Managing Content Structure & Access in Altium On-Prem Enterprise Server
Content structure and access management for an Enterprise Server Workspace is performed by an Administrator from the Explorer page of that Workspace's browser interface. From here, you can:
- Browse the folders and Items within the Workspace. 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 Workspace without having to be connected to that Workspace through Altium Designer.
- Define folder-level and Item-level sharing - controlling who is able to see what content in the Workspace 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 Workspace 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 Workspace through the Explorer area of the browser interface.
Managing Structure
Various commands are available to manage the overall folder structure in the Workspace, 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 Workspace Content
A Workspace provides the following sharing capabilities:
- Folder-level Sharing - providing the ability to control who is able to see what content in the Workspace by sharing Workspace 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 Workspace 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.
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Configure folder-level sharing from the Workspace's browser interface. Configure Item-level sharing through the interface. |
Things to be aware of:
- In terms of permissions, a user/group 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/group 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 group, 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 Workspace 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 groups you must remove the Anyone entity.
Managing Project Creation Permissions
With the default Workspace settings, projects created or uploaded by Workspace members are stored in the Projects folder and directly accessed through the Projects page. This simple arrangement is convenient for users, but allows any member of the Workspace to create projects in this primary (top-level) location. To implement advanced control over who can create projects in the Projects folder (or additional sub-folders) Workspace administrators can specify the project folder sharing permissions through the Explorer page, or in Altium Designer, the Explorer panel.
As outlined above, folder permissions are accessed in the Workspace Explorer page from the Share Folder option of a folder entry’s right-click context menu. The Projects folder access can be changed by removing the default Anyone permission entirely or by setting it to read-only (deselecting Can Write), and then adding access permissions for specific users (Add User) or groups of users (Add Group) as required.
The updated write permissions will determine which Workspace members can create (or upload) projects to the Projects folder – in this example, only those who are members of the Managers group. The permission constraints will also apply to users creating a new project in Altium Designer.
When a user without write access to the Projects folder (or some other folder that has been specified as the default storage location) performs a project Create or Upload, the system will automatically create a user-specific Personal Folder structure for storing the new project. This appears as a top-level folder based on the member’s username, with a My Projects sub-folder that stores that user’s projects. The folder structure/hierarchy is available only to the signed-in user (and administrators) and is not visible to other users.
The personal ‘home’ folder functionality provides controlled isolation between Workspace member projects and from other project folders – users also can create new project folders within this structure. Note that if a user then shares the project more widely, such as to all Workspace members, that project will appear in the main Projects folder for other users.
From a Workspace administrator’s perspective, the member’s personal folders are collected under a top-level Home folder, as evident in the Projects page and the Explorer page folder hierarchy – and also the Altium Designer Explorer panel folder tree.
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 Workspace Structure
You can navigate the content in a Workspace - through the browser interface - in a couple of ways, as highlighted in the following image and described thereafter.
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The ways in which to navigate Workspace content through the browser interface The results of an example search |
- By clicking on a folder name whose contents you wish to peruse.
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Using the search feature. Enter a keyword based on an Item's ID, Comment, or Description, and press Enter or click the magnifying glass icon (
). The entire Workspace 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 the Workspace'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 Workspace (provided email notifications have been enabled for the Workspace 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 the Workspace. 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 the Workspace. 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).