Managing Content Structure & Access in Altium NEXUS Server

Created: July 04, 2018 | Updated: July 24, 2018 | Applies to version: 1.1

Now reading version 1.1. For the latest, read: Managing Content Structure & Access in Altium NEXUS Server for version 5.0

This documentation page references NEXUS Server (part of the deployed NEXUS solution), which has been discontinued. All your PCB design, data management and collaboration needs can now be delivered by Altium Designer and a connected Altium 365 Workspace. Check out the FAQs page for more information.

Parent page: Browser-based Access & Management

The Explorer page of the Altium NEXUS Server's browser-based interface gives you access to the content of the Altium NEXUS Server. From here, you can:

Browse the folders and Items within the NEXUS Server. 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 NEXUS.
Define folder-level and Item-level sharing - controlling who is able to see what content in the NEXUS Server 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 NEXUS Server content through Altium NEXUS. 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 NEXUS Server through the Explorer area of the browser interface.

While the browser-based interface is accessible from any location you have an internet connection, if you are directly connected to the Altium NEXUS Server through Altium NEXUS, the Explorer panel offers a far superior interface, especially since it allows creation and management of Items themselves, along with other server management features. For a look at some of the cool features relating to use of the Explorer panel, see Working with the Explorer Panel - Feature How-Tos.

Managing Structure

Various commands are available to manage the overall folder structure in the NEXUS Server. What can be done depends on the access privileges you have:

Administrators - full access to create top-level folders and sub-folders, and edit, share, and remove folders.
Non-Administrators - can create sub-folders, but cannot create top-level folders. In addition, they can only edit, share, and remove sub-folders they have created.

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.

You cannot move existing folders (or items for that matter) within the structure. This can be performed only through direct connection with the NEXUS Server, via the Explorer panel interface, and provided you have the appropriate privileges to do so.

A folder must be totally empty for it to be removable. If it contains one or more empty sub-folders, remove those first. If a folder contains released Items, these need to be deleted first, which can be performed through the browser interface (right-click on an Item and choose the Delete Item command). Bear in mind that the remove operation cannot be undone. If you remove a folder by mistake, you will need to add that folder back, in the same way that you would create any new folder. And if you delete an Item, you will have to create/re-release, which cannot be performed from the browser interface.

Sharing Folders and Items

Related page: Controlling Access to Server Content

The Altium NEXUS Server provides the following sharing capabilities:

Folder-level Sharing - providing the ability to control who is able to see what content in the NEXUS Server 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 NEXUS Server 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.

Those with administrator-level privileges (members of the Administrators role) will be able to see and manage all folders and Items. For a non-administrative user of the NEXUS Server, only those folders and Items that have been shared - i.e. the user has permissions to access - will be accessible when the user signs in to that NEXUS Server. In addition, non-administrative users of the NEXUS Server can only share a folder or Item they have created.

Item Revision-level sharing is only truly configurable through the Explorer panel. It is not fully supported using the NEXUS Server's browser-based interface. The difference is that through the Explorer panel, you can specifically share individual revisions, whereas the browser interface simply supports Item-level sharing, and if an Item is shared, all of its revisions are also shared.

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 the NEXUS Server'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 all members of the Administrators role. To allow all users of the NEXUS Server to see the folder/item, click the Add Public 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 Public entity.

If an Item in a Server folder is shared with a given user, but the folder itself is not, then the user will not be able to 'see' that Item when browsing the NEXUS Server's content.

If the same users/roles permitted to 'see' a folder are also required to 'see' the Items therein (and in each sub-folder as applicable), use the Apply To Children option in the Manage Permissions window, when defining the permissions for that parent folder. In this way, permissions are inherited quickly at the Item level. Adjustments can always be made for specific Items at those lower levels. At the end of the day, full control over who sees what, and where, is facilitated.

Downloading an Item Revision

To download data from the interface, simply click the Download control () to the right of the entry for an Item Revision.

Using the control at the parent Item level will download data for the latest revision of that Item.

Navigating the NEXUS Server Structure

You can navigate the content in an Altium NEXUS Server - through the browser interface - in a couple of ways, as highlighted in the following image and described thereafter.

The ways in which to navigate NEXUS Server 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 NEXUS Server will be scanned and results of the search listed, in terms of matching Items.

After a search, you can return to the normal view of the NEXUS Server content by clicking the Explorer page entry again, in the browser interface's navigation tree on the far left.

Additional Features

The following additional features can be found when browsing content through the NEXUS Server'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 the Explorer panel. Altium NEXUS will be opened in order to do this (you'll be prompted if you want to open X2.exe - Altium NEXUS's source executable).

If Altium NEXUS is already running, this instance will be used.

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).

Using the command at the parent Item level will present details for the latest revision of that Item.

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 within your activity stream (Stream page of the interface). Use the Unfollow command to stop following component activity within that folder.

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