Working versions and snapshots
A working version is an unpublished document that you can view and edit. Working versions are only ever visible to users in one organisation: the organisation of the user that created the document. But access to a particular working version may be restricted further.
For each working version, Lawmaker also stores a series of related snapshot versions. A snapshot version is a read-only, point-in-time snapshot of the working version. Snapshots are created automatically when certain actions are carried or when the user requests that a snapshot be created.
Snapshots are created when you:
generate a PDF
Download a zip file
Duplicate a document
Share a document
Publish a document
Submit a document to TNA
Lawmaker also stores the auto-saved version of any document you are working on as a snapshot. Each time you save a working version, Lawmaker creates a backup snapshot (overwriting the existing backup) so if the master document gets corrupted in the save process, the backup can be used to restore the document.
Significant versions
A significant version is a document that has been published or shared with a user who is external to your organisation or shared with another organisation
These versions are locked which means that the document content cannot be changed
Published documents (bills only) are visible to all users in the system
Shared versions can only be viewed by the user/organisation that the document was shared with
Signed and submitted versions (SI/SSIs only) can only be viewed by the user/organisation that owned the document
You can view the (read-only) Significant version in the Editor together with its (read-only) document information; generate/view a pdf; download a bill bundle or make a duplicate version to continue drafting if necessary.
Snapshot versions are most usually auto-generated copies of the working version created when a user performs specific actions, but you could also create your own snapshot version if required. The following actions create snapshot versions:
Generating a PDF – the snapshot will be called: 'PDF generated'
Downloading a ZIP file – the snapshot will be called: 'Downloaded'
Duplicating a version – a snapshot version is created in the document version being copied called 'Duplicated'
Sharing a read-only version to user(s) from another organisation, or shared with a separate organisation – two snapshot versions are created, both the same: one is associated to the document version series it came from and will be called: 'Shared externally'; the other appears as a Significant Version on the right-hand side of the ‘Project’ tab and this is the version that the external user/organisation will be able to see
Publishing a version – a snapshot version is created and will be called: 'Published'; a Significant Version is also created on the right-hand side of the ‘Project’ tab and this is the version that all users in the system will be able to see
Auto-saving - the system will auto-save your document in the background whilst you are editing for recovery purposes should there be any connectivity issues. This auto-save will create a temporary snapshot version only visible to the user who is making the edits and will be deleted whenever the user successfully saves their changes back to the working version.
Hints and tips
Clicking on the black triangle next to the sub-heading will expand the view of working versions in this group; or collapse the heading so that working versions are not visible.
The document tiles are coloured green if you have edit rights and grey when you only have read-only access.
Significant versions appear on the right-hand side and are documents that have been published (Bills only), submitted to the National Archive’s Publishing System or shared with a user/organisation who is external to your organisation.
The content of these versions is locked to maintain data integrity of these version
Working versions appear on the left-hand side and are editable (subject to document permissions)
Clicking on the black triangle on a working version will expand the view of any snapshot versions related to this document version series; or hide the snapshot versions
Snapshot versions appear under the working version they relate to. By default, they are not shown but clicking on the black triangle next to the working version description will show a list of snapshot versions sorted in chronological order. They are most commonly generated automatically when users generate a pdf or download a document bundle to capture the XML at that point in time. But they can also be generated manually from the editor (see “Save a snapshot version”).
For more information on document versions, see ‘annex 5 – document versions’.
Documents are grouped into folders and can be moved between folders