Attaching Documents to Another Document

Question:

Is it possible to connect one or more documents to another document in Spitfire?

Answer:

Yes, if by “connect” you mean attach one document to another. You may also think of it as linking or chaining one document to another. (You can also attach files created outside of Spitfire to your document, but this article focuses only on attaching documents. Documents are created from within Spitfire.)

To attach document B to document A:

1. Open document A and go the bottom of its Attachments tab.
2. Click the icon to open the DocAttach/From Catalog window (for previously cataloged files).
   
   This window includes a set of filters on top, similar to the filters found on the Catalog Dashboard.
3. Uncheck the Include Files filter (which is on by default) and check the Include Documents filter. You want to find a document, not a file.
4. Select the Doc type of document B.
5. (optional) If document B is on a different project, change the Project ID filter.
6. Look through the other filters to see if any is in use that should not be, and if any other filter should be used.
7. When all filters are correct, click the Search button to see your results.
8. Click the attach (paperclip) icon to select document B.
   Note: you can select multiple documents to attach, changing filters as needed. All documents to be attached will show up at the top of the window.
9. At the top of the window, click OK.
   
   Document B will be attached to document A and will show up on document A’s Attachment tab.

Note:  You can open an attached document from the Attachments tab.

Related Rules:

If it is SOP to attach documents of a certain Doc type to other documents, your System Admin can use the DocTypeConfig | ExpressDocAttach rule to configure one of the icons at the bottom of the Attachments tab to open the Attach window already pre-filtered for documents of that particular Doc type.  By default, this icon is pre-filtered for Issue docs.

If the ExpressDocAttach rule is used, the ExpressDocAttachList can also be used to have the icon present a selection dialog box from which the desired Doc type can be selected.  This is helpful when documents of more than one Doc type are regularly attached.

Additional Comment:

When certain documents are created from another document (for example, a Project Setup from a Bid), the two documents are automatically linked to each other by having the other in its Attachments tab. In addition, when you copy a document, you have the option of linking to the original document, which is done by attaching the original document onto the copy.