Customer Document Libary: How to organize a libary to store information effectively?

[ca_rem]

I need to create a list to contain information about customers and a library to contain document relate to these customers.
A customer List Column:

• Customer Name

• Customer ID

A Document List: Can I create a folder for each Customer?

• Folder columns: Customer Name, Customer ID

• File in Folder Property: Customer Name, Customer ID, Product Buy, Sale Order Number... (The names of documents between clients may be the same)

• Can we create a list have a different view between level 1 (folder) and deeper (level 2, document)

Is such a list system effective?

[#2 · Accepted solution]

Hi @ca_rem,

You should consider using Document Sets.

A Document Set is a group of related documents that you can manage as a single entity. You can create a Document Set in a single step, and then define its characteristics and metadata.

Document Set's were recently updated. @Lincoln DeMaris posted about the enhancements in this thread: Update: Document Sets in Modern Document Libraries.

I hope this helps.

Norm

[#3]

Thanks, @Norman Young . You saved my day again. This is exactly what I want.

But I wonder can we use flow with Document Set. Going deeper into my example above:

Example above:

When a customer is added to Customer List, automatically creates a Document Set name "Customer + ID" in Customer Document List.

More advanced, Example 2: If we have 4 list "Customer List," "Customer Document List", "Order List" and "Order Document List":

- Step 1: Check "Order List" if the first order of customer not exists, automatically creates a Document Set name "Customer + ID" in Customer Document List. If exists, do nothing.

- Step 2: When creating a new Order Item in "Order List", automatically creates a Document Set in "Order Document List"

[#4]

Hi @ca_rem,

But I wonder can we use flow with Document Set. 

Yes but there are no out of the box actions yet. This blog post outlines how it can be accomplished: CREATING SHAREPOINT ONLINE DOCUMENT SET IN MICROSOFT FLOW

When a customer is added to Customer List, automatically creates a Document Set name "Customer + ID" in Customer Document List.

This is possible via Flow.

You second examples sounds possible via Flow as well.

If you can't get the Flow actions to work (from blog post from above) and you do not need any special attributes assigned to the customer document folder then simply use Folders instead of Documents Sets.

A couple of notes on turning on Document Sets:

• Site Settings > Site Collection Features > Activate "Document Sets"
• Document Library Settings > Advanced settings > Yes to "Allow management of content types?"
• Add "Document Set" to Content Types

I don't know when Document Set actions will be developed. I checked the Flow User Voice and didn't see anything promising.

I hope this helps.

Norm

[#5]

Thanks, @Norman Young . Your suggestions are very valuable

I  really hope the update on Document Set.

[#6]

@ca_rem is there a specific reason why you would need separate lists for your customers, orders and documents? You can place all of the customer metadata into your document sets and then add columns to the documents to classify these as orders, with dates, statuses and other information. You can then use views to filter and group the documents to create virtual customers and orders lists. This way your're recording all the data against the documents themselves and not maintaining a separate copy of this information and designing complex Flows to try and synchronise them.

[#7]

@Matty Vasquez .

Thanks for your idea. I see it may a solution if the data of customer not too much, maybe less than 10 columns.

I simply want to group them in the correct form, one side is the list, the other is the document. Anh when I add a document, I only lookup for 1 column in Customer List, instead of fill all the column of the customer.

Or something I missing?