About Aliases

Aliases behave just like separate files after they have been created, with one exception: they always use the same file image as their original file. At creation time, an alias is a copy of the original file and includes its file associations and other file attributes. After it is created, any changes made to the alias apply only to the alias itself; they have no impact on the original file. Therefore, an alias can be altered to have attributes and download package associations that differ from the original file. However, all the aliases of a file share the file image of the original file. And if you change the file image uploaded for the original file, all that file’s aliases also use the new file image. (You cannot otherwise change the file image for an alias.)

An alias can be edited, reidentified, aliased, restricted independently of its original file. Likewise, you can send notification emails specifically for the alias file.

Note:When you choose Edit > Alias this File on the View File page of an alias, you create a new alias based on the current alias. This alias takes the attributes and associations of the current alias and uses the file image from the original file.

When viewing files on the Producer Portal, notice that the Alias field in the file details indicates whether or not the file is an alias.

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If a file is an alias file, the Alias field shows Yes (Alias of System FileID <fileID>), where <fileID> is the system file ID for the original file.

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If the file is an original, non-alias file, the Alias field shows one or more system file IDs. These file IDs are links to the file’s aliases.

Note:For instruction on creating an alias, see Aliasing a File.