Nature of Operations - Additional Information (Detail)		3 Months Ended
	Dec. 15, 2017 USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2018 USD ($) Site Language Facility	Jul. 31, 2018 USD ($)
Nature Of Operations [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents and Trading Securities		$ 83,400,000	$ 92,100,000
Principal amount of notes held		$ 63,925,000	$ 67,625,000
Steel Holdings | 5.25% Convertible Senior Notes
Nature Of Operations [Line Items]
Debt instrument stated percentage		5.25%	5.25%
Principal amount of notes held		$ 14,900,000	$ 14,900,000
PNC Bank Credit Facility
Nature Of Operations [Line Items]
Credit facility, readily available borrowing capacity		9,000,000
Cerberus Credit Facility
Nature Of Operations [Line Items]
Credit facility, readily available borrowing capacity		$ 25,000,000
Revolving credit facility	$ 25,000,000
Moduslink
Nature Of Operations [Line Items]
Number of sites | Site		20
Number of languages | Language		21
IWCO | Cerberus Credit Facility
Nature Of Operations [Line Items]
Revolving credit facility		$ 25,000,000
IWCO | Cerberus Credit Facility | Maximum
Nature Of Operations [Line Items]
Cash distributions		$ 5,000,000
IWCO | Chanhassen MN
Nature Of Operations [Line Items]
Number of facilities | Facility		3
IWCO | Little Falls MN
Nature Of Operations [Line Items]
Number of facilities | Facility		1
IWCO | Warminster PA
Nature Of Operations [Line Items]
Number of facilities | Facility		1
IWCO | Hamburg PA
Nature Of Operations [Line Items]
Number of facilities | Facility		2