Active/inactive documents in File system archive
Introduction
The Active/inactive status in File system archive identifies whether an archived item currently corresponds to a file or shortcut available on the file system. This status is used to avoid displaying duplicate items when browsing the archive in the contentACCESS Portal.
For clarity, this page uses the following definition of terms:
- File: a file on the file system.
- Item: an archived file in the archive.
This page explains:
- when and why duplicate items occur in the archive;
- when an item or folder becomes active or inactive;
- how the active/inactive status behaves depending on the configured archiving method (Shortcutting, Keep original, or Delete original);
- how automatic restore, automatic recovery, and manual recovery affect the active/inactive status;
- additional use cases involving shortcuts.
Why duplicate items occur
A duplicated item is created when a file is processed multiple times and saved into the archive multiple times. A typical use case is when a user copies a file from a source folder to a target folder on the file system, and then deletes the file from the source folder. If the archive job processes both files before the source file is deleted, duplicates are created in the archive.
To avoid confusion, the files archived from the source and target folders are differentiated in the archive:
- The file archived from the source location becomes inactive, since it is no longer available on the user's side (the user deleted it).
- The file archived from the target location becomes active, since it is still available to the user.
The active/inactive filter in the contentACCESS Portal makes it easy to display the actual, last-touched files in the archive.
When an item or folder becomes inactive
An item or folder is set to inactive in the archive if it no longer exists in the file system — that is, neither the original file nor the shortcut to it can be found.
Once the item is touched again (for example, when a new version is created, or the item is restored or recovered by a job), its status changes back to active.
When an archive job runs, it synchronizes the current state of the archive with the current state of the file system. The following tables describe when an item or folder becomes active or inactive in the archive, depending on the configured archiving method.
In each table:
- the light blue-style cells describe what is found by an archive, restore, or recovery job in the file system (on the user's side);
- the grey-style cells describe the action performed by the job when it finds that particular file or folder.
Archive with shortcutting method
| File system (user’s side) | Is item in archive in the same location? | |
|---|---|---|
| A) Shortcut was found by the archive job | YES: the job does not touch the shortcut. | NO: the job will duplicate the item to the new location. |
| B) File was found by the archive job | Is item in the archive? | |
YES: If the file was changed, a new version will be created
in the archive, and the file will be converted to shortcut. | NO: The file will be archived and converted to shortcut; the item will be ACTIVE in the archive. | |
| C) No shortcut, no file was found by the archive job | YES: the item will be INACTIVE in the archive. | NO: no action will be performed by the job. |
| D) Folder no longer exists | Is folder in the archive? | |
YES: folders will be INACTIVE (recursively); | ||
| E) Folder exists | Is folder in the archive? | |
YES: permissions will be actualized and the folder will be set to ACTIVE. | NO: it will be archived and set to ACTIVE. | |
Archive with the "Keep original" method
| File system (user’s side) | Is item in archive in the same location? | |
|---|---|---|
| A) Shortcut was found by the archive job | YES: the job does not touch the shortcut. | NO: the job will duplicate the item to the new location. |
| B) File was found by the archive job | Is item in the archive? | |
YES: If the file was changed, a new version will be created
in the archive and the file will be kept in the file system. | NO: The file will be archived and the original will be kept; | |
| C) No shortcut, no file was found by the archive job | YES: the item will be INACTIVE in the archive. | NO: no action will be performed by the job. |
| D) Folder no longer exists | Is folder in the archive? | |
YES: folders will be set to INACTIVE (recursively); | ||
| E) Folder exists | Is folder in the archive? | |
YES: permissions will be actualized and the folder will be set to ACTIVE. | NO: it will be archived and will be set to ACTIVE. | |
Archive with the "Delete original" method
| File system (user’s side) | Is item in archive in the same location? | |
|---|---|---|
| A) Shortcut was found by the archive job | YES: the job does not touch the shortcut. | NO: the job will duplicate the item to the new location. |
| B) File was found by the archive job | Is item in the archive? | |
YES: If the file was changed, a new version will be created
in the archive and the file will be deleted from the file system. | NO: The file will be archived and the original will be deleted; | |
| C) No shortcut, no file was found by the archive job | YES: the item will be INACTIVE in the archive. | NO: no action will be performed by the job. |
| D) Folder no longer exists | Is folder in the archive? | |
YES: folders will be set to INACTIVE (recursively); | ||
| E) Folder exists | Is folder in the archive? | |
YES: permissions will be actualized and the folder will be set to ACTIVE. | NO: it will be archived and will be set to ACTIVE. | |
Note: The user may browse for archived items either in the contentACCESS Portal or on the Virtual drive. By default, the Virtual drive displays active items only, but this is configurable on the Virtual drive's configuration page (System ⇒ Client applications ⇒ Virtual drive configuration).
Automatic restore from shortcut
| File system (user's side) | Action performed by the restore job |
|---|---|
| A) Shortcut found | The job restores the original into the file system location; the item in the archive will be set to ACTIVE. |
| B) No shortcut found | No action. |
Automatic recovery
| File system (user's side) | Action performed by the recovery job |
|---|---|
| A) Shortcut found | No action, shortcut will be skipped. |
| B) File found | No action, file will be skipped. |
| C) Nothing found | C/1) If the job configuration requires recovering the original: the original will be created in the file system; the item will be ACTIVE in the archive. C/2) If the job configuration requires recovering the shortcut: the shortcut will be created in the file system; the item will be ACTIVE in the archive. |
Manual recovery from contentACCESS Portal
| File system (user's side) | Action performed by the manual recovery |
|---|---|
| A) Shortcut found | No action, shortcut will be skipped. The item will be ACTIVE in the archive. |
| B) File found | No action, file will be skipped. The item will be ACTIVE in the archive. |
| C) Nothing found | A new file will be created in the file system; the item in the archive will be ACTIVE. |
Other use cases
- The shortcut is deleted from the file system: nothing happens in the archive during the archiving process; the items change to INACTIVE if they were active before.
- The shortcut is moved: the item is duplicated to the new location. The new item is ACTIVE. The old item will be INACTIVE if there is no file or shortcut at the old location.