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In today’s high pace business world.  Things move very quickly.  Every day we are getting closer to storing everything in The Cloud.  From images, to contracts, to receipts.  NetSuite has recognized this and the importance of having documents to support transactions.  The supporting document could be a simple Vendor Bill or an Employee Expense Receipt.  All these supporting documents can be added to the File Cabinet in NetSuite, and then attached to the corresponding transaction.  However, there are a couple different ways to do this.  You can navigate to the file cabinet, find the right folder, then try to remember where you saved the file to on your computer, and upload the document.  This can be a long, lethargic, and tedious process.  Another option is to open the transaction or record, go to the Communications subtab, click the “+” icon, try to remember where on your computer you saved the file, and add the file to the transaction. You can also attach the file from scrolling through a long file list under the Communications subtab.  This can be a type of process that most of us do not want to spend an afternoon doing.  NetSuite has thought of you, the user, wasting away uploading file after file after file and then locating the transaction, and attaching the file from an extensive file list.

Their solution is rather excellent.  They have developed a way to simply drag your file into a small box on the transaction, record, or form that it should be attached to.  No longer do you have sort through files on your computer to find that one specific file which needs to be attached to the applicable record.  It is a free bundle that can be installed into your account and once setup, allows you to go from computer to cloud in one move.  However, we have discovered that not a lot of companies who utilize NetSuite are using this time saving feature.  Installing this bundle is simple and can be set up by following some easy to understand directions.

Installation

To install File Drag and Drop:

Go to Customization > SuiteBundler > Search & Install Bundles.

Use the following information to search for the SuiteApp:

  • Bundle Name: File Drag and Drop
  • Bundle ID: 41309
  • Location: Production (Account ID 3751218)

Click on the name “File Drag and Drop” and click on Install.

The bundle will now be installed into your NetSuite account.

Using the File Drag and Drop Setup Assistant

Now that you have installed the bundle, you must proceed through the setup process to enable this feature.  The Setup Assistant consolidates commonly used File Drag and Drop preferences in one location to streamline the setup process for account administrators. You do not have to perform all the steps to complete the setup. You can click the number on top of each step to go to a specific configuration page.

Go to Setup > Customization > File Drag and Drop Setup.

Setting General Preferences for File Drag and Drop

  1. On the Preferences page, provide values for the following fields:
    • Enable File Drag and Drop – Check this box to enable File Drag and Drop on this account.

Note: If you have not specified a destination folder, the drop zone will not be visible on any record page. You must set either a global or record-specific destination folder to view the drop zone on record pages.

  • Global Destination Folder – Save the files attached through File Drag and Drop to this folder.

Note: Setting a global destination folder will enable File Drag and Drop on all record types.

  • Error Message Recipient – Set the recipient email address for File Drag and Drop error messages. If no recipient is specified, error messages are sent to all account administrators.
  1. Click Save and Next.

Enabling File Drag and Drop on Selected Record Types

  1. On the Record Types page, click New File Drag and Drop Record Type to enable File Drag and Drop on a specific record.
  2. Provide values for the following fields:
    • Record Type – Select the record type where you want to enable File Drag and Drop.
    • Folder Name – Click the field to open the folder browser popup, and then select the default folder where files added to the record will be saved.
    • Use Folder Pattern – Check this box if you want File Drag and Drop to create unique folders based on the specified folder pattern and save uploaded files there.
    • Folder Pattern – Enter the folder path where you want to save uploaded files.

You can use placeholders, surrounded with curly braces, with your desired folder name to create a folder pattern. Placeholders are not case sensitive.

  • subsidiaryId – Saves files to a folder with the ID of the current user’s subsidiary.
  • departmentId – Saves files to a folder with the ID of the current user’s department.
  • roleId – Saves files to a folder with the ID of the current user’s role.
  • recordId – Saves files to a folder with the ID of the record where the file is attached.

Note: If the folder pattern points to a destination folder that does not exist, the folder will be created when you drop a file in the drop zone.

Important: The record ID on new records will not be available until it is saved. Because of this, File Drag and Drop will create a temporary folder name for files uploaded to new records. When the record is saved, the system will replace the folder name with the permanent record ID.

The following table shows examples of folder patterns and the resulting system-generated folder paths:

  1. Click Save and Next.

To add files to a record or transaction

  1. Create or edit a record or transaction
  2. Locate the file y
  3. ou want to upload on your computer and drag it into the drop zone.

To cancel the upload, click the drop zone display additional options.  You will see a Pending uploads section and a cancel icon.  Click the cancel iconIf the file already exists, you will see a pop-up prompting you to overwrite the file or cancel the upload.

You can choose to attach a file to a specific line item simply by dropping the file onto the transaction line.  It is that simple!  You can even drop files in the file cabinet and select the destination folder from the folders list.  Another ability available is to insert URLs of uploaded files.

No longer must you go through a long drawn out upload process just to attach a single or multiple file(s).  This feature can save you hours of scrolling through a list of files to find the one you want to attach to a record.  It can also help reduce the chances of upload the incorrect file.


If you are interested in learning more about File Drag and Drop, you can visit the SuiteAnswers website under File Drag and Drop.  There is a FAQ article available that can be viewed through SuiteAnswers.  You can also contact us by leaving a comment this page or through our Contact Us page.