New feature: allow storage of file attachments similar to images

[dealio]

As I have used the software over the years, backing up the database and image files has been a good practice. However there are other documents that I typically have linked to asset records which are vital for maintenance or other purposes. The issue is that the application does not allow me to store those documents within the program's data directories, which makes backing up the contents (everything associated/linked to an asset) a tedious task, since I would have to go to each asset's links to find the location of the documents that I've linked to that asset to back them up. Restoring would be equally as tedious. So I've resorted to a manual solution that keeps all associated documents in a "Documents" folder at the same level as the "Images" folder in the folder hierarchy. For any asset that I want to link documents to, I create a subdirectory with the asset's asset number and place the documents I want to link to that asset in the folder. I then open properties for the asset and link the documents in the new folder to the asset. The advantage is clear. When I want to backup the database, I only have to select one folder and everything is backed up.

Would such a feature be universally appealing enough to add it to the application? An add on to that feature would be to allow me to locate the document I want to link to, but have a checkbox option to make the application copy the file into a hierarchy as described above, thus containing all linked documents under one parent (or grandparent, etc.) folder.

Thanks for considering this

David

[Mar]

Outstanding idea.  I've already done what you're suggesting; however, having it built into the program's backup process makes a lot of sense.  Here's what I did:

First off, I have all data sub-directories stored under a "HomeManageData" directory (this is actually stored on an external hard drive I use for data files).  I added a sub-directory titled "Attachments."  I copy all the PDF files (or other types) I'll be using as attachments to this sub-directory.  By doing so, I have ALL related data in one place.  Now when I'm adding/editing an inventory item and want to link it to an attachment, I go to my "\HomeManageData\Attachments\" sub-directory to create the link.

I backup my whole system daily so my HomeManage data is automatically backed up.  I also have my backup software configured to backup just certain data files every third day.  So again I'm protected (two major crashes over the years have taught me the need to backup on a regular basis).  While all this is automated, and trouble-free, having it built-in to the program makes a lot of sense.

Mark