Associating Metadata with Documents

                 

 
Special Edition Using Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server
By Robert  Ferguson

Table of Contents
Chapter  4.   Overview of Document Management


Authors can simplify the document management process by associating logical attributes to documents. As previously discussed at a high level in Chapter 3, this association is done by associating metadata to documents within a document profile, which will allow documents to be easily searched for and located within the document management library. As stated in Chapter 1, many organizations have a similar problem: that desired content is too difficult to locate within their traditional intranet. Within a SharePoint Portal Server site, this problem is addressed by having a Coordinator use a document profile to apply metadata to documents.

For more details about associating metadata with documents, along with additional examples, see "The Document Library," p. 262.

SharePoint Portal Server gives various levels of administrative control for a Coordinator to configure specific settings on a per-folder basis. The Coordinator can require that all new documents placed within a particular folder must have a profile form completed by the Author or Editor before they can be checked in. This is done by applying a document profile to a folder and mandating that certain fields are populated . When document profiles are used, the Author or Editor is presented with a form that may contain optional or required fields. The Coordinator specifies which fields are required; all other fields are optional. This document profile is then presented, whether the document is checked in using Microsoft Office, Windows Explorer, or through the Web-based SharePoint Portal Server workspace.

For an example of required versus optional fields within the document profile, see Figure 4.5. Within the document profile form for an Author or Editor, a red asterisk indicates required fields. Failure to complete a required field will result in a Document Profile dialog box that indicates which field must be completed.

Figure 4.5. In this example, a dialog box is indicating that keyword values must be entered in order to complete the check-in process.

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Metadata enables you to associate additional details about a document. In most cases, the descriptive metadata associated includes additional search keywords which do not exist within the body of the document. During a search, both the document's metadata and the text of a document are searched. Metadata enables a Coordinator to match properties to values. An example might be that you associate several metadata values, such as Armada or Deskpro, with a property called Computers. A document profile provides a consistent way to describe and classify documents using a set of properties. This metadata component can also be used for multicategorization of the document. Associating metadata in this manner is extremely powerful and provides a much greater value over using the traditional file directory structure for organizing and grouping documents for your end users.

Using Custom Properties

Within a document profile, you can include custom properties such as color , accessories, and partners . A workspace can contain multiple document profiles. Once a document profile is created and added to the workspace, click on the properties of the document, click the Profiles tab, and assign the document profile.

An example of using custom properties might be that an end user named John creates a comparison white paper on all portal products in the marketplace today. This comparison matrix details all the key features and capabilities, but does not actually use the word "comparison" within the body of the text. Although John does not mention "comparison" in the document, he decides to include this word as a keyword property value. Once the document is published, a dashboard site Reader named Susan can initiate a search query on the word "comparison" within the dashboard site and the search results will return John's comparison matrix document. The reason the search found the comparison data is because the keyword property value was matched within the document's metadata by the search query.

NOTE

All documents must have a document profile associated.


Using Document Types

Document types can be used to indicate the document objective. Documents that are specified to have the same type can have the same attribute. Search speeds can be increased and searches are more efficient when metadata is associated with the document type. A document type called Sales Report (see Figure 4.6) could contain a specific keyword attribute called forecast.

Figure 4.6. Users could search for the document type of forecast and Sales Report would be returned as a result of the search.

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As you can see, there are many ways to customize how documents are returned when specific searches are made. It is highly recommended that you plan and document how this feature will be utilized to ensure the most effective portal experience for your end users.

Using the Wizard to Create a Profile

With SharePoint Portal Server, the use of the wizard can be utilized to provide high levels of consistency, while ensuring that specific attributes are used throughout a variety of documents. The administrative functionality provided by the Coordinator allows custom attributes to be specified: The order can be selected and fields can be specified as either required or optional.

Within the workspace, double-click on the Management folder and double-click on the Document Profiles folder. Double-click on Add Document Profile to launch the Add Documents Profile Wizard.

Click Next at the Add Document Profile Wizard dialog box.

Provide a name for your document profile. Click Next.

Click the property and click Edit. Select or deselect this field depending on whether you want fields enabled or disabled within the document management profile.

As illustrated in Figures 4.7 “ 4.10, creating document profiles is a simple process. All documents must be associated with a document management profile, and their use allows for you to control what information needs to be provided as documents are checked in and published.

Figure 4.7. View of the Document Profiles folder.

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Figure 4.8. View of Add Document Profile dialog box that is launched after you click on Add Document Profile, as displayed in Figure 4.7.

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Figure 4.9. Example of changing a document profile's name to Customer Orders.

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Figure 4.10. Only selected property names will be displayed within the new document management profile.

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Special Edition Using Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server
Special Edition Using Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server
ISBN: 0789725703
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 286

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