What DMSync Archive Does
The trade-off at the heart of the product, and what an archived document looks like afterwards.
DMSync Archive moves selected documents out of iManage to external storage and replaces each one with a small text file called a stub. The document number, the version and all profile metadata stay in iManage and stay searchable. The content does not.
What survives, and what does not
| Survives the archive | Does not survive |
|---|---|
Document number and version | Full-text search — archived content cannot be found by document wording |
| All profile metadata, still searchable | Reliable preview for WORDX, EXCELX and ANSI documents |
| Position in the workspace and folder tree | Per-version choice — every version is archived together |
| Original file create and edit dates | |
| Timeline history of the archive itself |
Note The loss of full-text search is the most common end-user complaint after a rollout. Raise it before go-live rather than after.
What the stub actually is
An ANSI text file containing the archive location and nothing else. Work 10 keeps the original application type, so the previewer misbehaves for WORDX, EXCELX and ANSI documents. Users do not need to open the stub.
Acrobat documents get a PDF stub — isArchived.pdf — when that file is present in the stub folder. Otherwise they fall back to text.
The stub carries the original file create and edit dates so iManage does not stamp a new profile edit date. edit_profile_date still moves, because Archive updates the document Comments field.
How you can tell something is archived
- #ARCHIVE# prepended to the workspace name, controlled by UseWorkspaceNameForArchive.
- #ARCHIVE# prepended to the workspace description, controlled by UseWorkspaceDescForArchive.
- ARCHIVED prefixed to the document name, set by PrefixDocumentName.
- A configurable document comment, for example #ARCHIVED - To restore, call us.#
- Workspace security optionally reset to Private, Public or View after a successful export.
Archive is not disaster recovery
DMSync DR keeps a refreshed copy of live iManage content; the content stays in iManage. Archive removes content from iManage and the archived copy becomes the only copy. Different products, different purposes.
The storage saving depends on journals
Work 10 keeps a journal copy every time a document is saved and closed, and journals for archived documents cannot be deleted by document number without deleting the document itself. Archiving alone therefore does not shrink what the firm pays for. Enable date-based journal deletion in iManage Control Center.