A SharePoint document library is similar to a list where every item must have an attachment. However, document libraries have some additional capabilities and features particularly suited to the dual jobs of storing and managing documents.

Viewing Document Libraries

To work with a Team Site document library, click Documents And Lists on the top navigation bar of any page in the same site. This displays the Documents And Lists page, shown above. To view a list of document libraries only, click the Document Libraries link in the Select A View area on the left.

The one document library shown above—Shared Documents—appears automatically in every new Team Site. However, a single site can have as many document libraries as you want.

Click the icon for any library to display a document library view page like the one shown below. This page lists the documents in the library.

Here are the page’s notable features:

• Select A View - This area in the top left corner selects among all available formats for listing documents in the library. By default, there are two such formats:
  ■ All Documents - Displays one line of text for each document in the library.
  ■ Explorer View - Lists the library contents in a format resembling Microsoft Windows Explorer. This is available only on Windows versions of Internet Explorer.
• Actions - This area provides additional commands for working with the library:
  ■ Alert Me - Displays a New Alert page. This page tells Windows SharePoint Services to send you an e-mail message whenever someone changes the contents of a document or folder within the library, or adds Web discussions.
  ■ Export To Spreadsheet - Downloads an Excel query file that points to the library content list. After opening this file in Excel, authorized team members can download, modify, or export the content list.
  ■ Modify Settings And Columns - Displays a Customization page that modifies the name, description, columns, views, and other settings.
• Main Document Area - This is the large area that appears in the center of the Web page. It lists all the documents in the current library. To sort this listing on any field, click the field’s column heading (that is, click Type, Name, Modified, Modified By, or Checked Out To). It also provides a toolbar with these links:
  ■ New Document - Downloads a document template to your computer, which the corresponding application then opens with the current library as the default save location. If the library has no defined template, the default is an empty Microsoft Word document.
  ■ Upload Document - Displays an Upload Document page that uploads a document from your computer and adds it to the library.
  ■ New Folder - Displays a New Folder page for creating an additional folder within the current library.
  ■ Filter - Redisplays the current Web page, adding selection controls above each selectable column heading. These controls limit the list of documents based on criteria you specify.
  ■ Edit In Datasheet - Displays the list of documents as an editable table that resembles a spreadsheet. If Access 2003 or Excel 2003 is installed on the team member’s computer, this view also provides a task bar for exchanging data with those programs.

Each line in the main document area of a document library view page contains the following clickable fields:

• Type - Displays an icon that indicates the document type. Clicking this icon opens the file for viewing. If the file is a type that the browser can display, the browser displays it. Otherwise, the browser treats the file as a download and starts the application on your computer that normally opens the given file type.
• Name - Displays the document’s file name. Clicking that name displays a drop-down menu with these choices:
  ■ View Properties - Displays all available information about the document.
  ■ Edit Properties - Displays a page where you can modify the document’s name or title.
  ■ Edit In <application> - Downloads a temporary copy of the document and opens it in the associated application on your computer.
  ■ Delete - Removes the document from the library.
  ■ Approve/Reject - This option appears only if Content Approval is in effect for the library. In that case, it displays a page where administrators and list managers can set the document’s Approval Status to Approved, Rejected, or Pending.
  ■ Check Out - Stops anyone but you from updating the document. (After you choose this option, it changes to Check In.) An administrator or list manager can activate or block this feature.
  ■ Version History - Displays a history of updates to the document. This includes date, time, modified by, document size, and comments. The next section will explain this feature.
  ■ Alert Me - Displays a New Alert page where you can request e-mail notification when someone changes or electronically discusses the document.
  ■ Discuss - Displays the document, including comments from other team members, and a toolbar that you can use to make comments yourself.
  ■ Create Document Workspace - Creates a specialized SharePoint site for the sole purpose of organizing material related to the current document. This site contains a document library for the primary document and supporting files, a task list for assigning to-do items, and a links list for resources related to the document.
• Modified - Displays the date and time when the last document update occurred.
• Modified By - Shows who last updated the document. A hyperlink jumps to one of two locations:
  ■ If the current site collection is configured with the address of a portal site, the link displays the portal’s personal page for the team member who last modified the document.
  ■ If the Team Site isn’t configured with the address of a portal site, the link displays a Personal Settings page that provides information about the team member who last modified the document.
• Checked Out To - Works like Modified By, except that the link will target the team member who checked out the document.

Updating Document Libraries

Creating a New Document and Adding It to the Library

Adding an Existing Document to the Library

To add a document that already exists to a SharePoint library, click the Upload Document button on the library’s list view toolbar. This displays the Upload Document page shown below.

Select the Overwrite Existing File(s)? check box if you want any documents you upload to overwrite existing library documents that have the same file name. To guard against overwriting any existing files, clear the check box.

From this point, the procedure varies depending on whether you have a single document to add, or multiple documents.

• To add a single document to the library:
  1.  Click the Browse button on the Upload Document page.
  2.  When the Choose File dialog box appears, locate and select the file you want, and then click Open.
  3.  To add the file you chose, Click Save And Close.
• To add multiple documents to the library:
  1.  Click the Upload Multiple Files... link on the Upload Document page.
  2.  A Windows Explorer view of your desktop will appear in the Upload Document page. The image below provides an example of this. Expand or collapse any folders you like, meanwhile selecting the check box for any file you want to add.
  3.  To add all the files you chose, click Save And Close. This facility to upload multiple documents is available only if Office 2003 is installed on your computer, and only if you’re using a Windows version of Internet Explorer.

To return to the library view without adding a document, click the Go Back To Document Library toolbar button.

Updating a Library Document

To change the content of a library document, follow the procedure outlined below.

1. Hold the mouse pointer over the document name until a drop-down list appears.
2. If you wish, open the drop-down list and choose Check Out. This locks the library copy of the document so no one but you can update it.
3. Open the drop-down list again and choose Edit In <application>. This will download a temporary copy of the document to your computer and open it in the corresponding application.
4. Change and save the document. This will update the copy in the document library.
5. If you checked out the document in step 2 and are now finished making changes, open the drop-down list, and choose Check In.

Updating the List Information for a Library Document

Here’s the procedure for updating the library information for a document. This has no effect on the document itself.

1. Hold the mouse pointer over the document name until a drop-down list appears.
2. Open the drop-down list and choose Edit Properties. This will display a page named with the library name, a colon, and the document title.
3. Type over the value of any fields you like.
4. Click the Save And Close button.

Deleting a Library Document

Using Document Versions

An administrator or list manager can activate Document Versions for any library. With this feature in effect, SharePoint will retain not only the current version of each document, but all historical versions as well. Any team member can then use the following procedure to investigate the version history of a document.

1. In any library view, move the mouse pointer over the document name. The name will then change to a drop-down list.
2. Select Version History in the drop-down list. This will display the Versions page shown below.

The Versions page displays each version of a document that’s present in the current library. To work with these versions, move the mouse pointer over any version date, open the resulting drop-down list, and choose one of these commands.

• View - Opens the document version in its default application.
• Restore - Creates a new copy of the document version, and makes it the current version. (This will increment the current version number by one.)
• Delete - Removes the version from the library.