Preview attached documents
F2 generates a preview of all documents attached to a record. Select an attached document in the record’s document area to display a preview in the record window’s editor pane.
| When previewing Word documents, comments and changes in the file are also shown. These are also included when printing via PDF unless they are removed from the document. |
Larger attached images are scaled down so the preview always shows them in full. See the example below.
The record’s document area
To the right of the record metadata fields is the document area which shows any documents attached to the record. When a document is selected from the document area, a preview is shown in the record editor pane. A document is edited by double-clicking on it, which opens its associated programme.
The order of the documents listed in the document area can be changed by dragging one document to a location above or below another. This is useful to ensure the correct order of the attachments when printing the entire record as a PDF file.
Expand document area
You can expand the document area pane by clicking Expand documents in the bottom of the area.
To minimise the pane, click Collapse documents.
You can adjust the width of the document area by clicking and dragging the grey separator left or right. By default, a given record window’s document area retains the width you chose the last time you adjusted a record of the same type. This can be deactivated for each record view type in the “Setup” dialogue.
Attachment icons
The icons representing attached documents depend on the programmes installed on the user’s PC. F2 displays the icon of the default programme with which the file type is associated. This is the programme in which an attached document opens.
Context menu for attachments
Right-click on an attached document to display its context menu, which is shown below:
The following table describes the functions of the context menu.
| Function | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|
“Edit document” |
Available when the user has write access to the record. This function opens the attached document in its associated programme, e.g. Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. The user can edit and save the document in the opened programme. When the document is closed, the record is automatically updated. |
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"Show in read-only mode" |
Open the attached file in read-only mode in its associated programme e.g. Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. Since the document is read-only, you cannot update the document in F2 using this function. |
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“Show PDF” |
Opens the document in PDF format. |
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“Export file…” |
Opens a File Explorer window which lets the user save the document locally.
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“Replace content” |
Opens a File Explorer window which lets the user replace the attached document with another document. You can only replace content while the record is in read-only mode. |
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“Insert my signature” |
Merge the user’s signature phrase with the document. Requires the F2 Signed Approval add-on module. |
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“Check out”/“Check in”/“Cancel check out” |
Enables the user to check out a document from F2 to a local folder and work on it offline. The document can be checked back into F2 when the work is done. For further information, see the section Checking out and checking in documents. |
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“Delete” |
Deletes the attachment from the record. Only users with sufficient rights can delete an attachment, and the record must be in edit mode. |
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"Attach as PDF" |
Generates and attaches a PDF copy of an attached document directly in the record window. The copy is given the same title as the original document and placed at the top of the list of attachments. |
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“Upload new PDF…” |
Upload a PDF version of the attachment. This is used when an original document has restricted access, but it is necessary to have e.g. a summary that is accessible to all users. |
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“Regenerate PDF” |
Forces the system to recreate the PDF version of the document. This may be useful if the PDF version looks different than expected. |
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"Show document versions" |
Opens the "Document versions" window to show a list of available versions of the document. |
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"Cancel user’s editing" |
Visible if another user is currently editing the document. The function cancels the user’s ability to save the document in F2. |
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“Properties” |
Opens the "Properties" dialogue which shows the document’s properties. |
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“Copy link to document” |
Copies a link to the document to the clipboard. |
| Other functions may be available in the context menu due to configurations and add-ons such as F2 Metadata Remover (available in Danish). |
Check out and check in documents
A document can be checked out of F2 and saved locally. This makes it possible to work on a checked-out document while F2 is offline.
With the record in edit mode, right-click the document and select Check out. The document is saved to a folder with the following path: %AppData%\cBrain F2\Check Out\\{unique ID}\. A padlock appears on the checked-out document in the document area to show that it has been temporarily locked in F2. If another user attempts to edit a checked-out document, F2 blocks the editing and displays an error message.
To return the edited document to F2, right-click the checked-out, locked document in F2, and select Check in. F2 automatically identifies the local copy of the document and adds it to the record, replacing the older version of the document.
It is possible to cancel a user’s check-out. With the record in edit mode, right-click on a document that has been checked out, and select Cancel check out. The document may then be checked out again.
| If you have "Full write access" to a record, you can use the check out/in function even if the record is in read-only mode. If you have "write access to documents", you must switch to edit mode on the record before you can use the check out/in function. |
The difference between Export file and Check out is as follows:
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When using Export file, it is up to the user to choose a location in which to save the file. Effectively, a copy is being made which F2 does not track.
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When using Check out, the document is copied to a specific F2 Windows folder with a unique ID, and F2 tracks this copy. This makes the check-in process of the updated document both faster and easier.
Document versions
F2 creates a new version of a document every time a user edits and saves it. The new version becomes the active document version, but you may still view previous versions. The window "Document versions: [Name of the document]" provides an overview of all existing versions of a document attached to a record. From this window you can, among other things, select specific versions to retain regardless of any cleanup jobs run in the F2 database. Contact cBrain for more information on setting up automatic cleanup jobs.
| A configuration controls whether the "Document versions" window is available. F2 is configured in cooperation with cBrain. |
Right-click a document and select Show document versions to show available versions of the document. The "Document versions" window opens.
You can sort the documents by the following columns in this window:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
"Created date" |
The date when the document version was created. |
"Creator" |
Name of the user who created the document version. |
"Version No" |
The number of the version in order of creation. The active document version has the highest number. |
"Retained" |
Indicates with a checkmark whether a document version is retained. Retained versions are not deleted during any cleanup jobs in the F2 database. |
The top of the "Document versions" window holds functions for working with different versions. The functions are described below.
| Function | Description |
|---|---|
"Refresh" |
Update the list with the newest document versions. The function is especially relevant when you have had the window open for a while, and other users may have saved new versions of the document in the meantime. |
"Open document version" |
Open the selected version of the document in its associated programme. You can only open the document in read-only mode and will be unable to save any changes you make. If you wish to restore a previous version of a document and overwrite the active one, export the old version from F2 and then use the Replace content function in the document context menu. |
"Export" |
Open Windows File Explorer and select a location on your computer to save an export of the selected document version. |
"Retain" |
Retain the selected version of the document to prevent its deletion during any cleanup jobs in the F2 database. Click the Retain menu item to open the Retain document version dialogue. 
Figure 8. The ”Retain document version” dialogue
In the dialogue, you can add a comment describing why you wish to retain the document version. Click OK to retain the version or Cancel to close the dialogue without retaining. |
"Release" |
Release the version of the document so that it is no longer retained. This means the version will be deleted in any cleanup jobs run in the F2 database. The function is only active if a retained document version is selected. |
You can open the "Document versions" window from the context menu in various places:
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The record window document area.
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The preview panes in the main and case windows.
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The document view in result lists.
| F2 already automatically retains document versions created through approval actions. For instance, when an approval is returned, the returned version of the document is saved. These document versions are not part of the "Document versions" overview, but can be accessed through the approval log. Read more about document versions in approvals. |
Document properties
The "Document properties" dialogue displays the properties for the document in question. Here it is possible to edit e.g. the document’s title and add information on its archiving type and archival location.
| You can only edit the document properties while the associated record is in edit mode. |
The "Document" tab contains the following fields:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
"Title" |
The title of the document. You can edit this. |
"Description" |
A description of the document. |
"Author" |
The name of the user who created the document. |
"Written date" |
The date the document was created. |
"Archiving type" |
Whether the document is fully digital (and 100% archived in F2) or whether parts thereof (or possibly its full content) exists in a physical version. This may be the case with large books unsuitable for scanning. You can edit this field. Your options are:
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"Archive location" |
If the document’s archiving type is either "Fully or partly digital" or "Paper", use this field to add information about its physical location. Example: "Business archive, shelf 4, row 5". |
"Saved by" |
The name of the user who saved the current version of the document. |
"Saved date" |
The time and date the current version of the document was saved. |
"File type" |
The document’s file type. |
"Internal version" |
The internal version number of the current document version. |
"ID" |
The internal ID of the document. |
"External ID" |
You can add an external ID here. |
"Size(KB)" |
The size of the document in KB. |
"Include upon reply creation when approval is final" |
Whether the document will be included in the automatically created record upon final approval in an approval flow. You can toggle this field. This requires the F2 Signed approval add-on module. |
The “PDF version” tab shows the details of the PDF version of the attachment.
This tab shows whether the PDF version was created by F2 or if a version was uploaded by a user, its creation date and time, and a status for the PDF generation of the attachment.