Files

DNE Maps can manage access to information in any format, allowing you to use DNE Maps to manage processes without forcing you to change anything about the processes you like to use.

While files are entirely familiar objects, DNE Maps makes it easy to add, edit and manage meta-data fields for any file. Many types of fields are not set automatically, but rather are determined by the map builder.

Fields are found in the charcoal-colored area at the bottom of the NE and look like this: . The graphic indicates the format the information is saved in (the indicates a Microsoft® Word file).

Files are organized by NEs, in the way that files are generally organized by folders. But since each NE is not just a folder but is also an object in a map, each file is pops up and is accessible at exactly the point in the map where it is important.

Files can also be linked directly to each other, across different NEs. This sort of link allows you to do work at two different points in a map at the same time, whenever this facilitates your workflow. You can move from one file on one NE directly to another file on another NE, complete whatever work needs to be done there, and then move back again, all at a click. These links are set up in the DNE and are indicated by the and tools on the top toolbar.

Blank or Placeholder Files

DNE Maps allows the use of blank, placeholder files. A placeholder can be used to represent a file that you require but have not yet received. Placeholders can be given meta-data fields that can be edited before or after the "real" file is brought in, and these fields won't be lost when the file replaces the placeholder. For instance, you may need a signed registration form in order to complete a registration. In this case, the map builder will add a placeholder, complete with fields, to the template. When the registration form is received, simply replace the placeholder with the registration form.

Placeholders are useful in two ways: (1) they remind you what information is still needed, and (2) they allow you to edit meta-data fields even for files you don't have, in a format that won't have to be updated. For instance, when you send the registration out you can document that on a "sent" date box on the placeholder. When you receive the form, you can document that on a "received" date box right next to it. Both fields can be attached to the same file, even though the file didn't exist when the first field was completed.

If a file is deleted from a map, the deleted file is always replaced with a placeholder, and its fields are not deleted but rather attached to the placeholder.

How to Use Files

To open a file:

•	Doubleclick the file (e.g., )

To view fields for a file:

For information on updating and editing fields, click here to see the entry on fields.

To replace a file:

2.	DNE Maps will ask you to Press OK to replace [the old file] with [the new file]. Click .

3.	DNE Maps will then ask Would you like to rename [the old file name] to [the new file name]. Choose either or .

Or:

2.	Click the on the toolbar. A browser box will appear.

5.	DNE Maps will ask you to Press OK to replace [the old file] with [the new file]. Click .

6.	DNE Maps will then ask Would you like to rename [the old file name] to [the new file name]. Choose either or .

Or:

1.	Click on the top toolbar,

2.	Select on the dropdown menu. A browser box will appear.

5.	DNE Maps will ask you to Press OK to replace [the old file] with [the new file]. Click .

6.	DNE Maps will then ask Would you like to rename [the old file name] to [the new file name]. Choose either or .

To delete a file:

2.	Click the button.

Or:

2.	Click on the top toolbar, and

3.	Select on the dropdown menu.

Deleting a file does not remove the file from your computer, nor does it delete the meta-data fields from your map. The file is replaced with a placeholder, which keeps all the fields intact. This is so that the deleted file can be replaced with another file at any time without losing the meta-data you have collected in fields.

To navigate forward to a linked file:

•

Click

To navigate backward to a linked file:

•

Click

If a file has a forward or backward link, this is indicated be a or , respectively, on the toolbar. If there is no link in a direction, then that arrow is faded out and inactive.