1. Overview

TimeCore workgroups offer a simple way of managing and sharing common sets of data-lists (currently projects and activities) with other TimeCore users. Using the new Workgroup Administration page you can...

1. Create a Workgroup
Anyone can create a workgroup. Each workgroup is initially private to the DAT in which it was created. Once you have defined a workgroup you can add a list of projects and activities to it, against which you can book time in the normal way using the Session Editor. However, to share your workgroup with other TimeCore users first you will need to publish it...

2. Publish a Workgroup
Until a workgroup is published it remains private to the DAT in which it was created. By publishing the workgroup, you can select an external folder into which TimeCore will export your workgroup data in the form of two files - tcPro.wrk and tcData.wrk. Any other TimeCore user can then subscribe to the published workgroup and start booking time to the associated projects and activities. If you update the workgroup, you simply re-publish to make the changes public.

3. Subscribe to a Workgroup
Anyone can subscribe to a workgroup if they know the location of a set of published workgroup files. When you subscribe to a published workgroup, TimeCore will attempt to import and validate the workgroup data. All being well, you will end up with a new workgroup and associated list of projects and activities against which you can book your time as normal.

That, in a nutshell, is TimeCore workgroups. The rest of this chapter will delve into the detail.

2. Concepts

2.1 Terminology

Workgroup
Represents a set of Project/Activity lists, plus administrator name and contact details.

Workgroup Lists
Refers to the Project/Activity lists associated with a workgroup.

Workgroup Administrator
Name and contact details of the person responsible for maintaining a workgroup. Updated via the Workgroup Editor.

Workgroup Member
Anyone who subscribes to a published workgroup becomes a member of that workgroup. Unlike the Administrator a member only has read-only access to the workgroup details and associated lists.

Publish Folder
This folder represents a published workgroup and should contain the files - tcpro.wrk and tcdata.wrk.

2.2 Publishing a Workgroup

Until you publish a workgroup it remains private to your TimeCore DAT, no-one else knows it exists. If you want to share your workgroup - that is, the associated set of Projects and Activities - then you must publish it first. In effect, the act of publishing represents the workgroup administrator's authorisation that a set of Projects and Activities are available and ready for public use.

A workgroup is always published using the Workgroup Administration page.

2.2.1 Published Files

A published workgroup is represented by two files, tcpro.wrk and tcdata.wrk.

tcpro.wrk is the configuration file and is always generated by TimeCore using a proprietary format.

tcdata.wrk contains the actual workgroup data lists (ie. projects and activities). Like the tcpro.wrk file it currently uses a proprietary format and should only be updated via TimeCore.

IMPORTANT NOTE
When publishing a workgroup, TimeCore "locks" the tcpro.wrk file to tcdata.wrk in an attempt to protect the integrity of the two files. Should either file be updated outside of TimeCore (eg. via NotePad, etc) this "lock" will be broken and any subsequent attempt to subscribe to the workgroup will fail.

2.2.2 Publishing Rules

In order to maintain the integrity of published workgroups TimeCore is fairly strict in the rules it applies when publishing..

3. User Interface Features

3.1 Workgroup Administration Page

Every aspect of a TimeCore workgroup can be managed from a single administration page as show below. This section describes the operations that you can perform from this page. Please note, when using TimeCore you can see a quick reminder of the function of each toolbar icon by hovering your mouse pointer over the image for a couple of seconds.

	Workgroup List Contains a complete list of the workgroups registered with the local DAT (including those workgroups that have been de-activated). A similar list is displayed on various other pages in TimeCore but only containing active workgroups.

	Create New Workgroup Opens an empty Workgroup Editor dialog.
	Update Selected Workgroup Opens the Workgroup Editor dialog containing details about the currently selected workgroup. Please note, you can also double-click on the main workgroup view to get the same effect.
	Delete Selected Workgroup Will remove all evidence of the selected workgroup from the local DAT if the workgroup has not been associated with any Sessions. If the workgroup has been used then you can still disable the workgroup to get the same effect except in this case no workgroup data will actually be deleted.
	Subscribe to Workgroup Imports a published workgroup into the local DAT. Simply select a folder containing valid workgroup files and TimeCore will import the workgroup details and associated project/activity lists.
	Check for Workgroup Updates Checks to see whether any new changes have been published for the selected Workgroup and if so imports them into the local TimeCore DAT.
	Publish Workgroup Exports the current workgroup to an external folder in the form of two files - tcpro.wrk and tcdata.wrk (see Publishing a Workgroup).
	Open Workgroup Publish Folder Opens the publish folder associated with the selected workgroup in Windows explorer.

3.2 Workgroup Editor

This dialog is used to update workgroup details. In the following descriptions the required role for updating each field is displayed after the field name. In summary, when you subscribe to a workgroup all fields in this editor are read-only with the exception of "Active".

Workgroup Name [Admin]
Name of the workgroup. Mandatory.

Administrator Name, Phone & E-mail [Admin]
Optional but recommended, especially if you intend to publish the workgroup. These contact details are displayed in the workgroup view.

Active Status [Anyone]
By setting the active status to "No" this will remove the workgroup from future selection in the Session Editor and Project/Activity lists. It does not affect sessions that have been previously booked to the de-activated workgroup - they will still be displayed as normal. Please note that TimeCore will prevent you from deleting a workgroup which has been booked to one or more sessions.

Workgroup Details [Admin]
Optional. Here you can provide any additional information about the workgroup that might be useful. Please note that any newlines will be removed on Save.