Article published on the 30th of April 2020.
Contents
1. Introduction
Through WorkPoint it is possible to pack one or more files and/or folders into a zip file with an optional index file. ZIP is an archive file format that supports lossless data compression. This allows users to compress files in a ZIP file to reduce storage usage. The index file is an Html file in the zip, which provides an overview of the archived files.
A use case for this feature could be if a set of documents is to be sent to a third party, but some of the documents are rather large. To make the package of items smaller in file size and thereby making the transmission of the package faster, the files can be zipped, and the compressed zip file can then be sent and unpacked by the receiver.
If minor versions are enabled for the source document library, you can decide whether to use the latest major or latest minor version of the individual files.
2. End User Guide
As the "Enabled for Command bar" option is checked on the for configuration, the wizard can be run from the command bar of e.g. a document library:
1. Select the documents in the document library which should be added to a Zip archive file.
2. Click the "Send to..." button in the Command bar.
3. In the "Select action to run" window, select the wizard for adding the files to a Zip archive.
4. Select in which library to save the Zip file.
5. Optionally, select a sub folder of the selected library to store the Zip file in. This option is only available if a sub folder exists.
6. Provide a name for the Zip file.
7. An overview of the selected files to be zipped is shown in the "Selected documents" section.
8. The "Add as a new version to existing file(s) can be checked if an existing Zip file with the same name should be overridden by the new file created now. In that case, the version number will be incremented. If this option is not checked ON, and a Zip file with the same name exists, creation of the new Zip file will fail, and you will have the chance to choose a new name for the new file.
9. The "Add index" checker can be checked if an index file for the archive should be created. The index file is an Html file in the zip, which provides an overview of the archived files.
10. The "Add source information" checker can be used to include source information in the index file. If the output file is to be shared internally, it can be useful to include source information, so users can navigate quickly to the original files from the provided index.
11. When satisfied with the options, click "Save".
The wizard now starts the job for creating the Zip file:
Once the creation of the Zip file has completed, the following window appears:
12. You can click "Toggle detailed output" to view more details about the job. The window can now be closed.
The Zip file now appears in the selected library where it was saved:
Note that the Zip archive file is only about half the size of the two zipped files combined.
If an index file was created for the Zip file, it can be viewed by unzipping the file and opening the index file:
13. In this case, the Zip file has been downloaded to a computer and unzipped into a folder. The index file is called "_Index.html". The file can be opened from here.
Opening the index file in Google Chrome presents the following page:
14. The index file shows which documents was archived in the Zip file.
15. Clicking the "Open" link opens the respective source document (Note that the document is opened according to the local browser settings).
3. Notes
Note that folders can be added as material to be Zipped as well as documents. If a folder is added to the Zip, the contents of the folder is added to the index file for the Zip file, if one is set to be created.