Metadata

Metadata is information that describes various facets of an information asset to improve its usability throughout its lifecycle.

All saved objects in the vault are described with metadata:

• Type (Class), such as a Contract or Correspondence
• Relations to other objects, such as the matter to which a document is attached
• Permissions through metadata, such as who has Full Access or Read Access to a document
• Automatic metadata, such as an audit trail that shows who made edits to a document

To view the metadata for a document, navigate to the Home view, select the document, and click the Metadata card in the right-hand pane. 

Objects, Classes, and Properties

M-Files organizes data into Objects and then Classes:

• Matter Object
  • Matter Class
• Person Object
  • Staff Class
• Document Object
  • Email Class
  • Memo Class

Each class is given a number of “Properties” (fields) that hold data about the object in that class. Properties are defined independently and can be used on one or more classes.