Often a document is generated in Agiloft, sent out to a third party, and received back with changes. When that file is uploaded to Agiloft, by default, it is treated as a new attachment, until you manually connect it to its related records. However, you can set up your KB to automatically recognize these files as updates to an existing file using an Identify Document action.

After the document is recognized as an existing file, you can leverage other automation tools to integrate it with your workflows. For example, you can link the new file to the correct contract record and mark the prior attachment as being superseded by the new one.

Prepare the Attachment Table

Before you create your first Identify Document action, make sure your Attachment table contains the Superseded by Attachment ID field. If it doesn't:

1. In the Fields tab, select New > Link to Selected Fields from Other Table and select the Attachment table from the drop-down list.
2. On the Mapping tab, do not allow multiple values.
3. On the Fields tab, select the ID field and label it al__superseded_by_attachment_id by copying the text from this page. Make sure to use this exact text for the label.
4. Finish creating the field with the appropriate permissions. In most cases, you can simply copy the permissions from the Contract ID field.
5. After you create the field, edit it, return to the Fields tab, and replace the al__superseded_by_attachment_id label with Superseded by Attachment ID.
6. Save your changes and proceed to creating an action.

Create an Identify Document Action

You can access the Actions wizard in several ways, but the easiest way is to select Setup Attachments from the nav bar.

1. From the top nav bar, expand the table's drop-down and select Setup Attachments.
2. Select the Actions tab in the Table wizard.
3. Click Create Identify Document Action. If you're prompted to create the al__source_uuid field, go to Setup > Integration and click Upgrade under Agiloft Contract Concept Mapping, and then return to step 1.

4. On the General tab, name your action and give it a description.

5. On the Data Source tab, select the Source Document field. This is where the original document should be stored. For example, if I sent My Contract File for review, and I received My Contract File With Edits, this setting identifies where My Contract File is stored in the record. Note that this feature is only compatible with .docx, .pptx, and .xlsx file formats, so any other file types are ignored by this action.
6. In the Update Found Records field, select or create an Update action. This action runs automatically on the record where a matching original file is found. In the Attachments table, it also automatically adds the new file ID in the Superseded by Attachment ID field for the original document.
7. Optionally, select a saved search to limit which records are checked for a matching source document. If no search is selected, all records in the table are checked.

Use Case

Consider this example workflow leveraging this action type:

• Jan generates a contract document from a document template. This creates a new Attachment record to store the document. Behind the scenes, automation assigns a UUID to both the attachment record and the Word file.
• Mark checks the document out for editing, makes some changes, and saves them. Behind the scenes, automation creates a new Attachment record with the revised file. The original Attachment record is set to Superseded, and the UUID is automatically transferred to the new record and the revised file.
• Mark uses the Email tab in the Contract record to send the revised file to the counterparty.
• The counterparty makes changes and replies with the updated file. The configured inbound email rules process the file and create a new Attachment record to store it in. Because a new Attachment record is created, the system automatically runs the configured Identify Document action.
• Agiloft is able to match the updated file to its most recent source version: the one Mark saved. Because the file has a matching source, the counterparty's version can be used to create a new Attachment record and automatically supersede Mark's version.

Configuring a workflow like this only requires a couple of rules and actions, all in the Attachment table.

Run document identification for updated documents

First, set up the Identify Document action to run on new Attachment records.

1. Create a rule that runs when new records are created by email, web, or API.
2. Use a saved search to only consider files that contain .docx, .pptx, or .xlsx.
3. In the Actions tab, select an Identify Document action with:
   • Source Document set to the Attached File field
   • Update Found Records set to an Update action that sets the Status to Superseded
   • Saved Search set to a filter that only considers attachments whose Status is Active

Assign UUIDs to records and files

For this use case to work, the attachments and files must have UUIDs.

1. Create a rule that runs when new records are created by email, web, or API.
2. Use a saved search to only consider files that contain .docx, .pptx, or .xlsx and have a null SourceUUID field.
3. In the Actions tab, select a Modify Document action with:
   • Source Document set to the Attached File field
   • Destination Document set to the Attached File field
   • Add Source UUID set to True
4. Set the priority for this rule to be lower than the priority for the document identification rule you created above. That way, the system attempts to identify documents before it attempts to assign a UUID.