Structuring The Access To Your Source Documents.

Target User: Individuals or workgroups wanting to organize their access to project documents and files.

Chances are you have created hundreds of "files" and have them stored all over your hard drive. These files are most likely Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, Powerpoint presentations, pictures, etc.. In the Agile Access program, we refer to your collection of self-generated files as "source documents", and with Agile Access, you can:

(1) Create a tree (outline) structure of document reference pointers that you can use to quickly open source documents on your hard drive.
(2) Automatically collect and display important information about your source documents.
(3) Add comments to describe each source document.
(4) Add keywords to a document reference pointer to assist you in searching your entire database for a specific document reference.
(5) Organize your document reference pointers in any desired way, e.g., by program type [Word docs, Excel docs, etc.], by project, by client, etc...

"Taking advantage of fast searches, search favorites and an agile access list to activate a desired document (i.e., Word document, spreadsheet file or an entire file folder) is the real payoff from using Agile Access. Visually browsing the tree structure representing the organization of your project documents is also very powerful ... a double click and you are there!"

Agile Access Case Study ...

The Smith International project was becoming quite large. I was trying to keep track of dozens of Word documents, multiple spreadsheet, several graphic files and over thirty web page addresses.

Thankfully, Agile Access has helped me take control again!

After creating my Agile Access database, I built an outline for the project that would help me store references to all of the associated resources. I used one branch on the outline for the actual Word documents, one for spreadsheets and one for graphic files. Then I used another branch for some file folders that contained various miscellaneous files. I also added a branch for the thirty odd web pages.

With the outline built, I started visiting each of the associated resources so that I could store a reference to them within my Agile Access database.

First, I used the Windows File Manager to browse for the various Word documents, spreadsheets, etc. For each of these, I positioned the File Manager window so that I could drag the file name onto the branch header panel within Agile Access. This went really fast! In a lot of cases, I could use the multi-select feature of the File Manager and then drag and drop several files at once.

Now that the Word documents, spreadsheets, graphic files and miscellaneous file folders were cataloged, I began visiting the individual web pages. Once within the internet explorer and positioned on the desired web page, I was able to drag the web page address ICON from within the internet explorer onto the branch header panel within Agile Access. This took a little bit of getting used to ... you know, positioning the web browser window and then dragging the web page address ICON over to the Agile Access screen ... but it went rather smoothly. "The web page address ICON?" you say ... along the upper edge of the web browser screen is the web page address text box, in the far left end of the address text box is the ICON ... just drag and drop it onto a branch header within Agile Access.

So, in less than 15 minutes, I had my Agile Access database built and all of my resource references cataloged. Now, keeping my outline up to date with the project will be a snap.

Next, I went back to each of my resource references and considered the reference's name (as it appears on the outline) to see if I could make them more easily recognized. This was done by first selecting the reference on the outline and then pressing the F2 key to facilitate the name update. You can also select an ICON image to help you with visual browsing.

Also, as I revisited each of the resource references, I added comments and keywords to help facilitate future searches. Remember ... "Taking advantage of fast searches, search favorites and an agile access list to activate a desired document (i.e., Word document, spreadsheet file or an entire file folder) is the real payoff from using Agile Access. Visually browsing the tree structure representing the organization of your project documents is also very powerful ... a double click and you are there!"