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Help Topics

VKC Session:
Username   Logout  
 
VKC Functions:
Document storage
 
Navigation:
VKC path   Navigator  
Subcategories / document list with function selection  
Simple search  
 
Functions for categories:
Category statistics   Insert document with analysis and classification
Create category   Edit category   Delete category   Permissions   Register category  
 
Published documents:
Document entry  
Edit document   Add new version   Show all versions   Delete document   Related documents   Top of page
 
Latest additions   Bestseller   Advanced search   Messenger   Profile   Help  
 
Administration (for users with administration privileges only)  
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VKC Session

Username

Username

This field shows the username of the current user. In case this ist not your username, please logout and login with your proper username.

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Logout

Logout

By clicking on Logout the current VKC session is termiated. The login form will be loaded.

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VKC Functions

Document storage

All VKC documents are accessible in the document storage. It is structured hierarchically by categories. Categories are similar to folders in a file structure. Furthermore, you can add keywords and a description to each category supporting the appropriate filing and quick retrieval of documents. The description and contents of a category is presented on a VKC page.

Such a VKC page provides access to the documents of the category, a simple search function, as well as navigational functions.

There may be additional functions for the category or for the documents in the category depending on the access permissions of the current user.

Detailed description ...

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Latest additions

This functions provides a quick overview of new VKC documents. A list of the 20 most recently published documents is shown, newest at the top. For each document its descriptional data is listed including a couple of hyperlinks. They are annotated in the example below. If you follow the link to a document's category, the category page will be loaded into your current browser window by default.

Latest additions

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Bestseller

This function provides a quick overview of the probably most interesting VKC documents. A list of the 20 documents with the highest access counts will be shown. For each document its descriptional data is listed including a couple of hyperlinks. They are annotated in the example below. If you follow the link to a document's category, the category page will be loaded into your current browser window by default.

Bestseller

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Advanced search

This function supports sophisticated retrieval of VKC documents. The following search form will be displayed:

search form

There are different fields for entering a search string to qualify where to search. The full-text search searches the document contents, while all other fields refer to descriptional data of the document specified during publication. If you specify search strings in more than one field they are combined by a logical AND. The search is activated by clicking Search.

You may specifiy the sort order for the results.
Default: descending by score

The number of results per page may be selected from the predefined list. If there are more results than permitted on one page, further pages can be reached by hyperlinks.
Default: 5 results per page

The age of displayed documents may be restricted by selecting a range from the predefined list.
Default: no limitation

The search may be restricted to a specific document type that can be selected from the predefined list.
Default: no limitation

The list of results shows the score of each entry, the descriptional data of the document, and some hyperlinks annotated in the example below. The search string for the example has been "software" in field "Title". If you follow the hyperlink to a document's category, the current browser window will be overwritten by default.

search result

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Messenger

This function opens a form showing the notification settings of the current user. If option messaging enabled is turned on, the user is notified by email, when documents containing the specified keywords are published or when new documents are inserted into the registered categories.

Messenger

The messaging time period specifies the time interval between notifications. If you select "15 minutes", the check is performed every 15 minutes. If you select "1 day", no more than one message a day will be sent.

Changes will become effective after clicking Save.

Categories can be registered directly on the corresponding VKC page of the category.

For removing a category from the messenger you have to open the messenger form, deactivate the entry and click Save.

Messenger

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Profile

Every VKC user has a personal profile including personal data, options, and functions for changing the password and for disposition of expired documents.

user profile

Personal data may be modified in the respective fields directly.

Options

Show Email:
This option is turned off by default. The email address will no be displayed as part of the author information of documents.
Language:
You may select a language for VKC pages and forms. Currently, German and English are available.

If the user belongs to one or more VKC groups, they are listed in field Groups. The groupnames are hyperlinks. Clicking on the link opens a window with information about the group.

Changes of the profile become effective after clicking Save.

Function Change Password can be used to set a new password.

Function Expired Documents checks whether there are expired documents that have been published by the current user. Expired documents may be deleted, restored in their original places, or published as a new document. Expiration dates have to be set explicitly. By default documents never expire.

Users and groups are managed by users with administration privileges. Detailed description ...

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Help

This function opens a browser window showing the help page you are currently reading.

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Document Storage

The functions provided by the document storage are described in detail in this section.

Navigation:
VKC path   Navigator  
Subcategories / document list with function selection  
Simple search  
 
Functions for categories:
Category statistics   Insert document with analysis and classification
Create category   Edit category   Delete category   Permissions   Register category  
 
Published documents:
Document entry  
Edit document   Add new version   Show all versions   Delete document   Related documents   Top of page
 

VKC path

VKC path

This field shows all categories in the path of categories starting at the VKC entry up to the current category. The magnifier in front of the path controls the Navigator. By clicking on a category in the path, the corresponding page will be loaded in the browser window.

Furthermore, the keywords (if defined) and the description of the category will be displayed.

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Navigator

open Navigator

This function opens the VKC Navigator on the left side of the browser window. The navigator shows the VKC category structure and complements the navigation functions of the usual VKC pages. This is especially helpful to gain an overview of a deeply nested VKC structure. The navigator is similar to a file system browser.

VKC Navigator

The category names listed in the navigator are hyperlinks. Clicking on a categoy name will load the corresponding VKC page on the right side of the browser window.

expand folder Categories may be expanded by clicking on the plus symbol in front of the folder icon.

collapse folder Clicking on the minus symbol reverses the action.

access denied Categories that are crossed out are not accessible by the user.

To return to a VKC representation without navigator, you have to click on the magnifier symbol in front of the VKC path again:

close Navigator

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Subcategories / document list

subcategories and documents

In this section a link to the parent category and links to all direct subcategories are shown. There is no parent category on the VKC entry page because it is the root category for the VKC. For every category the total number of all subcategories and published documents (in all of them) are given in parentheses. If you click on one of the category entries, the corresponding VKC page is loaded.

Below the categroy names (indicated by the folder icon) you can find the list of documents (file names) in the current category (indicated by the file symbol). The file names are hyperlinks to the corresponding document entry further down on the page.

Function list

You may copy, delete, cut, or paste categories or documents directly from the list of categories and documents. Therefore, you have to mark one or more of them, select the appropriate function, and click on Execute.

function list

The list offers only functions which may be performed by the user according to his access permissions for the current category. "Copy" requires read permission, all others need also write permission. For deleting or cutting delete permission is required.

Functions "copy" and "cut" copy the selected objects to the clipboard. Function "paste" inserts the objects from the clipboard into the current category. Cut objects are deleted in the originating category after successful insertion into the new category.

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Simple search

simple search

In this field you may enter a string for an immediate, index-based full text search of the VKC repository. If more than one word is given in the search string, documents matching any of them will be found (logical OR). Clicking Search starts the search.

By default the complete VKC is searched. If you want to restrict the search to the subtree below your current category, check the box "search from here".

The results are presented below an advanced search form. See Advanced search for details ...

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Functions for Categories

category functions

On a VKC page only those functions are provided which may be performed by the user according to the access permissions of the category.

Category statistics  

The number of subcategories and the number of published documents in the current category are shown.

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Insert document with analysis and classification  

This function inserts a document, an HTML link, or a note into the current category. Write permission for the category is required to perform this function.

A form is loaded. As a first step, you have to choose which kind of object you want to publish: a document, an HTML link, or a note. This is necessary because they need different parameters.

For documents you may determine a document class; the information might be useful for potential readers. Next, you have to browse for the file containing the document. In field Title you should enter the document title, otherwise the file name (without path) will be used. For some document formats the title may be extracted automatically by function Analyse. The Type will be deducted from the file name extension. Therefore, it is recommended to use the usual file name extensions associated with common applications (like ".doc", ".pdf", ".html").

For an HTML link you have to enter the web path (URL) in field HTML Link.

Below this field you may choose whether to store the URL as a real hyperlink or to copy the referenced file. In case the reference links to a web directory and you choose option "copy", the file "index.html" will be copied (if available).

You may enter a title for the web link manually or you can extract it by function Analyse if the document source provides the appropriate information.

A note is a VKC entry without a file. Only the information given in this form will be stored. Do not forget to supply a title for the note.

For all three types of publication you may enter keywords and a description. Documents and HTML links may be processed by function Analyse to extract keywords and description automatically. The results may be edited manually before publication.

An expiration date may be entered. On that date the corresponding document entry will be removed from the category and the author will be notified. He may decide what to do with the expired document. Expired documents of a user are accessible by function Profile.

If you have not decided whether the current category is appropriate for the new document, you may use function Classify. The function compares the document with either all categories in the VKC or with categories below the current category. The results will be presented in the upper part of the form where you may select on of the categories:

When you are finished with completing the form, you have to click on Publish to initiate publication. If you have marked a result of the classification, the document will be inserted in that category. Otherwise it will be inserted into the current category.

The button Cancel can be used to return to the current category without publishing a document.

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Create new category  

This function creates a new subcategory. A form is loaded where you have to enter the category name and optionally keywords and a description. By clicking on Create the new category will be created and the VKC page of the parent category will be reloaded, now showing the new entry. You may leave the form without creation of a new category by clicking on Cancel.

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Edit category  

This function can be used to edit the descriptional information of the current category. A form similar to the form for category creation is loaded. You may change category name, keywords, or description. To make changes permanent, you have to click on Save. You can leave the form without any changes by clicking on Cancel.

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Delete category  

This function can be used to delete the current category and with all subcategories and all published documents. Before this function is actually performed, you will be asked for confirmation.

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Permissions  

This function loads a form with the access control list (ACL) of the current category. It is available only for users who have permission to modify the access permissions.

access control list

Permissions can be granted for individual users or for VKC groups. An entry named anyother applies to all users that are neither mentioned as user nor a member of a mentioned group. When you select an entry, the corresponding permissions will be shown in the lower part of the form. Permissions may be changed bei turning on or off the individual options. Changes of an entry become effective by clicking Save.

The buttons to the right of the user and group list can be used to add or remove entries to or from the list. If you remove the entry anyother, only the users and groups listed explicitly may access the category.

Option Inherit these settings to all subcategories copies the ACL of the current category to all subcategories that allow modification of the ACL for the user.

If you want to protect a whole subtree, please remember that you have to adjust the permissions of every category in it. If you protect the root of the subtree only, users may access documents in subcategories by means of the search function if the respective subcategory permits accesss.

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Register category  

This function registers the current VKC category for notification.

If you want to get an automatic email notification when a new document is published in this category, you have to make sure that option messaging enabled is turned on in the Messenger.

If you want to remove a category from your notification list, you have to go to the Messenger, check off the respective category entry and click on Save.

Messenger

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Published Documents

In section "Published Documents" of a VKC page you will find a descriptive entry for every document in this category. The entry includes some hyperlinks and function icons related to the document.

Document entry

A document entry identifies and describes a published document and contains hyperlinks to the contents and to information about the author who published the document. Furthermore functions are provided to be applied to the document.

document entry

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Functions in a document entry

Depending on the access permissions of the user the following functions will be provided in a document entry:

document functions

Edit document  

This function requires write permission in the current category. A form is loaded with the descriptive information of the document. You may edit the information. Changes become effective by clicking on Save.

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Add new version  

This function inserts a new version of an already published document. It requires write permission in the current category. A form similar to the insertion of a new document is loaded.

There are three additional fields:

version information

Field previous document shows information about the last version before the new one.
The version number is managed by VKC and cannot be changed by the user.
The suggested version label may be overwritten by the user.
A specific version description may be added.

In all other respects the form works as described in function insert document.

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Show all versions  

This function is provided only if there are already multiple versions of a document. On usual VKC pages only the newest version is listed. When you click on the icon for "show all versions" a page with document entries for every document version is loaded. You may access each version of the document. You can also edit the document information of each version individually.

You may return to the category page by clicking on Back.

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Delete document  

This function requires permission to delete documents in the current category. The document of the current document entry will be removed after your confirmation.

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Related documents  

This function is document specific and is thus located directly within the document entry. Clicking on it causes VKC to compare the current document with all other documents in the repository. The comparison is a sophisticated algorithm aimed at finding documents with similar contents.

The results will be shown in the same browser window by default. Up to 20 matching documents will be listed, sorted by score. For every document the descriptive information and hyperlinks are displayed similar to the results of the advanced search.

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Top of page  

Clicking on this symbol scrolls to the top of the current VKC page. This link is included in every document entry.

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VKC 3.1 © Siemens Business Services C-LAB 2003