Check In and Check Out

Document Vault uses version control to keep track of who adds, edits, or deletes a document. The version control also keeps track of changes to metadata and logs the date and time when the changes occur. In order to keep track of changes, Document Vault uses check in and check out.

Check out consists of retrieving a local copy of the document. When a person checks out a document, the document gets locked, so that other users can't download or edit the document. When the person finishes editing their local copy and checks in the document, the local copy of the document is uploaded to Document Vault and other users can read the new version of the document and check out the document if they have permissions.

This mechanism prevents two users working on the same document and causing a collision with two different simultaneous versions of the same document.

Document Vault notifies users when a document has been checked out by changing the document icon.

• Document checked in 
• Document checked out for me 
• Document checked out by another user 

You can review which documents are checked out for you in the Checked Out to Me view. To check in a document, right-click on the document and select Check In or use the Windows command [Ctrl + I].

Version History

When you check out a document, Document Vault keeps a copy of the previous document and will store the new version of the document when you check in the changes. Document versions don't take all disk space as if they were separate documents, and you can review old versions of a document by using the Clock icon in the metadata card.

See the M-Files documentation for information about reviewing old versions of a document, doing a version rollback, and comparing a new version of a document with a previous one.

Document Metadata

Document Vault relies on document metadata for organizing documentation. Metadata consists of information about a document, matter, person, entity, among other objects that are specific to M-Files.

When you add a new document, you need to enter metadata to classify the document, this allows Document Vault to place the document under a matter, person, or entity.

Data Sync

Automatic data sync between eCounsel and Document Vault takes five minutes for matters and 15 minutes for everything else (people, entities, etc.). Users can refresh data manually, for example, to be able to add a document right after entering a new matter in eCounsel. To refresh data manually:

1. Open the document metadata.

2. Click on Matter to show the command menu.

3. Select the round arrow icon.

Add a Document to M-Files

To add a document to M-Files:

1. Search for the document on Windows File Explorer.

2. Right-click the document and select Add to M-Files.

3. Enter the metadata:

   • Name: Enter the document name.

   • Matter: Enter the first letters of the matter name and let eCounsel find the matter. You can only use matters that already exist in eCounsel.

   • Document Date: Enter the date when the document was created.

   • Description: Enter a description.

   • Matter Number: Leave the field blank. The matter number is automatically added to the document metadata once eCounsel syncs with Document Vault.

4. Enter the following data, if applicable. Not that the people and companies (entities) must exist in eCounsel.

   • Author: Enter the document author.
   • Related People: Enter the people. This field can contain more than one record.
   • Related Entities: Enter the companies. This field can contain more than one record.
   • Allow Edit Rights: This field is hidden and is managed by the matter linked to the document.
   • Deny Access Rights: This field is hidden and is managed by the matter linked to the document.
   • Read-Only Rights: This field is hidden and is managed by the matter linked to the document.

5. Click Create.

Note: If you need to add multiple documents to M-Files, select multiple documents and perform the procedure above.

Note: Although you can add people to Allow Edit Rights, Deny Access Rights, and Read-Only Rights, these fields are managed by eCounsel security access groups, so you can leave them blank.

Multi-Files

A document can consist of one or several files. You can also create a document in M-Files by just filling in its metadata without adding any content.

Examples of a document that consists of several files are:

• A contract written in Microsoft Word and a scanned PDF version with signatures.

• A cost analysis summary with a calculation spreadsheet.

You can add a multi-file document by creating a multi-file document or by converting a single document to multi-file. To create a multi-file document:

1. Open the Create workflow by:

• Clicking the plus icon on the taskbar.

or

• Clicking Create > Document on the sidebar.

2. On Enter Class, select a document type from the dropdown list.

3. On Blank template, select Multi-file document.

4. Enter the metadata:

   • Name: Enter the document name.

   • Matter: Enter the first letters of the matter name and let eCounsel find the matter. You can only use matters that already exist in eCounsel.

   • Document Date: Enter the date when the document was created.

   • Description: Enter a description.

   • Matter Number: Leave the field blank. The matter number is automatically added to the document metadata once eCounsel syncs with Document Vault.

5. Enter the following data, if applicable. Note that the people and companies (entities) must exist in eCounsel.

   • Author: Enter the document author.
   • Related People: Enter the people. This field can contain more than one record.
   • Related Entities: Enter the companies. This field can contain more than one record.
   • Allow Edit Rights: This field is hidden and is managed by the matter linked to the document.
   • Deny Access Rights: This field is hidden and is managed by the matter linked to the document.
   • Read-Only Rights: This field is hidden and is managed by the matter linked to the document.

6. Click Create.

   

To create a multi-file document by converting an existing document to multi-file:

1. Search for the document on M-Files.

2. Right-click the document and select Convert to Multi-file Document.

3. Drag and drop another file.

Document Collections

You can create document collections from different files within M-Files. The metadata from the document collection is different from the metadata of each of the documents. By creating document collections, you can organize documents without relying on M-Files default hierarchy.

M-Files can perform a search and create a view by document collection. A document collection can contain the latest version of a document, or it can contain a specific version of a document. To create a document collection:

1. Find the documents for the collection in M-Files.

2. Select the documents, right-click and select Create > Document collection....

3. Enter the metadata for the document collection:

   • Name: Enter the document name.

   • Matter: Enter the first letters of the matter name and let eCounsel find the matter. You can only use matters that already exist in eCounsel.

   • Document Date: Enter the date when the document was created.

   • Description: Enter a description.

   • Matter Number: Leave the field blank. The matter number is automatically added to the document metadata once eCounsel syncs with Document Vault.

4. Enter the following data, if applicable. Not that the people and companies (entities) must exist in eCounsel.

   • Author: Enter the document author.
   • Related People: Enter the people. This field can contain more than one record.
   • Related Entities: Enter the companies. This field can contain more than one record.
   • Allow Edit Rights: This field is hidden and is managed by the matter linked to the document.
   • Deny Access Rights: This field is hidden and is managed by the matter linked to the document.
   • Read-Only Rights: This field is hidden and is managed by the matter linked to the document.

5. Enter Major Version and Minor Version.

6. Click Create.

Add Multiple Documents at Once to M-Files

You can add multiple documents at once to M-Files. To add multiple documents:

1. Search for the documents on Windows File Explorer.

2. Select all the documents.

3. Drag the documents to the destination object in M-Files, for example, a matter or a company, and drop them on the object.

4. Enter the metadata for the first document:

   • Name: Enter the document name.

   • Matter: Enter the first letters of the matter name and let eCounsel find the matter. You can only use matters that already exist in eCounsel.

   • Document Date: Enter the date when the document was created.

   • Description: Enter a description.

   • Matter Number: Leave the field blank. The matter number is automatically added to the document metadata once eCounsel syncs with Document Vault.

5. Enter the following data, if applicable. Not that the people and companies (entities) must exist in eCounsel.

   • Author: Enter the document author.
   • Related People: Enter the people. This field can contain more than one record.
   • Related Entities: Enter the companies. This field can contain more than one record.
   • Allow Edit Rights: This field is hidden and is managed by the matter linked to the document.
   • Deny Access Rights: This field is hidden and is managed by the matter linked to the document.
   • Read-Only Rights: This field is hidden and is managed by the matter linked to the document.

6. Click Create All to create the documents with the same metadata, or click Create to define metadata for each file.   

Create a New Document

To create a new document:

1. Open the Create workflow by:

• Clicking the plus icon on the taskbar.

or

• Clicking Create > Document on the sidebar.

2. On Enter Class, select a document type from the dropdown list.

3. Select a template or a blank template. A blank template is a list of all available programs to create a document, for example: Word, Notepad, PowerPoint, etc.

4. Enter the metadata:

   • Name: Enter the document name.

   • Matter: Enter the first letters of the matter name and let eCounsel find the matter. You can only use matters that already exist in eCounsel.

   • Document Date: Enter the date when the document was created.

   • Description: Enter a description.

   • Matter Number: Leave the field blank. The matter number is automatically added to the document metadata once eCounsel syncs with Document Vault.

5. Enter the following data, if applicable. Not that the people and companies (entities) must exist in eCounsel.

   • Author: Enter the document author.
   • Related People: Enter the people. This field can contain more than one record.
   • Related Entities: Enter the companies. This field can contain more than one record.
   • Allow Edit Rights: This field is hidden and it's managed by the matter linked to the document.
   • Deny Access Rights: This field is hidden and it's managed by the matter linked to the document.
   • Read-Only Rights: This field is hidden and it's managed by the matter linked to the document.

   

6. Check Open for editing and click Create.

7. Edit the new document.

Note: Although you can add people to Allow Edit Rights, Deny Access Rights, and Read-Only Rights these fields are managed by eCounsel security access groups, so you can leave them blank.

Create a New Document from an Existing One

To create a new document from an existing one:

1. On M-Files, select a document and right-click.

2. Select Make a copy.

3. The new document inherits the same metadata from the old one. Change the metadata and the content as you need.

Save a Document to M-Files

You can save a document to M-Files from any application to create and edit documents. To save a document from any application:

1. Open a document with your application, Adobe PDF Reader, for example.

2. Go to File > Save As.

   

3. Select a folder within the M: virtual drive.

4. Click Save.

5. On the metadata form, enter the metadata:

   • Name: Enter the document name.

   • Matter: Enter the first letters of the matter name and let eCounsel find the matter. You can only use matters that already exist in eCounsel.

   • Document Date: Enter the date when the document was created.

   • Description: Enter a description.

   • Matter Number: Leave the field blank. The matter number is automatically added to the document metadata once eCounsel syncs with Document Vault.

6. Enter the following data, if applicable. Not that the people and companies (entities) must exist in eCounsel.

   • Author: Enter the document author.
   • Related People: Enter the people. This field can contain more than one record.
   • Related Entities: Enter the companies. This field can contain more than one record.
   • Allow Edit Rights: This field is hidden and it's managed by the matter linked to the document.
   • Deny Access Rights: This field is hidden and it's managed by the matter linked to the document.
   • Read-Only Rights: This field is hidden and it's managed by the matter linked to the document.

Note: Although you can add people to Allow Edit Rights, Deny Access Rights, and Read-Only Rights these fields are managed by eCounsel security access groups, so you can leave them blank.

Modify a Document

To modify an existing document, you need to be the author or have edit rights.

1. On M-Files, select a document and double-click.

2. On the box that appears, select Check Out.

Note: You can use Windows command [Ctrl + O] to check out a document.

3. The document opens for editing.

4. When you have finished editing, close the document. On the Do you want to check in the document? box, click Yes.

By checking in the document, the changes made are stored in M-Files. You can work on your local copy of the document and check in the document until you finish the editing process, or you can check in every change you make even if the document is not ready. However, note that when a document is checked in, the document can be edited by other people with permissions.

Note: You can use Windows command [Ctrl + I] to check in a document.

Modify the Metadata of a Document

To modify the metadata of a document, you need to be the author or have edit rights.

1. On M-Files, click a document to select it.

2. Select the Metadata tab. The metadata appears to the right of the document.

3. Modify the metadata. Note that some fields can't be changed.

   • Name: This field can't change.

   • Matter: This field can't change.

   • Document Date: This field can't change.

   • Description: Modify a description.

   • Matter Number: This field can't change

4. Enter the following data, if applicable. Not that the people and companies (entities) must exist in eCounsel.

   • Author: This field can't change
   • Related People: Enter the people. This field can contain more than one record.
   • Related Entities: Enter the companies. This field can contain more than one record.
   • Allow Edit Rights: This field is hidden and is managed by the matter linked to the document.
   • Deny Access Rights: This field is hidden and is managed by the matter linked to the document.
   • Read-Only Rights: This field is hidden and is managed by the matter linked to the document.

Any change to document metadata automatically creates a new version of the document.

Add Comments

To add comments to a document:

1. On M-Files, select a document.

2. Select the Metadata tab. The metadata appears to the right of the document.

3. On the top right, click the bubble message icon.

4. Enter the comment in the text box and then click Save.

Delete a Document

To delete a document, you need to be the author or have edit rights:

1. On M-Files, select a document, right-click then select Delete.
2. Confirm that you want to delete the document. Check the Destroy permanently checkbox to delete permanently the document.