Info Exchange Activity Center

21 minutes
9 months ago

Info Exchange Activity Center

Newforma Info Exchange enables you to easily send, receive, and track electronic file transfers of any size. You can use it to send project files and items to anybody on the internal or external project team, as well as other contacts via the web. Use this activity center to create, view, track, and manage all file transfers sent and received via your Info Exchange Server. The transfers can contain only files, or they can be transfers with associated project items. You can use this activity center to:

  • Access levels

  • Recipients

  • Reminder settings

  • Expiration settings

You can use this activity center to manually remove (expire) transfers from your Info Exchange Server, as well as delete the transfer completely. You can also to see a history of events of each file transfer indicating when it was created, who downloaded it and when, and when reminders were sent for the transfer.

File Transfers

Create File Transfer

Click to open the Transfer Files to a Newforma Info Exchange Server dialog box or the Transfer Files and Create an Outgoing Transmittal dialog box to transfer files via Info Exchange or to transfer the files to Info Exchange and create a transmittal.

Request File Transfer

Click to open the Request a File Transfer dialog box to send an email message to request a file transfer from another contact.

Info Exchange Website

Click to open and log into the Newforma Info Exchange website.

See Info Exchange Workflow Examples for External Users for information on how external team members might use the Info Exchange site.

Create Report

Click to open the Create Report dialog box to select the type of Info Exchange log report to create.

Selected File Transfer

The following list shows all available tasks, from all Info Exchange file transfer types, in alphabetical order. The tasks that appear depend on which type of transfer item you select in this activity center.

Acknowledge Receipt

Click to open the Acknowledge Receipt dialog box to acknowledge the receipt of a file transfer that the Project Center Server has automatically downloaded from Info Exchange.

Compare Contents to > A Folder

Click to open the Select Folder dialog box to select a project folder to compare to the selected file transfer’s contents. After you select the folder, the Compare Results window opens with the results.

Compare Contents to > A Document Set

Click to open the Select Document Set dialog box to select a document set to compare to the selected file transfer’s contents. After you select the document set, the Compare Results window opens with the results.

Compare Contents to > A Record Copy

Click to open the Select Record Copy dialog box to select a record copy to compare to the selected file transfer’s contents. After you select the record copy, the Compare Results window opens with the results.

Create a Record Copy

Click to open the Create Record Copy dialog box to create and save a record copy of the contents of the selected folder or the selected document set. It is saved to a .ZIP file.

Create Submittal

Click to open the Log a Submittal dialog box to choose whether to log a new submittal or receive an expected submittal.

Delete

This task is only available to Project Center administrators, unless the transfer is a draft.

Click to remove the entire file transfer (both the log entry and the actual files) from the Info Exchange Server, and remove the log entry from Project Center so that it no longer appears in this activity center.

Deleting does not remove the actual files in the file transfer from the Windows file system.

Extract Received Files

For a Received Shared Folder Upload, click to open the Select Destination Folder dialog box to choose a folder in which to extract and save files that were added to a shared folder, but are not in the published document set or project folder. After you select the folder, the Extract Shared Folder Upload dialog box opens, from which you can select the files to extract.

File As

Click to open the File as dialog box to select whether to file the transfer as a new Project Center item, or as a reviewer response to an item, and then select the type of item to file it as.

Forward > Via Info Exchange

Click to open the Transfer Files to a Newforma Info Exchange Server dialog box to forward the file transfer to Info Exchange, or the Transfer Files and Create an Outgoing Transmittal dialog box to forward the file transfer to Info Exchange and file a new transmittal.

Forward > Via Email

Click to open the Send Files to Email Recipients dialog box to forward the file transfer via email, or the Send Files and Create an Outgoing Transmittal dialog box to forward the file transfer to new email recipients and create a new transmittal.

Additional Forward options could be available if other transfer methods were added to this project when it was created, or at any other time using the Edit Project Settings dialog box.

When forwarding files from this activity center, the event is added to the file transfer’s Change Log tab.

Manage Connected Folder Settings

Click to open the Manage Connected Incoming Shared Folder dialog box to specify the folder in which you want to extract a copy of the contents of a connected folder. See Newforma to Newforma Overview for more information on shared folders.

Modify Shared Folder

Click to open the Modify Shared Folder dialog box to modify and republish a project folder or document set and some or all of its files to your Newforma Info Exchange Server.

Modify Info Exchange Settings > Add or Remove Recipients

Click to open the Modify File Transfer Recipients dialog box to change the project team members who get notified that files have been transferred, or to send them an email message containing the files.

Modify Info Exchange Settings > Change Access Level

Click to open the Modify File Transfer Access on Info Exchange dialog box to edit who can access the selected file transfer on Info Exchange.

Modify Info Exchange Settings > Expiration and Reminder Settings

Click to open the Edit Expiration and Reminder Settings dialog box to edit the reminder settings for the selected Info Exchange file transfer.

Modify Requested Transfer

Click to open the Request a File Transfer dialog box to edit the file transfer request.

Open Draft

Click to open the Transfer Files to a Newforma Info Exchange Server dialog box to finish the transfer draft and transfer it to Info Exchange.

Receive Pending Change Order Proposal

You must have a contract management role to log COPs.

Click to open the Receive Change Order Proposal dialog box to receive and log a change order proposal from a file transfer being downloaded from the Info Exchange Server.

Receive Pending File Transfer

Click to open the Receive Pending Transfer dialog box to download and save a file transfer from the Info Exchange Server to the current project so that it can be accessed by internal project team members.

Receive Pending Shared Folder Upload

Click to open the Receive Shared Folder Upload dialog box to receive files that a contact has uploaded to a folder or document set on Info Exchange.

Receive Pending RFI

You must have a contract management role to log RFIs.

Click to open the Receive RFI dialog box to receive and log an RFI from a file transfer being downloaded from the Info Exchange Server.

Receive Pending RFI Response

You must have a contract management role to log RFIs.

Click to open the Receive RFI Review Response dialog box to receive and log a response to an RFI from a file transfer being downloaded from the Info Exchange Server.

Receive Pending Submittal

You must have a contract management role to log submittals.

Click to open the Receive Submittal dialog box to receive and log a submittal from a file transfer being downloaded from the Info Exchange Server.

Related Items >

See the Related Items Tasks topic for information.

Remove from Info Exchange

Click to remove the file contents from the Info Exchange server. The information about the transfer still appears in this activity center (under Expired) and on Info Exchange, but space is saved by removing the actual file contents. External project team members can see the transfer information in their logs, but can’t download it.

Repair Broken Link to Record Copy

Click to open the Change Path of Project File dialog box to correct the path of a record copy file with a broken link.

Repost Expired Content

Click to open the Repost Info Exchange Transfer dialog box to edit the reminder settings for the expired file transfer and repost it to Info Exchange. It will be removed from the Expired category and placed in the All Incoming category if it was a Received Transfer, or the All Outgoing category if it was an Outgoing Transfer.

Repost Expired Shared Folder

Click to open the Repost Expired Shared Folder dialog box to edit the settings for the expired shared folder and repost it to Info Exchange.

Resend > Email Notification Only

Click to open the Resend File Transfer Notification dialog box to select the recipients to resend an email message containing download instructions to.

Resend > Via Info Exchange

Click to open the Transfer Files to a Newforma Info Exchange Server dialog box or the Transfer Files and Create an Outgoing Transmittal dialog box to resend the file transfer to Info Exchange, creating a new version of it.

Resend > Via Email

Click to open the Send Files to Email Recipients dialog box or the Send Files and Create an Outgoing Transmittal dialog box to resend the file transfer to the email recipients.

Additional Resend options could be available if other transfer methods were added to this project when it was created, or at any other time using the Edit Project Settings dialog box.

When re-sending files from this activity center, the event is added to the file transfer’s Change Log tab.

Review Related Action Items

Click to open the Related Action Items activity center to view action items related to the selected item.

Review Related Markup Sessions

This task is available only when you select an item that has related markup sessions.

Click to open the Related Markup Sessions activity center to view information about and preview the related markup sessions.

Select in Project Files

Click to go to the folder in the Project Files activity center.

Send > Email Notification Only

Click to open the Resend File Transfer Notification dialog box to select the recipients to send an email message containing download instructions to.

Send > Via Info Exchange

Click to open the Transfer Files to a Newforma Info Exchange Server dialog box or the Transfer Files and Create an Outgoing Transmittal dialog box to send the file transfer to Info Exchange, creating a new version of it.

Send > Via Email

Click to open the Send Files to Email Recipients dialog box or the Send Files and Create an Outgoing Transmittal dialog box to send the file transfer to the email recipients.

Additional Send options could be available if other transfer methods were added to this project when it was created, or at any other time using the Edit Project Settings dialog box.

When ending files from this activity center, the event is added to the file transfer’s Change Log tab.

Send Related Email > To the Sender

Click to open an email message to send to the contact who created the file transfer. The email message includes information about the file transfer.

Send Related Email > To the Recipients

Click to open an email message to send to the file transfer recipients as a reminder or with additional information about the file transfer.

Send Related Email > To All Participants

Click to open an email message to send to all file transfer participants as a reminder or with additional information about the file transfer.

Synchronize Contents

Click to open the Transfer to Info Exchange Options dialog box to edit the settings for the selected file transfer, including who can access it, reminder settings, and removal, and then synchronize it to your Newforma Info Exchange Server.

Transferred Files > Extract to a Folder

Click to open the Select Destination Folder dialog box  to select a file system folder in which to save the transferred files.

Transferred Files > Select in Explorer

Click to open Windows Explorer to the location where the selected file transfer is physically stored on your local computer or network.

View Form

Click to open the File Transfer form to view the selected file transfer’s details and history.

View Event Details

Click to open the Event Details dialog box to view details about the selected event.

Show Downloaded Files

Click to open the Downloaded Files dialog box to see a list of the files in a published folder or document set that have been downloaded so far from Info Exchange.

The file tasks apply to files in the Transferred Files tab. See File Tasks panel for more information.

See Email Tasks panel for more information.

See Related Item Tasks panel for more information.

 

Info Exchange

Category drop-down list

Use this drop-down list to group file transfers into easily managed categories: All Transfers/All Incoming/All Outgoing/All Drafts/All Expired or All Open Transfer Requests. Select the category from the drop-down list corresponding to the Info Exchange file transfer log you want to view. All categories are explained below.

Scroll down to see a description of the columns in each log.

Click to toggle between showing file transfers for all users or only file transfers you are involved with.

All Transfers

This log lists all file transfers that have been transferred via Info Exchange.

All Incoming

This log displays all pending and received transfers that were received in any of the following ways:

  • Sent from a web browser to the Info Exchange Server

  • Received from the Info Exchange Server

Transfers listed in Bold have not been received yet.

All internal project team members have full access to all received transfers and their contents.

Pending Incoming Transfers and Project Center items have been transferred and are on your Info Exchange Server, but have not yet been downloaded to the Project Center Server by an internal project team member. The subject of the file transfer appears, but it’s files cannot be accessed until an internal project team member clicks Receive Pending…  from the Tasks panel to download the file transfer to access it.

A Received transfer or item has been downloaded to the Project Center Server by an internal project team member, and all files can be accessed. You can file a Received Transfer as a Project center item by clicking File As from the Tasks panel.

All Outgoing

This log displays all file transfers and items that have been sent via Info Exchange. All file transfers sent by anyone on the internal project team are displayed, and all internal team members can access them. Click this option to display all file transfers that were sent via Info Exchange.

All Drafts

This log displays all file transfers that have been created, but have not been sent. This means that internal project team members can access the file transfers listed here, but they cannot be seen by external members or via the web. All draft transfers created by anyone on the internal project team are displayed. To send a draft file transfer, an internal team member must click Open Draft from the Tasks panel and transfer it.

Draft transmittals are not listed here. They are listed in the All Drafts log of the Project Transmittals activity center.

All Expired

This log displays all expired file transfers. When a file transfer expires, the contents of the file transfer are removed from the Info Exchange Server. The information about the transfer still appears in this log and in Info Exchange, but space is saved by removing the actual file contents from Info Exchange. External project team members see the transfer information in their log, but can’t download it. You can repost the file content to Info Exchange.

All Open Transfer Requests

This log displays all file transfer requests made using the Request a File Transfer dialog box.

Filter All Columns

You can filter by any text that appears in any of the file transfer columns. For example, if you know the subject (or part of the subject) of the file transfer that you are searching for (or the, type, date, etc.), enter at least part of the text in this field. The list updates automatically as you type. For example, if the file transfer you are searching for has the number 30 somewhere in one of the columns, enter 30 in this field. The list will be narrowed down to only file transfers that have the number 30 somewhere in one of the columns.

Click to clear all filters.

>

Click to toggle between showing and hiding the column filter fields.

> >

Click to group by the any of the columns. For example, if you want to group the list of items by subject, select Subject from the drop-down list. The items will be grouped into separate sections alphabetically by subject. See Column Sorting, Filtering, and Grouping for more information.

Columns

All columns available in all categories above are listed here. Right-click on any column header to add and remove columns.

Type

This column indicates whether the transfer’s type.

Related Items

If the file transfer has any related items, the icons appear here.

Related Project Items

This column is a text version of the icons in the Related Items column. The text will appear in reports.

Date

The date the file transfer arrived on the Info Exchange Server.

Date Requested

The date the file transfer request was made.

Sent To

The contact the file transfer request was sent to.

From

The contact who sent the file transfer.

Subject

The subject of the file transfer.

Requested By

The contact requesting the file transfer.

To

The contacts the file transfer was sent to.

CC

Any other contacts included in the file transfer.

Downloaded By

The project team member who downloaded the file transfer from Info Exchange.

Not Downloaded By (External Only)

The external project team members who have not downloaded the file transfer from Info Exchange.

This column only lists external project team members from the To field who have not downloaded (or partially downloaded) the transfer. (Internal users cannot be tracked as they can simply view it after someone received the transfer.) The list does not include CC recipients.

Expiration

This column shows the date on which the file transfer will expire (or the date it expired), which is when its contents will be removed from Info Exchange. The information about the transfer will still appear in Info Exchange, though.

Request Expiration

The date the file transfer request expires.

Access Level

Who can access the file transfer.

Size

The size of the file transfer.

Upload Folder

When files are uploaded to Info Exchange, they can be uploaded into a subfolder of the Info Exchange folder. This column lists the subfolder the files were uploaded to.


Change Log tab

This tab shows the selected file transfer’s event history. This tab lists the transfer event types, who performed the events, and when the events happened.

Date

The date each event occurred.

Event Type

The type of transfer event that occurred, such as a downloaded, uploaded, forwarded, etc.

You can double-click an event of type Partially Downloaded to open the Downloaded Files dialog box to see a list of the files that have been downloaded.

By

The project team member who performed each event.

Detail

The details of each event.

 

Remarks Summary tab

This tab lists any remarks about the file transfer.

 

Transferred Files tab

This tab lists the files that were transferred.

Extract All

Click to open the Select Destination Folder dialog box to select a project and folder in which to save the transferred files.

Select in Explorer

Click to open Windows Explorer to the location where the file is physically stored on your local computer or network.

 

This tab lists all related Project Center items for the selected file transfer.

Click to open the Identify Action Item dialog box to create a new action item and link it to the current file transfer.

Click to open the Send Files to Email Recipients dialog box to send project files via email. Nothing is logged in this tab.

Click to open the Transfer Files to a Newforma Info Exchange Server dialog box to transfer project files via your Newforma Info Exchange Server and link the transfer to the current file transfer.

Click to open the Send Files and Create an Outgoing Transmittal dialog box to send project files via email, file an outgoing transmittal for a file transfer, and link the transfer to the current file transfer.

Click to open the Transfer Files and Create an Outgoing Transmittal dialog box to transfer project files via your Newforma Info Exchange Server, create a new outgoing transmittal for the file transfer, and link the transfer to the current file transfer.

Click to open the Create Contract Management Item dialog box for the type of contract management item you selected to create a new CM item and link it to the current file transfer.

Click to open the Create Web Link dialog box to enter a web link and automatically relate it to the selected Project Center item. After it is created, the Relation Type column will indicate Web Link, and users can double-click on it to open the website.

 

Relate to >

Click to select an existing project item and establish a relationship between it and the currently selected file transfer. This gives you the ability to link two items that are related together (for example, a markup session that is related to a file transfer). Select Another Project Item to open the Select Project Item dialog box to locate an item that is not in the list. When you create a relationship between two items, each item’s icon is added to the other item’s Related Items column and tab.

 

Share with External

Click and select Yes to allow the selected web link to be shared with external project team members through Info Exchange.

 

Remove

Click to unlink and remove the selected project item from the Related Items tab.

The record copy created from an incoming Info Exchange transfer shows the project team member who logged the pending transfer,  not the person who sent the transfer.

The Relation Type column  has two icons to indicate the relationship type:

The icon indicates that the relationship was created by a user and can be deleted (such as an action item related to a file transfer).

The icon indicates that the relationship was created by Project Center and cannot be deleted (such as a transmittal or record copy related to a file transfer).

 

To access this activity center

Click Info Exchange from the Activities list or from the Project Home activity center.