Properties

Properties are attributes associated with a file. Vault recognizes two types of property definitions: system-defined properties and user-defined properties (UDPs). System-defined properties are those that are derived from the vault. The vault has a global set of properties that are applied to files in the vault. User-defined properties are created by using the administrative tools.

Note: Property Administration includes tasks to create and manage property definitions. You must have administrative access to perform these tasks.

Before working with properties, it is important to become familiar with the terms, data types, and attributes associated with the Vault properties system.

Common Terms

The following table contains terms commonly used with properties.

Term	Definition
Associations	Attribute that determines whether the property is associated with a file, an item, or a change order.
Compliant	The status of a property that meets all property policies and equivalence evaluations.
Data Type	The type of data accepted for the property value. This type can be text, number, boolean, or date.
Database Property	Any property in the database, either user defined or system.
Entity	An entity is the system class with which a file can be associated. Entities are files, items, or change orders.
Equivalent	The status of a mapped property when its value matches the source value.
File Property	A property associated with a file.
Mapped Property	A property from which the propriety being defined gets its value. For example, a UDP can get its value from several different file properties. A file property can get its value from a system property.
Mapping	A set of relationships between the property being defined and a property from which it receives its value. There can be multiple mappings for a given property definition.
Master	The property from which a mapped property gets its value. The master property writes its value to the subordinate property.
Non-compliant	The status of a property when it has failed to meet one or more property policies or its equivalence evaluation.
Non-equivalent	The status of a mapped property when its value does not match the source value.
Property Definition	All attributes and constraints about the property including its name, data type, initial value, mapping, minimum and maximum values, case values, in-use value, and basic search value.
Property Name	The name used in the GUI (graphical user interface) to identify the property.
Property Policy	Depending on the data type, the property policy specifies certain constraints that must be met. The constraints may include a value range, a value type, or a value format must be met. For example, a property policy might be described as follows: the property must have a value and that value must be in the range of 1 to 10. When a property fails to meet its property policies, it is considered non-compliant.
Property Value	The literal content of a property attribute for a specific file version.
Override	Determines whether the property value is over-ridden by the policy defined by its category.
Subordinate	The mapped property that receives its value from the master property.
System-Defined Property	A property in the database created by the system, which is then assigned to a file.
User-Defined Property (UDP)	A property in the database created by an administrator. The property can be applied to a file when it is added to a vault.

Data Types

Every property value has a data type that determines how that value is read and processed.

Data Type Name	Description
Boolean	True or False.
Date Type	Can be a specific date or date range expressed by a beginning and end date.
Number	Numbers only.
Text	Letters and numbers.

Attributes

Properties have attributes that determine how the property is described and the constraints for its value.

Attribute Name	Description
Basic Search	A constraint that determines whether or not the property should be included in basic searches.
Case Sensitivity	A constraint that applies to text data types. This constraint can be set to none, UPPER CASE, lower case, Name Case or Sentence case.
Enforce List of Values	A constraint that determines whether the property must have a value from a list.
Initial Value	An attribute that specifies the initial property value when one isn't specified. Note: Initial values are best used with write mappings. If an initial value is set on a regular read mapping, that read mapping has higher priority and will overwrite the initial value. The only case in which an initial value won't be overwritten by a read mapping is if the value it maps to is blank.
List Values	Displays the List Type dialog box from which you can enter and order values for a list. At least one item must appear in the list.
Minimum Length	The mininum number of characters a property value can have.
Maximum Length	The maximum number of characters a property value can have.
Requires Value	A constraint which determines whether the property must have a value to be compliant.
State	A setting on a property that indicates whether it recognizes the state the file in a lifecycle.
Usage	Indicates the number of files currently using the property. Use this information to determine which properties are used more than others, to help decide which properties can be removed from the vault.

Property Compliance Icons

The main view in the vault client has a Property Compliance column that lists various status icons. The Icons in this column indicate whether a property associated with the file is compliant, non-compliant, pending, or has failed the equivalence evaluation.

Icon	Value	Definition
No icon	Compliant	All properties meet policy requirements and equivalence.
	Non-compliant	One or more properties do not meet property policy requirements or equivalence. Hover your mouse over the icon to learn more about why one or more properties failed compliance.
	Not calculated	There has been a change to one or more properties but equivalence and policy have not been verified yet.
	Pending	Properties are currently being evaluated for equivalence.
	Evaluation failed.	The equivalence evaluation failed. This is a rare situation and can result when the processor enters an evaluation loop. Note: On the Find dialog, an evaluation failed value is added. This allows you to search for any files for which the evaluation failed.