Exporting Documents and Importing Exported Documents (managed export)

When you need to send documents to someone who does not have ProjectWise, you can either email them a copy of the document(s) directly from ProjectWise Explorer, or you can export those documents from ProjectWise Explorer to a folder outside of ProjectWise.

Email may be ideal when you only need to send one or two documents, but export may be a better option if you are sending multiple documents, or if the document you are sending has attachments because export will download the master document and all its attachments. Also, export is required if you need to have those documents edited, so that you can later import the changes back to ProjectWise.

Use Document > Export when you want to export individually selected documents, and use Folder > Export when you want to export an entire folder or work area of documents. Each method opens a wizard that walks you through the process of exporting documents.

In either wizard, there are two types of export you can perform: managed and unmanaged. Both types of export download copies of the selected documents, however a managed export (simply labeled Export in the wizard) will lock the selected documents so that no other user can check them out or export them while you have them locked, while an unmanaged export (labeled Send to Folder in the wizard) does not lock any documents. After performing a managed export, for you the document's icon changes to a diskette, while other users will see a lock icon. The document’s icon does not change after performing an unmanaged export. Once the documents are downloaded you can zip up the files on the file system and send them out for editing or review as needed.

To perform a managed export of a document, the document must have a Checked In status, and you must have Read, File Read, and File Write security permissions to that document. To perform an unmanaged export, you simply need access to the document, and it does not need to be checked in.

After performing a managed export, and the exported documents are returned from being edited, your next step is to import them back into ProjectWise. An import is essentially a check in, but for exported documents.

Note: You do not need to return an exported document to its original export folder before importing. When importing a document from its original export folder, the local copy of the document is deleted after import. When importing a document from a location other than its original export folder, the local copy of the document is not deleted after import.

Note: If you perform a managed export of a folder and edit the exported documents such that local paths are affected (for example, you attach one exported document as a reference to another), then after you import the documents back to ProjectWise you will need to run a reference and link set scan on the imported documents in order to correct the paths.

Exporting selected documents

Select one or more documents.
Select Document > Export.
The Document Export Wizard opens.
Select Export and click Next.
On the Define the export settings page, do the following:
1. In the Export folder field, specify where you want to export the documents.
  You can either click Browse to select the local or network folder to which to export the documents, or enter the path to that folder in the Export folder field. If the folder you specify does not exist, it will be created upon export.
  
  ProjectWise remembers the last location you exported to using this wizard, and displays the path to this folder in the Export folder field the next time you use the wizard. If you have deleted that folder, clicking Browse prompts you to create the folder again. Click OK to create the folder, or click Cancel to select a different export location.
2. If available, enter some comment about the export in the Export comment field, or select a previous export comment from the Previous Comments list.
3. Click Next.
Of the selected documents, those eligible for export are exported to the export folder, and the results are displayed in the wizard.
Click Finish.

Note: Whether or not change comments are optional or required (or possible at all) on export is controlled by the user settings Audit Trail > Comments > Allow for export and Audit Trail > Comments > Require where allowed. When just the first audit trail setting is on, export comments are optional, and when both audit trail settings are on, export comments are required. When Audit Trail > Comments > Allow for export is off, the Export comment field and Previous Comments list do not display at all.

Exporting all the documents in a folder or work area

Select a folder or work area.
Select Folder > Export.
The Folder Export Wizard opens.
Select Export and click Next.
On the Define the export settings page, do the following:
1. In the Export folder field, specify where you want to export the documents.
  You can either click Browse to select the local or network folder to which to export the documents, or enter the path to that folder in the Export folder field. If the folder you specify does not exist, it will be created upon export.
  
  ProjectWise remembers the last location you exported to using this wizard, and displays the path to this folder in the Export folder field the next time you use the wizard. If you have deleted that folder, clicking Browse prompts you to create the folder again. Click OK to create the folder, or click Cancel to select a different export location.
2. Turn on export options as needed. See Document Export Wizard.
3. Click Next.
  All the documents in the selected ProjectWise folder or work area that are eligible for export are exported to the export folder, and the results are displayed in the wizard.
Click Finish.

Importing (checking in) exported documents

From the document list in ProjectWise Explorer:

Select one or more exported documents.
Select Document > Import.
If the Check In Document dialog opens, enter change comments and click OK.
If there are no import issues, ProjectWise proceeds with the import of the selected documents. If there is an issue, such as the exported document is not found in its original export folder, you are prompted to locate or specify the correct local copy of the document to import.

From Local Document Organizer:

Select View > Exports.
Select one or more documents in the list.
Select Action > Import.
The Check In Document dialog opens.
Enter a description of the changes made to the selected documents.
Click OK.

The selected documents are imported and the local copies of the exported documents are removed from the folder to which they were exported.

Tip: When you select multiple exported documents to import, ProjectWise imports the documents in alphabetical order; import of the next document in the set will not occur until import of the previous document is complete, or skipped.

Note: Whether or not change comments are optional or required (or possible at all) on import is controlled by the user settings Audit Trail > Comments > Allow for check in and Audit Trail > Comments > Require where allowed. When just the first audit trail setting is on, import comments are optional, and when both audit trail settings are on, import comments are required. When Audit Trail > Comments > Allow for check in is off, you will not be prompted to enter comments at all (the Check In Document dialog is skipped).