Using Controlled Documents

Setup required before use	Who Can Use It?	Where Is It?
Office Settings > Controlled Move an Uncontrolled file to Controlled	User Assist. Project Manager Project manager Director Administrator System Administrator	Project > Documents tab Contact > Documents tab Contract Administration > Documents tab

1. Use the toolbar button in the Document tab to 'Import files to the controlled library '.
2. Or using the MS Outlook® plugin to save the email/attachment as a Controlled file. Learn more about saving emails using the plugin.

Controlled files are shown in the document library with a white background colour, and uncontrolled files are shown with an orange colour. Import multiple files by selecting multiple uncontrolled document rows using the Shift or CTRL keys, then click the 'import files to the controlled library ' button.

Click the image above to view importing multiple files to the controlled library.

Open a read only copy of the document to check the contents when you are not planning to edit/update the file. Using the View button will create a copy of the file in the Users Local Synergy Documents location. Multiple people can select to view the controlled file at the same time.

Use the Edit button in the Documents tab to check-out the file. When you Check-out a file other Synergy users are unable to make any changes to the file. Checked out files are locked to you to allow you to edit/update the file contents. Other Synergy users will be only be able to open read-only copies of the file until you have finished making changes to the file and have checked-in the new version of document.

When you check-out a file a copy is added to the users Synergy Local Documents folder, and will remain there until the file is checked back in to the document library. Learn more about the Synergy Local Document folder location setting.

If the file is shown to be open for edit by another user, then you cannot check-out the file to make any changes. Request the user to check-in the controlled file so that you can then open the file for edit.

Request a check-in of a file by:

1. Open the documents tab.
2. Navigate to the folder that contains the controlled file that is being edited by another user.
3. Highlight the file in the list and click the 'Request check-in ' button.
4. The email wizard opens to send an email message to the user that has this file checked out. An automatic email created will be addressed to that user, and request that they check-in the file so that you can make changes.
5. Click the 'Send' button and the email will open in MS Outlook®.
6. Send the email in MS Outlook®.

Use the remove the local document copy to:

• Remove a read-only copy of a controlled file from your computer.
• Undo a check-out of a controlled document.

The local copy of the document is removed from the users local Synergy Documents folder, and the read-only or check-out flag on the document row is reset. Learn more about the location of the Local Synergy Documents folder.

If the file is checked out then this will remove/cancel the checkout of the file, and return to the previous version of the file. Any changes you have made locally to the checked out file will be lost. If the file is read-only this will ensure that you are always reading the latest copy of the controlled file, or have removed any sensitive company information from your local computer.

In the folder navigation panel there are two buttons shown at the bottom of the screen. Use these to view all files that are currently checked-out for edit, or a read-only copy is stored on a computer. These lists display all the users that have the documents open in read-only or checked-out mode. Use the screen to check-in or remove your local document copies.

If a newer version of the controlled document is stored on the network you can import this to be the latest version of an existing controlled document. This option is used if the document changes have been saved locally to a computer or on the network. The file can be saved on the network as any file name and be imported as the new version of the selected controlled document. After you import the new version of the file, the previous version of the file is available to view in the document properties window.

Import a new controlled document version by:

1. Locate the controlled file in the document tab that the imported file will replace.
2. Highlight the document row and select the 'Import a new controlled document version' button in the toolbar.
3. Browse to the document on your computer or the network. The document that is to be imported can be saved with any file name.
4. Highlight the file to import and click the Open button on the 'Select a file' window.
5. The list refreshes and the imported file is now the latest version of the controlled document.

Change which sub folder the controlled document is stored within by:

1. Locate the document in folder.
2. Highlight the row and select the Move folder button in the documents toolbar.
3. The current folder the document is stored within is shown.
4. Select a 'New Folder' using the browse '...' button to select an alternate sub folder within the Project/Contact/Contract Administration record.
5. Click the Move button.
6. The documents list is refreshed and the document has been moved to the requested location.

Move the controlled documents back to the uncontrolled area to make the file visible in Windows Explorer. When you export a file to uncontrolled the latest version of the controlled file is exported, and any other file versions that existed are lost.

Move a file to the uncontrolled library by:

1. Selecting one Controlled document row or multiple Controlled documents using the Shift or CTRL keys that are to be exported out to the Uncontrolled documents library.
2. Click the Export button in the toolbar.
3. The documents list is refreshed and the files are shown in an orange colour to show they are stored in the uncontrolled document library.

When a project is archived it is common for the project folder and all the files to be removed from the network to free-up disk space on the server. Make sure all your controlled project documents are included in the document archive using this feature. Use this after the project status has been updated to Complete or Unsuccessful, when logged into Synergy with System Administrator access. The archived files will be placed in the Uncontrolled document area, to allow the project folder to be archived using Windows Explorer.

The archive controlled documents feature will:

• Create a separate zip file for every controlled document in the project.
• Place a copy of each version of the controlled file into the ZIP file.
• Save the new ZIP file into the same folder that the controlled document was stored within the Project.
• Name the ZIP file to have the same file name as the previous controlled file. i.e. 'Ground Floor Plans.docx' stored in the 'General Correspondence' folder when archived will create the file 'Ground Floor Plans.zip' in the 'General Correspondence' folder.
• Delete all the controlled documents from the project after creating the zip file.
• Create a log file showing which controlled files and versions have been archived to what location.

Archive the project controlled documents by:

1. Open the project.
2. Confirm the project status is either complete or unsuccessful.
3. Go to the Document Menu and select the 'Archive Controlled Documents' option.
4. The warning is shown that this action cannot be reversed.
5. Make sure the 'Show the log file on completion' box is checked. This log file is saved in the top level folder in the project.
6. Click the archive button to start the process. This make take some time to complete, as a separate zip file is created for every controlled document that exists for the project.
7. Synergy displays the progress for the archive on screen. The time take for this varies greatly based on the number of controlled files that are required to be zipped and their file size.
8. After this is complete the documents tab is shown.
9. Click the Refresh button in the toolbar. The Zip files are displayed and the controlled project document rows have been removed.
10. The archive process is now complete. The project folder can be archived from the file server by your IT department to free up disk space.

Click the image above to view the archive zip files.

1. NameRead only file name is shown. Changes to a file name are not allowed for controlled documents.
2. Minimum Security LevelThe current security access level for the controlled file is shown. Each of the Synergy access levels are available in the drop down list. The default option is 'user', which means that 'user' access level and above access can open this controlled file. Update this by clicking the browse '...' button to 'Director' and only the Synergy users with director and above access levels can open the file.
3. FolderThe current folder that this controlled file resides within is shown. Click the '...' browse button to select an alternate folder in library to store this file.
4. Imported FromThe path that file was stored before it was imported to be a controlled document is shown. If the file was imported from the Synergy outlook plugin, then the text 'outlook' is shown instead of the folder path. This is read only.
5. # of versions to keepThe default number of versions to keep is 0 (zero). This means that every version of the file created is stored in the controlled library. If this field is changed to 5, then only the five most recent versions of the controlled file are kept in the document library and the older versions are deleted. If unsure of what to enter, please leave this set to 0.
6. Created DateThe date that the file was first created/imported into the Synergy document library.
7. Last Modified DateThe date that the last file version was created. When the file version is 'checked-in' to the document library a new version is created, and is shown as the last modified date.
8. File SizeThe file size is shown in KB or MB to show the size of the current version.
9. DescriptionA note field which allows you to type text to describe the document, or a version of the file. The description is not visible within the list.
10. Versions - If a large number of versions exist, use the scroll bar on the right to view the details. The newest version is shown at the top of the list.
    1. Version NumberThe file version number is shown. Click the 'View' button to see the details of the current or previous versions.
    2. Version Date and TimeThe date and time that the version was created.
    3. Created byThe staff member who checked-in the file, to create the new version is shown.
    4. TransmittedIf the file has been used on a transmittal, the transmittal details shown are: Drawing number, drawing version number, transmittal number the drawing version was included.

1. File security levelUpdate the 'minimum security level' field to a different Synergy access level to restrict which users have access to the controlled file. i.e. Click the Browse '...' button in the 'Minimum security level' field and select the Synergy access level of Director, and save and close . Then the view or check-out buttons will only be available for this controlled file for the Director or above access levels (Director, Administrator, or System Administrator).
2. Move the controlled folder Change the folder that the controlled document is stored within. Click the browse '...' button, then choose an alternate folder in the 'Select folder' window and click the 'Select' button. Save and close . The controlled file and all versions are then moved to the new location.
3. Number of versions are keptType the number of file versions that should be stored into the '# of versions to keep' box. i.e. Type 5, and the most recent five versions of the controlled file are kept in the document library and any older previous versions are deleted. Only use this field if you do not require to keep all the file version history due to file server storage limitations.
4. Rollback to previous version When a user has checked in and edited controlled file in error, you can use the ' Rollback to this version' button next to any of the previous versions to restore a previous edited file. The restored file is added as the latest version number, and the old version with the incorrect change remains. i.e. A user has checked in an edited file as version #5. After checking in the file the user realises that the changes made were incorrect,and they need to return to version #4. Click the ' Rollback to this version' button on the Version 4 line, and this creates Version 6 of the file. This is a copy of the version 4 file, and will now be opened when users click view/edit in the list.
   Tip: Not sure which is the correct document version that you need to rollback to? Select View first to check the details.
5. View the preview version Click the View button against any of the versions shown to open the document in read only mode. Check what details were in the file when it was previous used or sent to clients.