Document Management -- Idea Feedback

[CarCdr]

Looking for feedback/critique of the following idea before I begin...

We have to implement some simple form of document management. The current state of affairs with attachments does not lend itself at all to document management. We could adapt a document manager for vB use, but what we would like is something minimal that fits the existing paradigm of forums/threads/posts.

Here's an idea I came up with at a meeting we had this morning. It is minimal as hell, but it should do the job.

Highlights

* A thread can be tagged as a "Document Thread" in the "Manage Attachments" popup window.

* A Document Thread offers/maintains a document or a set of related documents -- known as the "document set".

* The most recent post in a thread with attachments contains the document set. Previous posts with attachments are the document history.

* threadbit template (forumdisplay) displays the document set name(s) so you can distinguish a document thread and see more quickly what the doc's are. These are displayed as a link that takes you to the post containing the attachments.

* SHOWTHREAD template displays the document set name(s) at the top of every page as per the threadbit change above.

* A post (new thread or new post) can only have its documents changed as long as it is the last post in the thread. This prevents the history from getting out of whack.

Just to review the point about the most recent "post with attachments" containing the document set:

The only place one needs to look to find the current document set, is the most recent post in the thread that has attachment(s). The SQL code to find them is like this (in pseudo-code):

  DOC_POSTID = SELECT postid from post
             WHERE (post.threadid=XXX AND post.attach>1)
             ORDER by dateline DESC LIMIT 1
  SELECT ... from attachment
             WHERE postid=DOC_POSTID

There is no check that the document set is the same as what it started out to be. If the document set goes form 1 file to 2 files, so be it.

Files and Templates Affected

1. newattachment.php
Support for "Thread is a document thread" option.

2. newattachment template
Support for "Thread is a document thread" option.

3. thread table
New column to support for "Thread is a document thread" option.

4. construct_edit_toolbar function
Called by newthread.php, newreply,php, and editpost.php

Sets flag saying whether attachment popup is allowed. Remember, a post can only have attachments added/edited if it is the last post in the thread. Obviously, this would apply to the first post in a new thread.

5. SHOWTHREAD template, threadbit template
Display document names.

6. showthread.php and forumdisplay.php
Generate document names.

7. newpost_attachment template
Show "Manage Attachments" button only if allowed.

Comments?