What is File Sync and Sharing?

File Sync and Sharing is a built-int service in PIPEFORCE (also known as Online Drive) similar to Dropbox or Google Drive which provides the possibility to upload and share files and folders with other users and systems.

This service is especially helpful for workflows when it comes to file and document sharing.

For this, PIPEFORCE has seamlessly integrated the very popular Nextcloud storage service and added additional features, so you can use it directly in any workflow and automation pipeline as a base DMS without the need of additional subscription of cloud storage.

You can access this online service through a URL like this:

https://drive-NAMESPACE.pipeforce.net

You have to replace NAMESPACE by the Namespacearchived of your instance. After opening it in the browser and login you should see the Nextcloud WebUI similar to this:

Drive Commands

In order to automate the file and folder management on the drive folder, you can use the built-in drive commands in your pipelines.

Here is an example pipeline which downloads a word document from drive, converts it to a PDF and then uploads it back to drive:

pipeline:
  - drive.read:
      path: some/folder/contract.doc
      
  - transform.word2pdf
  
  - drive.save:
      path: some/folder/contract.pdf

When working with drive commands, you should also become familiar with the concept of Content References (Files) since some of the commands accept and return this data type.

These drive commands are available as built-in:

drive.copy - Copy a file or folder.
drive.delete - Delete a file or folder.
drive.exists - Check if a file or folder exists.
drive.list - List a given folder.
drive.mkdir - Create a folder.
drive.move - Move a file or folder.
drive.read - Download a file or folder.
drive.save - Upload a file or folder.
drive.share - Share a file with other users and systems.
drive.tag - Put a tag on a file.
drive.archive.save - Archives the given file into an archive folder. The file will be verified and finally gets a unique archive number so it can be used for compliance and documentation purposes.
drive.upload.chunked - Upload big files as chunks.

You can use these commands as part of your pipelines. Also you can call them using the PIPEFORCE RestAPI in order to access the drive storage via REST in a common way from external systems. See the RestAPI docs: PIPEFORCE Rest API .

Sync Client

Sometimes it is required to periodically synchronize files and folders from a mobile or local storage to the online service and back. For this, you can use the free Nextcloud Sync Client.

The installation steps are quite easy:

Download the client which fits your system from https://nextcloud.com/de/clients/.
Install the client and start it.
When asked, Login to your existing online drive. As URL use https://drive-NAMESPACE.pipeforce.net whereas you have to replace NAMESPACE by your own Namespacearchived.
Your browser should open in order to do the OAuth authentication. This will look similar to this:
Click Log in and login with your credentials.
After this you are done and the sync client should start syncing in the background.

Switch to other Cloud Storage

Nexctloud is the default storage provider, linked to PIPEFORCE. There is also the possibility to use other storages. If required, talk to our support team about the options.

PIPEFORCE Academy

File Sync and Sharing (DMS)

What is File Sync and Sharing?

Drive Commands

Sync Client

Switch to other Cloud Storage