pulpArchive help

pulpArchive is a document management system: you file documents in a coded filing plan (2.3.1), keep every version without ever changing it, have documents approved, and follow their retention period through to disposal. By default, everything stays on your device, with no account and no server; you can also work together with a shared file.

Getting started

1. Open pulpArchive. On first opening, a sample archive appears on its own so you can see what pulpArchive looks like: the filing plan, example rules, documents, versions and approval workflows of a fictional building company. It is never saved and never mixes with your documents. Start from scratch or Remove the example removes it in one click, Import my data opens the import, and File › See the example again brings it back. Your first added files replace it. On the empty home screen, then choose Import a folder or Add files.
2. Import a folder: choose a folder on your computer (or drag it onto the window). Each folder becomes a node, each file a document. The preview shows the nodes to be created, the files that are versions of each other, and exact duplicates.
3. In the Explorer, the plan is on the left and the documents of the node on the right (list or thumbnails). Drag a node to move it: its codes follow. Drag documents onto a node to file them. Files dropped with no node selected go into a To file node.
4. Click a document to open its page, which has the tabs Info, Versions, To approve (approval workflow), Retention and Links, with the preview alongside.
5. The content of documents is read afterwards, in the background, so that you can search it: you do not have to wait for the import to finish before you carry on working.

The tabs at the top give access to the Explorer, To approve, Retention, Plan and rules, Search, Trash and Settings.

Common tasks

How do I import a folder with its tree?

Import › Folder on this computer › Choose a folder… (or drag and drop). System files (.DS_Store, Thumbs.db, ~$doc.docx) and hidden folders are ignored. You choose the target node, and whether files become 1.0 versions or 0.1 drafts. You can cancel along the way: documents already created are complete, none is half-imported.

What does pulpArchive do with duplicates and versions?

An exact duplicate (same content as an already archived file) is skipped, or imported linked to the existing document: the content is kept only once. Similar files in the same folder (contract.pdf, contract_v2.pdf, contract (3).pdf, contract - copy.pdf) are offered as versions of a single document, sorted by date.

How do I import from Nextcloud?

Import › Nextcloud (WebDAV). A browser cannot read a Nextcloud directly: the connection goes through a gateway that your administrator starts. Enter the WebDAV address (Nextcloud: Files settings › WebDAV address), your username and an app password.

To create an app password: in Nextcloud, Personal settings › Security, under "Devices & sessions" enter a name (for example pulpArchive) then Create new app password. Copy the username and password shown (they appear only once). You can revoke it at any time. Never use your main password.

Your credentials are never stored by the gateway. On the device they are only kept if you tick Remember this connection, and then in protected form; you can forget them at any time under Saved connections.

The next import is incremental: only files modified since last time become a new version.

How do I import from SharePoint or OneDrive?

Without registering anything with Microsoft: sync the SharePoint library or the OneDrive folder to your computer with the OneDrive app (in SharePoint, the Sync button). The synced folder is then a local folder: import it like any other (Import › Folder on this computer). Check that the files are really downloaded to the computer ("Always keep on this device") before importing.

How do I organise the filing plan?

In Plan and rules, select a node to edit it: title, description, retention rule (inherited by sub-nodes and by documents that have none of their own) and default confidentiality. New node and New sub-node create the next level; codes (2, 2.3, 2.3.1) are worked out for you and follow when you drag a node elsewhere. On the keyboard, F2 renames the selected node. A deleted node goes to the Trash with its documents.

The plan and the retention schedule can be exported and imported as CSV (Export the plan, Import a plan, Export the rules, Import rules), and the plan can be printed. An import only adds: a code that already exists is left as is, never overwritten, and rejected lines are explained.

How do I fill in a document's page?

On the Info tab: title, type (invoice, quote, contract, purchase order, payslip, statement, minutes, drawing, letter), confidentiality (public, internal, confidential, secret), owner, tags and metadata (document date, due date, number, counterparty, amounts excl. tax, VAT and incl. tax, SIREN, SIRET, last 4 characters of an IBAN, and your own fields). Suggestions from the analysis appear there: accept or dismiss each one. Copy the reference gives you a reference to paste elsewhere.

The page's More actions menu offers Archive (freeze): a frozen document gets no new version until you Reopen it; Move to trash removes it from the explorer. A document can be Draft, In review, Approved, Archived or Disposed.

How do I manage a document's versions?

On the page, Versions tab: New version (minor: 0.1, 0.2…; major: 1.0, 2.0…, with an optional comment), Compare the text of two versions, Restore as a new version. A version is never changed: older ones can still be viewed (View version). Verify integrity makes sure the content of each version has been neither altered nor lost; each version is marked Intact, Missing or Altered. Settings › Backup › Verify everything's integrity runs that check on the whole archive.

How do I have a document approved?

Page › To approve › Start an approval workflow. Define successive steps (for example "Review: one opinion is enough", then "Management: everyone must approve"), the people expected and a reminder delay. A step only opens once the previous one is approved. On this device, you record the opinions received (by email, in person) on behalf of the people, with Record an opinion. In a shared file, each approver can also record their own opinion from their device. On final approval the document becomes Approved and a major version is created; a rejection ends the workflow and the document goes back to draft. You can Cancel the workflow. The To approve screen lists the workflows in progress with the person expected; once the delay has passed, Copy the reminder prepares the message to send. The people offered come from Settings › People.

How do I track retention and dispose of documents?

A rule sets a period, a starting point (creation, approval, file closure, event) and a final disposition (destroy, keep permanently, review). Create it in Plan and rules (New rule; Add an example rule to see how it works), then attach it to a node: it is inherited. A document can also have its own rule. If the starting point is an event or a closure, enter its date on the Retention tab of the page. The Retention screen lists what is to dispose, to review, waiting for an event or on hold, and shows the deadlines of the month. These deadlines also appear in the pulpInbox calendar.

• Legal hold: while it is in place (with its reason), no disposal is possible. Lift the hold removes it.
• Review: decide, document by document, whether to keep or destroy.
• Dispose of the selection: two-step confirmation (typing the requested word). pulpArchive generates a disposal record (PDF and CSV: title, node, dates, rule, content integrity signature, disposal date) and archives it itself in a dedicated node. A file's content is only erased if no other version and no other document uses it; the page stays, with the record. There is no permanent purge of pages.

How do I find a document?

Search (/): title, metadata, document content; filters by node, type, dates, status, confidentiality. You can write in plain language ("supplier contracts expiring in 2027"): with smart search turned on, results that are close in meaning are added. If no document contains all the words, partial matches are offered.

How do I link a document to other items in the suite?

Page › Links › Add a link: an organisation in pulpClient, an item in pulpProduct, an element in pulpForge, or a document from another suite app, with the kind of relation (related to, documents, derived from…). You can also archive a copy of a document from another app.

How do I get back a deleted document?

A deleted document or node goes to the Trash, where Restore puts it back. There is no permanent purge in this version.

How do I export or back up?

• Export as zip (selected documents): the plan's tree (<code> <title>), the latest version of each document (or all of them) and an index.csv file (id, title, node, type, version, date, integrity signature, path, status, confidentiality, tags).
• Plan and rules: export and import of the plan and the retention schedule as CSV, which can be re-imported.
• Settings › Backup or File › Save as: full .parchive backup (documents, versions, nodes, rules, workflows, trash and all contents). It restores into an empty archive, or is added to the current archive without overwriting anything.

Working together

An archive can be shared with a team, or opened on a phone, with no account and no pulpSuite server. The general idea is explained in Share a file with your team or your phone; to compare it with the other ways of working: Where your data lives and how to work with others.

• Share the archive: File › Save as a shared file… puts the archive (for example Contracts.parchive) in a synced folder (OneDrive, Nextcloud, kDrive) or on a network drive. Your colleagues open it with File › Open a shared folder… and everyone sees the others’ changes as soon as the folder has synced. Opening a .parchive backup adds its content to the open file.
• Versions: the content of each version travels with the file. Up to 8 MB it arrives on each device by itself; beyond that, the version shows To download and you fetch it with one click.
• Changes at the same time: if two people change the same field, the most recent value is kept and a notice tells you, with Keep or Use the other value. Nothing is lost silently.
• Approvals: each opinion in a workflow is stored separately. Two approvers who answer at the same time, from two devices, each keep their own, and the document changes state only once.
• Hold and disposal at the same time: if someone places a hold while someone else disposes of the document (offline, for example), the disposal is cancelled, the hold wins and a notice appears on every device. When a document is disposed of, its content disappears from the other devices about ten minutes later, unless a hold is placed.
• Duplicate numbers: two versions with the same number, or two sections with the same code, do not stay together: the most recent takes the next number (the codes of its subsections follow) and a notice tells you.
• File status: the badge in the title bar shows On this computer or Shared · N devices; a click shows who has received your changes and offers Sync now.
• My phone: File › Open on my phone… shows a QR code; scan it, check that the 6-digit code is the same on both devices, choose Read only or Can edit and the duration. The phone shows the archive live from the computer and keeps nothing.
• Guest on a document: Invite to this record sends a QR code or a link for a single document (versions, workflow, opinions). An approval window appears on your computer: compare the code, then Refuse, Read only or Can edit. In read-only mode the record is greyed out, except the preview and the versions.
• Automatic backup: File › Automatic backup… keeps a full copy every day in the folder of your choice.
• Limits specific to pulpArchive: a guest also sees the whole filing plan and the management table. The disposal record archived for a disposal that was later cancelled stays in the “Disposal records” section: it is no longer valid, remove it by hand. A retention rule changed at the same time as a disposal does not cancel it. The shared folder needs a computer with Chrome or Edge; anyone with access to the folder sees and changes the whole file (no per-person permissions: encrypt it if needed); changes arrive at the pace of the folder’s synchronization, not in real time. For the phone and guests, the computer must stay on, with the app open.

Full details: Share a file with your team or your phone and Where your data lives and how to work with others.

Supported formats

Known limitations:

• no per-person permissions in a shared folder, no real time (the pulpSuite server will come later), no electronic signature;
• no certified archiving with evidential value (the French standard NF Z42-013 requires a third party and procedures);
• no export in the SEDA exchange format for now;
• no document editor: you open pulpDoc, pulpSheet or pulpSlide.

Keyboard shortcuts

AI in pulpArchive

The analysis happens on your device and nothing is sent out; without these features, everything else works. The two features that need a one-time download (with your consent) are managed in Settings › Smart analysis (see AI models).

• Reading text in scans (optional): reads the text of photos and scanned PDFs so that they can be searched.
• Document type: invoice, quote, contract, purchase order, payslip, statement, minutes, drawing or letter, recognised from the content (in French, English and Spanish) and then by comparison with the documents you have already filed.
• Suggested node: based on similar documents already filed, otherwise on the name of the original folder. It appears as a suggestion ("File in 2.3 Invoices?"): never silent filing.
• Metadata: dates, amounts excl. tax, VAT and incl. tax, invoice or contract number, SIREN and SIRET (their validity is checked), IBAN (only the last 4 characters are kept), counterparty. Accept or dismiss.
• Suggested links to an organisation in pulpClient, and near-duplicates flagged on the page.
• Smart search (optional): searches by meaning rather than by exact words.
• pulpAssist: search documents, propose and apply a filing (after your confirmation, and it can be undone), announce this month's deadlines, summarise a document. Only what you ask the assistant about is passed to it, and documents with "secret" confidentiality are never shown to it.

Rebuild the index (Settings) restarts the preparation of search in the background. Anything read automatically should be checked against the document.

FAQ and troubleshooting

Do my documents leave my device?

Not unless you decide so. By default, files and records stay in this device's storage. With a shared file, they go into the folder you chose and that your synchronization service copies: nothing is sent to pulpSuite. The import from a Nextcloud, which you start yourself, is the other outside link. See Privacy and Working together.

Can the browser erase my documents?

A browser can empty its storage when space runs short. Make a .parchive backup regularly (Settings › Backup). See also your documents.

The Nextcloud import does not respond.

If the message says the connection service is not available or does not respond, ask your administrator to start it (see the "For the administrator" note above). If access is refused, check the username and app password; if the folder is not found, check the WebDAV address.

"Verify integrity" reports missing content.

The file is no longer on the device (storage cleared, interrupted import). Restore a backup that contains it, or import it again: pulpArchive recognises the same content.

I cannot find the "Dispose" button.

It appears in Retention › To dispose, for documents whose rule has expired, with no legal hold, and whose final disposition is "destroy" (or "review" with the decision "destroy").

A message says an item was modified elsewhere.

The same item was modified in another tab while you were editing it. For each field in disagreement, choose the value to keep (Keep my version or Keep the saved version), then Apply.