How to Open Attachments in the Desktop App
The files kept with a customer or a call are in the Attachments part of its sections, under All attachments and one item for each category its files are in. In the ABM Service desktop app, Open on one of those files works a little differently from a web browser: a Word document, a spreadsheet or an e-mail opens in its own program on your computer, the way the older ABM (Advanced Business Manager) desktop programs opened them, instead of being downloaded. PDFs and pictures open on ABM Service's own viewer, as they do in a browser.
How do I open a Word document or spreadsheet attachment in the desktop app?
In the ABM Service desktop app, select the file in a customer's or call's Attachments, then select Open in the details panel beside the list: the file opens in the program Windows uses for that kind of file, such as Word, Excel or Outlook. Double-clicking the file in the list, or pressing Enter on it, does the same.
- Open the customer or the call in a desktop app window.
- Choose All attachments, or one of the categories, under Attachments in the screen's sections.
- Select the file in the list. Its details panel opens beside the list.
- Select Open in the details panel. Pointing at it shows Open followed by the file's name and in its own program.
While ABM Service fetches the file, the line under Save changes in the details panel says Opening followed by the file's name and in its own program…, and then the program opens with the file in it.
If Windows has no program set for that kind of file, Windows itself asks How do you want to open this file?; choose a program from its list.
In a web browser, the same Open cannot start a program on your computer, so it downloads the file instead and the line says the file is downloading — this kind of file cannot be shown here. Open it from your browser's downloads.
Are my changes saved if I edit an attachment opened from the desktop app?
No. When the ABM Service desktop app opens a Word document, a spreadsheet or another file in its own program, that program is showing a temporary copy on your computer, not the file kept in ABM Service. Changes you save in Word or Excel go into that copy only. ABM Service deletes its copies when it closes completely, with Exit on its tray icon beside the clock or to install an update, or, if a program still had one open then or the computer was shut down, the next time ABM Service starts. Closing the desktop app's windows does not delete them.
Each Open fetches a fresh copy from ABM Service, so a file you changed opens again without your changes.
To keep a changed version:
- Choose Save As in the program that has the file open, and save it in a folder of your own, such as Documents.
- Select Attach files in the same Attachments section of the customer or call, and choose the saved file. You can also drag the file from File Explorer and drop it anywhere on the Attachments section; dropping works in the desktop app as it does in a browser.
The new version is added beside the original as a separate attachment. In the details panel you can change a file's Comment, Category and Memo and select Save changes, but the file itself cannot be replaced from ABM Service. Where the section says Attaching new files is not available for this company., files cannot be added from ABM Service at all.
How do PDFs and pictures open in the desktop app?
In the ABM Service desktop app, Open on a PDF or a picture shows it on ABM Service's viewer screen in the same window, with the file's name at the top and a Download button. To return to the customer or call exactly as you left it, with the file still selected, use the back arrow at the top left of the viewer (a screen reader calls it Back to the customer or Back to the call), Back in the title bar, or press Alt and the Left arrow key together (Alt+Left).
To keep the file beside the call or customer instead, open it in a window of its own:
- Select the open-in-new button beside Open in the details panel; pointing at it shows Open in a new window.
- Hold Ctrl and click Open (Ctrl+click), or click Open with the middle mouse button.
A file has only one viewer window: asking for the same file again brings its window to the front rather than opening a second one. The window is named after the file on the taskbar and in its title bar.
A picture can be made larger or smaller with Zoom in and Zoom out on the viewer, with Ctrl and the mouse wheel, or with the plus and minus keys, even though the desktop app switches off the browser's own zoom. A PDF is shown in the built-in PDF reader, with its own zoom.
How do I download an attachment in the desktop app?
Select Download in the file's details panel, or at the top of the viewer screen. The ABM Service desktop app saves the file straight into your Windows Downloads folder without asking where, and a small list of downloads appears in the window, as in Microsoft Edge, naming the file. Open the file from there, or from the Downloads folder in File Explorer.
Download saves the whole file as it is kept in ABM Service, whatever kind of file it is, so it is also the way round when Open cannot start a program for it. A file you download is yours to keep: unlike a file opened with Open, ABM Service never deletes it.
Why does a linked attachment open in the desktop app but not in a browser?
Some attachments are not stored in ABM Service at all but kept as a link to a file in a folder; the list marks them linked. In a web browser, ABM Service can only open such a file from a shared network folder, so a file kept in a folder on somebody's own computer, or on a drive letter ABM has not been told about, is marked cannot open, and the details panel says why.
The ABM Service desktop app runs as you, on your own computer, so it tries those files the way your computer sees them, as the older ABM desktop programs did. A drive letter your system administrator has listed in Mapped drives is still read through its shared folder; any other drive letter or folder is opened as it is on this computer. If your computer has that drive or folder, the file opens. If it does not, for example because the file was attached from a folder on a colleague's computer, you see This file is no longer where it was kept. It may have been moved or deleted.
What do the messages mean when an attachment will not open in the desktop app?
When the ABM Service desktop app cannot open a file in its own program, it says why on the line under Save changes in the file's details panel.
- This PC has no program that opens followed by the file's name, then Use Download to save it instead. — Windows has no program for that kind of file. Download it, or ask your IT support to install a program for it.
- The file's name followed by could not be opened. Try again, or use Download to save it. — Windows would not start the program. Try once more; if it repeats, download the file.
- The file could not be opened. Try again, or use Download to save it. — the copy could not be fetched or saved on this computer, for example because the connection dropped.
- The file could not be fetched. Please try again. — ABM Service could not hand the file over. Try again in a moment.
- This file is no longer where it was kept. It may have been moved or deleted. — a linked file is not in its folder, or the folder is not on this computer.
- This file could not be found. It may have been removed. — somebody removed the file from the customer or call after your list was shown.
- There is nothing stored for this file, so it cannot be opened. — the attachment's entry holds no file and no link.
- The folder this file is kept in could not be reached. The computer it is on may be switched off — try again later.
- ABM is not allowed to open the folder this file is kept in. Your system administrator can give ABM access to that folder.
When the list already knows a linked file cannot be opened, for example This file cannot be opened: the place it was kept is not a valid location., the reason is shown above Open and Download before you press anything, and pressing either one only repeats it.