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Sourcing attachments from external storage

Updated on March 18, 2022

Applicable to the Theme UI-Kit and Theme Cosmos applications

Gain access to third-party documents and enhance collaboration between stakeholders by configuring external storage as a source of content that you can attach to your case, space, or Pulse conversation.

Sourcing from external storage enables you to use more relevant data in your business process. For example, you can configure an external source for attachments for CSRs who manage loan requests to ensure that they use the most up-to-date version of the necessary documents, such as the Terms and Conditions document.

Before you begin:
Important: Ensure that you review the restrictions on adding a repository for case attachments in Limitations for attachments in a file storage repository. If you fail to observe restrictions while you implement a repository, you might experience system failures.

As a best practice, use repositories for case attachments. Repositories use data streaming to present attachment data directly to your application. When you use web storage or CMIS, Pega Platform places data on the clipboard before use in the application, which uses more system resources.

Your environment type determines the repositories that you can configure for your external content for case, space, or Pulse attachments:

  • In Pega Cloud environments, you can use pegacloudfilestorage and the /attachments subfolder as the repository for case attachments, or you can configure another type of repository.

    Before integrating the repository in your application, you can change the repository that you use for case attachments to another external repository type after you create the repository.

    For more information, see Creating a repository.

  • In on-premise and client-managed cloud systems, you specify an external repository for case attachments after you create the repository.

    For more information, see Creating a repository.

Important: Do not use the internal Pega Platform database as a repository.
  1. In the header of Dev Studio, click the name of the application, and then click Definition.
  2. On the Application form, click the Integration tab.
  3. In the Content sourcing section, configure at least one external storage system:
    ChoicesActions
    A web service provider
    1. Select the Source from web storage providers checkbox.
    2. In the Provider list, select an installed web storage provider for which you have an account and a content location.
    3. In the Authentication profile box, enter or select an authentication profile of the OAuth 2.0 type.
      Note: Use the same authentication profile to store content in and source from the web storage provider.
    4. Optional: To change the label that users see when they add an attachment from this web storage provider, enter a description in the Label field.
    5. Optional: To use content from more than one web storage provider, click Add, and then repeat these steps to configure another provider.
    A repository
    1. Select the Source from repositories checkbox.
    2. In the Repository list, select a repository for which you have an account and a content location.
      Note: Pega Cloud clients: To use Pega Cloud File storage, select the pegacloudfilestorage repository.
    3. Click Browse, and then select the folder from which to source attachments.
      Note: Pega Cloud clients: To use Pega Cloud File storage, select the /attachments sub-folder.
    4. Click Select.
    5. Optional: To change the label that users see when they add an attachment from this repository, in the Label field, enter a description.
    6. Optional: To use content from more than one folder, click Add.
    CMIS systems
    1. Select the Source from CMIS systems checkbox.
    2. Optional: To change the label that users see when they add an attachment from this source, in the Label for this content source (where available) field enter a description.
    For example:
    Application configured to enable the sourcing of content for attachments from a web storage provider and a repository
    An Application form that shows the configuration of a web storage provider and a repository to enable sourcing content for attachments from the external storage systems.
  4. Click Save.
Result: Your content from external storage becomes available when you add an attachment to a case, space, or Pulse conversation.

Adding attachments from external locations

Provide more data and relevant context to your work by supplementing your case, space, or Pulse conversation with external content.

  1. Log in to a portal, and then add an attachment from an external location:
    ChoicesActions
    Add a case attachment
    1. Create or find a case to which you want to attach external content.
      Note: You can locate a case by searching for it or by looking in your worklist or the Recents list.

      For more information, see Creating cases.

    2. In the upper-right corner, click the Expand the utility pane icon.
    3. In the Files & documents section, click the Manage files and documents icon, and then in the Manage content dialog box, click the menu option from which you can add files from an external system.

      The options in the menu show the values that you provide in the Label field on the Integration tab of your application rule. For more information, see Sourcing attachments from external storage.

      Note: When you connect to your external storage account from the application for the first time, you might receive a prompt to authenticate and authorize the connection.
      For example:
      The external storage options configured for the application shown in the menu
      The menu listing two external storage options from which you can source attachments.
    4. Attach a file from your external system.
      Note: Attaching multiple files with the same name to the same case results in an error because storage providers treat the file name together with the path as a key.
    5. Click Submit.
      Result: The case attachment is displayed in the Files & documents section.
      Note: To remove a case attachment, click the Delete icon next to the name of the attachment.
    Add a space attachment
    1. In the navigation pane, click Spaces.
    2. Click the space to which you want to add content.
    3. In the upper-right corner, click the Expand the utility pane icon, and then click the Related tab.
    4. In the Files & documents section, click the Manage files and documents icon, and then in the Manage content dialog box, click the menu option from which you can add files from an external system.

      The options in the menu show the values that you provide in the Label field on the Integration tab of your application rule. For more information, see Sourcing attachments from external storage.

      For example:
      A menu with the external storage options configured for the application
      The menu listing two external storage options from which you can source attachments.
    5. Attach a file from your external system.
      Note: Attaching multiple files with the same name to the same case results in an error because storage providers treat the file name together with the path as a key.
    6. Click Submit.
      Result: The space attachment is displayed in the Files & documents section.
      Note: To remove a space attachment, click the Delete icon next to the name of the attachment.
    Add a Pulse attachment
    1. Find or create a Pulse message to which you want to add content.
    2. In the field that is displayed in the Pulse section, click Add attachmentsExternal Sources, and then click an option from which you can add files from an external system.

      The options in the menu show the values that you provide in the Label field on the Integration tab of your application rule. For more information, see Sourcing attachments from external storage.

      For example:
      Attaching files from external locations in Pulse
      Attaching files from external locations in Pulse.
    3. Attach a file from your external system.
    4. Click Post.
      Result: The Pulse attachment is displayed in the Pulse section.

Adding case attachments from a CMIS system

Enable users to access content stored in external sources by adding an attachment from a CMIS system to a case. Downloading content from an external CMIS system guarantees that users use the most up-to-date version of documents.

Before you begin:
Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS) are external systems that use the CMIS standard, such as Alfresco, Microsoft SharePoint, and OpenText, to which you connect by using a CMIS connect rule. CMIS systems support storing and sourcing content. For more information, see About Connect CMIS rules.

You can use any CMIS-compatible server to source data for your application.

  1. Log in to a portal, and then create or find a case or space to which you want to attach a file from a CMIS system.
  2. In the upper-right corner, click the Expand the utility pane icon.
  3. In the Files & documents section, click the Manage files and documents icon, and then in the Manage content dialog box, click the Content from CMIS tab.
  4. In the Select a file section, select a file from one or more CMIS systems.
    • The CMIS systems in the list correspond to the Connect-CMIS rules that are available for the current operator.
    • The files in a CMIS system come from the CMIS repository that you configure in your Connect-CMIS rule that references the system.
  5. In the Name field, provide a name for the attachment.
  6. Click Submit.
    Result: The attachment is displayed in the Files & documents section.
  7. Optional: To remove a case attachment, click the Show more icon next to the name of the attachment, and then click Delete.

Managing case attachments stored in a CMIS system

Manage versions of a case attachment that is stored in a CMIS system at run time to control which version of the attachment you want users to download.

  1. Click the Gear icon next to the name of the attachment.
  2. In the Manage attachment window, in the Version history section, click the file name for the appropriate version of the attachment to download.
  3. Optional: To prevent other users from modifying the file attachment, select Lock this attachment for local editing.
  4. Click Upload new version to check in the new version of the file.
Result: The new version is displayed in the Version history section.
  • Previous topic Enabling cases for creation through web and chat channels
  • Next topic Storing case attachments using external storage

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