Sharing Folders or Items

You can share folders and items, such as files or change requests, between views if the views belong to projects that are located on the same server configuration. You can also share a folder or item at two locations in the same view.

Guidelines for Sharing Folders or Items

Keep in mind the following points about sharing folders or items:

  • Branching a view negates all shares, not just the ones between parent and child views.
  • When you branch a view, any manual shares between items in the same view are not retained in the view’s child view.
  • When a folder is shared, users of both views can access its contents, including its child folders and their contents.
  • As a rule, the behavior of the shared item is governed by the Set items Shared Into View to Branch on Change property of the new view, not by that of its parent view. If the new view is a reference view (that is, a view that does not permit branching), it does not have that property, so the shared item’s Branch on change setting is controlled by the setting of its parent view.
  • The “branch on change” behavior of a shared item is specific to the folder it is in and the Branch on change check box is selected by default for the shared file.
  • Tasks and topics do not have branching behavior so this view property does not affect them.
  • If a folder or item is shared, its configuration (floating, based on a label, a promotion state, or a point in time) is initially identical in both views. However, the configuration can be modified in either view, which means that shared items can differ. To freeze shared folders or items, you must configure each of them to a specific date and time. Once items have been shared into a view, you can change their branching behavior on an item-by-item basis.
  • Shared folders or items have the access rights originally set for them at the folder or item level, until they branch in their new location. Branching creates a new object that initially has no access rights at the folder or item levels.
  • The shared folder or item loses any labels it had in the previous view. Labels cannot be moved from view to view. However, the shared folder or item will have all the labels you attach to them in their new location regardless of whether they branch or not.

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Sharing a Folder or Item in Two Locations in the Same View

To share a folder or item in two locations in the same view, do the following:

  1. Choose Project > Open.

    The Project View window opens.

  2. Press Ctrl and drag the folder or item that is to be shared from one location in the view to another.

    A message box appears asking you to confirm.

  3. Click Yes

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Sharing a Folder or Item Between Two Different Views

To share a folder or item between two different views, do the following:

  1. Choose Project > Open.

    The Project View window opens.

  2. Choose Project > Open to open a second project in another window.
  3. Make sure both project views are visible. Use one of the Window menu commands (Cascade, Tile Vertically or Tile Horizontally) to this, and resize the windows if required.
  4. Press Ctrl and drag the folder or item from one view to the other view.

    A message box appears asking you to confirm.

  5. Click Yes.

Caution: When you share tasks that have been exported from Microsoft Project, you must share an entire task tree, starting with the root task.

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