When creating a new document, we are able to assign the current document a parent document that pertains to the same group(s).
What is a Parent Document?
A parent document is essentially a superior document under which the current document falls.
For example, the current document may be a work instruction that pertains to a procedure. In this case, the procedure would be the parent document.
What is the Purpose of a Parent Document?
There are several purposes of the parent document functionality:
- automatically publish child document
- restrict publication of child document based on parent document status
Publish Automatically Functionality
One purpose of the parent document functionality is, upon creation of a new document, to have the option for the current document to Publish Automatically.
This automatic publication takes place when the parent document is Published and the child document, in other words, the current document is at Approved, not Published. This ensures that everyone has signed off on the child document before its automatic publication.
Please note that we will only be able to select a parent document that pertains to the same group(s) as the current document.
How to Set Up Automatic Publication
- Go to the Documents Module
- Click on the Documents tab
- Click on the + icon
- Fill out the Groups field
- Select or search for the Parent Document from the list of documents
- Switch ON the Publish Automatically toggle
- Fill out the remaining form fields and press Save
Required Status of Parent Document to Enable Publishing of Current Document Functionality
Alternatively, we also have the option of restricting the publication of the current document, also known as the child document, until the parent document reaches a particular status. For instance, it can be set up so that the required status of the parent document is Approved, not Published in order to allow the publishing of the child document.
The purpose of this is to ensure that the information in the current document is aligned and updated in accordance with its parent document.
How to Set Up Required Status of Parent Document to Enable Publishing of Current Document
- Go to the Documents Module
- Click on the Documents tab
- Click on the + icon
- Fill out the Groups field
- Select or search for the Parent Document from the list of documents
- Select the status
- Fill out the remaining form fields and press save
Module Settings for Parent-Child Document Functionality
Administrators and Managers can enable these functionalities within the Module Settings tab of the Documents module.
Allow Force Review for Child Document Functionality
When we set up a parent-child document link, we can allow the option to force review the child document.
This is an effective way to ensure that any updates on parent documents are also made for child documents.
There are two types of force review: manual and automatic.
How to Allow Force Review for Child Document
- Go to the Documents module
- Click on Module Settings
- Consult the General tab
- Enable Allow Force Review for Child Document (Manually) AND/OR Allow Force Review for Child Document (Automatically)
- Press Save
Please bear in mind that any aforementioned changes made in Module Settings affect all documents.
What is the Difference Between Force Review Manually and Automatically?
Each time a parent document is force reviewed, we can force review the child documents manually or automatically.
With the Allow Force Review for Child Document (Manually) functionality enabled, when a parent document is Force Reviewed, it will allow the user to manually select the child document(s) to force review.
This is carried out by going into a parent document, clicking on the status button, and clicking on Force Review. When signing off, a dropdown field called Force Review Child Documents enables you to select which child documents you would like to force review in addition to the parent document in question.
Additionally, the Allow Force Review for Child Document (Automatically) works with the Periodic Review functionality. In other words, if there is a periodic review determined in the Document Details form for the parent document, the child documents related to this document will be automatically reviewed when the parent document reaches the periodic review date.