Vault File Structure

Question

Where can I see how this file upload structure came to be?
C:\Aras\Vault\YOUR_DB_NAME\FIRST_CHARACTER_OF_ID\SECOND_AND_THIRD_CHARACTERS_OF_ID\REST_OF_ID\FILE_NAME

christopher_gillis · Answer

Hello,
This folder structure works to improve performance by keeping the number of files and folders inside of a single directory to a minimum. This is especially important as we expect our users to store large numbers of files inside of Aras Innovator.
I believe the code for the vault that handles building this structure and looking up files using this structure is stored inside of a DLL, so it's not accessible to see or change.
Chris

keipidesu · Answer

Hi Christopher, thanks a lot for your response. Is there any way to determine if the uploaded "file" to the vault was a directory or folder? Because the vault already uploads folders as files, even though they are not.

christopher_gillis · Answer

Hello,
It's not possible to upload a folder as a File item. Are you referring to a compressed format like a Zip file?
I'd also like to say as a general note,&nbsp;you should never need to manually access the Vault.&nbsp;Could you elaborate on what your use case for this is?
Chris

keipidesu · Answer

Hi,
Ah no, not a zip file. A folder. So basically here are the steps to reproduce the issue:

Create a new Document item
Open a separate windows explorer,&nbsp; and browse into your files/folders
Drag and drop a folder into the Files tab
Fill out necessary fields, then save the Document item.

The created Document item saves the dragged folder as a file type. Even though it is in its entity a directory/folder. Our clients would like to prevent this from doing so, as it is in a way, taking up space on the tool. That's why I'm trying to learn from different angles, in a way, also learning how the tool behaves on certain parts.
We have initially tried writing a method which loops all the extensions registered as a file type of the File item, then checks if the D&amp;D file is legitimately a file (or with extension). It worked... for a moment, because a test case appeared on what if you D&amp;D a folder/directory with this name: ex. folder.docx
The File item actually read this as a legitimate .docx file when actually it's a folder. So, our initial JS method became useless. Hope I'm making sense here

christopher_gillis · Answer

Hello,
This is definitely an unintended interaction with the drag-drop functionality. Following the steps you provided, I was able to see that the drag-drop functionality does attach a "file" to the document. However, I could only get this "file" to save in an 11.0 SP15 instance. When I tried to reproduce this in a 12.0 instance, there was a silent JavaScript error thrown that prevented me from actually saving the Document.
Folders are not able to be uploaded to Aras Innovator. If you use your same steps but use the "Create New" button instead of dragging the file in, you'll see that you aren't able to select a folder from the dialog that pops up. You can also see if you check either the File item in the database of the file created in the Vault that even if you drag the folder in to create the file item, it is saved as an empty, extension-less file and not a real folder.

Thank you for pointing this out. I've filed this as an issue internally. In the meantime, you can inform your users that folders are not intended to be added directly, or you can point them to using the "Create New" functionality of the Client.
Chris

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Vault File Structure

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