Saving metadata without checking-out document

Hi Lola,

Not quite sure if I understand correctly but here some thoughts.

Generally, in workflow pre/post conditions and state actions, you should be able to set property values without checking out objects as in that moment of time you have ObjVer and opened transaction. You can use VAF (C# .NET) or you can script it in VB script (would generally recommend VAF, better for maintenance).

If you have simple value setups (e.g. static values, or some simple calculations), you can easily set it up in workflow pre/post conditions without coding (e.g. setting fixed state property, current date time etc.)

Displaying of metadata is not really connected with setting values and you can controll it through metadata card rules.

These are ways to setup workflow actions in VAF: https://developer.m-files.com/Frameworks/Vault-Application-Framework/Attributes/Workflows/.

Dejan

Hi Dejan. 

Thank you very much for your answer. I know about coding and using VAF. I just wanted to know if it´s possible to code my issue in VB script as I am not familiar with C#. The problem is that I have a Word document, I fill in some metadata in M-Files like by whom it was approved and on what date but then I would like to display these data straight in the Word file without pushing user to check-out document. When you open it as read-only, you can see that the data are not in there. And this should be done with the code in Workflow when it reaches relevant state. Don´t know if I am clear enough.  

Hi Dejan. 

Thank you very much for your answer. I know about coding and using VAF. I just wanted to know if it´s possible to code my issue in VB script as I am not familiar with C#. The problem is that I have a Word document, I fill in some metadata in M-Files like by whom it was approved and on what date but then I would like to display these data straight in the Word file without pushing user to check-out document. When you open it as read-only, you can see that the data are not in there. And this should be done with the code in Workflow when it reaches relevant state. Don´t know if I am clear enough.  

I thought that it could be something like this. To open the document for editing where file is automatically checked-out, but it´s not doing anything.

If ObjVer.Type = MFBuiltInObjectTypeDocument Then 

Dim PropertyValues: Set PropertyValues = Vault.ObjectPropertyOperations.GetProperties(ObjVer)

Dim oFiles: Set oFiles = Vault.ObjectFileOperations.GetFiles(ObjVer)

If oFiles.Count > 0 Then
Dim oFile: Set oFile = oFiles.Item(1)

oVault.ObjectFileOperations.OpenFileInDefaultApplication Application.Hwnd, ObjVer, oFile.Version, MFFileOpenMethodEdit

End If 

End If

Hi Lola,

I understand what you mean. We have similar usage of templates with user names, approval dates etc. We have experienced the same behavior. We usually set approval dates in state actions or pre-conditions but they are often not shown until the user check out document. 

What you can try is to convert document into PDF in preview and see if it helps. In our case, it sometimes work and sometimes does not show values for those placeholders. I wrote couple of times about it in forum. Still this will not help you if your user has only read only rights and try to open the document. In most cases, it would not have calculated values. I personally also do not understand why this is not working correctly as the calculation happens on the server and placeholders should have been applied.

I would be also very interested if someone finds good solution for this one.

Dejan