Document Index Fields

Purpose

This document reviews the functionality of Index Fields as well as how to set it up for use.

 Index Fields are user-defined fields that appear on the Document ID Card of each document within a folder. These fields can be used to store data specific to the document and are fully searchable using the Advanced Search feature. 

Index fields have a broad range of applications as far as what kind of data to store into them. For example, if a business has a folder for resumes from job applicants, a few index fields that could be attached to this folder include the applicant's name, e-mail address, and application status (under consideration, approved, denied, etc). Each of these fields would be a text field that users could fill in with the appropriate data when the document is added to the vault. Later on, the document could be found by performing a search on the email address or the applicant's name, rather than trying to remember the filename or Document ID, or browse through the folder manually. 

Index Fields can also be used to drive business rules in workflows. Refer to the Creating New Index Fields section towards the bottom for information on how to set up index fields. 

Any associated document-level metadata will be lost upon deletion of an index field. The index fields can be modified or deleted by VaultAccess users only within Index Field Management. Deleting an index field deletes any data associated with the index field on the Document ID Card. 

Index fields can be copied to subfolders. You can also configure an index field to be required or placed in a certain order. When an index field is required, a document cannot be released until the index field is entered. When a user fills in an index field, for text box type fields, they can use any character symbol or number. Users can data enter index fields during document upload, from the Document ID Card or through Batch Management. 

Index fields can be affected by a folder or document being moved or copied in the Document Library.

Index fields will be available for data collection for all documents currently uploaded in the folder and for all future documents uploaded into the folder. Index fields are also searchable through advanced search. 

Required Index Fields: 

Required index fields prevent a document from being released unless an index field has data entered into it. If the index field does not have data then the document will remain unreleased. You can set this feature when creating a new index field by checking the Required check box. A required index field is typically used when the index field data is critical for a successful workflow completion or when data is key to reporting. 

If an index field is not a required field, users can opt to not input any data for the field and still release the document as normal.

Working with Index Fields

Index Field Types

Date Time

Date and time will restrict users so that they can select or key in a valid date format. When an owner configures the Date Time index field type, the standard screen will be presented to the user.

When the date and time index field is presented to the user on the Document ID Card, it looks like the following:

Date Time Index Field View

Dynamic Drop Down 

Dynamic drop-down index fields are provided to the user so that they can only select from a certain list of items in the list. The user cannot do any data entry or add their own entries unless they have access to the data source. The drop-down list for this index field is populated from a database-type data source. This data source may be data pulled from within VisualVault (User List, Form Data, Project List, etc.) or from outside of VisualVault (Vendor list from an ERP or CRM system, list of products, list of customers, etc.). The following is an example of the configuration screen for the Dynamic Drop Down index field type.

Dynamic Drop Down List Configuration View

The following items discuss each of the Advanced Option fields from the Dynamic Drop Down List Index field type:

• Connection - Connection that has been configured in the Database Connection Admin.
• Query - Query that is part of a database connection in the Database Connection Admin.
• Value Field - available columns in the selected query.
• Preview - sample of the results that will be shown in the drop down list.

The drop down list is presented to the user as follows:

Dynamic Drop Down List View

Drop Down List

The Drop-Down List is a fixed list of choices that can be configured through the Drop Down Lists administration tool. When this control is selected the user will have a list of possible lists they can use. The user can preview the results of the list as well in the Preview field to insure the list has what the user wants to see. The following is the configuration screen for this index field:

Drop-Down List View

The user is presented with a drop down list that represents this control when looking at the Document ID Card.

Multi-Line Text Box

The Multi-Line Text Box allows users to key in multi lines of characters when metadata is placed in this index field. 

A user is presented with a Multi-Line Text Box on the Document ID Card in the following manner:

Multi-Line Text Box View

Numeric

The numeric index field type will only allow users to key in a series of numbers. If a user tries to key in any other type of character the screen will not enter the information or display it. 

When the Numeric index field is displayed to the user it is shown in the following manner:

Numeric Index Field View

Text Box

The Text Box allows users to key in a line of characters when metadata is placed in this index field. 

The user will be presented with a Text Box Index field in the following way:

Text Box Index Field View

Note: The difference between a Numeric and Text Box index field is that a numeric index field already contains a numeric zero.

User Drop Down List

The User Drop Down list is an index field that lists all the users or groups of users. The following is the configuration screen:

The following is the index field as configured:

User Drop Down Index Field

Creating New Index Fields

Administrators set up new index fields by completing the following steps:

1. Hover your mouse over the icon in the upper right-hand corner of VisualVault.
2. Select Control Panel.
   
3. Select the Administration Tools tab.
4. Select Index Fields.
   
5. Select New Index Field button.
   
6. Configure required fields and select Save.
   

Note: Index field properties such as name, description, or required can be changed centrally in Index Field Management.  The type of index field cannot be modified.  When creating index fields, allowed characters include alphanumeric characters, hyphens, slashes, spaces, commas, and the @ symbol.

Associating Index Fields to a Folder

Owners can associate index fields with a folder. To associate an index field with a folder, complete the following steps:

1. Navigate to a folder and go to folder properties using the context menu or top-level tab.
2. Select the Index Fields Tab.
3. Select the Edit Index Field Relationships button.
   
4. Select the index field from the Available field.
5. Use the buttons to assign the index fields (e.g. The two right-facing arrows to assign).
   
6. Select Save at the bottom of the Modify Index Fields screen.
   

The assigned Index fields will be available for data collection for all documents currently uploaded in the folder and for all future documents uploaded into the folder.

Copying Index Fields to Subfolders

This action will copy a parent folder's index fields to all the subfolders of a parent folder. Owners or VaultAccess users can copy these index fields to all the subfolders of a parent folder as long as the user has access to the subfolders. To copy the index fields to all subfolders:

1. Right-click on the parent folder that you want to copy index fields from to the subfolders.
2. Select Index Fields
3. Select Copy Index Fields to all Subfolders.
   

The results of this action will add index fields to the subfolders. Existing index fields will not be removed from subfolders. The user will be notified that the action was completed successfully. If the index fields could not be copied to subfolders where the user did not have rights, this information will also be contained in the message.