Share Files or Folders

You can share files and folders with other users or teams.

Who does this apply to?

  • Users who have the Share permission for any data objects.
  • Users who have the Read permission for users or teams.

Sharing by Granting Permissions or Access Levels

You can share data objects, such as stories, models, and analytic applications, by granting either individual permissions or access levels (groups of permissions) to users or teams.

Access levels are predefined groups of permissions that can be assigned to users. In many cases, these access levels will be easier to assign and manage than individual permissions. For example, if some users will want to view content but won't need to edit content, you can assign the View access level to them.

These are the permissions included in the access levels:

Access Level Permissions Included
View Read, Copy, View Comment, Add Comment
Edit Update, Create files*, Create folders*, Maintain
Full Control Delete, Share, Delete Comment

*applies only to folders

If the predefined access levels don't suit your needs, you can instead grant the individual permissions.

Note
  • To be able to share items with others, you need share permission on those items, and you also need to have at least the Read permission for users or teams.
  • If you grant access to a file, for example a story, that depends on underlying objects like models or datasets, you'll also need to grant access to those other objects.

Share a File or Folder

Procedure

  1. To share files or folders, do one of the following:

    • From the side navigation, choose Files.

      Select one or more files or folders, and click (Share).

    • With a file open (for example a story, or analytic application), select (Share).
  2. Add Users or Teams: add all the users that you want to share with. You can either type a username, or select (Add usernames or teams) to open a list of available users.

    When working within a workspace, you can share files or folders with other members of the workspace.

    Note
    You can select the All Users option to share with everyone, but this option can be disabled by an administrator setting.
  3. Select the access level you want to assign for those users, or choose Custom to set access permissions individually.

    For example, if you grant the predefined Full Control access level to a user, that user automatically gets both Delete and Share permissions. But if you choose Custom, you can grant that user the Delete permission but not the Share permission:

    Note
    • If copy permission is enabled, read permission will also be enabled.
    • The Public Folder itself can't be deleted or copied, but administrators can assign copy and delete permissions on the folder so that items that are created in this folder will inherit the sharing permissions by default.
    • For stories and analytic applications, users with read-only access are able to change the variables for the model in the story or analytic application. Changing the model variables updates all the charts and tables in the story or application unless they were overridden. Model variable settings set by the viewer are not saved.
    • If an object in your story uses a private version, the dimension member IDs of the private version might be exposed when you share the story with another user.
  4. (Optional) For some types of content, for example, stories, analytic applications, and digital boardrooms, you can select Customize Link to customize the URL link:
    • For analytic applications, you can enter one or more URL parameters.
    • In the custom link field, you can enter meaningful key words for your custom link, to make it shorter and easier to remember.

  5. If you want to propagate a folder's sharing settings to subfolders and other files within the folder, select the Share existing subfolders and files check box.

    This option does not persist, and is only applied at the time the folder is shared. For example, any subfolders and files that exist at the time this option is applied will inherit the permissions granted to the folder. Any new subfolders or files will inherit the sharing settings applied to their parent folder. However, if you modify the sharing settings on the parent folder, and do not select Share existing subfolders and files, the new sharing settings will not be applied to any subfolders or files contained in the folder, and all subfolders and files will retain their original sharing settings.

  6. If you want to email people to let them know that you are sharing with them, select Email new recipients.

    The check box is cleared by default. If you choose to add all users, the option is not available. The users will still receive a notification in the system, but they won't receive an email.

    An email will be sent the first time the file is shared with someone. If you later change their access rights, they will receive a notification in the system, but they won't receive an email.

  7. If you're sharing a story that contains global bookmarks, you can select Apply global bookmark default, and then select a bookmark to use (only available in story Edit mode).

    For more information about bookmarks, see Bookmark and Share Story Views.

  8. Choose Share.
    You can expand the Shared with list to see details about the sharing settings. You can also delete and edit the sharing settings here.

    Note
    You can only set and modify the sharing settings for one story or analytic application at a time. To set permissions for multiple stories or applications, select the stories or applications, and then set permissions in the Access column.
    To edit the sharing settings for specific teams and users, select the team or user. You can choose one of the following options from the menu:
    • Copy from parent - Copy all the sharing settings from parent. This option synchronizes all sharing settings for the parent, subfolders and files in the folder.
      Note
      • The option appears if no users or teams in the list have been selected.
      • If the folder does not have a parent, this option will not appear.
      • If you select this option for the Public folder, the folder's original sharing settings will be restored and any modifications you have made to the sharing settings on the Public folder will be reset. The settings on the Public folder are always applied to all users.
    • Apply to subfolders - Give the selected team or user the same access they have been given to the current folder, to all subfolders.
    • View - Give view access to the selected teams and users.
    • Edit - Give edit permissions to the selected teams and users.
    • Full Control - Give full access to the selected teams and users.
    • Custom - Modify the custom access level for the selected teams and users.

    Users and teams that have inherited sharing permissions from the parent folder are shown with this icon:

  9. Select Close.
    On the Files page, shared files appear with this icon beside their names: .
    Note
    • When you create, copy, move, or restore a file or folder, it automatically inherits the sharing permissions of the parent folder.
    • Moved files and folders retain their own explicit sharing permissions, but any permissions inherited from their original folders are replaced with the new folder's permissions.
    • Copied files and folders don't retain their own explicit sharing permissions. Any permissions inherited from their original folders are replaced with the new folder's permissions.
    • Only users who have Full Control are able to move files and folders.

API for Sharing Analytic Applications

As an application designer, you can allow application users to open the application sharing dialog in runtime by using the following API:
Code Syntax
Application.openShareApplicationDialog() : void
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