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# Attachments

This topic describes how to work with attachments.

In this topic:

## Add an attachment

You can attach files to an entity's user data field (for which one or more user data fields have been created), or as a reference to any entity that supports references.

To add an attachment to a user data field:

1. Open or create an entity that has a user data field to which you want to attach a document.

   Note: To add an attachment to a user data field of an entity, that field must have a validation value set to Attachment. For details about user data fields, see Configure user data.

2. In the attachment section for the user field, click Add.

3. In the File field, click Choose File to select one or more files you want to attach.

   For 25.1 and earlier, you can select only one file at a time.

   Note: The file you specify must reside in a directory on the Project and Portfolio Management server.

4. Optionally, provide the following information for the attachment:

Field | Description
--- | ---
Initial Version Comment | Provide notes on the initial version of the file.
Author | Provide the author name of the file.
Description | Provide a description of the file and its purpose.
Key Words | Provide some keywords to help others find entities with attachments containing those terms. Keywords are essential for searching for non-text files like images, which are only searchable by specified keywords. For information about fulltext indexing, see Configure full text search in Database-Based DMS solutions.

5. Click Add.

   The document is attached and is now listed in the User Data section of the entity page.

6. Optionally, you can replace or remove the file you just uploaded by clicking Replace.

   In the Replace Document window, do the following:

   - To remove the document, click Remove Document and then click OK to confirm.

   - To replace the document:

   1. In the File field, type the full directory path of the file to attach. Alternatively, you can click Browse, and then navigate to and select the file.

   2. Provide information in other fields as necessary.

   3. Click Replace.

7. Click Save.

To add an attachment to an entity as references:

1. Open the entity to which you want to add an attachment.

2. Expand the References section or go to the References tab.

3. In the New Reference list, select Attachment, and then click Add.

4. In the File field, click Choose File to select one or more files you want to attach.

   For 25.1 and earlier, you can select only one file at a time.

   Note: The file you specify must reside in a directory on the Project and Portfolio Management server.

5. Optionally, provide other information for the attachment. For details, see Field details.

6. Click Add. The References to be added on Save field lists the document file you specified.

7. Click Save.

   The document, which was loaded into the document management system after you clicked Save, is now listed in the Attached Documents section of the entity page.

   The information displayed for the attached document also includes:

   - Document version, size, and author

   - Who (if anyone) has the document checked out

   - When and by whom the document was last checked in

## Edit, check out and in an attachment

You can edit attachments, as well as check attachments out and in.

To edit, check out, or check in an attachment:

1. Open the entity whose attachment you want to edit, check out, or check in:

- If the attachment is added to the user data field, expand the user field section.

- If the attachment is added to an entity as a reference, expand the References section, then expand the Attached Documents section.

2. Click the Actions button for the target attachment, and perform the following actions in the Document Actions window:

   Action | Details
   --- | ---
   Edit attachment information | Do the following: Click Edit Details and make necessary changes to the attachment information. Click Done.
   Check an attachment out and in | Do the following: Click Check Out. The attachment file is saved to your machine, and the Document Actions window closes. After you finish making changes, save and close the document in a known location. Still on the same entity page, under the attachment section for a user field or the Attached Documents section, click the Actions button for the document that you want to check in. The Document Actions window opens again. It now displays the Check In button. Click Check In. Note that, in the References Added section of the entity page, the document version number displayed has increased by one.

## Preview and download attachments

You can preview attachment details as well as download attachments to your machine.

To preview and download attachments:

1. Open the entity whose attachment you want to download:

   - If the attachment is added to the user data field, expand the user field section.

   - If the attachment is added to an entity as a reference, expand the References section, then expand the Attached Documents section.

2. Perform the following actions:

   Action | Details
   --- | ---
   Download attachments | Do one of the following: To download a single attachment, click the name of the attachment. To download all the attachments in a zip file, click Download All.
   Preview attachment details | Click the Action or Details button of an attachment. An enlarged preview of the attachment is displayed in the Document Actions window. Note: The file types that can be previewed include the following: txt, css, conf, html, htm, xml, js, jsp, json, java, properties, yml, bat, xsl, sql, sh, log, jpg, jpeg, png, gif, webp, svg, ico, bmp, pdf, mp3, wav, mp4, webm, and ogg.

## Search for entities by attachment key words

You can search for entities by key words in the attachments. The application searches file content and properties like author, description, key words, file name, and version comments. Property searches apply to all text and binary documents, while content searches are limited to text-based documents.

To search for an entity using document key words:

1. Open the entity search page.

2. In the Document Key Words field, provide one or more words, separated by spaces, to use as search criteria.

   Note: Key word searches are not case-sensitive.

   The <Entity_Name> Search Results section lists only attachment files that include all of your search terms. For example, a search for "development test" is treated as "development" and "test." A document must have both "development" and "test" in its content or its descriptive fields to qualify as a match. To search for documents that contain either "development" or "test," type `development OR test.`

   For information about other ways to specify search terms, see Search terms.

3. Click Search.

The search returns a list of all entities (of the selected type) that have one or more attachments containing key words that match your search terms. A document that you just attached may not show up on the Search Results page until several minutes later.

Before a content search can find a document, the document content must first be indexed. For more information about creating TEXT indexes, see Create and maintain Oracle TEXT indexes.

Search terms

In addition to searches based on the AND and OR operators, you can search for exact phrases, exclude documents based on a key word, or search by combining queries. The following table provides details on how to specify the key words for these search types:

Search terms | Details
--- | ---
"AND" queries | If you want to search for documents containing multiple keywords, you can insert the word "`and`" (case-insensitive) or "`&`" character between the search words. All specified words must exist in the document content or document properties for the document to be considered as a match. Keywords need not be together or in the order entered for a document to be considered as a match. Example: `greece and olympic`; `Greece & olympic`
Search by phrase | By default, each query is a "phrase" query. You can search for attachments containing a specific phrase, or a set of words in a specific order. Example: `gold medal`
Exclude attachments containing a specific text string | To specifically exclude documents that contain a particular word, preface the keyword with a NOT (`~`) sign. In this manner, all documents that contain the specified word are excluded from the results, even if they match other key words in your query. You can exclude phrases from your search as well as single words. For example, to include documents with "greece", but not those with "olympic," type greece ~olympic. Note: The words to be excluded from the search (prefaced with the "~" sign) should not appear alone or in the beginning of the key words text string you specified. For example, searching "`~olympic`" or "`~olympic greece`" can return an error.
"OR" queries | If you want to search for documents containing one `OR` another keyword, you can insert the word "`or`" (case-insensitive) or "`|`" character between the search words. In this manner, a document is considered as a match if either of the keywords is found. Example: `volleyball or softball`; `volleyball | softball`
Combination searches | You may perform combination searches for documents by combining "`AND`", "`OR`", and "`~`" queries. If you want to search for documents containing both "`AND`" and "`OR`" queries, make sure to wrap sub-queries with parentheses "`(`" and "`)`". For example, `A and (B | C)`. Example: `gold medal and (volleyball | softball)`
Search historical versions | The Search Historical Versions option allows you to search both or either of content and version comments of documents historical versions in addition to full text search (including document content and document properties) of their current version.

## See also

- Add references to requests

https://admhelp.microfocus.com PPM 8942
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