[Linux-aus] Open Source DMS- folder structures

[Anestis Kozakis]

On 20 August 2010 12:55, Tim Bowden <tim.bowden at westnet.com.au> wrote:

>> A metadata based revision systrem (like TRIM EDMS) allows one version
>> fo the document with previous revisions able to access from the
>> record.  Permissions can then be applied to the record to limit
>> access, or allow global access.
>>
>> >        Daniel
>>
>> [snip]
>
> I can see the problem you're talking about, though I'm not convinced
> removing folders eliminates that problem.  Using metadata tags to index
> docs surely won't completely eliminated duplicates?

At the risk of repeating myselg, look at the way a commercial EDMS
called TRIM does things.  Each document is contained in a record.  To
edit a document you check it out, make changes, and then check it back
in.  Thus a new revision is created within the record.  Previous
revisions can be accessed, exported, promoted to be the current
revision and removed.

>  How tightly do you
> need to control the use of tags?  Do you have a pre-configured set that
> has to be chosen from?  In a sense a file system is really just a series
> of hierarchical  meta-tags with the limitation of only being able to add
> one tag per level (unless you use symlinks which would get ugly to
> manage anyway).

Tags can be private (which emans created by the user themselves and
only visible to them) or shared (belonging toa  group and thus fixed).

> Another aspect of folders (both good and bad) is that users (mostly)
> understand it.  Indeed perhaps rusted on to the idea if Terry's anecdote
> is anything to go by.  The upside is you're not trying to teach
> something completely alien in one big bang.  The downside is they may
> resist moving beyond the "file system" aspect of the DMS.
>
> One of the questions I have about how DMS's work is are the folder
> representations just an on the fly creation (RESTful style?) using
> metadata tags as we see with some web CMS's?.  Possibly not,
> particularly with older DMS apps, but I suspect it's an idea worth
> pursuing.

The one that has been implemented in my workplace, which is a web
frontend to TRIM, allows the creation of trays.  There are two types:

1] Search trays.  You do a search specifrying various metadata
criteria and save the tray as a search tray.  Any new records that
match the search criteria will be added to the search tray.

2] Tag tray.  Tag records with a particular tag name and save the
tray.  To add new records tot he tray just add the approrpiate tag to
the record.

> Either way, at some point you've got to present the docs through a file
> system interface as that's the lowest common denominator as far as
> editing or creation applications go and then you're back to the
> duplicate file problem as far as I can see.

All the metadata is stored in a database.  The documents themselves
would certainly exist in a folder or directory somewhere, although I'm
not sure if TRIM does this or stores the documents in the database as
well.

> I'll start another thread with my full use case as the problem I'm
> trying to solve is a bit wider than just a DMS.
>
> Regards,
> Tim Bowden

Anestis.
-- 
Anestis Kozakis | kenosti at gmail.com | http://www.akozakis.id.au/