Automatically add files to Project Centre

J

Jeremy Fieldsend

Is there anyway (AppleScripting aside) to ensure that any file added to
a folder called e.g. Blob gets added to the Files section of the Blob
proect in the Project Centre? It would be solved of course if Project
Centre would allow me to select folders under the "Add" button, but it
appears not to want to.
 
P

Paul Berkowitz

Is there anyway (AppleScripting aside) to ensure that any file added to
a folder called e.g. Blob gets added to the Files section of the Blob
proect in the Project Centre? It would be solved of course if Project
Centre would allow me to select folders under the "Add" button, but it
appears not to want to.
Click to expand...

Yes. Don't click the "Add" button. Click the "Properties" button in the
Overview tab of the Blob project. Now click the "Add" tab there.

That shows you two Watch folders which are made by default when you first
create the project with the help of the assistant.

The first Watch folder is the type you're asking about. By default it was
made here: ~/Documents/Office Projects/Blob/..

It should be there already: it's not optional. At the time of project
creation you could also choose to have an alias to it on your desktop, and
to locate it elsewhere if you prefer. Afterwards. like now, you can still
click on "Choose" so set a different location for a Watch folder. You'll
have to make your own alias (opt-cmd-drag) on the desktop from the real
location in the Finder if you want one now.

You can either put original documents _or an alias_ into your Watch folder
(or its alias). They will immediately appear in the Project and be available
to all sharers. Or if you click Add button in the Project itself and choose
File, the file you choose in the dialog will not only get added to the
project but an alias will get added to the Watch folder.

In fact, when you find your Blob Watch folder which I'm sue must exist in
~/Documents/Office Projects/, you should find aliases to all your project
files there already.


The second Watch Folder is an Entourage mail folder. This one is optional
and you may not have asked for one at project creation (although it's
selected by default so you probably did). If not, you can create or select
one now by checking "Entourage" in that Add panel of properties. Email
messages from contact members of your project will get added there, and to
your project, automatically if you so choose, or you can drag or copy email
messages there to join the project.

--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP MacOffice
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/index.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>

Please "Reply To Newsgroup" to reply to this message. Emails will be
ignored.

PLEASE always state which version of Microsoft Office you are using -
**2004**, X or 2001. It's often impossible to answer your questions
otherwise.
 
K

Ken Ray

You can either put original documents _or an alias_ into your Watch folder
(or its alias). They will immediately appear in the Project and be available
to all sharers. Or if you click Add button in the Project itself and choose
File, the file you choose in the dialog will not only get added to the
project but an alias will get added to the Watch folder.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but I add aliases to the Watch folder and they *don't* show up under
the Files tab. The only way I'm able to get files to display under the Files
tab is to use the Add button.

In fact, I'd *love* to be able to do that because if I point it directly to
my folder full of files, Entourage slows to a crawl every time I need to
access that project. So until I'm able to put some kind of aliases in the
watch folder, I can't use the Project Center for managing files related to
my Project.

Or am I doing something wrong?

Ken Ray
Sons of Thunder Software
Web site: http://www.sonsothunder.com/
Email: [email protected]
 
P

Paul Berkowitz

Sorry, but I add aliases to the Watch folder and they *don't* show up under
the Files tab. The only way I'm able to get files to display under the Files
tab is to use the Add button.

In fact, I'd *love* to be able to do that because if I point it directly to
my folder full of files, Entourage slows to a crawl every time I need to
access that project. So until I'm able to put some kind of aliases in the
watch folder, I can't use the Project Center for managing files related to
my Project.

Or am I doing something wrong?
Click to expand...

I think you must be, or maybe we're speaking at cross-purposes. As soon as I
add an alias to my Watch folder it appears in the Files tab of the Project.
It does not appear in the Shared Files on the server unless I select it and
click the Share button, at which point the original is moved to the server
(iDisk/Sites/Projects/This Project/Files). Is that perhaps what you meant?
Yes, to share the file it has to be on the server (via Share) but just to be
in the Project (unshared) it doesn't. Either way, you can first get it into
the project by moving an alias to the Watch folder.


--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP MacOffice
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/index.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>

Please "Reply To Newsgroup" to reply to this message. Emails will be
ignored.

PLEASE always state which version of Microsoft Office you are using -
**2004**, X or 2001. It's often impossible to answer your questions
otherwise.
 
K

Ken Ray

I think you must be, or maybe we're speaking at cross-purposes. As soon as I
add an alias to my Watch folder it appears in the Files tab of the Project.
It does not appear in the Shared Files on the server unless I select it and
click the Share button, at which point the original is moved to the server
(iDisk/Sites/Projects/This Project/Files). Is that perhaps what you meant?
Yes, to share the file it has to be on the server (via Share) but just to be
in the Project (unshared) it doesn't. Either way, you can first get it into
the project by moving an alias to the Watch folder.
Click to expand...
That's not what happens to me. I even tested it with a new project. Here's
what I did (note that I don't have a server and am not using the sharing
options):

1) Create a new project called "Test", let Entourage create the watch folder
automatically, and allow it to create an alias to the watch folder on my
desktop.

2) Double-click on the watch folder alias to open the watch folder.

3) Drag an alias of one of my files into the watch folder.

4) Switch back to Entourage, go to the Test project and click on the Files
tab. Nothing is listed.

5) Click "Refresh". Nothing is listed.

6) Drag a normal file to the same watch folder, switch to Entourage and go
to the Files tab. My file is listed there.

So from my perspective, it looks like aliases in the watch folder just
doesn't work. I'm running 10.3.4, BTW.

Any ideas?

Ken Ray
Sons of Thunder Software
Web site: http://www.sonsothunder.com/
Email: [email protected]
 
K

Ken Ray

I think you must be, or maybe we're speaking at cross-purposes. As soon as I
add an alias to my Watch folder it appears in the Files tab of the Project.
It does not appear in the Shared Files on the server unless I select it and
click the Share button, at which point the original is moved to the server
(iDisk/Sites/Projects/This Project/Files). Is that perhaps what you meant?
Yes, to share the file it has to be on the server (via Share) but just to be
in the Project (unshared) it doesn't. Either way, you can first get it into
the project by moving an alias to the Watch folder.
Click to expand...
Found the problem... Entourage won't list alias files that have a broken
link to the original file, or if the alias is to a folder and not a file.
The fact that it doesn't display broken links is totally reasonable, but the
inability to display aliases to folders is really problematic. My project
may have several files and folders somewhere else on disk that I want to
link to, and to have to replicate the folder structure in the watch folder
and just put aliases to specific files I need is really troubling.

Ken Ray
Sons of Thunder Software
Web site: http://www.sonsothunder.com/
Email: [email protected]
 
P

Paul Berkowitz

Found the problem... Entourage won't list alias files that have a broken
link to the original file, or if the alias is to a folder and not a file.
The fact that it doesn't display broken links is totally reasonable, but the
inability to display aliases to folders is really problematic. My project
may have several files and folders somewhere else on disk that I want to
link to, and to have to replicate the folder structure in the watch folder
and just put aliases to specific files I need is really troubling.
Click to expand...

That sounds like a reasonable feature request to make via Help/Send
Feedback.

There may be a technical reason why they're not doing it. It's not all that
hard though to do what you want, though: you do have to replicate the
subfolder structure first (or after making aliases), but you can make
aliases to _all_ the files of one of those folders at once by selecting all
files in the original (cmd-A) and cmd-opt-dragging to the Watch folder.
Sub-subfolders will have to be done separately. You don't have to do it
laboriously file by file.

--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP MacOffice
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/index.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>

Please "Reply To Newsgroup" to reply to this message. Emails will be
ignored.

PLEASE always state which version of Microsoft Office you are using -
**2004**, X or 2001. It's often impossible to answer your questions
otherwise.
 
K

Ken Ray

That sounds like a reasonable feature request to make via Help/Send
Feedback.

There may be a technical reason why they're not doing it. It's not all that
hard though to do what you want, though: you do have to replicate the
subfolder structure first (or after making aliases), but you can make
aliases to _all_ the files of one of those folders at once by selecting all
files in the original (cmd-A) and cmd-opt-dragging to the Watch folder.
Sub-subfolders will have to be done separately. You don't have to do it
laboriously file by file.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the confirmation, Paul. I've sent off a suggestion to Send
Feedback.


Ken Ray
Sons of Thunder Software
Web site: http://www.sonsothunder.com/
Email: [email protected]
 
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