current docs status and an rfc

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dikini's picture

I've made two alfa releases of the module, more on the way. The module is still in alfa for three main reasons:

  • would love more feedback
  • more features need to be implemented
  • there are known bugs affecting installation edge cases

Currently implemented features

  • Directories - implemented based on taxonomy
  • File type - uses core node and upload modules, created automatically during install, or manually. The form is heavily modified to minimise screen clutter. In future versions this might be configurable, but for the sake of simplicity it is hardcoded for now.
  • File list directory view - lists files and directories in the current 'folder'|'directory', for files you can download them or go to the full node
    view
  • Directory breadcrumb - lists parents of the current directory
  • New file and new folder forms
  • The above forms are assembled on a single page
  • The default node form of the file type is modified to be richer, but consistent with the one in the browser view, think of it as the
    advanced form

Outstanding features

I haven't yet made up my mind where to put the the cut-off line for features. But here is a shortlist of features considered which may or may not be implemented:

  • Delete, Rename, Edit files and folders
  • Revisions UI - they exist in db, but need to be exposed in UI
  • Smarter install routines and installation error recovery - what happens if the default taxonomy and node type names are already taken?
  • More intuitive admin interface
  • Own modify folders permission - this is an unfortunate requirement, since the taxonomy permissions have a far broader scope than
    what would be typically required by this module. Files, in the context of this module are handled by whatever node grants system you
    decide to use - organic groups, taxonomy, etc...

Current release cut-off features

Permissions and safe install are considered required. The rest are optional and might be postponed for next module releases.

Current schedule

  • Feature freeze - June 8ish
  • First beta - before June 15th
  • Release - bug count dependent, hopefully by start of July

Comments

Tested it.

Jax's picture

Since I'm interested in drupal as a document managmenet system I briefly tried you module. Here are some remarks.

  • The title field on de "Submit File" screen has no value. This causes the error message to read "field is required." which isn't clean and there also is no indication that the field is required.
  • The "Files" field is also required yet there is no indication on how it can be populated. A little warning message with a link to the page where folders can be added would be useful.
  • The navigation in "Downloads" is awkward. After clicking "Downloads' you have "Files". When you create a folder and click on it suddenly you see a path with "documents". Yet it is not possible to upload files in that root folder.
  • There is a "New file" fieldset on the "Downloads" page (which should be called Documents IMO) yet it is not possible to upload a file.
  • Even after creating a folder I cannot select it in the "Submit File" screen.

And here my testing stops since I can't create a "File" node. I think it needs a little bit more work to be usable.

thanks for the feedback I

dikini's picture

thanks for the feedback

I think I was wee bit optimistic in using upload module. It causes major problems and requires a lot of hacks. I'm reworking the module to use a very simplified upload-lite like module. I intentionally don't want to use cck, since that would be too much for what is required.

Having said all that, I've had very little time to work on the module the last couple of weeks, but I hope to have a revised version later this month.

You won't be able to upload to the root folder, since I'm using taxonomy to map directories, and the root of a taxonomy is not a term. You will be possible to have a different implementation of folders in the future.

Document Management

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