Using Attachments

CGI Advantage allows you to upload and attach files created in other applications (for example, Excel spreadsheets and Word documents), to transactions. These files are known as attachments. These attachments are associated with transactions they were 'attached to' and are then treated as an extension of the transaction. If the transaction were to be archived, the attachments would be archived as well. Since attachments are treated like an extension of a transaction, CGI Advantage security applies to these attachments. Thus you will be able to access attachments for only transactions which you are authorized to work with. Also, the Attachments links are only enabled if your security has been setup to allow updates or review.

Attachments SummaryAttachments Summary

Once an attachment has been added to any level of a transaction, the Attachments Summary page can be accessed via the Smart Drawer by selecting the View Attachments icon. If an attachment has been added to a transaction, then a count of the total number of attachments will appear on that View Attachments icon. The Attachments tab of the Attachments Summary page lists all attachments (by tab). You can view/download the attachments from the Attachments tab. You can view a history of all attachments on the History tab.

Attachments at the tab levelAttachments at the tab level

You may add, delete, and restore attachments to a transaction, as long as a transaction is in Draft phase. Once an attachment has been added to a transaction, CGI Advantage keeps track of the attachment information, in the Attachments Log. You can add, view or delete an attachment to a transaction's tab by selecting the Attachments link (button or icon depending on the type of tab). If a tab includes an attachment, then the total number of attachments for the tab will be included on the Attachments button.

Attachments at the line-levelAttachments at the line-level

If a tab allows more than one line, then the attachments are added via the attachments icon in the Attachments column of the grid. You can also see all attachments for the selected line by selecting the attachments icon in the grid for the record. If a line in the grid includes attachments, then the total count of attachments for that line is added next to the Attachments icon in the grid for the selected record.

As attachments are considered extensions of a transaction, the deletion of an attachment from a prior version will not be permanently deleted until the transaction has been successfully processed. A deleted attachment will be marked as pending delete until the transaction moves to Final.

In the Financial application, you can configure the system to send a separate email containing the attachments associated with the version of the transaction being printed to Email output. The attachments email functionality applies only to Final or Historical versions when you use the Print action on the transaction or by Print via the row-level action menu on the Transaction Catalog, and then select Email output. The configuration involves the following:

If ENABLE_ATTACHMENTS_EMAIL is set to True on Application Parameter (APPCTRL), then attachments are sent in a separate email when you use the Print action on a transaction to produce Email output.
You can configure the default subject and message text that appears on the attachments email by creating a record on the External Email and Letter Configuration (ELGT) page in the Financial application and setting the ATTACHMENTS_EMAIL_ELGT_CD value on APPCTRL to point to this Email/Letter Type on ELGT. The Subject and Header Text from the ELGT record is used to populate the subject and message text of the attachments email. If the ELGT record is not found or the ATTACHMENTS_EMAIL_ELGT_CD is not specified, then the subject and message text from the email produced by the Print action is used on the attachments email.

When the system generates the attachments email, attachments are compressed into a zipped file and sent in a separate email. If the transaction has no attachments, the attachment email is not generated. Note that only those attachments stored within the CGI Advantage system are included. If an attachment is stored in an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system outside of CGI Advantage, it is not included.

A site can configure certain permissions and restrictions on attachments across Advantage using the initialization file - ADV30Params.ini. Additional attachment options can be applied to specific pages, apart from these global parameters, using the Attachment Options page. A site can also configure the number of attachments that can be viewed on the Attachments modal window. The MAX_VIEWABLE_ATTACHMENTS_ON_MODAL parameter on the ERP Application Parameters (ERPCTRL) page can be used to define the maximum number of attachments that can be viewed on the Attachments modal window. Refer to the "Initialization File Settings for Attachments", "Attachment Options", and "Transaction Attachments" topics in the CGI Advantage System Administration Guide for details.

The attachments containing sensitive information can be marked/unmarked for replacement on transactions with a Phase of Pending, Final and Historical (Final). The actions to mark and unmark sensitive attachments for replacement are available on both row and grid level menus. The Selected for Replacement field indicates that the attachment is selected or marked for replacement. These actions and the field will appear only when the “Replace Sensitive Attachments” feature is enabled. The attachment marked as sensitive will be replaced by a sample file by running a process from the Attachment Management (ATTMGNT) page. For more information, refer to the “Replace Sensitive Attachments” topic in the CGI Advantage System Administration Guide.