Configuring linking to folders

Besides the explicit method of linking documents to objects that is described in Indirect linking using object references, the Asset Management Module also supports implicitly linking a set of objects to all of the documents that reside in the same folder. After it has been properly configured, this implicit method makes it fast and easy to link a document to many objects in a single step. This can be very useful if the documents in a vault are organized in a folder structure that reflects a plant breakdown structure (PBS) and if the documents in each folder are typically related to the same set of asset objects.

The Asset Management Module provides this feature through a special proxy document that users can create in any folder that will contain normal documents. Users manually link the proxy document to the objects (that typically reside elsewhere in the vault) that they also want to be linked to the normal documents that reside in the same folder with the proxy document. The proxy document represents all of the documents in the folder with regard to the relationships with the objects. This is because references are not supported literally for folders in Meridian Enterprise. When a normal document is created in that folder, the objects that are linked to the proxy document are assumed by the Asset Management Module to also be linked to the other documents in the folder. No literal reference exists between the normal documents and the objects. It is only by the association of the normal documents with the proxy document in the parent folder that the references are implied.

You configure this feature by creating a proxy document type and specifying that document type in the Asset Management Module configuration.

The reverse direction is also supported although differently. That is, the Asset Management Module also supports implicitly linking documents to all of the objects that reside in the same folder. This is supported when you implement two VBScript functions, one that enables the feature and one that identifies the object that is the main tag in the folder.

Other VBScript functions are available that make the Objects and Where Used property pages appear on the parent folders in both of the preceding scenarios. Uses can view these pages to see lists of the related documents or objects without having to find the proxy document or main tag object. From a user's perspective, the documents and objects can appear as though they are linked to folders. Another benefit of this feature is that documents added to or removed from a folder will automatically appear or disappear, respectively, from the Objects or Where Used property pages.

Configuring these features are described in the following topics.