The Documents interface

The Documents section of a project is where you find all documents associated with the project. This makes sharing and collaborating on content with your team who may not all have the same software easy to do.

Documents are files that are not the main CAD models, drawings, or translations. Documents in Upchain can be any file type (such as Microsoft Office documents, PDFs, text files, and images) that provide supporting information for the project, bill of materials, or items. You can organize documents into folders, preview, download, check them out, and a lot more.

The documents interface is a repository for all project documents located in one place – import a document once and attach it to multiple activities, BOM items, as well as other documents.

Documents interface overview

The Documents interface displays all of a project’s document categories and a list of documents and folders underneath each category.

Click the chevron beside a document category to expand the list of documents in that category. Document types can be easily identified by their coloured icons. By default, the document table displays the document name, document number, original file name, status, version, revision, creator, and change description, along with the last time it was modified.

Click for information on sorting, filtering, and adding or removing columns.

Along the top of the Documents table, you can filter the table to show a flat list of folders and documents with a Draft, Published, or Archived status. The brackets indicate the number of each folder and document with each status.

Document numbering

Upon upload of a document (not including CAD, drawings, and translations) into a project, the original document name is prepended with a number and revision in accordance with the document numbering rules as configured by your Tenant Administrator. If no specific document numbering rules have been configured, the default rule applies: #########-XX-document name. This is to ensure that all documents have a unique identifier in the system and to allow for a document’s lifecycle to follow a more structured document workflow that can include, but is not limited to, reviews, approvals, and revisions. Click to learn more about document workflows.

Document categories

All documents must exist in a document category. The document categories you see are configured by your Tenant Administrator. By default, there is always a 'General documents' category as a placeholder for documents that may not fit into any other configured category. Your Tenant Administrator should create a number of document categories to help organize the documents within projects and items. Folders can be created underneath document categories to provide further granular organization.

Details pane

Select a document in the table to open its details pane on the right side. When opened, the details pane displays the Details tab by default (). Click through the other tabs to see linked items, change management activities, linked documents, history, and security.

To keep the detail view open while you browse the list view, click the pin icon ().

Details tab

The Details tab shows all of a document’s details, including the workflow it will follow, when and by whom it was created, its current version and revision, when and by whom it was last modified, its size, its latest change description, document number and original file name. It also shows a preview of the document. If the document type is a PDF or DOCX, click the document preview to open the PDF viewer. For all other compatible file types, you must use more actions > Open PDF Viewer to view the document in the PDF viewer.

Items tab

The Items tab shows a list of all items that have been linked to the selected document. The information shown includes the item name, type icon, and version.

When you link an item to a document, the document is automatically updated with the changes made to the item. This ensures that other users who may be preparing documentation always have accurate information.

From this tab, you can download a linked item’s files (model, drawing, translation, or supporting documents), add a linked item to your follow list, and remove the link between the currently selected document and the linked item. Select the item actions icon () to perform any of these actions.

Business Processes tab

The Business Processes (BP) tab displays a list of all Business Processes to which the selected document has been associated. The BP name, type icon, and workflow status is shown.

You can also change the BP’s workflow state directly from this tab by clicking the activity actions icon () and selecting the workflow state to which you want the activity to move.

Lastly, you can create a new Investigation request (IR) from this tab by clicking the new IR icon (). This opens the new Investigation Request window. For more information on Investigation Requests click here.

Linked documents and translations tab

The Linked documents and translations tab has a section that displays a list of all documents that have been linked to the selected document and a section for listing viewable translations. The Linked Documents section enables you to quickly access related documents. The information shown in the Linked Documents section include the document name, type icon, and workflow status.

Translations listed under the Translations section show the document name, file type icon, and actions related to viewing the translation in the PDF Viewer, downloading the translation, accessing previous versions of the translation if applicable, and removing a translation.

See Link and unlink documents and Manage viewable translations of documents.

History tab

The History tab shows a list of all actions taken on the document. From this tab, you may view and track when changes occurred. The information shown in this section includes the version number, workflow state, when and by whom it was modified, and its change description.

A document’s version number increases when the document is checked out from Upchain, changes are made, and then checked back into Upchain. To download an older version of a document, click its version number icon.

Security tab

The Security tab shows your team members’ access permissions to the selected document. If you are the project manager, you can change your team members’ access permissions to any documents in the project. If you are the creator of a document, you can change your team members’ access permissions to that document.

To alter a team members’ access rights, click the lock icon next to their name. The icon turns red and the lock now shows as closed. This hides the document from this user’s view.