Overview
DOCSnet provides valuable assistance in
helping you control and manage the documents within your organisation. Currently word
processing documents, and spreadsheets are managed however in future versions images,-
presentations and many other types of files will be managed through DOCSnet.
With DOCSnet, you can search for and retrieve
documents stored locally for standalone work stations or from file servers in larger
organisations. Regardless of the size of your organisation, DOCSnet can be an invaluable
tool in managing the documents stored on your network or stand alone work station or
laptop computer.
Additionally, DOCSnet is designed to utilise
an access database or a backend SQL Server, giving you tremendous scalability in your
organisation.
The following pages tell you what the DOCSnet
system does, and describes the overall benefits of using such a powerful system.
How DOCSnet Works
DOCSnet allows you to locate documents in
seconds, rather than hunting for documents through tedious directory searches. A Document
Profile is associated with every file or document that you create or import. The Document
Profile is much like a library catalogue card, containing an Author, Document Name,
Subject, etc. for every document. When you want to retrieve a document, you can specify a
search that locates the Document Profiles, which are stored in a database within your
organisation. Of course, you must have the proper security rights to be able to retrieve a
document.
DOCSnet provides you with a host of powerful, easy-to-use
search features, You may search for any words in the description or the notes text of the
document profile or search within any of the other pieces of information on the document
profile. Finding any document you want can be accomplished in a few seconds using DOCSnet.
Once you begin using DOCSnet, you will wonder how you ever got along without it.
DOCSnet Integration
DOCSnet integrates with most Microsoft Office applications.
The example below shows Microsoft Word integration.

File open will launch
the DOCSnet file open dialog displaying the last 30 document which you have
edited and giving you access to all the main features of DOCSnet.
File save as will open
the Profile Form for registering all the information about the document you wish to save,
with lookup dialogs on matter, client, document type, key words and document author.
File import allows you
to open documents you already have and resave them using DOCSnet profiling and management
Edit profile gives
you the ability to edit the current documents profile.
Change author sets the
default author that you are using in your profile when saving documents.
Insert footer information
populates the document footer with selected information about the document from the
document profile.
DOCSnet integration also traps file insert and works
closely with the merge tools of Microsoft Word 97,2000
File Open Menu

This is the main DOCSnet dialog and from here you can
create your searches and store them for latter personal or organisational use. With a
right mouse click or via a selection from the menu system you can perform the following
tasks.
- Open the document for editing.
- View the document with your preferred viewer.
- Copy an existing DOCSnet document and apply a new profile to
it.
- Delete the document if this option is enabled.
- Check a document out work on it then check it back in.
- Export a document to your work station or laptop computer.
- Import an exiting document and attach a profile to it.
- Edit or view a documents profile
- An administrator can override a checked out document or one
that is being edited.
The displayed documents can be sorted by any of the
displayed columns and a report printed out of all the documents returned by a search.

The Document Profile
The following screen is an example of a Document Profile. A
Profile is associated with every document that is stored in DOCSnet and holds the
information that you use to search for a document.

Profile Search
The Profile Search lets you find documents matching any
combination of the fields on the Document Profile. When you know nothing about a document
except its author, who entered the document, or the client for which the document was
produced, for example, you can use the Profile Search feature. The Profile Search is a
Query-By-Example (QBE) search, and is as easy as typing in the information you know about
the document. Profile Searching is fast and easy to use.

DOCSnet Administration
DOCSnet comes with an administration module which takes
care of all the background work including all the database lookups and general settings
such as library locations and storage defaults.

As well as data and settings, DOCSnet administraion also
takes care of some house keeping tasks such as bulk document deletion and/or archiving,
restoring from archive, file system checks and bulk document import.

Summary
DOCSnet is an excellent Document Management system for
small, medium and large firms that wish to put order into their document handling without
a high administrative over head and at a very low cost of ownership figure.
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