Transferring files to M-Files is very easy. Files can be transferred by dragging and dropping or by copying files or folders to the M-Files document vault.
If you transfer one file only, M-Files asks you to fill in a metadata card for the file, which makes the file a document. It is very important to understand the difference between a file and a document. An M-Files document consists of zero or more document files and metadata.
For instance, when transferring a folder with subfolders or several individual files at a time, M-Files is able to preserve the old folder structure. If you wish the folder structure to be preserved, the contents transferred are organized into traditional folders created in the document vault by M-Files. You can fill in the document property data while transferring or later on. For more information, refer to Import Files and Folders.
You can also use existing files directly from their original locations. This way, the additional properties provided by M-Files (such as version management) are available for these files, while they can still be used externally to M-Files. You can add metadata to the documents later on as necessary. For more information, refer to External File Sources.
Different databases can also be used and imported into M-Files. For example, the data in the customer database can be added to the M-Files metadata structure. This way the information does not have to be copied from one location to another. For more information, refer to Object Types and Value Lists.
When you add metadata to documents imported to M-Files, these documents are displayed both in traditional folders and in M-Files dynamic views.
New Document window for a multi-file transfer.
Tip: With the Skip This button, you can choose not to transfer a certain file. This is useful if you are transferring a large number of files and notice that you do not want to transfer one of the files after all.