A virtual document is a file that contains one or more files nested within it. The virtual document is called the parent document and the files within are called descendants. Descendants are also called children.

Virtual documents are designated by this icon:

As an example, you might create a virtual document for a book and populate the virtual document with the files that make up the book’s chapters. Each chapter is a separate file that is nested within the parent document.

The files nested in a virtual document can themselves be virtual documents. This means you can have multiple levels of nesting.

When you check out a virtual document, you can select whether to check out only the parent document or to check out the parent document and its descendants.

When you view a virtual document, you have the option of viewing the document’s structure or its content. When you view its structure, Virtual Document Manager (VDM) opens within Webtop to display the virtual document’s descendants. In VDM, you perform actions on files using the same procedures you use in Webtop. For more information on VDM, see Viewing the structure of a virtual document.

The files in a virtual document can be of different file formats. For example, a Microsoft Word file could be the parent file and its descendants could be an Excel spreadsheet and TIFF image.

You can add, remove and rearrange descendants in a virtual document. You can convert virtual documents back to simple documents i.e., documents that contain no other documents.