we do to ensure the correct object is referred.
These are all different objects in Mayan EDMS.
This is how Mayan is able to handle so many different document operating mode including Document archiving.
Knowledge base article: Document end of life archival
Is it possible to replace the original file with the new one (having the same name but a different checksum and creation date), or create a new version of the original file considering only the title, which remains the same?
Yes, this is very close to how Mayan works. But this question seems to contradict the previous one.
See the screenshots in my first reply which show a single document having multiple files and multiple versions. You can then delete the document files you no longer need and just keep the latest one.
Also, I don’t want EDMS to remove the files inside that folder.
This is not possible with Mayan. Documents uploaded will be under the control of Mayan. You can keeping the original documents in their original locations but Mayan will work with its copy of the uploaded files.
Attempting to keep the original files in their original location and have the software only use the original files is not scalable and not really a DMS but more of a web interface to a disk folder. This is the paradigm employed by DMS other that Mayan. It is very limited and will not work at a scale, much less in an multi user environment.
This is explained in the Knowledge base article: How storage works?
