Mass Document Operations in GroupWise

By Andrew McGregor, Messaging Support Specialist

Sometimes it will be necessary to make changes to a large number of documents at one time. For instance, if you were sharing documents with a colleague and then that person changes jobs, you'll want to remove the rights that were given to him or her. With "Mass Document Operations", you can achieve this with very little complication

First, with the GroupWise main window open, click on "Tools" and choose "Mass Document Operations...".

GroupWise Example

The "Mass Document Operations" window will come up, and you will be faced with a number of options. There are five operations that can be performed on the group of documents that need modifying. There are also four different ways of choosing what documents will be modified. Each combination will be covered. Let's start with the first operation "Change Properties" and the first selection method "Use Find/Advanced Find...". Using the operation "Change properties" you will be able to make changes to the "Subject", "Document Type", and "Author" fields. Using the "Use Find/Advanced Find..." selection method, you will use the regular GroupWise find/advanced find feature that you are already familiar with to locate the documents. After selecting the proper choices, click on "Next".

GroupWise Example

The next window is the standard GroupWise search window. Enter the search criteria that you want and the locations you want to search in and click on "Next". (If you are not familiar with the Find/Advanced Find features of GroupWise, please refer to the "Find" document.)

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In the next window, you can enter the changes you would like to make to your group of documents. When you've entered the changes you would like to make, click, "Next".

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In this window, there are a number of options to choose from. "Preview find results", allows you to look at the results of your search that you defined earlier before proceeding with the changes. "Log files", gives you the opportunity to specify a location for a log file to be created. One really nice feature is that you can create a log file before performing the operation in order to see how it will turn out and what problems may arise. Take special notice of the, "Note", at the bottom of the window. After you are done making your selections, click on, "Finish".

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While the process is taking place, the, "Mass Change Progress" window will be displaying the progress of the operation. When the operation is done, you will be able to read the status of your changes and then click on, "Close", when your are done. At this point the operation is complete and GroupWise will be notifying all document owners, whose documents were modified, about the changes.

GroupWise Example

Changing Properties Using Find By Example

From the main GroupWise window, choose, "Tools", and then, "Mass Document Operations", to get to the window below. Then select, "Change properties" and "Use Find by Example to select documents", and click on, "Next".

GroupWise Example

The "Find by Example" window is shown below. To use the, "Find by Example", feature, fill in the fields with properties resembling the ones of the documents you want to change. When you are done filling in the fields, just click on, "Next".

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The, "Document", window will then come up. You will need to enter your changes in the fields and then click, "Next".

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Just as in the previous section, this window gives you the ability to check the results of your search as well as generate a log file of the operation without actually running it, to see what the outcome will be. When you've made your selections here, click, "Finish".

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At that point, you will see the operation status window, and you will be done when 100% is reached. Make sure to look at the, "Library status", window to make sure all documents were successfully modified.

GroupWise Example

Changing Properties Using Already Selected Documents

When the documents that you want to make changes to are in your client via document references, you can just highlight them and then start the document operations. The first step is to highlight the documents you want to make changes to. Then, from the main GroupWise window, click on “Tools” and choose “Mass Document Operations”. When the “Mass Document Operations” window opens, choose “Change properties” and “Use currently selected documents”, and then click on “next”.

In the “Document” window, enter the changes you would like to make to the documents you have highlighted in your client. When you are done entering your changes, click on “Next”.

The next screen gives you the ability to have GroupWise carry out the operation but only creating a log and not actually making the changes to the documents. You can do this by putting a check in the “Generate a log file without performing the operation” box. This screen does not give the opportunity to check the results of your search since you aren’t using a search for this mass operation. When you’ve made the appropriate selections, click on “Finish”.

You will then see the “Mass Change Progress” window appear and the operation status bar moving across. When the status bar has gotten to 100%, you’re done. Always take a look at the “Library Status” window to see if there were any errors during the operation.

Changing Properties Using Documents Listed In A File

Another way of choosing documents to perform actions on is by using a file that has a list of documents that you want modified. The file must be ASCII or ANSI text and must contain one entry per line. The entries must follow this format:

This is called the document ID. Here’s an example of this:

Lib_Committee(Library.Main.Lib_Committee):2

The above syntax is exactly the way it has to look, no spaces. Remember to put periods between the Domain, Post Office, and Library name and case does not matter. If you don’t know what the Domain, Post Office, or Library names are, you can send me an email and I will tell you, or you can follow these easy steps.

You can find your domain name by opening the GroupWise address book, and entering your own name in the “Name” field, and when you see the results, scroll all the way to the right to see your internal GroupWise email address. After the @ sign, you will see the Post Office name, a period, and then the domain name.
You can find your Post Office name from within the main GroupWise window by simply clicking on the “Help” menu item, and choosing “About GroupWise” and looking down at the bottom of the window that comes up, and your Post Office will be written there.
You can figure out which library a document is stored in by right clicking on the document and choosing “Properties” and the library name is the first item under the “Document” tab.

From the main GroupWise window, click on “Tools” and choose “Mass Document Operations”. When the “Mass Document Operations” window opens, choose “Change properties” and “Use documents listed in a file”. Enter the path to the file you will be using, or browse to find it. When you are done with this, click on “Next”.

GroupWise Example

In the “Document” window, enter the changes you would like to make to the documents you have listed in the file. When you are done entering your changes, click on “Next”.

GroupWise Example

For more information on this or another feature, please feel free to send me mail or give me a call at x7688. I'll be happy to help you. Also, you can visit our Campus Wide Networks Website and keep reading Benchmarks Online for other helpful information.