The terms defined below have a specific meaning in the AODocs environment, and are widely used in the Knowledge Base.
AODocs document
An AODocs document is composed of:
- a title
- a set of properties
- a workflow state, if a workflow is associated with the document class to which the document belongs
- attachments
Note: Depending on the type of library, an AODocs document can have no attachments, one attachment, or several attachments.
- relations with other documents, if defined
- a description field
Each AODocs document has a unique URL and document ID.
Learn more: What is an AODocs document?
administrator
An administrator is a role assigned to specific users.
There are two types of AODocs administrator.
- Library administrator — a library can have one or more library administrators, who can:
- configure the library, for example, create document classes, configure views and set up workflows
- define permissions and privileges for library users, for example, specify who can view, edit or validate AODocs documents or update the list of library administrators
- perform daily management operations, such as recover trashed documents, release locked documents and access the library audit log
- Super administrator — your domain can have one or more super administrators, who can:
- monitor the licenses on your domain
- whitelist external users
- manage libraries and storage accounts
- connect AODocs with third party applications
- update the list of super administrators
Note: Super administrators are automatically granted access to the configuration of all libraries in the domain, even if they are not explicitly added in the list of library administrators.
attachment
An attachment is a file that is attached to an AODocs document, in a similar way that a file can be attached to an email. Attachments are stored in Google Drive and are owned by the storage account of your library.
The number of attachments in an AODocs document depends on the type of library:
- documents in Team Folder libraries and Secured Folder libraries must have exactly one attachment
- documents in Document Management libraries can have no attachments, one attachment or several attachments
The sharing permissions of attachments are the same as the document they are attached to.
Learn more: What are document attachments?
audit log
An audit log is a record of events. There are two types of audit log in AODocs:
- Library audit log — this is a record of all the events performed on a library, for example:
- creation of a document class by a library administrator
- modification of a document’s properties by a user
Only library administrators can access the library audit logs for the libraries they manage. Learn more: View the library audit log
- Domain audit log — this is a record of actions performed by super administrators on the domain, for example:
- addition of a super administrator
- removal of a licensed user
Only super administrators can access the domain audit log. Learn more: Manage domain audit logs
Audit logs are read-only. The entries in audit log can be exported via the AODocs application programming interface (API). The retention time of entries in audit logs depends on your type of license.
category
A category is a type of field you can assign to a custom property in an AODocs document. A category is composed of a set of defined values. For example, a category named Manufacturer could have a list of predefined manufacturers. Users can select predefined values for a category in a drop-down list in the edit mode of a document.
Category values can have several hierarchical sublevels. For example, the category Location may have three sublevels: Continent, Country and City.
The list of category values can be dynamic. This means that contributors can add new values to the predefined list. Alternatively, the list can be frozen and contributors can only select values from the predefined list.
Categories are configured at the library level and can be used as a field type for several custom properties from the same document class or from different document classes.
Learn more: What are categories?
check-out / check-in
Check-out is an action that creates a draft version of an AODocs document. A subset of users can update the draft. Other users can’t access the draft, but can access the main version of the document, in read only.
Check-in is an action that converts the draft to a new version of the document. The main version becomes a previous version.
Check-out / check-in can be manual or integrated in a workflow.
Learn more: What is check-out / check-in?
custom script
A custom script is java code fragment configured in the AODocs administration interface. Custom scripts allow library administrators to carry out specific actions on their libraries that are not available in out of the box features in AODocs.
As a library administrator, you can configure custom scripts to be triggered when users perform certain actions such as update an AODocs document, change the workflow state, or search for documents to add as a relation.
You need experience in coding to create and configure custom scripts.
Request access to the article Create custom scripts from AODocs support.
document class
A document class is a type of AODocs document, defined by a set of properties and settings in a library.
Each document class:
- has specific custom properties
- has specific settings, such as permissions assigned to the roles in the class
- can be associated with a single workflow
Team Folder libraries contain only one document class.
Secured Folder libraries and Document Management libraries can contain several document classes. For example, a library may contain three document classes: Invoices, Purchase orders and Expense reports, each with specific properties, roles and workflows. Each document in a library belongs to a single document class.
Learn more: What are document classes?
library
A library is a collection of AODocs documents.
There are three types of AODocs library:
- Team Folder library
- Secured Folder library
- Document management library
Specific document classes security settings and roles can be configured for each library. Each library also has an audit trail and one or more views.
Learn more: AODocs overview: choose an AODocs library.
permission
Permissions are authorizations assigned to users (individually or through groups or roles) to perform actions in AODOcs documents.
There are different kinds of permission in AODocs:
- Read:
- view attachments
- view custom properties
- view the document description field
- view the document history and the workflow comments
- view relations
- view the current and previous versions of a document
- Edit:
- add, edit or remove attachments
- edit custom properties
- edit the document description field
- view the document history and the workflow comments
- add, edit or remove relations
- view the current version and previous versions of a document, manually create a new version, revert to a previous version, check-out or check-in the document
- move a document within the same library
- notify users who have access to the document
- Create:
- create a new document
- copy an existing document
- Share:
- modify the read or write permissions of a document
- Validate:
- perform workflow actions on the document
- comment on workflow transitions
- Delete:
- send the document to the library trash
property
A property is an element of an AODocs document. Properties are also called metadata. There are two types of property:
- system properties: for example, creation date, last update date, document creator and last update author
- custom properties: fields that users can set in documents, for example, expiration date of a contract or ID of an invoice. Custom properties are configured by library administrators, who assign a field type to the custom property. There are three kinds of field type available:
- standard field types, such as date, text, or URL
- category field types, with values predefined by the library administrator
- reference catalog field types, defined at the domain level rather than in a library
Properties are a fundamental requirement in document management systems. They provide structure to your documents, allowing you to customize your organization’s processes, such as information management, compliance, security, retention rules and records management.
Learn more: Configure custom properties.
relation
A relation in AODocs is a link between AODocs documents within:
- a single document class
- different document classes in the same library
Relations are configured by a library administrator. Contributors can then link documents from the user interface.
Relations are used to centralize or reference documents on a specific subject. For example, a library administrator may set up a relation between the document classes Invoices and Contracts. When a contributor creates an invoice related to a given contract, they can create a relation between the invoice and the contract.
Learn more:
role
A role is an operational entity or a job title, such as Invoice Manager or Financial Department. Users can be assigned to one or more roles.
There are three types of role in AODocs:
- Predefined domain roles: super administrators and library creators
- Predefined library roles:
- library administrators: can write, create, share and delete AODocs documents; can configure and manage libraries
- contributors: can edit documents
- readers: can read documents
- Custom roles, which users are assigned to:
- individually
- via a Google group
- via a Person property field of a document
Permissions can be assigned to roles by library administrators. For example:
- A custom role called Invoice managers allows users with this role to edit and validate documents in the class Invoices, but not in the class Purchase orders.
- Someone who joins your organization may initially be assigned to the role Invoice Manager. They inherit the permissions associated with this role. If they change role, they will lose these permissions and inherit the permission of their new role.
Learn more: What are roles?
storage account
The AODocs storage account is a Google account belonging to your G Suite domain. Library creators assign an AODocs storage account to their library. All the attachments in this library are owned by the storage account.
This means that your organization has centralised, corporate ownership of all your AODocs attachments.
Learn more: The AODocs storage account.
template
A template is an AODocs document created and configured by library administrators. Users can create new documents from templates instead of creating empty documents.
Templates can have:
- a default title
- default property values
- a default description
- default attachments
Note:The number of default attachments depends on the type of library.
Learn more:
versioning
In AODocs, versioning is the process of creating unique versions of the same AODocs document. All AODocs documents have a Versions panel where you can see the current and previous versions of the document. If required, you can revert to a previous version of the document.
You can manually create new versions of documents by:
- duplicating and archiving a document, its properties and its attachments
- using the check-out / check-in feature
- uploading a non-Google file as an attachment to an existing document
Creating a new version or using the check-out / check-in feature feature can be automated within a workflow.
Learn more:
view
A view is a page in AODocs that lists AODocs documents (or a subset of documents) from a document class. Library administrators can configure:
- who can access the view
- which documents are listed, based on filters predefined by the library administrator
- which properties are displayed
- how the list can be further filtered or browsed by users
- how the list is sorted
Learn more: What are views?
workflow
A workflow is a sequence of steps describing the life cycle of an AODocs document. It's composed of workflow states and transitions between these states. A workflow state is a step in a workflow. Examples of states in a simple workflow are Invoice received, Waiting for approval, Approved and Paid.
A workflow is associated with a document class. When a class has an associated workflow, each new document created in this class starts in the workflow's initial state. The document moves to another state when a validator performs a manual workflow transition or automatically when it matches specific conditions based on time or based on the document's properties.
For example:
- a document moves from the state Draft to Approved when it has been edited and approved by users with specific roles
- a document moves from the state Approved to Archived one year after it entered the workflow state Approved
Learn more: What are workflows?