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Oracle Files

Oracle Files is a hosted content management application that supports user collaboration and file sharing. Oracle Files provides a sophisticated, Web-based user interface that enables users to easily share files of any kind with others in a workspace or across an enterprise.

Oracle Files Concepts and Features

This chapter provides a high-level overview of Oracle Files end-user concepts, features and functionality.

Three Levels of Administration

In Oracle Files, there are three levels of administration:

• The Subscriber Administrator, an enhanced user, is responsible for the management of quota, the specification of Subscriber settings, the administration of users, the restoration of files, folders, and workspaces, and the administration of categories.
• The Site Administrator is responsible for Subscriber management and creates, modifies, and deletes Subscribers. The Site Administrator can manage one or more Subscribers.
• The System Administrator is responsible for managing the Oracle Files domain, starting and stopping the domain controller, the nodes, and the service and servers, and tuning the system to ensure reliability and performance.

  See Also: Oracle Files Administration Guide for more information about administering Oracle Files

Workspaces

A workspace is where a selected group of Oracle Files users store and collaborate on files and folders. The content of a workspace is visible and editable only by its members. A workspace includes at least one administrator, and can include participants and viewers.

Workspace Access Levels

• Workspace Administrator: The role of the workspace administrator is to manage the workspace. The management role includes such functions as adding and removing workspace members, modifying member access, requesting more workspace quota, and specifying the visibility and workspace type. The workspace administrator has full access to the files and folders of the workspace, and can unlock files that have been locked by other workspace members.
• Participant: A workspace participant can edit the contents and properties of files and folders in the workspace. A workspace participant can copy and move items to and from the workspace, and can delete files and folders from the workspace, and the workspace's Trash folder.
• Viewer: A workspace viewer is restricted to viewing workspace files and folders.

Workspace Quota

Each workspace is allocated a quota. The contents of each workspace, including its Public folder and Trash folder, count against the workspace's allocated quota. Exceeding the workspace's quota prevents the workspace members from storing additional content into the workspace. The workspace's administrators can, however, request that the Subscriber Administrator increase the workspace's quota.

See Also: "Workspace Management" in the Oracle Files online help for detailed information

File Management

Each user has a My Public Files folder where he or she can store files, viewable by all Subscriber users.

Each user has a My Private Files folder where only he or she can access, store, and view files.

See Also: "File Management" in the Oracle Files online help for detailed information

Searching

Users can conduct simple or advanced searches. Advanced searching lets users refine and combine search criteria. In addition, as part of the Oracle Collaboration Suite, users can use the Collaboration Suite Search, an application that lets users search any and all configured applications in the Oracle Collaboration Suite.

See Also: "Search Options" in the Oracle Files online help for detailed information

Categories

By associating categories with files or folders and modifying the attributes of a category, users can organize and classify their information. Users can also search for files by category.

See Also: "Categories" in the Oracle Files online help for detailed information

Versioning

Users can retain a history of file modifications by creating and saving one or more snapshots of a file.

See Also: "Versioning" in the Oracle Files online help for detailed information

Review Process

Users can submit files for review, and select users to approve, reject, or just review these files.

The backbone of a review process in Oracle Files is Oracle Workflow. Using a review process, any workspace member can submit for review one or more files from their workspace to other members of their workspace. A review process ends in the approval or rejection of these files, or can expire or be cancelled prior to their approval or rejection. Members can either be Approvers or Reviewers of a review process:

• Approver: After receiving notification from Oracle Workflow that he or she has been asked to approve one or more files, an Approver must either approve or reject the files that have been submitted for review. An Approver cannot approve or reject individual files associated with one Review Process, but must approve or reject the files as a whole. The workspace member, who initiated the Review Process, is notified of its approval or rejection.
• Reviewer: After receiving notification from Oracle Workflow that he or she has been asked to review one or more files, a Reviewer can review the files. He or she can neither approve or reject files that have been submitted for review.

When you complete the Review Process, the initiator is notified of the approval or rejection of the Review Process.

See Also: "Review Processes and Workflow" in the Online Help for Oracle Files for detailed information

Trash

Files deleted in Private and Public folders are moved to Personal Trash. Files deleted in workspaces are moved to a corresponding Trash folder. A user can request to restore files that have been emptied from their trash.

See Also: "File Management" in the Oracle Files online help for detailed information

Edit-in-Place

Using Microsoft Web Folders, a user can open and edit an Oracle Files workspace file and save his or her changes directly back to Oracle Files. When a user opens a workspace file from Microsoft Web Folders to edit in Microsoft Office, the file is automatically locked in Oracle Files. Any changes made to the file are automatically saved back to Oracle Files. When the user closes the file in Microsoft Office, the file is automatically unlocked in Oracle Files.

See Also: "File Management" in the Oracle Files online help for detailed information

Oracle FileSync

Oracle FileSync synchronizes all file changes between a local machine and Oracle Files, ensuring that the contents of selected local folders and remote folders match.

See Also: "FAQ" in the Oracle Files online help for detailed information