Configuring Document Generation (QMS)

QualityOne Vaults allow users to generate related documents from a record linked and stored in the record’s document field. These documents are created from the formatted output templates, document templates, and reports that you create and maintain. Generating documents from a record allows users to include related data associated with the record in the generated documents. Document generation is accomplished by using the actions configured on a record.

Supported Objects

Vault supports the Generate Document from Formatted Output action and the Generate Document from Template Output action for the following objects:

  • Audit (audit__qdm)
  • CAR (car__v)
  • Change Control (change_control__v)
  • Complaint (complaint__v)
  • Continuous Improvement Initiatives (cii__v)
  • Formulation (formulation__v)
  • Inspection (inspection__v)
  • Lab Investigation (lab_investigation__v)
  • NCR (ncr__v)
  • Packaging (packaging__v)
  • Product (product__v)
  • Risk Register (risk_register__v)
  • Risk Study (risk_study__v)

Vault supports the Generate Document from Report action for the following objects:

  • APQR Item (apqr_item__v)
  • SPR Item (spr_item__v)

Configuration Overview

Configuring your Vault to use Document Generation involves the following steps:

  1. Create formatted output templates, document templates, and reports
  2. Define document configurations
  3. Configure the Document Generation actions

Creating Templates & Reports

When configuring Document Generation actions, Vault requires you to select the template or report from which to generate documents. You must create the formatted output templates, document templates, or reports before you can configure the actions:

Defining Document Configurations

Document generation relies on using the Generate Document From Formatted Output and Generate Document From Template Output actions. You must set up the following for the Document Generation feature:

  • Configure the appropriate lifecycle and workflow for the document type you need to generate.
  • Add a document field to the applicable document type that references the originating record. This field name depends on the source object, but is a variation of the following: [Target Object] Record (target_object_record__v). For instance, for documents generated from Audit records, this field is Audit Record (audit_record__v).
  • Ensure you configure the required document fields to match the configured template field names. These actions cannot execute if there are blank required fields on the selected document type.
  • Ensure your object configuration has an appropriate document reference field to set the generated document link value upon executing the actions.

When generating the document, Vault transfers field data for fields with matching names and data types from the originating record to fields on the newly created document based on the mapped fields configured in the template. This transfer matches field names without their namespace suffix, for example, (__c) or (__v). If there is more than one (1) matching field with the same name, Vault prioritizes the standard field (__v) after matching the required field configuration first.

Configuring the Document Generation Actions

You must configure the actions available as a user action or entry action on any supported object’s lifecycle state. As document artifacts can include large amounts of data from many records, generating the document may take some time to complete. You should carefully consider where in your processes’ lifecycle state to invoke or allow these actions.

While the configured action automatically determines a document Owner, you can use DAC to grant access to other roles as necessary. We encourage planning and testing to ensure that the actions configured for generating these documents perform as expected.

You can configure the following actions on the supported object’s lifecycle:

Configuring the Generate Document from Formatted Output Action

To configure the action to generate a formatted output document from a template:

  1. Navigate to the User Actions or Entry Actions section of the applicable object lifecycle state details page and click Edit.
  2. Select Always or Perform with conditions as appropriate for your process. We recommend using the Perform with conditions option to limit the availability of a given template to the appropriate object type.
  3. Select the Generate Document From Formatted Output action from the drop-down.
  4. Select a Document Type. You can choose from any document type in your Vault. During initial setup, it may be helpful to select a simple document type with few or no required fields for testing purposes.
  5. Select a Document Lifecycle for the document type.
  6. Select a Formatted Output template. You can select from any formatted output template associated with this object.
  7. Select a Document Reference Field. The selection is limited to outbound document reference fields available on the object. After the action executes, Vault populates this field with a link to the newly generated document.
  8. In the Populate Owner From drop-down, choose either From User Field or From Team Role. See Populating the Owner for more details.
    • If you chose From User Field, select a User Field.
    • If you chose From Team Role, select a Team and the configured Team Role.
  9. Optional: For configuring a user action, select an Audit Lifecycle State to enter after initiating this action.
  10. Enter an Action Label.
  11. Click Save.

Configuring the Generate Document from Template Output Action

To configure the action to generate a document from a template:

  1. Navigate to the User Actions or Entry Actions section of the applicable object lifecycle state details page and click Edit.
  2. Select Always or Perform with conditions as appropriate for your process. We recommend using the Perform with conditions option to limit the availability of a given template to the appropriate object type.
  3. Select the Generate Document From Template Output action from the drop-down.
  4. Select a Document Type. You can choose from any document type in your Vault. During initial setup, it may be helpful to select a simple document type with few or no required fields for testing purposes.
  5. Select a Document Lifecycle for the document type.
  6. Select a Document Template. You can select from any document template associated with this document type.
  7. Select a Document Reference Field. The selection is limited to outbound document reference fields available on the object. After the action executes, Vault populates this field with a link to the newly generated document.
  8. In the Populate Owner From drop-down, select either From User Field or From Team Role. See Populating the Owner for more details.
    • If you chose From User Field, select a User Field.
    • If you chose From Team Role, select a Team and the configured Team Role.
  9. Optional: For configuring a user action, select an Audit Lifecycle State to enter after initiating this action.
  10. Enter an Action Label.
  11. Click Save.

Configuring the Generate Document from Report Action

To configure the action to generate a document from a report:

  1. Navigate to the User Actions or Entry Actions section of the applicable object lifecycle state details page and click Edit.
  2. Select Always or Perform with conditions as appropriate for your process. We recommend using the Perform with conditions option to limit the availability of a given template to the appropriate object type.
  3. Select the Generate Document From Report action from the drop-down.
  4. Select a Document Type. You can choose from any document type in your Vault. During initial setup, it may be helpful to select a simple document type with few or no required fields for testing purposes.
  5. Select the Document Lifecycle for the document type.
  6. Select an Object Reference Field on Document. After the action executes, Vault populates this field with a link to the source record.
  7. Select your Report Type from the drop-down.
  8. Select an Available Report view from the drop-down.
  9. Optional: Select a Default Report. When a user performs the action, this output is the default template in the dialog.
  10. Select a format to export to from the Report Export Type drop-down.
  11. Select a Document Reference Field. The selection is limited to outbound document reference fields available on the object. After the action executes, this field is populated with a link to the new document.
  12. In the Populate Owner From drop-down, select either From User Field or From Team Role. See Populating the Owner for more details.
    • If you chose From User Field, select a User Field.
    • If you chose From Team Role, select a Team and the configured Team Role.
  13. Enter an Action Label.
  14. Click Save.

Populating the Owner

The Populate Owner From drop-down determines which user to place in the Owner role on the generated document once created. You can choose between the following options:

  • The From User Field option adds a user from the selected User object reference field on the object. If you select this option, ensure you configure a User reference field on the supported object.
  • The From Team Role option populates the Owner role with a Team member from the selected Team and Team Role. Ensure that you set the Maximum Users field to “1” when creating team roles as document generation only allows a single user assignment.