Managing Content Structure & Access in Altium Concord Pro
Parent page: Configuration
Content structure and access management for Concord Pro is performed by an Administrator from the Explorer page of that server's browser interface. From here, you can:
- Browse the folders and Items within Concord Pro. And although you can't create or edit Items from within the browser interface (you can remove them), you are able to create and edit folders and so build the structure of the server, without having to be connected to that server through Altium Designer.
- Define folder-level and Item-level sharing - controlling who is able to see what content in Concord Pro and, at the folder level, whether other users can simply view a folder and its content, or also edit it (effectively releasing/committing/uploading design data into it).
- Download content.
The interface itself presents with a look and feel that is similar to that of the Explorer panel, when accessing Concord Pro content through Altium Designer. A strong degree of consistency between the two interfaces means that if you are familiar with the panel, you'll be able to intuitively drive this browser-based variant without difficulty.
Access content in your Altium Concord Pro installation through the Explorer area of the browser interface.
Managing Structure
Various commands are available to manage the overall folder structure in Altium Concord Pro, including the ability to create top-level folders and sub-folders, and edit, share and remove folders.
Controls for managing the folder structure can be found on the right-click menu (with the mouse cursor over an existing folder entry). With the exception of adding a top-level folder, commands act on the currently selected folder in the structure.
Access folder structure management commands from the right-click menu.
Sharing Folders and Items
Related page: Controlling Access to Server Content
Altium Concord Pro provides the following sharing capabilities:
- Folder-level Sharing - providing the ability to control who is able to see what content in Altium Concord Pro by sharing server folders. This allows control over whether other users can simply view a folder and its content, or also edit it (effectively releasing/committing/uploading design data into it). A single Altium Concord Pro instance can be partitioned into various effective 'zones' of content, but with controlled folder-level permissions the content can be made selectively visible, or hidden as required, giving the right people the right access to the right data.
- Item-level Sharing - providing the ability to control who is able to see which Items in a shared folder. Think of this as a finer level of sharing, in contrast to the coarser level of sharing provided through folder access control. Provided a user has access to the folder itself they will then be able to view/edit (as permitted) Items within that folder that are shared with them.
Sharing controls are accessed by right-clicking over the entry for the folder (or Item) and using the Share Folder (or Share Item) command from the context menu. The Manage Permissions window will appear, from where the access permissions for the folder/Item can be modified as required.
Configure folder-level sharing from Altium Concord Pro's browser-based interface. Hover the mouse over the image to see how to configure Item-level sharing through the interface.
Things to be aware of:
- In terms of permissions, a user/role has Read/Write access when the Can Write option is enabled. If this option is disabled, they have Read access only.
- To remove an existing user/role from having shared access to a folder/item, click the associated Remove control (
). - By default a folder/item will only be available to its creator (and of course all members of the Administrators role, which does not need to be explicitly added). However, if creating a sub-folder and the parent folder has its Apply To Children option enabled, the new folder will inherit those same sharing permissions.
- To allow all users of the Altium Concord Pro instance to see the folder/item, click the Add Anyone control. Be aware that doing so will, by default, grant Read/Write access. If you want to lock access down to a specific set of users and/or roles you must remove the Anyone entity.
Downloading an Item Revision
To download data from the interface, click the Download control (
) to the right of the entry for an Item Revision.
Navigating the Altium Concord Pro Structure
You can navigate the content in an Altium Concord Pro instance - through the browser interface - in a couple of ways, as highlighted in the following image and described thereafter.
The ways in which to navigate Concord Pro content through the browser interface. Hover the mouse over the image to see the results of an example search.
- By clicking on a folder name whose contents you wish to peruse.
- Using the search feature. Simply enter a keyword based on an Item's ID, Comment, or Description, and press Enter or click the magnifying glass icon (
). The entire Altium Concord Pro instance will be scanned and results of the search listed, in terms of matching Items.
Additional Features
The following additional features can be found when browsing content through Altium Concord Pro's browser interface:
- Navigate - this command, found on the right-click context menu for an Item, is used to quickly take you to that Item in Altium Designer's Explorer panel. Altium Designer will be opened in order to do this (you'll be prompted if you want to open X2.exe - Altium Designer's source executable).
- Full item info - this command, found on the right-click context menu for an Item Revision, is used to present a view listing all detail for that Revision. In effect it is simply a view that includes all of the various aspect views available for that Item Revision (except Summary).
- Follow/Unfollow - use the Follow command, found on the right-click context menu for a folder of Type Components, to follow the folder. Any activity within the folder being followed (component creation, release, revision state change, or deletion) will be flagged through an email notification sent out from the server (provided email notifications have been enabled for the server by an Administrator). Use the UnFollow command to stop following component activity within that folder.
- Remove Folder - use this command, found on the right-click menu for a folder, to move that folder and all its content (sub-folders and Items therein) to the isolated Trash area for Concord Pro. Entities in the Trash can then be permanently deleted, or restored, as required. If removing a project folder, any associated releases will also be moved to the Trash.
- Remove Item - use this command, found on the right-click menu for an Item, to move that Item to the isolated Trash area for for Concord Pro. Entities in the Trash can then be permanently deleted, or restored, as required. If removing a Component Item, you also have the opportunity to move its associated models to the Trash at the same time. Note that these can only be deleted if they are not being used elsewhere (by one or more other components).