Contents
1. Introduction
1.1 Features
1.2 Assumptions
2. File Manager overview
3. Managing files
3.1 Add (upload) files
3.2 Create subfolders
4. Delete files and folders
5. Using files: file paths
6. VIRUS!
7. Concluding remarks
In Website@School the File Manager is used to upload materials like images, documents, souds and video, et cetera, i.e. files to the right locations like areas, themes, sections, pages, groups of users or individual users.
What is 'the right location'? It's a good idea to store files for Areas in their respective Area. Eventually subfolders can be created in the Area. The same goes for Groups, Users and My Files: the personal files of the useer that is logged in.
A user like Herbert Spencer in the (see Guided Tour), pupil of grade 8, stores the pictures to his poems in his My Files folder, for example in a subfolder Poems.
NOTICE:
Please bear in mind that links in pages, for example images, are stored in their Areas. Moving an Area to another Area, or moving a section with pages to another Area, will most probably result in broken links.
NOTICE:
Take care when deleting files! They might be in use in some place. It is not possible to move files with the File Manager. This is a feature.
The features of the File Manager, in no specific order:
- Files: Upload and delete files.
- Virus detection: All uploaded files are scanned for Viruses before being accepted, provided a virusscanner is installed on the server (Clamav default). The path to the virusscanner is configurable.
- Allowed files:
Configurarble lists of allowed file extensions, of reckognised image file types and reckognised flash files.
- Upload: Configurable maximum number of files per upload.
- Directories: Create and delete directories. If a directory is not empty, the user is redirected to the contents of that directory.
- Thumbnails: Automatic creation of thumbnails from images. Configurable size of thumbnails. Thunbnails are created wiht GDlib from .png, .jpg, .gif files.
- My Files: Afer logging in, the user is always directed to her My Files.
Most items in the File Manager are configurable. Please see the chapter Configuration Manager, paragraph 5. Site for configuration and details.
This chapter elaborates on other chapters. We assume you have read and done the General part of the Table of Contents.
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To enter the the File Manager, please click on the File Manager
icon to open its dialogue:
filemanager_file_manager_my_files.png
My Files is the default opening dialogue after the user has logged in.
[1] NOTICE:
In this case, Wilhelmina Bladergroen is the webmaster who has full access to all Areas, Groups and Users, and of course her own My Files. If Herbert would log in, he sees:
filemanager_file_manager_user_herbert_my-files.png
After logging in Herbert also has access to his My Files. Wilhelmina has set them in Herberts Admin permissions.
Several icons are greyed out (Module Manager, Account Manager, Configuration Manager, Statistics and Tools), indicating that Herbert has no access to these functions. The File Manager is accessible.
When Herbert clicks Areas, he would not have seen the other Areas (Exemplum Primary School, Exemplum Intranetand Exem[plum inactive):
filemanager_file_manager_user_herbert_areas.png
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Clicking the File Manager icon
opens the My Files dialogue:
filemanager_file_manager_my_files.png
Explanation:
- You are here: all files > my files: The breadcrumb trail and it's clickable links permit easy navigation and direct access to folders.
- Add (upload) files: Clickable link to the upload dialogue.
- Create a new subfolder: Clickable link to create a new subfolder. Please see paragraph Create sections.
- Name Size(in bytes) Date/time: Shows what they are.
- Up one level: Clickable link to go up one level in the directory tree.
Clicking the Add (upload) files link, opens the Add (upload) files dialogue:
filemanager_file_manager_add_files.png
For this screenshot only 4 files can be uploaded in one time. The number of uploadable files (default 8) can be set. Please see chapter Configuration Manager paragraph 5. Site for details.
- Add (upload) files: Here you can add (upload) new files to a folder.
NOTICE:
The names of the new files should contain only letters, digits, dots, dashes or (single) underscores. Other characters such as slashes, colons, at-signs and spaces are not acceptable and are automatically replaced with an underscore or even removed completely thus changing the name of the file as it is stored. If a file already exists it is preserved and the new file will be stored under another name.
- Note: File size is limited to 2097152 bytes, total upload size is limited to 8388608 bytes.
NOTICE:
These limits are set in the php.ini
file, located for example in /etc/httpd/
.
- Filename (1): Clicking on the [Browse] button opens a dialogue window on the computer you are now working on:
filemanager_file_manager_upload_browse.png
The picture might differ according to the PC used.
Navigate to the desired file, select the file for uploading and click the [Open] button to enter the file path in the Filename (1) field:
filemanager_file_manager_upload_ready.png
The path and filename are visible in the Filename (1) field.
- Save: To upload the file(s) to the server. After saving your work you return to the My Files dialogue.
- Cancel: To cancel your action and return to the My Files dialogue.
Click the [Save] button, whereafter you return to the My Files dialogue. Please observe the status messages:
filemanager_file_manager_file_uploaded.png
The image is uploaded to the My Files directory. No virus(es) were detected.
NOTICE:
The last line implies that a virusscanner is installed and working properly. For further information on this subject, see chapter Installation, paragraph 4.1 Virus scanning and section 3.2 Create subfolder
Clicking the Create a new subfoler link, opens the Create a subfolder dialogue:
filemanager_file_manager_create_subfolder.png
- Create a subfolder: Here you can add a new subfolder. The name of the new folder should contain only letters, digits, dots, dashes or (single) underscores. Other characters such as slashes, colons, at-signs and spaces are not acceptable and are replaced with an underscore or even removed completely.
- Folder name: Choose a short and descriptive folder name.
- Save: To save your results. After saving your work you return to the My Files dialogue.
- Cancel: To cancel your action and return to the My Files dialogue.
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NOTICE:
A warning in advance. Take care when deleting files and folders. Most probably they will be in use somewhere in Areas, themes, groups, or in sections and pages. Deleting them can cause broken stuff.
We only describe deleting files. Deleting folders is the same procedure, except that in the dialogue file is replaced with folder.
NOTICE:
Folders can only be deleted when empty.
filemanager_file_manager_files_uploaded.png
To delete fil(s) either:
- click on the Trashcan icon next to a file, to go directly to the Confirm file delete dialogue, or
- check one or more boxes next to the Trashcan when deleting multiple files, and click the [Delete] button to open the Confirm file delete dialogue,
or
- check the Select all files box to select all files, and click the [Delete] button to open the Confirm file delete dialogue:
filemanager_file_manager_delete_file.png
The fie(s) to delete are displayed.
Click [Delete] to delete the files or [Cancel] to end your apparently unwise action.
NotiCe about copying files when merging or splitting areas
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Paths to files can be set in different ways, depending on where you have put them.
- Most likely, when having used the File Manger, the path from an Area, group, user or My Files to a file can be created with the Fileroot program as prefix.
Example:
file.php/areas/grade8/pupils-284x71.jpg
NOTICE:
No leading slash and a slash after file.php
!
Another example in a HTML tag:
<img src="file.php/areas/grade8/pupils-284x71.jpg">
- If the path is on s subdirectory of the Document Root Folder [1]:
Example:
<img src="/was1/file.php/areas/grade8/pupils-284x71.jpg">
NOTICE:
A leading slash!
- Although not really part of the File Manager chapter, also other paths are possible.
Example:
<img src="http://exemplum.eu/was1/file.php/areas/spaans/pile_of_books.jpg">
.
- Or a path in the CMS Program Folder [1]:
Example:
program/graphics/waslogo-284x71.png
NOTICE:
No leading slash!
[1] For an explanation of 'Document Root Folder' and 'CMS Program Folder', please see the Installation chapter, paragraph 1.3 Preparations.
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On a school with so many users who upload files from everywhere (school, home, vaction Internet cafe, et cetera), virus scanning is an absolute must. See also chapter Install, paragraph 4.1 Virus scanning to check if a virus scanner is installed. When a virus is detected during the upload process, the following message is produced:
filemanager_virus_found.png
At the same time, an alert is sent:
There was an attempt to upload a file containing
a virus. The output of the virusscanner is as follows:
/tmp/phpi21GgP: Eicar-Test-Signature FOUND
----------- SCAN SUMMARY -----------
Infected files: 1
Time: 0.000 sec (0 m 0 s)
The currently logged in user was
Wilhelmina Bladergroen (wblader)
and the file was /tmp/phpi21GgP (nice_picture.jpg).
Kind regards,
Your automated webmaster
|
You can see that we used the innocent test virus eicar.com.
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Do the virus check!
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Author: Dirk Schouten <schoutdi (at) knoware (dot) nl>
Last updated: 2012-02-27