CARES NG® provides a file management system. Since the inputs and outputs of an assessment are files, and the assessment itself is a file, then naturally the File Management System represents much of the user experience of CARES NG®. Think of the file management system as Google Drive, but customized for CARES NG® users.

There are three main types of files that can be created and managed in the CARES NG® file management system:

1. Folders so that you can manage your files as you wish.
2. Tables: to store and manage the data to be used in the exposure analyses.
3. Assessments: represent the key functionality of the CARES NG® platform. They store the inputs for the exposure analyses through a stepwise interface that guides the user in setting up the dietary and residential analyses.

The file management system consists of two components:

1. Main folders
2. File actions

In the CARES NG® manual the word file will refer generically to tables and assessments, unless otherwise specified.