Viewing and Modifying Document Versions
You can view and work with the version history for a document under version control in the Versions tab of the Metadata dialog box in the Folder Browser, or in the Tags tab of the Metadata Pane in the Document Viewer.
If a document is not yet under version control, it must first be placed under version control. (A document not under version control has no version history to view.) See Enabling Version Control for more information.
In the version history, you can review information about the document's versions, open past versions and view or modify version comments and labels. You can also compare versions, revert to past versions, delete versions, view signature information, copy versions, and export or e-mail versions.
In the Laserfiche Client, you can also see the number of versions in a document's version history on the Versions tab of the Metadata dialog box. For example, if a document has four documents in its history, the tab will say "Versions: 4." (If the document is not under version control, there will be no number listed.) In Web Access, a blue dot will appear over the Versions tab icon if the document is under version control.
Information Stored in the Version History
When a document is under version control, most parts of that document will be saved in the version history when they are modified. For example, if you change the image pages of a document that is under version control, the original pages will be stored intact in the version history for future reference. All of the following properties of a version are saved in the version history: image pages, text pages, electronic files, annotations, templates, and fields.
There are, however, some properties of the document that cannot be saved in the version history. These elements cannot be reviewed or reverted to once they have been modified, even if the document is under version control. The following properties of a document are not saved in the version history:
- Document name
- Path
- Security settings
- Tags
- Document relationships
- Link groups
Viewing the Version History
Viewing a document's version history will list all of the versions of the document, including information about those versions. From the version history dialog box, you can view older versions, compare versions, modify version comments, upload a new version from files on your computer, revert to an older version of the document, delete versions, export versions, copy versions, and digitally sign versions.
To view a document's version history
- Select a document, then open the Version History dialog box in one of the following ways:
- Open the Metadata dialog box or Metadata Pane for any document, and then select the Versions tab.
- Open the Tasks menu and point to Version Tracking, then select Version History.
- Review the version history. For each document version, the dialog box will display the following:
- Version: The version number for the version. Older versions have lower numbers; newer versions have higher numbers. The latest version is marked with (Latest).
- Created By: The user who created the version.
- Creation Date/Time: The date and time the version was created.
- Comment: The version comment made for the version. See Version Comments and Labels for more information.
- Labels: The labels configured for the version. See Version Comments and Labels for more information.
- Changes: The components of the document that were changed in this version. This can be any combination of Electronic Document, Pages, Text, Annotations and Fields and Templates.
- Signatures: Digital signatures applied to the version.
- If you have many versions listed in the version history and want to quickly filter a subset of them, type information from any of the columns into the Filteroption. For example, to display only versions created by user DOMAIN\JSmith, type "DOMAIN\JSmith" in the filter option. To display only versions with the word "tag" in the comments, type "tag" in the filter option.
To view a document's version history
- Select a document, then open the version history in one of the following ways:
- Right-click on a document and select Version History.
- Select the document in the Folder Browser. Then from the Tasks menu, point to Version Tracking, and click Version History.
- Right-click on a document and select Metadata or select a document and click the Metadata toolbar button. In the Metadata Viewer, click the Versions link.
- Review the version history. For each document version, the dialog box will display the following:
- Version: The version number for the version. Older versions have lower numbers; newer versions have higher numbers. The latest version is marked with (Latest).
- Created by: The user who created the version.
- Created date/time: The date and time the version was created.
- Comment: The version comment made for the version. See Version Comments and Labels for more information.
- Labels: The labels configured for the version. See Version Comments and Labels for more information.
- Changes: The components of the document that were changed in this version. This can be any combination of Electronic Document, Pages, Text, Annotations and Fields and Templates.
- Signatures: Digital signatures applied to the version.
Tip: You can view more limited information about the version history in Web Access without opening the full version history, by opening the Metadata Pane in the Document Viewer and selecting Versions.
Opening a Version from the Version History
You can open any version of a document from the version history. This allows you to review the contents of the version, including any electronic file, image page, metadata or annotation information in the version.
Versions opened from the version history are read-only and cannot be modified. To modify the latest version, you can open it from the folder browser and make your changes. Past versions cannot be modified. If you want to modify a past version and save it as a new version, first revert to that version and then make the changes in the new, latest version. If you want to modify a past version and save it as a document, first copy the version and paste it as a new document, then modify that new document.
To open a document version
- Select a document, then open the Version History dialog box for a document in one of the following ways:
- Open the Metadata dialog box. See Metadata dialog box for information about viewing the Metadata dialog box in the Folder Browser, or Metadata Pane for information about viewing the Metadata dialog box in the Document Viewer. Select the Versions tab.
- Open the Tasks menu and point to Version Tracking, then select Version History.
- The version history will open. Select the version you want to view. Double-click it or press ENTER to open it using the default opening behavior for that file type. To specify how to open the document, right-click and point to Open, or click Open , and select Pages, Electronic File or Fields.
- The version will open in read-only mode.
To open a document version
- Select a document, then open the Version History dialog box for a document in one of the following ways:
- Right-click on a document and select Version History.
- Select the document in the Folder Browser. Then from the Tasks menu, point to Version Tracking, and click Version History.
- Right-click on a document and select Metadata or select a document and click the Metadata toolbar button. In the Metadata Viewer, click the Versions link.
- The version history will open. Open the version you want to view in one of the following ways:
- Click the version number. This will open the document using the default viewing method (in the document viewer for imaged documents and PDFs, or the electronic file itself for other types of electronic documents).
- Select the version you want to view, click Select Actions, and choose Open pages, Open electronic file, or Open template and fields.
- The version will open in another window in read-only mode.
Related Topics