Documents and files are managed in the PIQNIC Document Repository.

Documents are always associated with a Document Class and have a set of values associated with class metadata fields. These metadata fields make documents and files searchable and are also used to implement security, retention, and the physical storage model through the respective policies controlled by the administrator.

Each document has at least one file associated with it. Documents can also have multiple files that are related – for example – a version chain. They are all part of the document envelope and the structure of related files is visible only when the document is retrieved. Documents cannot be empty, so when the last (or the only) file is permanently deleted, a document containing it is also deleted.
 
Files are physically saved in their native format. The only exception to that are external URL references which you can also store within PIQNIC documents alongside physical files.

This is very handy when you want to include externally managed documents or web pages into PIQNIC searches, either as standalone PIQNIC documents or as part of existing documents.