Extending Metadata Inheritance From Templates to Folders to Documents

By Kyle Knebel

October 2023 Consultants Corner

Configuring parent folder metadata inheritance on templates

Whether you use Laserfiche Cloud or Laserfiche on-premise, Laserfiche has the ability to set field values on documents and sub-folders by inheriting those values from its parent folder. And it doesn’t require Workflow! The idea is that the parent token allows a document or folder to inherit a field value from the folder in which it resides. If this token is used when a document or folder is being created, field data will be inherited from the folder in which the document or folder will be created. Once a document or folder inherits a field value, the parent token will be replaced with the value assigned to a field in the parent folder. However, this is a one-time occurrence. The values do not remain synchronized.

A common scenario is that we want documents being added to a folder to inherit the same “Client Name” field value when we insert a new document in a folder.

So, what is required to automatically apply metadata to folders or documents by inheritance?

The main steps include:

• Create the field and use the %(Parent) token as its default.

• Apply the field to the parent folder, usually in conjunction with a Template.

Step 1: In the Laserfiche Administration Console or Web Management area, navigate to the Metadata Management area.

Step 2: Create or modify the field and make sure that its default value is set to use the “Parent Field” token.

In the field’s default value, it will display the token as “%(Parent).”

In the Laserfiche client, the parent folder should have this field set and its true value set. For example, “John Smith” is the Client Name, and therefore only typed once in this field, at the top-level folder.

Now, any documents or folders put in this folder with the %(Parent) default field value set on it will inherit the name “John Smith” automatically.

In the example image below, I’m importing a document and just applying the field to the document, not typing anything into the field. I’m leaving the default value of “%(Parent).” Once I click OK, the parent value is inserted into the field.

Applying a template with that field or just adding the individual field to documents or folders under the parent folder will result in the field value being replaced, as seen in the image above.

We hope you enjoyed learning about a new method for applying field values today!

See you next month, and have a Great Paperless Day from CDI!

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