Attachments in Offline Projects

Offline Projects is a component in ACL for Windows that allows you to continue to work with the Projects app while disconnected from Diligent One and access entire sections from projects offline.

You can use Offline Projects to prepare and consolidate supporting documentation within a project.

How it works

Attachments are a collection of files that can be used as supporting documentation in a project. You can upload, download, and delete files in Offline Projects using the following pages:

Execute Procedures / Walkthroughs
Testing
Requests side panel (download only)

What happens to attachments when you check out a section?

When you check out a section from a project, all files within the section are downloaded to your local computer. The files are listed under Supporting Files on the page they were originally attached.

While the section is checked out in Offline Projects, the files in the Projects app are locked to prevent further edits.

You can still download the files in the Projects app, but you cannot upload new files, update existing files, or delete files until you check in the section.

Working with attachments

When you upload a new file in Offline Projects, the file is synced to the Projects app upon check in. Uploading a file that has the same name as an existing file creates a file version history in Offline Projects and Projects.

If you delete a file in Offline Projects, the file is removed from the associated page in the Projects app.

Other features in Offline Projects

Working with attachments in Offline Projects is similar to working with attachments in the Projects app.

In Offline Projects, you can also:

pause a file download in progress
work with a section while files finish downloading
view the download progress of files when checking out a section
Note
The time it takes to check out a section depends on the size of the files(s). Larger files require longer processing times.

Considerations and limitations

File size

Individual files up to 100 MB in size are supported.

If you have a file larger than 100 MB, you will encounter an error stating that the attachments download is incomplete. You can continue working and check in the section when you have Internet access. However, you will not be able to download files to your local machine.

File type

For security reasons, Offline Projects does not accept file attachments with the following extensions: .bat, .com, .dmg, .exe, or .scr.

Closing Offline Projects while checking out a section

If you close Offline Projects while you are checking out a section, you may receive an error stating that the files download is incomplete. You can resume downloading the files or discard the local copy of the section in Offline Projects.

Images in rich text fields

Inserting new images in rich text fields is not supported in Offline Projects. However, you can view and remove images. If images fail to download when you check out a section, image tags display in the rich text field instead:

If alternative text is specified [Image: Alt text]
If alternative text is not specified [Image]

For more information about images in the Projects app, see Inserting images in rich text fields.

Note

Image tags do not display in older versions of Offline Projects. To ensure you are using the latest version, you can check in all checked out sections. This allows you to auto-update Offline Projects to the latest version.

Citation Mode highlights and links

Citation Mode highlights and links in Offline Projects are not supported.

Caution

Since Citation Mode highlights and links do not display in Offline Projects, be careful when removing text in description fields. Removing text associated with citations also removes the citations.

Files referenced in Citation Mode

If a file is referenced in Citation Mode in the Projects app, the file is automatically marked as evidence to preserve the integrity of the file. If you upload a file with the same name, or delete the file in Offline Projects, you cannot check in the section.