Creating and editing briefcase formats

In addition to the BlueCielo proprietary briefcase format, users can work with briefcases in alternative formats that you can define. A briefcase format specifies the command lines invoked by Meridian to use third-party programs to add documents to or extract documents from briefcases. This allows you to use any archive program for creating briefcases compatible with Meridian. By default, Meridian includes alternative briefcase formats that use WinZIP and WinRAR.

Note

To be compatible with Meridian as an alternative briefcase format, a third-party program must support a command-line interface.
If the BrcEvent_BeforeCreate VBScript event is used to automate the naming of briefcases, then when the value of Briefcase.Path is set in that procedure, the user is not prompted to select a path and name for the new briefcase. Also, the file extension in the Path property will determine the briefcase file format. The format definition with a name that matches the file extension will be used instead of the format specified in the Format setting of the template that is specified in the Briefcase.TemplateName property. Consequently, there should only be one format defined for each possible file extension, its name should be the same as the file extension, and only one template should specify that format. For more information about automating briefcase naming, see the BlueCielo Meridian Enterprise VBScript API Reference.

To create or edit a briefcase format:

In Configurator, expand Environment in the configuration tree and select Application Link Settings. The settings for each link appear in property pages in the right pane.

Click the Briefcases tab. The briefcase settings page appears in the right pane.

Click the Edit button to modify the settings.

Tip To export the settings file to your computer, click the Export button. This can be useful if you would rather edit the file in your favorite text editor. You can then copy your changes to the Clipboard and paste them into Configurator.

Locate the Formats definitions section indicated by a commented line that begins with a semicolon. This section lists the different briefcase formats included in the configuration.

To edit a briefcase format:

Locate the format name that you want to edit. For example, to edit the options for the format named MyFormat, locate the section that begins with [MyFormat].

To create a new briefcase format:

Copy an existing briefcase format (including its name in square brackets and all settings up to the next briefcase format name in square brackets) to an empty line at the end of the Formats definitions section, and change the format name to a name of your choice.

Edit each setting using the descriptions in the following table, the comments in the configuration text, and the documentation for the third-party program that will produce the briefcase.

Click OK to save your changes.

Briefcase format settings
Option	Description
Name	The name of the briefcase format as you want it to appear to users.
AddTo	The command line to run to add documents to an archive file. To specify the command-line parameters of the third-party program, use the variables described in the following table.
Extract	The command line to run to extract documents from an archive file. To specify the command-line parameters of the third-party program, use the variables described in the following table.
Remove	The command line to run to remove documents from an archive file. To specify the command-line parameters of the third-party program, use the variables described in the following table.

Briefcase format settings

Option

Description

Name

The name of the briefcase format as you want it to appear to users.

AddTo

The command line to run to add documents to an archive file. To specify the command-line parameters of the third-party program, use the variables described in the following table.

Extract

The command line to run to extract documents from an archive file. To specify the command-line parameters of the third-party program, use the variables described in the following table.

Remove

The command line to run to remove documents from an archive file. To specify the command-line parameters of the third-party program, use the variables described in the following table.

The following table describes the variables passed by Meridian to each command line.

Briefcase format setting variables
Option	Description
%WinZipDir%	A system variable created during the installation of WinZIP. If the third-party program you use might be installed in different locations on client computers, set the location in a system variable to use a common command line. You can use any system variable.
%Password%	The password that is typed by the user during briefcase generation.
%Archive%	The briefcase file name including the path.
%Folder%	When a briefcase file is created, it is first created in the user’s local temporary directory. It is then moved to the directory specified by this variable.

Briefcase format setting variables

Option

Description

%WinZipDir%

A system variable created during the installation of WinZIP. If the third-party program you use might be installed in different locations on client computers, set the location in a system variable to use a common command line. You can use any system variable.

%Password%

The password that is typed by the user during briefcase generation.

%Archive%

The briefcase file name including the path.

%Folder%

When a briefcase file is created, it is first created in the user’s local temporary directory. It is then moved to the directory specified by this variable.