---
title: Content operations
description: "> Welcome to **Expert Tips**— a growing collection of practical tips and real-world examples to help you get the most out of Extension Kit Core. > > > > This page focuses on the **Content Operations** module group, which includes…"
url: "https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/documentation/expert-tips-content-operations/"
updated: "2026-02-03"
category: Resources / Expert tips
---

# Content operations

> Welcome to **Expert Tips**— a growing collection of practical tips and real-world examples to help you get the most out of Extension Kit Core.
>
>
>
> This page focuses on the **Content Operations** module group, which includes the following modules: **Document Processing, Data Transfer**, **Vault to Vault**, and **Archiving**.

> To get a new expert tip delivered to your inbox every week, **subscribe to the Tip of the Week newsletter [here](https://pages.unitfly.com/extension-kit-newsletter-subscription).**

---

 How to add digital signatures to M-Files documents

## How to add digital signatures to M-Files documents

Let's see how to automatically sign M-Files documents with **Extension Kit Core** using **P12 digital certificates**.

**Digital certificates**

**P12 digital certificates** are the standard for secure document signing. They’re issued by trusted providers, which vary by country (see the [EU trusted list of providers](https://eidas.ec.europa.eu/efda/trust-services/browse/eidas/tls) for reference).

Each employee who needs to sign documents must obtain their own certificate from a local provider. The certificate is delivered as a **.p12 file,** protected with a password. This file can be uploaded to M-Files and assigned to the employee object.

In our demo environment, we’ve stored the certificate in a dedicated class called **Signed Document** (Picture 1).

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Digital-signature-1-1024x751.png)

Picture 1

**Adding the digital signature with Extension Kit Core**

Once the certificate is available in M-Files, the signing process is straightforward:

1. **Reference the certificate** – Reference the certificate property on the employee (e.g., `{Employee.Digital Certificate}`) or another object where it’s stored.
2. **Enter the certificate password** – Required to access and apply the certificate.
3. **Define the signature layout** – Choose between three types of digital signatures: **text**, **HTML**, and **image**. Each option can be customized to fit your needs. In the example below, we demonstrate how to use HTML to customize the appearance of the signature in the document (Picture 2). You can use placeholders to pull in signer details, timestamps, and certificate data, such as:
   - `@SignatureDateTime@` – Date and time of signature
   - `@CertificateC@` – Certificate country
   - `@CertificateCN@` – Certificate common name
   - `@CertificateO@` – Certificate organization
   This allows you to design a signature block that matches the business needs.

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Digital-signature-2.png)

Picture 2

**Result**

Here’s how the digitally signed document looks in practice (Picture 3).

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Digital-signature-3-662x1024.png)

Picture 3

By combining trusted digital certificates with Extension Kit, you ensure that every signed document in M-Files is **secure, verifiable, and legally compliant**.

---

 Automatically add or read barcodes in M-Files

## Automatically add or read barcodes in M-Files

In Extension Kit Core’s Document Processing module, you can configure various actions to modify documents when they enter a specific workflow state. One powerful functionality is **adding and reading barcodes or QR codes** within M-Files.

Let’s explore how you can enhance your document processing with barcodes.

**Adding barcodes to documents**

The **AddBarcode** action inserts barcodes into documents when they reach a designated workflow state (e.g., Add Barcode). Configuration is simple (Picture 1):

- **Symbology type:** Choose the barcode type (e.g., **QR code**).
- **Barcode text:** Define static or dynamic text to embed (e.g., **{Barcode text}**).
- **Code placement:** Specify a fixed location or use a placeholder to define barcode placement.
- Set the barcode’s **Width** and **Height**.

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AddBarcode.png)
Picture 1: Configuring the **Add barcode** action in Document Processing.

Once set up, the barcode is **automatically added** to the document after the rule execution (Picture 2).

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Document-before-the-rule-execution-1024x538.png)
Picture 2: Document before and after the rule execution.

**Reading barcode data from documents**

The **ReadBarcode** action extracts barcode or QR code text and saves it to an M-Files property. Configuration steps include (Picture 3):

- **Symbology type:** Specify the barcode type (e.g., **QR code**).
- **Read from pages:** Define which pages to scan.
- **Property:** Choose the property where the extracted text should be saved.

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AddBarcode-3.png)
Picture 3: Configuring the Read barcode action in Document Processing.

Once configured, barcode data is **automatically extracted and stored** in the specified property when the document enters the workflow state (e.g., Read Barcode). (Picture 4)

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AddBarcode4.png)
Picture 4: Barcode text is stored on the metadata card.

With these capabilities, you can **automate barcode handling in M-Files** to reduce manual data entry, improve accuracy, and enhance document workflows.

---

 How to automatically compress files in M-Files

## How to automatically compress files in M-Files

One of Extension Kit Core’s latest modules, the [Archiving](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/documentation/archiving-introduction/) module, lets you compress files into ZIP, 7Z, or TAR archives, or decompress them from ZIP, 7Z, TAR, or RAR formats. Rules can be trigger-based, scheduled, or run-once.

This tip shows how to **automatically archive documents on a schedule,** and what to watch out for in your configuration.

**Compress documents using a scheduled rule**

In our example, we created a **scheduled rule** that runs daily at 23:00, collects all **Travel Orders** in the state 'Completed Travel Orders’, and **compresses** them into a single ZIP archive. The resulting archive is stored in M-Files, serving as a historical record of the completed Travel Orders.

**Important: Trigger sources in scheduled rules**

For **scheduled** or **run-once** rules, a **trigger source must still be defined**. This **does not define which documents will be archived** — it simply provides the object on which the rule will execute, without affecting that object in any way.

For this purpose, we created a new object type called **Archive**, with a class **Archive** that will serve as a trigger source and a container for ZIP files (Picture 1).

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ZIP-0.png)
Picture 1: Archive object used as a trigger and storage.

**Setting up the rule**

Using the **Compress** action in the Archive module, configure what will be archived. Define a search filter to find all objects of class **Travel Orders** with the state **Completed Travel Order** (Picture 2).

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ZIP-1.png)
Picture 2: Configuration for compressing completed Travel Orders.

**Result**

The resulting ZIP archive containing all matching Travel Orders is stored in M-Files (Picture 3).

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ZIP-2-1001x1024.png)
Picture 3: Resulting ZIP archive containing all matching Travel Orders.

**Alternative setup: No Archive class needed?**

In our example, we used the Archive object both to store the ZIP file and to act as the trigger source for the rule.

However, if you don’t need a dedicated object to store the archive, you can **use any object as the trigger source** for scheduled or run-once rules. The object’s content doesn’t matter — the rule simply needs something to execute on.

Just make sure to set **Limit number of trigger objects** to 1 (Picture 4). Otherwise, the rule could execute on **multiple objects**, resulting in **multiple ZIP files** instead of a single archive.

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ZIP-3-1.png)
Picture 4: Limit the number of trigger objects to 1 to make sure the rule executes only once.

The Archive module is a powerful tool for packaging files in M-Files, but scheduled rules require careful setup. Use a dedicated object as a safe trigger, or limit your triggers to avoid unwanted ZIPs.

---

 Assigning new workflows to objects transferred between vaults

## Assigning new workflows to objects transferred between vaults

This tip addresses a recent question from our Extension Kit Community: *How can you ensure that objects transferred from a source vault enter a new workflow in the target vault?* Here’s how to set this up using Extension Kit Core’s Vault to Vault module.

**Use case**

Imagine you have an **Archive** vault for completed projects. When an object in the source vault reaches a specific workflow state (e.g., “Completed”), it needs to be transferred to the **Archive** vault. Once transferred, the object should start a new workflow in the **Archive** vault, rather than retaining its workflow state from the source vault.

**Solution**

To achieve this, follow these steps in the Vault to Vault module:

1. Under **Create settings**, add property mapping to specify the workflow:

- **Source Type:** Set to **`Expression`**.
- **Source:** Enter the name of the workflow in the target vault (e.g., **`[Archive Workflow]`**).
- **Target ID:** Specify the workflow ID: **`38` .**
- **Target Property Type:** Set to **`SimpleValue`**.

1.

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Vault-to-Vault-1.png)
Picture 1

2. Next, add another mapping to specify the workflow state:

- **Source Type:** Set to **`Expression`**.
- **Source:** Enter the name of the workflow state in the target vault (e.g., **`[Archived]`**).
- **Target ID:** Specify the workflow state ID: **`39` .**
- **Target Property Type:** Set to **`SimpleValue`**.

1.

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Vault-to-Vault-2.png)
Picture 2

This configuration ensures the object transferred to the **Archive** vault is placed in the correct workflow and state, independent of its workflow status in the source vault.

---

 How filename wildcards work in restore actions

## How filename wildcards work in restore actions

In Extension Kit Core, filename wildcards are commonly used to locate the file on which the rule should act. For example, when working with Document Processing actions like **ConvertToPDF**, you would use `*.docx` to find and convert Word documents into PDFs.

However, when using restoring state actions like **UndoPDFConversion, UndoMergeDocuments,** or **RestoreOriginal,** the logic is **reversed.** Here, the **filename wildcard doesn’t select the current file** — instead, it tells the rule which **previous version** from the object’s history you want to restore.

**How it works**

Let’s say you want to **undo the PDF conversion** and return the document to its original `.docx` format.

If you specify ***.pdf** **in the filename wildcard, the rule execution will fail to locate a matching version - because the wildcard is used to identify the previous version to restore from history, not the currently active one. Since that version is not a PDF, the rule won’t apply.

To correctly revert the file, **use `*.docx` as the wildcard** (Picture 1). This instructs the rule to search the object’s version history and **restore the most recent matching DOCX file.**

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/undo-pdf.png)
Picture 1: Use ****.docx*** to convert a PDF file back to its original format.

When restoring or reverting a file, always ensure the wildcard matches the format you're reverting to, and not the active version.

---

 How to split PDFs into separate files in M-Files

## How to split PDFs into separate files in M-Files

Need to split a multi-page PDF into separate files based on content structure? With the **SplitDocument** action in the **Document Processing** module, you can easily break down a document into new objects, either at fixed intervals or specific page breaks.

**Split documents**

The **SplitDocument** state action lets you control how a document is divided:

- **Interval:** Split the document every *N* pages. For example, setting this to 2 will create a new file for every two pages.
- **FixedPoints:** Define exact page numbers to split on. Perfect when each section starts on a known page.

You can choose whether the resulting files are **saved as new objects** or **added to the source object**.

**Example use case**

We have a single PDF containing part of the documentation for three Extension Kit Core modules (Picture 1):

- Property Operations (1 page)
- Document Processing (2 pages)
- Property Calculations (1 page)

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Split-0-1024x652.png)
Picture 1: Source document with multiple modules.

To split this into three separate documents — one for each module — we configured **SplitDocument** using the `FixedPoints` split mode and specified the pages where the splits should occur (Picture 2).

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Split-1-643x1024.png)
Picture 2: Example configuration for splitting the document using FixedPoints mode.

**Result**

Each module becomes its own file, saved as part of the source multi-file document in M-Files (Picture 3):

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Split-2-1024x657.png)
Picture 3: Resulting split files inside the original multi-file object.

**Additional: Naming options**

Customize how the resulting documents are named using a **File name template** and **File name parameters.**

**File name parameters** provide the actual values used in the template. Each parameter supports a **Value type** to control how its value is resolved (Expression, Property, or FromSourceFile).

**File name template** defines the naming structure.

- If **File name parameters** are defined, they can be referenced directly in the template. Example: with parameters `Filename` and `Number`, and the template `Filename.Number` (Picture 4), the resulting files will be named like this:
  - *Extension Kit Core - Module Documentation - Part 1.1*
  - *Extension Kit Core - Module Documentation - Part 1.2*
  - *Extension Kit Core - Module Documentation - Part 1.3*

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Split-3.png)
Picture 4: Defined File name parameters.

- If **no parameters** are set, the default name becomes `FileNameTemplate-Iterator` (Picture 5):
  - *Split document-1*
  - *Split document-2*
  - *Split document-3*

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Split-4.png)
Picture 5: If no File name parameters are set, the default file name is `FileNameTemplate-Iterator.`

---

 Sharing documents across vaults

## Sharing documents across vaults

Sometimes, documents need to be **shared between vaults**. For example, a file from the Project Management vault may need to be available in the Marketing vault, or a Shared Vault that both departments can access.

With Extension Kit Core’s **Vault to Vault** module, you can automate these transfers.

**Scenario**

A company has separate vaults for Project Management, Marketing, Procurement, and Accounting, plus a **Shared Vault** for cross-department collaboration.

If Marketing and Project Management have a joint meeting, they might want to store their meeting notes in the Shared Vault.

**Configuration**

In our Demo Vault, we configured the following rule: when the document’s **Share to Public** property is set to **Yes**, it is automatically copied to the **Public Demo Vault**. (Picture 1)

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Share-to-public-1.png)
Picture 1: Trigger source and Monitored properties configuration in the Vault to Vault module.

Here are the next steps for setting up the transfer successfully:

- **Define which vault is involved and which user sends the data.** Usually, an admin user is used, as they have access to multiple vaults. (Picture 2)

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Share-to-Public-2.png)
Picture 2: Define the vault and the user involved.

- Choose the action (**Create, Update, Read, Delete**) and **define the object and its class** that you want to transfer. This ensures an identical copy is created in the target vault. (Picture 3)

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Share-to-public-3.png)
Picture 3: Configuration for creating a Meeting Note document in the target vault.

- You can update properties of the newly created document in the Public Demo Vault to match them to the original file’s properties using **ID, GUID, name or alias** — we recommend using **alias** wherever possible. (Picture 4)

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Share-to-public-4-1024x967.png)
Picture 4: Update class properties under Property mappings.

**Result**

The document is created in the **Demo Vault** (Picture 5). Once **Share to Public** is set to **Yes**, the same document is automatically created in the **Public Demo Vault** (Picture 6).

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Share-to-Public-5-1024x640.png)
Picture 5: When the document is created in the Demo Vault, the Share to Public property needs to be set to Yes.

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Share-to-Public-6-1024x637.png)
Picture 6: The same document is automatically created in the Public Demo Vault.

This setup allows multiple departments to share key documents efficiently while maintaining control over departmental vaults.

---

 Flexible watermarks in Document Processing

## Flexible watermarks in Document Processing

The Document Processing module allows you to add watermarks to documents, with flexibility over their appearance and configuration.

Let’s take a look at the options.

**Adding watermarks**

You have **two basic options** when adding watermarks:

1. **Choose if the document should be converted to PDF or stay in Word format after applying the watermark (Picture 1).**

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Watermarks-1.png)
*Picture 1*

2. **Choose whether to apply a text watermark or an image watermark.** For image watermarks, the image can be sourced from a local disk path, a source object, or a vault search. Additionally, you can apply the watermark to **all pages** or only **specific pages**, and **c**onfigure the **opacity** of the watermark (Picture 2).

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Watermarks-2.png)
*Picture 2*

**Example**

Below is an example of a rule configuration where an **image watermark is pulled from a search**(Picture 3).

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Watermarks-3.png)
*Picture 3*

And here is the result after the rule is executed: the document **remains in Word format** and is **not converted to PDF**, making this feature ideal for scenarios where documents must stay editable while still being visually marked (Picture 4).

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Watermarks-4-1024x556.png)
*Picture 4*

---

 Importing and exporting data in M-Files

## Importing and exporting data in M-Files

Extension Kit Core enables users to import and export data from shared folders and SFTP servers in a simple, flexible, and easy-to-manage way.

**Data Transfer options**

In the Data Transfer module, you can choose the **Data Transfer Mode**:

- Import data from the file system into M-Files, or
- Export data from M-Files to the file system.

Each mode offers additional configuration options for the data transfer process.

The first step in the configuration is selecting the **Transport Type**, which defines where the data is transferred from or to:

- **FileShare:** Use for transferring data to and from a local disk or local/network shared folders.
- **SFTP:** Use for transferring data to and from SFTP servers.

**Example: Import from a folder**

Here’s an example configuration for an **Import** from a folder on disk (Picture 1).

You can define the **Import Type**, which controls what data will be imported:

- Files only
- Metadata only
- Both files and metadata

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Data-transfer-1.png)
*Picture 1*

During the import, properties can be set in two ways:

- **File attribute properties:** Set dynamically, directly from the file, with options such as *HostName, FilePath, FilePathRegex, Filename, FilenameRegex,* and *ImportPrefix* (Picture 2).
- **Static object properties:** Define fixed property values that will be applied to all imported objects.

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Data-transfer-2.png)
*Picture 2*

**Reporting**

Once the import or export is completed, you can configure whether to generate a report with action details. The report can be saved in CSV format to disk or sent via email.

Here’s an example configuration for an **email report** that is sent directly to a selected recipient’s mailbox (Picture 3). The report contains detailed information about which documents were imported from the folder.

![](https://extensionkit.unitfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Data-transfer-3.png)
*Picture 3*

With flexible transfer modes, multiple transport options, and built-in reporting, the Data Transfer module makes importing and exporting data into M-Files both reliable and transparent.