Extended Document Edition management

Next® automatically keeps track of any changes you make to your documents and their metadata. Every new revision is automatically kept on record, and documented in the business log, from where you can also access any previous revision.

With the optional Extended Collaboration feature, you even get the option to work on documents in an unpublished revision - using check-out and later check-in.

This capability to work structured with document revisions we now enhance further with named editions

Extended Document Edition management allows you to specify that all documents of selected types are subject to structured edition management. 

In addition to the automatic revision management, built into the Next® Storage Engine, you get the ability to provide an official Document Edition for selected documents - Plant Construction Drawings, Projects Plans, or Procurement Contracts for example. 

The typical format for Document Editions is "major.minor".

1.00, 1.01,1.02, 2.00, 2.01, etc. 


The current Document Edition information is displayed in a new Info-panel for all documents with edition management enabled.


Edition 2.02, was created a moment ago, by Adria Leon


One-click access to see who made the earlier editions


To increase the minor or major edition of a document, you simply click "Set new edition".


Set new edition - minor or major  


Who is actually allowed to set a new edition (minor or major) on a document is defined by a Document Edition Policy.

The policy defines what documents it covers, and who is allowed to manage their major and minor editions.


Everyone in Projects can increment minor editions, but only project managers may set a new major edition


Besides incrementing editions manually, you can also do it programmatically. We use this in Document Approval Workflows, when the final approval of a new revision increments the major edition, and sets the document to active. 


Often a new edition of a document in Next® is actually a separate document with its own lifecycle. Multiple revisions of the same document exists, but when you decide to start making a new edition, you do so with Make a copy or Edit a copy. That is why we have included a new info panel with document status and origin.


Edition 2.02 for Summer 2022 is originally a copy of the Summer 2021 pricelist   


The information on the origin of a document is added to the document attributes already shown.


 When you work with editions it's nice to see the origin of the current edition


If you use check out /check in to work with your editions, Next® will, during check in, ask you if you wish to set a new edition. 

Future enhancements

In a later release, Next® will support other naming conventions than numeric major.minor. The naming convention may be selected in the Edition management policy.   

For the techies

Next® comes with a built-in document edition policy for the documents where there are no restrictions to who can set new editions. For this kind of documents, all you have to do is to enroll the relevant document types and you are ready to go.   

If you have documents where you want to restrict the ability to set new editions, simply copy the built-in policy and adapt it to your needs.

Commercial terms and conditions

This optional feature is available for an addition subscription fee as part of Next® Extended Collaboration. Any consultancy needed is invoiced in addition to this.    

Disclaimer

Despite our best efforts, we may be forced to change both content and expected delivery of future product updates without notice.  


Details

Title:

Extended Document Edition management 

Type:

New optional feature

Status:

Released

Release time:

September 2022

Affected products:

Next® Contracts
Next® Enterprise Archive
Next® Go
Next® Invoices
Next® Processes

Audience:

End user
Admin
Specialist

Classification:

Public

Responsible product manager:

Kim Hellum

Updated:

22.09.2022

By:

Kim Hellum