Files and File Parts in RM

Most organizations have physical and electronic documents that are related in some way or that need to be treated as a group. For example, the documents related to a certain folder may be a combination of spreadsheets, architectural drawings, and word processing documents.

Grouping these documents becomes a problem when the documents are stored in different media and in different places. Some documents might be paper and stored in folders. Other documents might be in electronic form and stored on a server. How can these be managed as a group? How can they be easily accessed and controlled, despite their different formats and locations?

RM solves these problems using the notion of Files. Files are used to group both paper and electronic documents relating to a certain topic or business function. Think of files as “smart folders” that group records together to share common controls such as the following:

These properties usually operate at the File level and are not set for each individual Document. This simplifies the management of Documents and allows users to easily meet any operational, regulatory, or legislative requirements. In addition, Files can contain a combination of editable and read-only Documents.

A File Part is a subdivision of a File. A File always has at least one File Part.

File Parts are used in the following ways:

A File Part acts as a logical association between the documents contained within it. In RM, a File Part can contain both paper and electronic Documents. The paper and electronic documents are still stored in their appropriate media and locations – the paper documents in a physical file folder and the electronic documents on the document server – but they are logically connected in the same File Part. Each document can be filed with only one File Part. You can reassign a document to a different File Part, if necessary.

The following rules apply to the numbering of Files and File Parts.

For example:

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