FOI Request functions

To add more records to the FOI request, click on Add records on the “FOI” tab.

The “Choose records” search window opens, and the relevant records can be searched for. To add a single record to the FOI request, click on OK after the record has been found and selected in the result list.

To add multiple records to the FOI request, use the Add records menu item. Selected records from the result list are then added to the “Chosen records” field. Once all the wanted records are found and added to the “Chosen records” field, click on OK.

The records then become part of the basis of the FOI request.

F2 FOI Request, Advanced can be configured to include approval documents in the basis of the FOI request and in the FOI request report. Approval documents can be added or excluded individually, just as record documents or attached documents. Configurations are performed in cooperation with cBrain.

If a record is added to the basis of the FOI request, but has already been added previously, an error message appears and the record is not added a second time. See the figure below.

F2 shows an additional error message for users who have ticked the setup option “Show error message when mass operations fail”. This option can be activated in “Setup” on the “Settings” tab in the main window.

To import material from another FOI request, click on Import from another FOI request on the ribbon of the “FOI” tab. An import may be needed if another office contributes material to the basis of the FOI request and has created their own FOI request case.

In the “Import from another FOI request” dialogue, select the wanted FOI request in the list and click on OK. Records from the selected FOI request are then added to the basis of the original FOI request.

Records that are already included in the FOI request basis cannot be added a second time. If one or more imported records are already included in the original FOI request, a dialogue appears informing the user that the import failed.

FOI request elements can be excluded from the FOI request report if necessary. To exclude an element, first select it in the basis of the FOI request and then click on Exclude in the “FOI” tab. In the basis of the FOI request, it is possible to see if an element is “Included”, “Partly included”, or “Excluded” in the “Status” column.

If an excluded element must be included again, select it and click on Include.

An FOI request element must be exported from F2 in order to perform extractions. This action may be relevant if an element contains sensitive personal data that cannot be included in the FOI request report.

Select the wanted element in the basis of the FOI request and click on Export PDF.

Save the element locally on the PC or on another device. Then open it using a programme in which the element can be edited or extracted. Remember to lock and/or ensure protection of the document before it is saved again.

Once the element has been edited, it must be imported back into F2 where it will replace the previously exported element. Select the exported element in the basis of the FOI request and click on Import PDF.

A dialogue opens in which the edited element can be selected from a location on the PC. Click on Open to import the edited element to the FOI request case, replacing the selected element.

Remember that the element must be locked or otherwise protected before it is imported to prevent other users from accidentally reverting the editing, so other users cannot revert the editing.

Once the edited element is imported, it appears on the “FOI” tab along with the icon. The status of both the imported element and the associated record is shown as “Partly included” since the element will not be included in full in the FOI request report.

Comments can be added to all FOI request elements. This function may be used for stating the reason why an element was excluded or edited.

Select an element and either click on Comment in the ribbon of the “FOI” tab or select Comment using the context menu. The “Edit comment” dialogue opens as shown below. Enter the comment here and click on OK to save it.

When a comment is added to an element, the icon appears in the “Remark” column in on the “FOI” tab. Place the cursor over the icon to view the comment.

If needed, the comment can be edited. Select an element and click on Comment. The “Edit comment” dialogue opens. The comment can be removed by deleting all the text in the dialogue and clicking OK.

When a comment is added to a record, it appears in the record overview in the FOI request report and on the record detail page in the “Comment” field. If a comment is added to another element such as a document or an annotation, the comment appears on the record detail page for this element. See the example below.

F2 indicates when duplicate documents appear in an FOI request. Duplicates may occur if a document exists as an attachment to several records, and the records are then added to the same FOI request. When this happens, F2 appoints one of the identical documents as the original document.

In the result list, the columns “Number of duplicates” and “Record ID for original record” can be added to the result list on the “FOI” tab.