Check out/in a file, attachment or document

I could not find a thread that spoke about the ability to check out/in a file.

Here is what we are looking for:

We attach a file (usally a Word document) to a record/row in Smartsheet.

When a user wants to edit that file, we would like the ability to have a lock icon that shows the file is out for editting.

We should show the username of the person who checked out the file, so we know who to contact if we need them to check it back in.

All of the check out/in should be logged somehow.

If this is a feature that is discussed elsewhere, please advise.

If not, I hope other users in the Smartsheet Community will like to vote for this feature.

Thank you!

Robert

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Enhancement Request

Comments

J. Craig Williams

Robert,

While the attachments are versioned, the system is not a true documentation versioning system like you describe. You could add a Checkbox column that indicates someone has "checked out" the file. Or use a Contact List column to show who (or blank if no one)

What I have tried to do is use Update Requests to pass around the doc.

I have 5 reviewers, but it is sometimes best if they are done sequentially rather than all at once.

YMMV

Craig

Robert Kalkstein

Hi Craig,

Thank you for this info!

I actually never knew about the Versioning of attachments.

But, I just clicked around, tested it and it works well. Thank you for making me aware of this.

We have never used Update Requests, but I just checked those out and they seem useful in some cases. It would be nice to be able to automate the workflow of this by setting trigger and responsible persons, but that is a discussion for another day

We can start using the Versioning for now, but it would a great feature to be able to check out/in an attachment. Perhaps there are others in the Community that are looking for something like this.

Brad Jones

Robert,

It's a tricky game sharing documents. Sometimes it's better to have revisions, sometimes it's better to check out. It depends on your timeline and your team rigour. If they don't check it back in, that can stop others from working.

Good luck

Robert Kalkstein

Hi Brad,

That is why I would like the feature to allow us to see who checked it out last, so we can alert them to check the document back in.

Also, if that person was never reachable, for whatever reason, our Smartsheet Admin can unlock the document and progress can continue. I know some other tools have this feature. Hopefully Smartsheet will implement it too.

Thanks for your feedback!

Travis

Hi Robert - I will certainly pass along your suggestion!

One suggestion I will make, are you a Google Docs/Drive user? You can attach documents (such as a Google Doc) to a sheet and when a user clicks it, they open up Google Docs where they can view and edit the file. They will not need to reattach it after editing the file and multiple people can work on it in real time at once.

Robert Kalkstein

Thanks Travis!

We are Gogole Drive users.

However, some people outside of our organization (not on our email domain) are not.

We would like those users to be able to access to a Word document, rather than a Google Drive Doc.

This bring up a point that anyone not as a registered user in Smartsheet may not be able to use this function.

But, if it is possible, we would find value in it.

We will definitely use the Google Drive for other areas within Smartsheet though!

Thanks for your help!

Regards,

Robert

JLC

Travis, I can add a +1 for being able to CO/CI documents. While our business generally discourages using attachments, instead suggesting we make use of our shared drive and sending colleagues a path to a doc, I could see this being beneficial in a few scenarios we'd encounter.

Brad Jones

+1 vote for the CO/CI feature.

Travis

Thanks for the votes everyone!