Skip to content

The document library

The document library is the folder-based view of the platform's document store (DMS). It is reached from the sidebar Documents → Browse Group (which opens the site's group document root) and as the Files tab on a deal, which opens that deal's document folder. Both render the same view: a breadcrumb trail, subfolders, and the documents in the current folder.

What it shows

  • Breadcrumbs back to the root of the current tree.
  • Folders — only those the viewer can view; filtering happens in the database query, so hidden folders are absent, not greyed out.
  • Documents in the current folder, each with an expiry label, a status badge (archived, pending, under review, rejected), preview, and download. Archived documents are included by default only for admin users (toggleable with Include hidden?).
  • Four layouts (grid, list, detail, thumbnails), remembered per session, with sorting by created date, expiry date, or name. The list and detail layouts embed the searchable document table from the document search view for the current folder.

Users with edit permission on the current folder get a management menu: create folder, upload file, folder details, delete folder, and Permissions (the same ACL dialog as deal permissions, applied to the folder). On deal folders under the Agreements tree there is also a Validate deal folders repair action.

How permissions shape the library

Folders and documents each carry their own view/edit/delete/admin ACL (see the permissions matrix). The library enforces view in every query: the current folder, the subfolder list, and the document list are all filtered against the viewer's roles. Emailing a deal to its supplier grants the deal's folder to member and the supplier company, which is how deal documents become visible outside the member organization. Ex-member companies (with a leave date) additionally see time-sensitive folders only up to their leave date.

The deal Files tab

The deal-scoped variant opens the folder related to the deal (relatedType "deal"). If the deal has no folder yet, one is created on first visit — but only when the visitor holds the admin role; non-admins visiting a deal with no folder get an error instead of an empty folder.

Why does the library change unexpectedly

  • A folder or document vanished — its ACL or the viewer's roles changed; permission filtering is silent.
  • Documents appeared without an upload here — deal actions create and populate deal folders (agreement PDFs, prices, promotions), and approvals move documents from pending to active.
  • Archived items appear for some users — admins see archived items by default; others don't.
  • The detail layout shows different documents than grid — the detail layout lists documents via the search index, while grid/list/thumbnails read the database directly; a document missing from one but not the other indicates a stale search index.

What the document library is not

  • Not the document search view — that searches across all folders with status/expiry filters; the library browses one folder at a time.
  • Not file storage for other features — avatars, imports, and email attachments are separate stores.
  • Not versioned — there is no document version history anywhere in the DMS; "upload new version" on a document overwrites its file in place (The document detail view).