Getting started — Part 11: Files, Documents and eTMF

Background

Trialflare offers file storage, too. If you need logs of version-controlled documents, you can use the eTMF feature for this.

Adding files

You might need various types of documents which are version-controlled. Including finance docs, SOPs and more. Click on Files to begin creating a file version and upload it where you need to.

You'll only see Files in the menu if you have permission to read files in the trial or at one of its sites. You only see Add files if you can add files somewhere, and Download report if you can read every file in the trial.

MP4 videos play on the file's page, so you don't need to download them first. Approvers can watch them the same way. If your browser can't play a video, you can still download it.

Each version records a hash of its contents, so you can check later that the file hasn't changed. For a file over 30 MB, in practice usually a video, the hash is calculated after the upload and the file shows Calculating hash… until it is ready, which can take a few minutes. While it shows that, the file can't be sent for approval. Files over 30 MB also can't be marked as approved as you upload them: upload as a draft and approve once the hash is ready. The same applies to any file whose hash can't be calculated at that moment. If a large file turns out to be identical to an earlier version, it is flagged rather than refused. Sending a file to several sites doesn't store it several times, and each site still has its own versions and approvals. If it shows Hash failed, click Retry, or upload the file again as a new version.

Deleting documents

Deleting a document asks you why, and the reason is kept in the trial log along with the document's name, its type and how many versions it had. You won't be able to delete anything while the trial database is locked.

Deleting is permanent — the document and all of its versions go, and there's no undo. If a document is simply out of date, upload a corrected version instead of deleting it: the version history is the point of keeping documents here.