Web interface documentation
File cabinet browser
The XLS file cabinet browser is split into two frames, showing on the left
the current location in the overall file cabinet hierarchy, and on the right
the contents of the currently-open folder.
Hierarchy view
The file cabinet hierarchy view shows the entire file cabinet directory tree,
opened up as far as necessary to show the folder currently open in the right
frame. Folders which are parents of the active folder are labeled in orange
bold face to show the path taken into the file cabinet.
Certain information about a folder is displayed by the icon by its name. An
open folder icon indicates that the folder is a parent of the active folder. A
plain folder icon indicates that a document has no subfolders (though it may
have files), and a folder icon with a down-arrow indicates that the folder
does have subfolders.
Current folder contents
At the top of the folder contents frame is a “genealogy” showing,
from the root folder of the file cabinet, all the parent folders of the
current folder. Clicking on any of these folder names moves the browser back
up the hierarchy towards the root. Below the current folder’s name and
description is a shortcut link to the document last visited by this user (if
any).
The set of tabs below the current folder name contains tools for working with
files in the folder. The Highlight tab allows the selection of a
metadata channel, which will refresh the file list, highlighting the files
which have been reviewed in the chosen channel. The Search tab
contains a link which opens up the file cabinet search with the current folder
preselected. Under Presentation, the height of metadata rows may be
specified (e.g. entering “3” forces a metadata cell to be three
lines high, regardless of the length of its contents; this is useful for
skimming a column of potentially long metadata fields). The hierarchy view may
be toggled on or off with the Single Pane View/Split Pane
view link on the right of this tab.
Below the tab group is a list of the subfolders contained in the current
folder, or a “No subfolders in this folder” message if none exist.
If folders have been given descriptions in the system, these will be displayed
alongside the names.
At the bottom of the frame is the listing of files in the current folder. The
file list may show one or more metadata fields along with the file names; the
file list can be sorted according to any column by clicking on the desired
column header. Clicking again on the same column header reverses the sort
order. An arrow graphic indicates which column is being used for sorting (by
default, the sort is alphabetical by file name).
File cabinet search
Directory/binder selector
When the file cabinet search page is first loaded, in the left frame is an
interface for choosing the folder and/or binder to search. Directly beneath
the frame title on the left is the binder chooser. Select a binder owner
with the left drop-down, and that person’s binders will fill the
drop-down on the right. Choosing a binder name from the drop-down on the
right will cause the search to be restricted to documents in that binder
(choosing No binder selected clears the selected binder and
will return results from any folder in the case).
Underneath the binder chooser is the directory selector, which mirrors the
file cabinet browser interface. The main difference is that only folders are
shown, and not files. To choose a specific search directory, select the target
directory by clicking on the file name. The currently viewed directory (listed
in the top bar of the chooser as folder) is automatically used as the
directory to be searched. NOTE: Specifying a search directory
clears out search criteria from the panel on the right, so it is advisable
first to choose a search directory and then to specify keyword
and metadata search criteria.
Search criteria frame
The search criteria frame located to the right of the binder and directory
list section is divided into three main pieces: a status and tools section, a
full text search form, and a set of metadata search boxes. The status and tools
section, at the top of the frame, lists the currently active search directory
and binder (with a View Binders link for quick examination of
current binder contents). The select different directory and/or
binder link brings the directory and binder chooser back to the left
frame after search results have replaced it. Previously saved searches are
listed in the load saved search dropdown (use the ×
icon to delete the currently-selected search).
Underneath the status section are two columns for entering search criteria: on
the left is the full text search box, and on the right is a list of metadata
channels. Along with simple keyword queries, a variety of special search
operators can be used in the full text search box. Multi-word phrases can be
searched by wrapping them in double-quotes (e.g. "New York
City"). Boolean operators (AND and OR) can be used
between keywords (e.g. checks OR cheques). Complex queries can be
built up with parentheses in conjunction with the other search operators
(e.g. expenses AND (travel OR hotel)). To search for pairs of words
within a certain maximum distance, specify the maximum distance with the
w/# operator (e.g. compensation w/4 agreement will find
documents where the words compensation and agreement are
no more than four words apart in the text). Words that should not
appear in search results can be excluded with the NOT operator
(e.g. bonuses NOT salary). Likewise, NOT can be used in
the same style as the proximity operator (i.e. NOT/#) to return only
documents where two words must be at least a certain distance apart
(e.g. merger NOT/5 speculation returns documents where the word
speculation does not ever appear within 5 words of the word
merger).
Next to the full text search are the metadata search boxes, mirroring the
appearance and functionality of the metadata display boxes in the file
viewer. Metadata can be searched by specific document information (e.g. To,
From, Date) or by the categories for the case (e.g. Production, Substantive
Issues, Witnesses, Hot Documents). Entering information into a metadata search
box adds the input to the list of criteria for the current search. Metadata
search criteria and full text search terms can be combined when running the
search: only files matching all the criteria will be
returned. Once the search parameters have been set, use the Run
search button located at the top or bottom of the frame.
Search results listing
After run search is pressed, the directory and binder chooser in
the left frame is replaced by a search results listing, with tools for working
with the search results. Just below the frame title is a form for adding search
results to a binder. There are two submission buttons on this form: Add
checked results and Add all results — the first adds to a
binder only the search results that have been checked off in the listing
below, and the second simply adds all search results. Choose the left toggle
button next to Existing binder and select a binder from the
dropdown to add results to a binder that already exists, or choose the right
toggle button next to New binder and supply a name and description
for a new binder into which to put the search results. Once added to the
binder, the results are removed from the search page.
Beneath the binder tools is the search results listing and its related tools.
First in this section is a spelled-out version of the query just run, with
multi-stage queries broken up by AND or OR as
appropriate. Additional filtering on a search can be done with the Narrow
this search and Broaden this search links; these will present a
new search criteria frame on the right into which new criteria can be
added. Narrowing a search adds the new criteria as an AND
section; broadening a search makes the new criteria an OR
section. NOTE: Narrow or Broaden this
search must be selected before creating the new search parameters. When a
search has yielded the desired results, entering a name in the save this
search as textbox and hitting save will store all the criteria
under the name specified, for later access with the load saved search
tool in the search criteria frame.
Binders
Binders list
The left frame of the binders interface is a list of binders and users. At
the top of this frame is the currently active user name with a list of this
user’s binders, which can be viewed in the right frame by clicking on
the name of the binder. When viewing another user’s binders, the
link Return to My Binders will immediately bring up the currently
logged-in user’s binders in the top of the left frame. The File
cabinet search link opens the search interface, from which documents of
interest may be added to a binder. The remaining portion of the frame lists
all the users assigned to the current case; clicking a user name in this list
will switch the user and binder list at the top of the frame to the selected
user. A user’s name will only appear in the user list if that user has
logged into XLS at least once.
XLS’s binder system supports nesting binders for multiple levels
of document organization. Nested binders are displayed in an outline format
that can be folded and unfolded to show the particular sections of
interest. Different icons next to binder names in the left panel indicate the
type and status of the respective binder: a binder which contains
sub-binders will be marked either with a binder icon with a down arrow (if
the binder’s contents are currently folded and invisible) or a open
binder icon (if its contents are unfolded and visible). Clicking these icons
will show or hide the binder’s sub-binders in the left panel
(clicking the name of the binder itself will show the binder’s
contents in the right panel). An ordinary binder icon indicates a binder
that does not contain any sub-binders; clicking either the icon or the
binder name will display the binder’s contents in the right panel.
Binder contents and tools
The right frame of the binder viewer is the contents and tools frame. At the
top is a “breadcrumb navigation” bar for moving around and between
cases, followed by the binder name and description.
The lower box contains the actual tools and the contents listing for the
displayed binder. The buttons that perform actions on documents (e.g.
deleting, downloading, printing, etc.) operate only on those documents that have
been selected with the checkboxes to their left. To make working with large
binders easier, the Check all and Uncheck all buttons,
as well as a Check range tool, are available for quickly making large
selections. The buttons in the Document actions tab allow checked
documents in the binder file list to be removed from the binder,
downloaded to a local computer, or printed as a batch. Once documents are in a
binder, they can be moved or copied from one binder to another, or from a
binder into one of its sub-binders. Below the Document actions
tab are tools for performing these actions. To move or copy documents in a
binder to another binder, select the target binder from the drop-down
menu listing, and click the Move checked to or Copy checked
to button. Moving documents into a sub-binder works similarly: select a
sub-binder from the drop-down menu in the Move checked documents to
sub-binder tab and click the Move to sub-binder button.
In the bottom tab of the binder contents page are several general-purpose
tools for working with binders. The link Create a new binder
brings up a dialogue for making a new top-level binder for the current user;
Create sub-binder opens a similar dialogue for creating a new
binder within the currently-viewed one. Select Directory to Add to
Binder opens a directory browser in the left frame of the binders
screen; navigating to a directory and clicking Add Contents to
Binder adds all the documents in that directory to the current
binder.
File viewer
Binder tools
To create a new binder while viewing documents in the viewer, select
Create new located on the right hand side of the XLS
navigation bar and below the label Binder options. (The
navigation bar is located at the top of the XLS page in the viewer.)
Select Create new by placing the cursor on the words and
clicking. A new screen will replace the navigation bar entitled Create new
binder for [username]. Below the heading two boxes will
appear: Name and Description.
Enter the name of the new binder, e.g. XYZ Documents, and a
description of its contents, e.g. Construction contract. This
information will appear when the binder is selected for viewing. Once you
have named and provided a description of the binder, click on the
Create button and a message will appear: Adding binder
named [binder-name] for user
[username]. The page will refresh and the navigation bar will
return.
To activate a binder open the dropdown box containing the list of your
binders that is located just above Create New Binder and below
Binder options. Select the title of the binder to be
active by clicking on the name. The dropdown box will close and the name of the
active binder will appear.
To add documents to the active binder select the option Add to
binder located on the navigation channel under the heading
Binder. Once a document is added the option for the open
document will change to Remove from binder.
This new binder will be available for viewing by your colleagues as a public
binder.
Metadata interface
In the file viewer screen, the left frame contains the interface for tagging
files with pre-set metadata categories (the left frame itself can be switched on
or off using the icon next to meta tag viewer in the top
frame). Select a metadata category from the category channel dropdown
menu in the top frame, and the corresponding metadata panel will be displayed in
the left frame. Existing metadata categories are displayed in the left panel and
can be changed; new metadata can be added where no value currently exists. To
save metadata changes and additions, click the update button at the
top or bottom of the frame or hit the Enter key on the keyboard. The
metadata frame will refresh, with an Information updated message
confirming that the changes have been saved. NOTE: Switching
metadata panels or moving from file to file will erase any changes made to
metadata that have not yet been saved with the update button.
File viewer navigation bar
From the file viewer navigation bar, the user can select metadata categories,
move from document to document, create binders, add documents to a binder,
and view binders. Navigating from file to file in a directory is possible
using the Previous document and Next document links in the
top frame. To skip to non-adjacent documents, use the File Cabinet
link in the top frame to bring up the complete directory listing and choose the
desired document to view.
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