Search, archive, and recover documents
This guide covers the everyday library after documents have been admitted and filed. You will narrow a search, apply a safe bulk edit, move a sample through Archive and Bin, restore it, and identify the irreversible boundary.
Search with a question in mind
Start with a word a household member is likely to remember. Jiandu searches filing metadata and available indexed document text, then returns one result per document.
Search loads results in pages as you scroll. Load more results also lets you request the next page. Until all pages arrive, the count reports the matches loaded so far. If a page fails, earlier matches remain available; choose Try again after the connection returns.
The query box supports a small, predictable language:
| Query | Meaning |
|---|---|
tax notice | Match at least one positive term; positive clauses use OR, not implicit AND |
"property notice" | Match the exact phrase |
tax "property notice" -draft | Match tax or the phrase, but exclude draft |
insurance -"old policy" | Exclude an exact phrase |
The final unfinished positive clause uses prefix matching, which makes typing ahead useful. Earlier clauses are complete tokens. CJK text uses Jiandu's indexed fallback rather than requiring space-delimited words. If precision matters, use a quoted phrase or add the filters below; do not assume every unquoted word must match.
Narrow only when the broad result is noisy:
- Tags for reusable household topics;
- From for a correspondent or organization;
- Kind for a document type;
- Year for the document date; and
- Best match for a text query. Clear the query to browse by Recently changed, Document date, Title A–Z, or Oldest first.
When an API client repeats the tag parameter, every requested tag is required. Server-side relevance and facet counts require a non-empty text query; the browser can additionally facet the corpus it has already cached. Treat an opaque result cursor as bound to the exact query, filters, caller, and authorization scope—never reuse it after any of those change.
The active query and filters are part of the page URL, so browser Back and a copied link can restore the same view. A recipient still needs their own authorization; the URL does not grant access.
For searches you repeat, save a quick filter. It remembers the query, filters, shelf, and order in your account's sidebar while showing current results each time you open it.
If a result says its text is still being added to search, the original is already stored but content indexing has not completed. If indexing failed, preserve the original and use the offered retry rather than uploading a duplicate.
Edit details together
Edit a document's details in its open sheet, or use the filing queue to describe newly added files. Jiandu preserves changes another person saved to fields you left untouched. A delayed save response also preserves newer details already loaded. Edits typed while saving are checked against those latest values before the next save.
If the server reports that you can no longer access a document, Jiandu clears its fields and preview. In an open detail sheet, Try again reloads the current details.
The filing queue loads the current details before you can edit. If loading fails, choose Try again, or Skip to continue with another document. Fields pause while a save is pending. Closing filing discards unsaved edits; reopening starts with the latest saved details.
If both of you change the same field differently, Jiandu stops your save and loads the latest details for review. This also applies to competing changes to the tags. Review those values, then enter and save your correction again if you want to replace them.
Organize several records
Select the intended results, choose Organize, and build an ordered sequence of operations. The current bulk editor can add or remove tags, set or clear the sender, and set or clear the kind.
Review the operation order before choosing Apply. Each batch uses the latest document revisions available to the browser. If the server finds a newer revision when that batch arrives, Jiandu reports a conflict and stops the sequence. Review the affected records before trying again.
If Jiandu learns that a selected document is no longer accessible, its pending moves or deletions are skipped, even if access returns before the operation finishes. Organization sequences stop after an incomplete batch. Review the selection before applying the operation again.
After archiving, moving to the Bin, or restoring documents, the confirmation message offers a temporary Undo. This works for single documents and bulk selections. Undo reverses only successful moves and preserves later metadata edits. If another move happened afterward, Jiandu keeps the later state and reports a conflict.
Archive without deleting
Use Archive for documents you want to keep but rarely need in the active library. Archived records remain durable and appear on the Archived shelf. Use Unarchive or Restore to return an archived record to active use.
Use the Bin as a recovery window
Move to bin removes a document from the ordinary and archived views without immediately performing permanent deletion. Open the Bin shelf and choose Restore if the move was a mistake.
Restore returns a binned document to its previous active or archived state.
Treat the Bin as an application workflow, not a backup. Retention policy and physical bytes in remote storage may have different timing, and a complete recovery backup may still contain an earlier version of the record.
Understand permanent deletion
Delete for good is the irreversible product action. Jiandu asks for confirmation and warns that the original cannot be recovered through the application. Before confirming:
- verify the exact selected documents;
- decide whether policy requires a retained backup or export;
- understand the selected blob backend's versioning, trash, snapshot, or retention behavior; and
- make sure the next backup reflects the intended state.
Never delete files directly from the database or blob namespace to imitate this workflow. That can leave records and stored objects inconsistent.
Verification
With a non-sensitive sample, prove that search finds the active record, Archive removes it from the active shelf, Bin retains a restorable record, and Restore returns it. Stop before permanent deletion unless the sample is deliberately disposable.