Attachments

ExtraView gives you the ability to add an unlimited number of file attachments to any ExtraView issue. Attachments can include captured screen shots and documents or files of any type. ExtraView gives you the ability to attach any number of files of any type to any given issue. Depending on the database used on the ExtraView server, each file attachment may be up to 2 GB (Microsoft SQL Server) or 4 GB (Oracle). If the database is MySQL, then the size limit is set by the administrator, but is generally smaller.

Google has announced that beginning September 2015, Java applets will no longer be supported within the Chrome browser.  Microsoft has also announced that their new Edge browser, due to ship in the fall of 2015 will not support Java applets. If you want to use the drag-and-drop file upload feature within ExtraView you will need to use a different, but supported browser, such as Internet Explorer 9.0 or greater, or Mozilla Firefox.

Adding Attachments

From the add or the edit screen, click the Add Attachments button. A popup window will be displayed. The appearance of the popup window will depend on the features your administrator has enabled.  The drag-and-drop file upload interface is the recommended interface.  The Java applet file upload interface is not recommended, given different browser manufacturer's deprecation of supporting Java within browsers.

Drag-and-Drop File Upload Interface

This method is the most versatile and works with all supported browsers.

Java Applet Upload Interface

The drag-and-drop file upload has enhanced features, but does not work with many browsers. If the Java applet file upload method has been enabled, but you have any problems with the feature, you can always press the Use Manual Upload button to revert to a manual upload method. The two upload screens look like this:

Adding attachments with drag-and-drop

Adding attachments manually

You may use the Java applet with drag-and-drop.  From a window that displays files on your local computer, or from the desktop, select one or more files and then drag them on top of the popup window. When over the upload image, release the mouse button and all the selected files will be displayed on the screen, ready for upload. Note that you can even select complete folders and drag-and-drop these to be uploaded

  • Use the standard features of the operating system of your computer to capture a screen, or part of a screen. For example, you might use the Prnt Scrn or Alt-Prnt Scrn options in Microsoft Windows, or the Command-Shift-3 option on a Macintosh to capture all or part of a screen. This places the captured image on the clipboard of your computer. Move your mouse over the drop area in the popup, then press the right-hand mouse button and select the Paste option. A new window will open showing the image you have captured. Either select the entire image with the button at the top of the window or use your mouse to crop a portion of the screen and then select the highlighted portion. The image on the clipboard is converted into a file that can be uploaded.


    Cropping an Image that was Pasted into the File Upload Utility

You can remove files incorrectly selected with the Remove button. Once you have the correct files, you perform the upload by pressing the Upload button.

To manually add attachments, you press the Browse button and select a file to upload. After the file appears in the lower half of the window, add a description for the file. If necessary, use the Character Encoding select list to choose the character set of the file being uploaded. For most purposes the default value of UTF-8 Unicode 8-bit Transfer is the correct value. Asian users will often find they need to select a different value. You can remove files incorrectly selected with the Remove button. Up to ten files may be selected for a single upload session. Once you have the correct files, you perform the upload by pressing the Upload Attachment(s) button.

Viewing Attachments

From the Edit Issue screen, click the View button next to the Attachment you would like to view. If the attachment is an image file, of type JPG, GIF or PNG, then a thumbnail image of the attachment will appear, and you can also click on the thumbnail to view the complete attachment.

Edit Issue screen

Editing and Deleting Attachments

Note that your administrator must have given you permission to delete attachments.

  • From the Edit Issue screen, click the Desc button next to the attachment that you want to edit.
  • Change the description and then click the Update button.
  • If you would like to delete the attachment, click the Delete button.

Viewing the history of attachment changes for an issue

From the Edit Issue screen, press the Hist button to see a record of all the changes to attachments within an issue. This only appears if your administrator has given you permission. The history attachment screen is as follows. Note that you will see the history of all attachments for the issue, showing whether each attachment was inserted, updated, viewed or deleted.

Attachment history screen