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Import Files Using Drag And Drop

Drag-and-drop is a convenient and easy way to add small quantities of files to a vault.

After files have been imported to a vault, document properties that were not explicitly set during the import (from title blocks, default property assignments, and so on) contain no values. Those properties will not be synchronized to the imported content files by the Meridian application links. This is by design to prevent overwriting existing values.

The properties can be synchronized from the imported content files. Such properties must be set in the vault to an explicit value at least once before the properties will be synchronized to the content files.

ClosedAdditional Notes about Functionality

  • Your Administrator can configure the maximum file size you are allowed to import. Files exceeding this limit cannot be uploaded. To upload these files, use the Local Workspace client.

  • If the vault is configured to use the same document type for all Autodesk Inventor assembly files (.iam, .idv,.ipt,.idw,.ipn), all of the files will become one hybrid document if you drop them at the same time into the vault. Instead, first drop those files that you do not want to be part of the hybrid document (.ipt,.idw, and .ipn), and then drop the assembly (.iam and .idv) files.

  • Importing files with external references in this way will not create Meridian references.

  • The document type that is assigned to imported documents is determined by the following precedence:

    • Document type assigned to the file extension.

    • Default document type of the active vault if available in the active scope.

    • Default document type assigned to the active scope.

  • Drag and drop also works to export documents from Meridian to Windows Explorer or your desktop.

ClosedPowerWeb Procedures

  1. Open the folder where you want to import the documents.

    If you want to import the files to an existing document, select it.

  2. Choose one of the following options:

    • To import directly into the PowerWeb window:

      1. Drag the files from Windows Explorer, Microsoft Outlook, or your desktop onto the PowerWeb window and drop them.

        If the selected document is locked or read-only, a dialog box appears for you to select an action.

      2. Select an import action from the dialog box that appears.

        The available actions depend on the selected document, the number of files dropped, and their file extensions.

    • To import from the ribbon:

      1. In the New ribbon, in the Documents group, click Import Documents.

        The Import Documents dialog box appears.

      2. Drag the files from Windows Explorer, Microsoft Outlook, or your desktop into the Import Documents window and drop them.

    • To import from the folder context menu:

      1. Right-click any folder, point to Folder, and click Import Documents.

        The Import Documents dialog box appears.

      2. Drag the files from Windows Explorer, Microsoft Outlook, or your desktop into the Import Documents window and drop them.

    • To import from the Thumbnails view:

      1. Right-click a thumbnail of a folder or document.

      2. Point to New, and then select Import Documents.

        The Import Documents dialog box appears.

      3. Drag the files from Windows Explorer, Microsoft Outlook, or your desktop into the Import Documents window and drop them.

  3. Choose between two options:

    • To select more files to import, drag the files onto the file list and drop them.

    • To select the files to import using a file browser:

      1. Click Add.

      2. Select the files to upload.

      3. Click Open.

        The file names are added to the file list.

        Select a file and click Remove to remove it from the list.

  4. If you also want to create Meridian references between the files that have external references, enable Synchronize References from Files.

  5. If the current view is not the Folders view, the Import Document/Select Folder dialog box appears.

    If necessary, select a different folder in the Folders view where you want the imported document to reside.

  6. Click Next.

  7. If a page appears prompting you to select a document type for the files that you uploaded, select one from Document type and click Next.

  8. If any property pages appear for the documents you are importing, type any known values in the property pages and click Finish when you are finished.

    A progress dialog box shows the results while the files are imported. The files are uploaded to the selected folder or, if their location is controlled by the vault's Field-Path definition, they are created in the appropriate folders.

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