File relationships allow you to create and track links between two or more files e.g. amendments to documents, or to see that a file was created from a certain contract template.
HighQ provides system-defined document relationships, and you can also create custom document relationships, such as heads of terms and supporting schedules.
A file can have multiple types of relationships defined, each related to a different file (e.g. as both a parent-child relationship and as a duplicate of another file)
Doc Auto Contract Express automatically creates a Doc Auto Parent/Child relationship when a document is created.
Relationships are displayed in a tab in the Details panel of the Document viewer:
A user can only see relationships if they have access to both files in the relationship.
HighQ provides these types of relationships by default (these are 'system-defined'):
- Parent/child - when a file creates or amends another
- Sibling - a user can create a relationship to show files are associated with another
- Duplicate - the file was copied from another file
- Doc Auto parent/child - this relationship shows when a document is automatically created from a Doc Auto Contract Express template; this type cannot be added manually
You may also create custom relationships so that you may:
- Define custom relationship types based on business needs
- Benefit from a central source of relationships for consistency
- Reuse system-defined relationships
- Define relationships based on matter needs
- Create other relationships between documents
File relationships are also displayed in HighQ Drive:
System and site settings for File relationships
File relationships are enabled by default. System and site options allow a system or site admin to control access.
To change the setting at system level, open System admin from your profile menu, then select System settings. Scroll down to File relationships:
By default, Enabled, default ON in every site is selected. Click the drop-down menu and select the required option to change access to File relationships, and then click Save at the bottom of the page.
Access relationship types at system level
To change the definition of system-created relationships, or add custom relationships for all sites, open System admin from your profile menu, then select File relationships:
The File relationships window allows you to Add or Edit relationships available for each site on your instance. Both system-defined and custom relationships can be changed.
System-defined types are marked with a grey background.
This list includes all relationship types created on all sites on the instance.
Click More actions then Edit to edit a system-defined relationship type.
You can change the name of the relationship type, and how the relationship is described in the site and document viewer:
Click Save to confirm changes to the descriptions.
Add, edit or delete custom relationship types
Click Add to add a custom relationship type
You can add the name of the relationship type, and how the relationship is described (Related to and Related by) in the site and document viewer:
Click Add to confirm the descriptions.
After you have added the relationship type, click the More actions icon to Edit or Delete the type, or to see a Site list of sites that use the relationship type.
Check for sites that use a custom relationship type
You can see which sites have files that use custom relationship types. This allows for easier management should you need to edit or delete the option.
Click More actions then Site list to see a list of sites that use the selected relationship type.
Click on the site name to open File relationships settings for that site.
If no sites use the relationship type, you see a There are no sites using this relationship type message.
Access relationship types at site level
To change this setting at site level, open the Relationships section in site Admin:
Enable or disable File relationships at site level
Select or deselect Enable file relationships (and Save) to enable or disable File relationships:
If File relationships is Enabled, two options are available: Only users with permission to 'Update' files can add or delete file relationships or Users with permission to 'View' files can add or delete relationships.
Select the required option to control which users can add or delete file relationships.
Click Save to confirm your changes.
Existing file relationships are hidden if the File relationships option is disabled. Relationships are restored if this option is re-enabled later.
Creating a custom relationship type in a site
The File relationships page allows you to Add or Edit relationships available on the site. Both system-defined and custom relationships can be changed.
Changes to system-generated relationship types (grey background) are only applied to the relationship types in the current site.
Changes to custom relationship types that are only used on the current site are applied to the relationship types listed at both the site and system level.
Changes to custom relationship types that are used on more than one site are not applied to other sites - a new relationship type is listed at the system level that applies only to the current site. This type may later be used on other sites.
Click More actions then Edit to edit a system-defined relationship type (system-defined types are marked with a grey background).
You can change the name of the relationship type, and how the relationship is described in the site and document viewer:
Click Save to confirm changes to the descriptions.
Add, edit or delete custom relationship types
Click Add to add a custom relationship type
You can add the name of the relationship type, and how the relationship is described in the site and document viewer:
The Relationship name is only visible in the File relationships admin page; only Related to and Related by are used in the Files module and document viewer.
Click Add to confirm the descriptions.
After you have added the relationship type, click the More actions icon to Edit or Delete the type.
Add a relationship to files
You can add and remove relationships, including relationships created by Doc Auto Contract Express, in the files and folder list and the Document viewer.
Add a relationship to a file from the More actions menu in the Files module; select the More actions icon, then select Add related files:
Alternatively, add a relationship directly to a file in the Document viewer; open the file and select Add related files in the Details panel:
The Add related files window opens:
The window shows existing relationship types for each file in the list:
If a file is not already related to the selected file, then the Relationship type is None.
Use the This file drop-down menu to choose the type of relationship:
Then select one or more files to assign this type of relationship; use the Recent, Browse or Search tabs to find files across the site. For example:
Add a description to help identify the relationship; this description is displayed in the details pane in the Document viewer.
Example of a description under the Related tab in the Document viewer:
Relationship information in the file and folder list
Files with relationships include additional information under the file name in the list of files.
For example:
This note shows how many files are related to the file. Open the file for more information.
Automatically generated relationships
Some system-defined relationships are added automatically in the scenarios described below:
Duplicate files
The system-defined Duplicate relationship is automatically added to both files when a file is copied, or a duplicate file is uploaded.
Copying a file
The Duplicated by tag is added to the original file:
The Duplicated from tag is added to the copy:
An 'Added after copying' description is added to both files.
Uploading a file
If a file is uploaded to a folder, and there is already a file with the same name in that folder (including the file type), then both files are marked as related. The Duplicated by tag is added to the older file, and the Duplicated from tag is added to the newly uploaded file.
An 'Added after a duplicate file was detected' description is added to both files.
Duplicate file detection must be enabled in Files admin settings to add file relationships during upload.
File relationships from Doc Auto (powered by Contract Express)
When a file is created by Doc Auto (powered by Contract Express), the system-defined Doc Auto Parent/Child relationship is added automatically.
An orange tag in the file list shows if the file is a parent or child:
The tag is created with the Related to or Related by description in the Add new relationship or Edit relationship window.
If the description is changed, then all tags change to match the new description.
View related files in the Document viewer
Open a file and select the Related tab to see related files.
If a file has many related files, use the View by relationship type menu to filter the list.
Click the name of the related file to open it, or click the download icon to download a copy.
You must have permission to view both files to see the relationship in this list.
Delete relationships with other files
In Document viewer, click the red 'x' Remove icon to delete the relationship to a single file.
Content admins or higher can also select Delete all Relationships to remove all relationships.
Changes are reflected in both the edited and the related file.
Relationships are removed if you delete one, or both, of the related files. if a deleted file is restored, relationships are also restored.
