Versioning actions

Check-out

Checking out the current version of a document causes several actions to take place:

• A version is created with the reservation version status.
• A number is assigned to the reservation object by increasing the minor number of the current version by 1 because a reservation object is always a minor version. The major number stays the same. See Version numbering for full numbering details.
• The Reserved property of the current version is set to True, preventing it from being checked out again.

Only the current version can be checked out, and while it is checked out no one else can check it out again.

There are two types of check-out: exclusive and collaborative. One of these two is the default for the object store; if the client application does not allow the user to specify the check-out type, the default applies. The check-out type is not a property of the document, but is one of two ways that you can perform a check-out.

• Exclusive check-out: When you perform an exclusive check-out, you are the only one who can modify, check in, or (with one exception) cancel the check-out. This exclusivity overrides any permissions in the ACL of the document reservation that would normally define who could check in the reservation object. The permissions of the person who checked out the document still do apply, however. For example, you cannot perform a major check-in if this action is not granted by the ACL on the reservation object.

  If the user who checked out the document is no longer available, or does not have sufficient rights to check in the document or cancel the check-out, the check-out can be canceled by anyone with both Modify Owner and Delete rights to the reservation object.

• Collaborative check-out: When you perform a collaborative check-out, anyone with appropriate permissions can check in, modify, or cancel the check-out.

When you check out a document, you are always working with the latest version of the document. The version history of your document is protected. When you check out a document to work on it, you are working on a copy of the content and not the original document content. This copy of the earlier version becomes the content file of the new version, if you decide to check it in. You can also choose to cancel the check-out or check in a different file. The object store retains the original content along with its descriptive document object as a protected version in the version series of that document.

See Check out document for how to use the administration console to check out a document.

Checkin

Checking in the reservation object causes several actions to take place:

• The reservation object becomes the new current version and the status of the former current version is superseded.
• The version number from the reservation object is assigned to the new current object and the version status is set to in process, if checked in as a minor version.
• The major number is incremented by 1, the minor number is set to 0, and the version status is changed to released, if checked in as a major version.

This sequence table shows examples of the check-out and check-in cycle. Bold text denotes the change from the row preceding:

Cancel Check-out

Canceling a check-out causes several actions to take place:

• The reservation object is deleted. Downloaded files that were the reservation object content are not deleted. However, these files are no longer associated with any FileNet® P8 Platform document object.
• The current version is available for check-out.

Administrators can cancel the check-outs of other users. You might find this feature useful if users leave the company and do not check in all their documents.

This sequence table shows examples of canceling a check-out. Bold text denotes change from the preceding row:

Promote

Promoting a minor version converts it into the released major version.

You can promote only the current in process version. You cannot promote a document that is already a major version, that is, a reservation object, or that is superseded. Promote is allowed on frozen versions and on documents based on a class in which versioning is disabled.

If a document is successfully promoted, its version status is set to released, its major version number is incremented by 1, and its minor version number is set to 0. The version status of the previous major version becomes superseded.

If the document has a security policy applied, and if that security policy has templates for released or superseded versions, those templates are automatically applied to those versions.

The following portion of the full sequencing table shows what happens when you promote a document; bold text denotes change from the preceding row:

Demote

Demoting the major released version of a document converts it into the current in process minor version, and sets the most recent superseded major version, if one exists, as the released major version. For example, suppose you discover a mistake in your current released document, version 2.0. You can demote that document so that the superseded version 1.0 becomes the released document. The demoted version is now the current minor version and you can check it out again to correct the mistake. Demoting a version does not delete any versions or content out of the version series. It just updates properties so that the previous major version is now the current major version.

Demoting a version is allowed on frozen versions and on documents based on a class in which versioning is disabled.

The following portion of the full sequencing table shows you what happens when you demote a document; bold text denotes change from the preceding row:

Delete

Users with the correct permissions can delete a version from the middle of the version series. Content Platform Engine deletes the specified version and keeps the remaining original version numbers intact, thus leaving the version series with gaps in its numbering sequence. This applies to both single-level and two-level versioning scenarios.

Users or processes can delete a major version or minor version out of the middle of the version series. If the version being deleted is a released major version, Content Platform Engine updates the status of the previous major version, if one exists, to released.

You can delete versions on major versions and minor versions, regardless of which version state they are in.

The following sequence table shows the effects of deleting a version from the middle of a version series. Bold text denotes change from the preceding row:

Freeze

Freezing a version prevents changes to its otherwise modifiable custom properties. The custom properties of a specific version are frozen. The system-maintained properties of a frozen document version can continue to be updated by the system as necessary.

After a version is frozen, you cannot unfreeze it. However, you can check out a frozen document to create new unfrozen versions. Frozen documents can also be promoted or demoted.