Plan for Daniel Neilsen
by Daniel Neilsen · 11/26/2002 (12:22 am) · 6 comments
Hi Guys,
I have been taking a break recently as I had an idea for a commercial program that, I believe, has a huge market.
My idea was to create an online document management system that can handle multiple revisions of the same file (with the same filename) in the one directory. As we all know, having two files of the same name in the same directory is not really possible, but I managed to do it anyway ;)
The end result is DocServ. A system that allows users (with correct access rights) to upload files, revise files and download files whilst storing information about the files and revisions such as revision number, revision notes, upload date, upload user, etc, etc
The system is run using a compiled cgi backend and uses php scripting for pages making it usable on linux, BSD and win32 machines.
I would appreciate if anyone reading this could give my beta version a trial. Just go to this website:
www.liquid.nq.net/docserv/
username: ggtest
password: ggtest
As you can see, it has a full user management system as well and the ggtest user only can see a fraction of the real directorys available. This user has access to upload into the GarageGames directory and can also create sub-folders in this directory.
(Please only upload small files as my poor server will crap itself ;)
I am going to offer 5 user, 25 user and unlimited user licences but I have no idea, presently, what I should charge for these licences.
I would love any feedback both on the program and on possible charge rates for it.
:)
I have been taking a break recently as I had an idea for a commercial program that, I believe, has a huge market.
My idea was to create an online document management system that can handle multiple revisions of the same file (with the same filename) in the one directory. As we all know, having two files of the same name in the same directory is not really possible, but I managed to do it anyway ;)
The end result is DocServ. A system that allows users (with correct access rights) to upload files, revise files and download files whilst storing information about the files and revisions such as revision number, revision notes, upload date, upload user, etc, etc
The system is run using a compiled cgi backend and uses php scripting for pages making it usable on linux, BSD and win32 machines.
I would appreciate if anyone reading this could give my beta version a trial. Just go to this website:
www.liquid.nq.net/docserv/
username: ggtest
password: ggtest
As you can see, it has a full user management system as well and the ggtest user only can see a fraction of the real directorys available. This user has access to upload into the GarageGames directory and can also create sub-folders in this directory.
(Please only upload small files as my poor server will crap itself ;)
I am going to offer 5 user, 25 user and unlimited user licences but I have no idea, presently, what I should charge for these licences.
I would love any feedback both on the program and on possible charge rates for it.
:)
About the author
#2
My system was originally aimed at Architects, engineers and project managers where they are starting to publish their autocad drawings online. As the client does not need any special software to use the system (any web browser is fine) it creates a secure way for them to publish drawings and revisions to these drawings.
I can see this having a million uses (I hope). Solicitors, Quality Assurance forms, accountancy spreadsheets, heh....just about anything!
I would appreciate if you guys could try it though. Upload some small files, then revise them. Try it out please :)
11/26/2002 (7:37 am)
Its similiar to CVS as far as it allows multiple versions of the same file to be available but, where CVS is designed for code with multiple files, my system is designed for use on seperate files such as word docs, pictures, zip files, etcMy system was originally aimed at Architects, engineers and project managers where they are starting to publish their autocad drawings online. As the client does not need any special software to use the system (any web browser is fine) it creates a secure way for them to publish drawings and revisions to these drawings.
I can see this having a million uses (I hope). Solicitors, Quality Assurance forms, accountancy spreadsheets, heh....just about anything!
I would appreciate if you guys could try it though. Upload some small files, then revise them. Try it out please :)
#3
Is there a way to just look at a list of the files in the folders? I work at a A/E firm and have just gone through a tough project where document control became a serious issue (I blame it on the sub-consultants) because of the speed of the project. I'd definitely be interested in something like this as there seem to be better control then with an ftp site. I'll give it a test and let you know what I think.
11/26/2002 (5:47 pm)
Daniel,Is there a way to just look at a list of the files in the folders? I work at a A/E firm and have just gone through a tough project where document control became a serious issue (I blame it on the sub-consultants) because of the speed of the project. I'd definitely be interested in something like this as there seem to be better control then with an ftp site. I'll give it a test and let you know what I think.
#4
For an online system this wasnt really viable as it would tend to time out :(
What you can do is do a search within a folder including all subfolders to get a listing of all the files as the search screen returns pages of 20 files at a time.
11/26/2002 (7:52 pm)
I did originally look at an option to do that but the problem was, if a site has 200 or 300 file on it, you would be listing all of the files and their details at once.For an online system this wasnt really viable as it would tend to time out :(
What you can do is do a search within a folder including all subfolders to get a listing of all the files as the search screen returns pages of 20 files at a time.
#5
Gave it a try and it worked great. One feature that I didn't see was the option to upload mutliple files at once. If I'm posting a set of drawings at once and then only going to update the ones that are changing it would be nice to be able to upload a batch of drawings. Personally I would have the directory structure as part of the main page and allow the users to select multiple folders that they want searched.
11/27/2002 (9:25 pm)
Daniel,Gave it a try and it worked great. One feature that I didn't see was the option to upload mutliple files at once. If I'm posting a set of drawings at once and then only going to update the ones that are changing it would be nice to be able to upload a batch of drawings. Personally I would have the directory structure as part of the main page and allow the users to select multiple folders that they want searched.
#6
The problem with uploading multiple files is that the description of each file should really be unique. This would enhance the search engines effectivness.
I have added access to the ggtest user to a sample directory I have set up of how I think a project manager might use this program.
You would have several user groups applicable to this folder. Architect, Engineer, Hydraulic Engineer, and a specific one for Job 112016. Using this setup, the Architect would be able to download engineers and hydraulic drawings but could only update his own.
This system would ensure that all consultants had access to all current documentation at all times.
As far as document searching goes, this setup would make finding a project, or any document very simple without the use of foldernames at all. Just do a search for the job code.
11/28/2002 (3:43 am)
What is an A/E Firm btw?The problem with uploading multiple files is that the description of each file should really be unique. This would enhance the search engines effectivness.
I have added access to the ggtest user to a sample directory I have set up of how I think a project manager might use this program.
You would have several user groups applicable to this folder. Architect, Engineer, Hydraulic Engineer, and a specific one for Job 112016. Using this setup, the Architect would be able to download engineers and hydraulic drawings but could only update his own.
This system would ensure that all consultants had access to all current documentation at all times.
As far as document searching goes, this setup would make finding a project, or any document very simple without the use of foldernames at all. Just do a search for the job code.
Torque Owner James \"Corvidae\" Williams