Versioning

[sacco]

Is there any way in the Web Client to  see the detailed metadata of a previous version
of an asset or (as the is in WCM) to roll-back to a previous version?  I can see only a link to
'view' (in which case I suppose roll-back can be approximated by copying the older version
over the newer, albeit this isn't quite the same thing).

If not, is the older metadat, etc. still available in the repository (but just not exposed
through the Web Client), or has it been over-written?

Finally, is it possible to create a link to a specific version of a document:
a)  in the Web Client;
b)  programatically in the repository.

The motivation behind these questions is that when there is a library of technical
references whaich is maintained to keep the documents up-to-date, there will be
some projects that need to refer to the latest updated version, whereas other will
require to be based upon a specific (fixed) version of a standard.

[gavinc]

The Web Client also shows the meta data for previous versions, in the view details page for some content the 'Version History' tab shows a list of old versions, against each one of these is a Properties link.

So, yes, full history is maintained in the repository but the web client does't expose all the capabilities such as restore a previous version. All old versions are held in a versionStore and so they are full nodes in their own right. As such you should be able to programmatically access them.

Hopw this helps.

[sacco]

Thanks for the quick reply.

The Web Client also shows the meta data for previous versions, in the view details page for some content the 'Version History' tab shows a list of old versions, against each one of these is a Properties link.

This is what I expected, but in my installation (2.1 Community) I have the 'Version History' tab, but the versions have only links to view the document, no Properties.  I'll investigate further, any hints would be much appreciated though.   

So, yes, full history is maintained in the repository but the web client does't expose all the capabilities such as restore a previous version. All old versions are held in a versionStore and so they are full nodes in their own right. As such you should be able to programmatically access them.

Good, this is what I was hoping.  So if we need to expose more functionality with respect to previous versions, I can add a (trivial) aspect to flag the document and then customise the Web Client.

Generally, I don't think it's always straightforward to expose too much functionality in this respect, as it's easy to cause confusion to the end users, but I think it could be worth exposing more in the interface for administrators.

Thanks again,
t/s.

[tjholmes]

I am not sure if this true or not …. but is metadata versioned??????????

We started evaluating Alfresco 2 months ago, and we were under that impression that WITHOUT WCM ONLY the body (HTML, XML, or text) was versioned and NOT the metadata properties.

We understood with WCM we could use XSD/XForms and that all metadata would be within the XML file … which is versioned.

It would be WONDERFUL and easier if outside of WCM that properties/metadata in aspects would be versioned as well as the body.    Is there a simple way to fix this, or do we have to find an alternate solution?

Thanks!
                                      Tom

[andnyg]

Does anyone tried configuring the webclient for searching historical metadata?

/Anders

[jcblitz]

I'm interested in this whole meta data versioning as well. If the meta data is actually versioned, how come editing meta data doesn't trigger a new version? Only changing the content does?

[loftux]

I would argue that it should not be created a new version for each update of metadata.

Reason is that it would possibly create an insane number of versions. Metadata is not only usable for classifying and retrieving documents, but also to track status, or be the link of a document to an external system, or whatever you come up with. So if each of those edits creates a new version, there will be many version. But the content is still the same.

Instead, this can be taken care of with auditing if you need to retrieve before values. New version should only be used when content has changed.

/Peter Löfgren

[jeyush]

Hi gavin

The Web Client also shows the meta data for previous versions, in the view details page for some content the 'Version History' tab shows a list of old versions, against each one of these is a Properties link.

So, yes, full history is maintained in the repository but the web client does't expose all the capabilities such as restore a previous version. All old versions are held in a versionStore and so they are full nodes in their own right. As such you should be able to programmatically access them.

Hopw this helps.

I want to know that.Can we delete/updating the previous versions of content?
If yes then please let me know..
Can u please help me?
I am waiting……
Bye have good day.
Thanks in advance.

[jpfi]

Nope, here is the issue entry: http://issues.alfresco.com/browse/AR-31
Please vote for it!
Cheers, Jan

[jeyush]

Hi Jan,

Thank you for your quick reply.Now i understand why i am not able to delete/updating the previous versions of content..

Thnk u again..

Bye have a nice day..