4.6 Understanding Filr Operations

The following sections provide information about the various Filr operations:

4.6.1 Filr Operations Summary Matrix

Operation	Folders	Files
Comment		✓
Get file link		✓
Get Filr information	✓	✓
Make available offline	✓	✓
Make available online only	✓	✓
Share	*✓	✓
Synchronize now	**✓	**✓
Undo local changes	***✓	***✓
* You cannot share folders from within Net Folders. You can synchronize only offline files and folders. * You can undo local changes only if the changes made to offline files have not yet synchronized with the server.

4.6.2 Make Available Offline

Filr downloads the selected file or the selected folder and its contents to your local disk.

Available-offline files and folders are periodically synchronized with Filr so that you can access them on your local disk, even when you are not logged in to Filr.

To make a file or folder available offline:

Right-click the file or the folder.
Click More filr options > Make available offline.

4.6.3 Make Available Online Only

Filr removes the copy of the file or folder from the local disk. However, the file or folder remains online.

NOTE:You can make individual files and folders online. However, you cannot directly make a file that is within an offline folder to be available online. To make such a file online, you must make the folder online.

To make a file or folder available online only:

Right-click the file or the folder.
Click More filr options > Make available online-only.

4.6.4 Remove Cache Files

When an online file, which is not yet available offline, is accessed either by an application or by double-clicking, a copy of the file is cached locally. You can specify how long locally cached files are retained after they were last accessed. For more information, see Removing Cache Files.

4.6.5 Synchronize Now

Synchronizes the selected files and folders that are available offline to the Filr server.

To synchronize specific offline file or folder, right-click the file or folder and click More filr options > Synchronize now.
To synchronize all offline files and folders, right-click the Filr icon in the Windows system tray and click Synchronize now.

4.6.6 Undo Local Changes

To revert any changes made to a file or folder that cannot be synchronized to the Filr server, do the following:

Right-click the file or the folder.
Click More filr options > Undo local changes.

4.6.7 Viewing Filr Files from Your Computer

Click the Filr icon in the notification area.

or

Right-click the Filr icon in the notification area, then click Open Filr folder.

You can access the Filr folder directly from your file system. The Filr folder is typically in the following location:

c:\Users\username\Filr

The Filr folder is also located in your Favorites.

For information on how to change the default location, see Storage.

For specific information about file synchronization between your workstation and Filr, see Understanding Synchronization.

4.6.8 Manually Synchronizing Offline Files and Folders

You can manually synchronize files and folders between Filr and your computer if you do not want to wait for the scheduled synchronization. Files must be closed before they can be synchronized.

To manually synchronize all your files:

Right-click the Filr icon in the notification area, then click Synchronize now.

To manually synchronize an individual file or folder:

Navigate to the file or folder that you want to synchronize.
Right-click the file or folder, then click More filr options >Synchronize now.

4.6.9 Launching Filr in a Browser from the Filr Desktop

You can launch Filr in a browser by using the Filr desktop application.

Right-click the Filr icon in the notification area, then click Visit Filr on the web.

4.6.10 Commenting on a File and Viewing Comments

You can comment on a file or view the comments only if your Filr administrator has enabled you to do so.

Navigate to the file that you want to comment on or view comments for.
Right-click the file, then click Comment.

The Filr Comments dialog box is displayed, listing all existing comments that are associated with the file.
In the comment field, specify your comment, then click Send.

or

To reply to an existing comment, click the Reply icon next to the comment that you want to reply to, then click Send.

4.6.11 Sharing A File or Folder

Filr provides various methods of making files and folders available to others. How you decide to make files available might depend on various factors, such as the sensitivity of the information you are sharing or the relevance of information to certain individuals.

Sharing with individual users and groups: Sharing lets you share files and folders with specific users and groups internal to your organization or with specific users external to your organization. When you share a file or folder, you also assign one of the shared-access rights defined in Understanding Shared-Access Rights in the Filr 3.4: User Access Guide.

Sharing with specific users and groups provides the greatest level of security for your files and folders. Users receive a notification about the shared item, and the item is displayed in their Shared with Me area.

For more information, see Sharing Files and Folders in the Filr 3.4: User Access Guide.
Distributing a File Link: You can distribute a link (URL) to a file. When you distribute a link to a file, any user with the link can access the file. However, the file is not displayed in the Public area, so users must have direct access to the link to view the file.

For information about how to distribute a File Link, see Distributing a Link to a File in the Filr 3.4: User Access Guide.
Sharing with the Public: When you share an item with the Public, any person with the URL to the Filr site can view the file in the Public area.

For information about how to share files and folders with the Public, see Sharing Files and Folders in the Filr 3.4: User Access Guide.

You can share files and folders directly from the Filr desktop application:

Navigate to the file or folder that you want to share.
Right-click the file or folder, then click Share.

The Filr Share dialog box is displayed.
In the Add a User, Group, or Email option, begin typing the name of a user or group that you want to share with, then click the name when it appears in the drop-down list.

or

Specify the complete email address of the external user that you want to share with, then press Enter.
(Optional) Repeat Step 3 to share with additional users.
(Conditional) To modify access settings for an individual user:
1. In the Shared with section, select the user whose access settings you want to modify.
2. Choose from the following access settings to modify:
  
  Access Rights: Grant Viewer, Editor, or Contributor access rights. (Contributor applies only to folders.)
  
  Expires: Specify when the share will expire.
  
  You can configure the share to expire either after a given number of days (each day is counted as a 24-hour period from the time that you set the expiration) or on a specific day (rights expire at the beginning of the day that you select).
  
  Internal Users: Allow share recipients to re-share the item with internal users.
  
  External Users: Allow share recipients to re-share the item with external users.
  
  All Public: Allow share recipients to re-share the item with the public.
  
  File Link: Allow share recipients to re-share the item via a File Link.
  
  For more information about File Links, see Distributing a Link to a File.
  
  Note: Include a personal note to the share recipients. Only share recipients can read the note.
(Conditional) To modify access settings for multiple users simultaneously:
1. Hold the Ctrl key and select the users in the Shared with section whose access settings you want to modify.
2. Choose from the following access settings to modify.
  
  Access settings that you leave undefined retain any individual access settings that are present on a given user. Access settings that you define are modified for each user that is currently selected.
  
  Access Rights: Grant one of the following access roles to the user or group:
  - Viewer: Users can do the following:
    
    Shared Folders: View
    
    Shared Subfolders: View
    
    Files in Folders and Subfolders: View and Read
  - Editor: Users can do the following:
    
    Shared Folders: View
    
    Shared Subfolders: View
    
    Files in Folders and Subfolders: View, Read, and Write
  - Contributor (Applies only to folders in My Files): Users can do the following:
    
    Shared Folders: View, Rename, Delete, or Copy
    
    IMPORTANT:Exercise caution when granting Contributor shared-access rights because, as stated above, share recipients can rename, copy, and even delete the folder from your My Files area.
    
    Shared Subfolders: View, Rename, Delete, Copy, and Move
    
    Files in Folders and Subfolders: View, Rename, Delete, Copy, Move, Read, and Write
  Expires: Set a date when the share will expire. The default share expiry is set to 30 days.
  
  You can configure the share to expire either after a given number of days (each day is counted as a 24-hour period from the time that you set the expiration), on a specific day (rights expire at the beginning of the day that you select), or never.
  
  Internal Users: Allow share recipients to re-share the item with internal users.
  
  External Users: Allow share recipients to re-share the item with external users.
  
  All Public: Allow share recipients to re-share the item with the public.
  
  File Link: Allow share recipients to re-share the item via a File Link.
  
  For more information about File Links, see Distributing a Link to a File.
  
  Note: Include a personal note to the share recipients. Only share recipients can read the note.
(Optional) Click Make Public to make the item publicly available. Then in the Shared with section, tap the all users user that was just added and set the access control settings for the public.
(Optional) In the Notify section, click the drop-down list and choose from the following notification options:

None: Send no notifications.

All recipients: All recipients in the share list are notified.

Only newly added recipients: Only recipients that you add to the share list are notified.

New and modified recipients: Only new recipients and those whose share rights you are modifying are notified.
(Optional) Click Share Access Report to view the share access details of the sharee.

The Access report displays the following information:
- User: Name of the user who has accessed the share
- IP Address: The IP address of the device that was used to access the share
- First Access Time: The date, time, and timezone when the share was first accessed. No information is received when the share is accessed again.
- Group: If the user has shared to a group, then the name of the group is displayed that the user is part of.
The sharer receives an email notification with access details when the share is accessed by the sharee. A report is generated per share when the following conditions are satisfied:
- Users having Filr 3.4 Advanced Edition license
- File or folder shared with Filr 3.4 or later
Click Save.

4.6.12 Distributing a Link to a File

You can distribute a link (URL) to a file. When you distribute a link to a file, any user with the link can access the file. However, the file is not displayed in the Public area, so users must have direct access to the link in order to access the file.

Navigate to the file or folder for which you want to distribute a link.
Right-click the file or folder, then click Get File Link.

The File Link dialog box is displayed.

If a File Link has not been previously generated for the file, click Get File link.

The following URLs are created for accessing the file:

Download File Link: Depending on browser settings, users are either prompted to download or open the file, or the file is automatically displayed in the browser. This link allows users to access the file directly.

View File Link: This link displays the file in a web browser in an HTML view. If the file type cannot be displayed in a web browser, this link is not available.

The File Link is now included in the Share dialog. You can modify the expiration date or note associated with the link, or you can remove the link so that the file is no longer accessible to users with the link by accessing the Share dialog, as described in Sharing A File or Folder.
(Optional) Click the drop-down arrow next to Expires to set a date for the share to expire.

You can configure the share to expire either after a given number of days (each day is counted as a 24-hour period from the time that you set the expiration) or on a specific day (rights expire at the beginning of the day that you select).
Choose from the following actions for distributing the File link:
- Copy: Allows you to select either the Download or View link to copy and copies the link to the clipboard. You can then paste the link into another application.
- Email: Uses your workstation’s default email application to email the link. Both the Download links and the View links are included in the email.
- Filr Email: Uses Filr’s built-in email system to email the link. Both the Download links and the View links are included in the email.
- Delete: Deletes the File link so that users are not able to access the file by using the current links.
(Optional) After you create the File Link, you can modify user access and perform other management functions for the File Link by accessing the Share dialog, as described in Sharing A File or Folder.

4.6.13 Viewing Filr Properties for a File or Folder

You can view the following Filr properties that are associated with your files and folders:

File name
File path (this is the path to the file or folder from within the Filr system)
File size (applies to files only, not folders)
User who created the file or folder
Date the file or folder was created
Date the file or folder was modified
User who shared the file
Users who the file is shared with

To view Filr properties for a file or folder:

Right-click the file or folder for which you want to view the Filr properties.
Click Properties to launch the native Windows properties dialog.
Click the Micro Focus Filr tab.

The Filr properties for the file or folder are displayed.
(Optional) If you have rights to share the file or folder, you can click Share to launch the Filr Share dialog box.