Collections can be customized and then saved, so that your particular preferences for a special set of records can be recalled. A collection file remembers the records it contains, the Record View Set used and the column width of the Details View.
As collections are such flexible and malleable creatures, it might be a good idea to save your special collection once you have configured it. This is because an unsaved collection with its specific configuration is not automatically saved when you close it. And as soon as your collection changes – which can happen quite often – any unsaved changes are lost. Saving a collection is easily done via File > Save Collection As. A dialog appears for you to choose the name and location for the collection file. Once a collection is saved, it is easy to open it via File > OpenCollection
Cumulus provides several collection types:
• Private collections – collections private to the user who created them.
• Shared collections – collections that are available either to all Cumulus users, or to selected ones. The sharing state of a collection can be changed anytime via its properties (on Cumulus Desktop Client only).
• Download collections – collections that have been made accessible by sending either a general download link, or personalized download links, to arbitrary recipients who don’t even need to be Cumulus users. – Note that with Cumulus Portals and the Cumulus Web Client, only personalized links can be sent. Recipients can open the link and view the collection with Cumulus Portals in any web browser. Via the Send Collection Link dialog, you can specify a password and an expiration date for your download collection. You can also specify which actions recipients may perform on the assets in the collection. Note that this function will only work if your Cumulus installation includes Cumulus Web Solutions (with Portals). Also, a Base Web URL for Portals must be defined by your Cumulus Administrator.
• Upload collections – a special kind of collections that are created implicitly whenever a Cumulus user sends out an invitation to upload files. Upload collections can not be saved manually, i.e. the only way to change their content is by uploading files. However, they can be saved as normal collections via the Save As command (with Cumulus Desktop Client only).
The usage of both download collections and upload collections can be tracked. Via the Properties of the collection, information on every recipient of a respective upload link or download link, as well as the last access to the collection, is provided.
BACKGROUND INFO: Usage Tracking with External Users To enable the usage tracking for download and upload collections, every recipient’s email address not yet known to Cumulus is saved to the Cumulus users catalog, as a so-called “external user”. Initially, the email address is the only piece of information known about any external user. Also, external users don’t have any permissions by default. However, it is possible to add more information to such users, and to grant them permissions, and even to change their state from external to internal via the User Manger.
All collections are stored at the Cumulus Server and can be shared between users. When connecting to the Cumulus Server with the Cumulus Desktop Client, you can open catalogs and/or collections.
Shared collections can be created and modified only by users who are allowed to do so (User Manager>User/Role Properties>Server Permissions>Collections Permissions.)
On Cumulus Desktop Client only:
Collections stored with previous Cumulus versions on the computer running the Client application can be imported (File > Import > Collections.) To store collections at any location other than the Cumulus Server, you can use the export function (File > Export > Collections.)
For sending a collection via email to another user (as opposed to sending a link to a collection), a special export function is provided (File > Export > Mail Collection To.) However, don’t forget: Since a collection is always connected to catalog(s), it is necessary for the recipient to have access to the catalog(s) ‘serving’ the collection.
To make use of a collection you received, you use the import function.
When you create a new collection via File > NewCollection, it can either be empty or contain the currently selected records. However, concerning the view, the new collection will be a copy of the active collection. In other words, the colors, fonts, and fields of the new collection will be the same as the previous one. From here, you can proceed to make any changes you like while retaining the old collection in the background. You might want to save your new collection after you have assembled the desired records and carefully arranged them.
IMPORTANT! If the Remember Password option is activated in your Connect to Server window, any collection you export or mail contains your login information. Opening such an exported or mailed collection will connect to the Cumulus Server with your (the sender’s) login and password. And this means that the user who opens the collection works as you and has your permissions. If this option is not activated, the Connect to Server dialog will appear when an exported or mailed collection is opened.