Handling Documents

Right clicking on a file pops-up a command menu enabling you to manage the document.

Open document

Files can be opened directly from Fred by clicking the "Open" command or by double clicking the file. The file will be downloaded to a local copy and opened in the appropriate application.

Move document

By simple drag and drop you can move files to any location in the tree. Notice that you need to have the appropriate rights to execute a move. You need at minimum file creation rights in the receiving folder and file deletion rights in the original parent folder.

Viewing metadata

By clicking on the triangle left to the file you can expand or collapse the overview of all the metadata linked to the file.

In the example above you will see that this is a Document type "Invoice Document" which has the standard metadata field (creation date, creator, …), some specific metadata fields(project name, invoice reference, customer name) and is versioned.

Viewing metadata of Multiple documents

All metadata fields as defined in the Alfresco document model can be selected as a column in the Fred window. This allows you to sort the files. See '11 Handling views' for more information.

Copy Document

Files can be copied from within the Fred window to any other application. Copying files will make a copy on the desktop clip board.
A second way for copying files is to drag and drop a file from the Fred window onto another application window (ex. Explorer, Word document, an e-mail …).

Copy a Download link to a file

Provided that the receiving users have access to the Alfresco repository, it is more appropriate not to copy the file into an e-mail communication but to copy a link to the document using "Copy Link address". This avoids the multiplication of identical information in the organization.
You can also use "Copy" to paste a document as link into another folder. Once the link is copied, right click on the folder you want to put it into and choose "Paste as Shortcut" (File menu).

Notice that in the Info Column, the file in indicated as 'File Link Object'. If you want to see the details of the document, you can jump to the folder in which the document is located and see the metadata details.

Mail as attachment

"Mail as attachment" allow you to send a document as attachment by email, directly from Fred.

The document will automatically appear as an attachment in a new email.

Rename file

  • To rename a file, click "Rename".
  • Enter the new name of the file and push Enter.

Delete files

To delete a file click "Delete" . If you do not have the appropriate rights, this command will be disabled.
You can delete a selection of multiple files.
You will be able to restore the file by clicking on 'Window\Recycle Bin'.

Adding a file

You can simply add any kind of file to the Alfresco repository by dragging and dropping the file from the desktop application onto any folder in the Fred window.

The file will be uploaded into Alfresco and you will have to indicate which type of document this file is. In case the document has a general nature, you can use the base document type selected by default.

Based upon the document type selected, a set of metadata fields will appear. According to the rules defined by your organization, some fields might be mandatory and others might be optional. In the case below the document type is an Proposal and the required field are Proposal Reference and Proposal Status.

At the bottom of the metadata field related to the document type, a list with optional groups of metadata fields is presented. It is for the user to judge if these optional metadata fields are relevant to the document and if it should be added to the document.

  • Click on "Save" to finish the uploading of the file into the Alfresco repository.

Following applications allow drag and drop of content into Fred and are tested and supported by XeniT:

  • Desktop
  • MS Explorer
  • MS Outlook 2003 and 2007

Many other applications might support the drag and drop of content and could be able to interact with Fred. You can make a first test by checking if the application allows to drag and drop the file (including content) into MS Explorer or onto your desktop. Next step is to test the drag and drop into Fred.

Adding multiple files

You can select multiple files and drag and drop them in group onto Fred.

During the upload process, you can define the document type and the metadata you want to provide to the documents in group or individually. See 10.2.10 "Adding a file" for more information on selecting document type and metadata. At the end of the upload process you will have to click on the Save button to complete the process.

Edit metadata

Edit Metadata will open the window to edit the metadata field values. You can further detail the document type and/or add additional optional metadata groups. The steps are described in 10.2.10 "Adding a file".

Pushing metadata to the documents

Fred enables Alfresco to write server metadata values to the according metadata fields in documents (MS office, Open office). Changing metadata values of a document in Alfresco will change the value in the according metadata field in the document.
You can create a document template which uses metadata fields to create the content. Using the above described mechanism, one can further automate/assist the creation of documents. Some examples: creation of a corporate document reference number, meeting date, meeting subject.

Refresh metadata

A file presented in the tree view shows the metadata of that document at specific time. If another user has updated the metadata, this will be updated in your view the next time you refresh the folder content (see 10.1.2). You can enforce a refresh of the metadata by clicking "Refresh" on the folder.

Edit offline

Check-out and check-in are two important functions in a Document Management System (DMS):

  • Check-Out: you are locking the document for other users and make a "Working Copy" of the document to be edited. The users will still be able to open the locked document, but they will not be able to modify the document on the DMS. You will be able to modify the "Working Copy" of the document
  • Check-in: when you have finished the modifications on the document, you can check-in the document into the original document. This will update the original document, remove the "Working Copy" and unlock the original document. Now the document is again available to others for modification.

The edit offline command combines a Check-Out and the download/opening of the working copy.
The Edit Offline command in Fred will:

  • Lock the document
  • Create a working copy of the original document
  • Download that working copy to your local drive
  • Open the working copy for editing.


The working copy is copied to a Fred folder on your local hard drive. This folder is defined in settings (repository tab) of Fred.

After editing the document you can simply save the local working copy of the document.
When you want to continue working on the working copy after you have closed the local copy, you can reopen the local copy by double clicking the working copy in Fred or by clicking the "Edit Working Copy" command.

You do not need to drag and drop or upload the working copy to Fred. With the "Update Main Document" command you will:

  • Upload the local working copy to Alfresco
  • Update the master (locked) document with the new edited document
  • Unlock the master document

With the Discard changes command you will be able to unlock the main document and remove the working copy including any changes you have applied to the document.

Working copies

Clicking on the "Windows\Working Copies" menu will open a new Tab.
The Working Copies tab will show all working copies of documents you have currently checked out.

In this tab you can:

  • Synchronize the local working copy with the working copy on the Alfresco server
  • Check-in the document at which Fred will take the most recent version of the working copy and check it in.
  • Discard the changes at which the working copy will be removed and the original document will be unlocked.

Preview document

Clicking the "Preview" will open the preview of the document in a separate tab.

This command will not be enabled when no preview is available on a document. Contact your administrator to enable previews for specific document types in Alfresco.

Enable versioning

Versioning of a document can be activated through the Fred interface. By default a document is not versionable in the Alfresco repository.

When uploading the same document (same name) you will be asked to upload a new version or to cancel uploading.

Show version history

Once a document is made "versionable", the command "Show Version History" becomes available.

With this command you can see the list of all versions of the document. Every version can be opened individually. You cannot upload documents in this list.

Show File in Alfresco browser

The "Show in Browser" command enables you to jump from the Fred window to the Alfresco Web interface. This enables you to view more file details and use the all functionalities available in Alfresco.

File permissions

Similar as to Folder permissions, you can read and set permissions on files.
See "10.1.12 Folder permissions" for more information.

Multi document functionality

Some commands in the file menu are available when you select multiple folders: "Open", "Edit Offline", "Copy", "Copy Link Address", "Show in Browser", "

", "Properties", "Mail as attachment" and "Preview", for all the documents at the same time.
You can edit metadata of multiple documents at the same time. You will be asked if you want to edit all documents at once or individual. Click yes and you will be able to change the metadata for all the documents at the same time. Be aware that only documents from the same document type have the same metadata fields.