In BSCW, a document can be any file uploaded from your local system. A document may contain text, spreadsheets, graphics, print files, pictures, sound, video etc., typically stored in various proprietary file formats. On the Internet, these file formats are identified by their MIME types. Each document in BSCW has a explicitly assigned MIME type. For a document this MIME type is represented by the specific icon in front of the document name (or by a generic   icon for a MIME type that does not have an individual icon on your BSCW server).

BSCW provides specific functions for two types of documents:

Documents of MIME type text/plain or text/HTML (whose contents your Web browser will display) may be edited directly on the BSCW server.

BSCW can create Zip and tar archives documents from objects in a folder (incl. your   folder, clipboard and trash (see 3.5.2). BSCW can also extract .zip or .tar archives that you have uploaded into your clipboard (see 3.3.4.2).

When you click a document name in a folder page, several things may happen, depending on the MIME type of the document and on the configuration of your Web browser:

• the Web browser may interpret the file and display it;
• a program on your local computer may be started to display or edit the file;
• a dialog box may be displayed that lets you store the document as a local file;
• the Web browser may offer a set of options for handling the document.