Document Record Type

What is the document record type?

Each Appian environment has a Document record type, which lists all documents stored in Appian that are managed by record types. This record type contains fields with relevant document information, like document name, size, and extension type, so you can easily filter, sort, or aggregate on document data in your applications.

This page explains the out-of-the-box Document record type and how to use it. You can only make certain modifications to this record type.

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Reference the document record type

You cannot query the Document record type directly in your applications. Instead, the Document record type is only accessible as a related record type. This allows you to access information about specific documents in your application.

For example, the Case Document record type manages documents related to each support case. To query the documents and related information about those documents (like name, description, and extension), you can query the Case Document record type and reference fields from that record type and the related Document record type.

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a!queryRecordType(
    recordType: recordType!Case Document,
    fields: {
        recordType!Case Document.fields.documentId,
!       recordType!Case Document.relationships.documentProperties.fields.name,
!       recordType!Case Document.relationships.documentProperties.fields.description,
!       recordType!Case Document.relationships.documentProperties.fields.extension,
    }
    pagingInfo: a!pagingInfo(
        startIndex: 1,
        batchSize: 100
    )
).data

Fields

By default, the Document record type contains the following fields.

You cannot edit or remove any Appian-configured record fields, but you can create new custom record fields.

Relationships

By default, the Document record type will have two relationships to the User record type: createdByUser and modifiedByUser. These relationships allow you to access information about the user who created or modified a document.

You cannot add other relationships to the Document record type since it cannot be directly queried. Instead, any record type that has a Document field will automatically have a many-to-one relationship to the Document record type, so you can access common information about your documents. By default, the relationship name is documentProperties.

Security

By default, all users have Viewer permission to the Document record type.

Each document in the Document record type inherits the record-level security from the document management record type.

For example, if the Case Documents record type has record-level security configured so that only the assigned engineer can see the documents for a case, then that same security is applied to the document properties. This way, the assigned engineer can see the document and its related properties, while unassigned engineers cannot.

Sync the record type

A sync will automatically occur on the Document record type when a user submits a form or executes a process model that:

• Creates a new document.
• Create a new version of a document.
• Moves a document from one folder to another.
• Modifies the document properties, like the document name or description.

You can also start a manual full sync from the Sync History page or by saving any changes to the record type.

Update the Document record type

When you upgrade an existing Appian environment to version 25.4, the Document record type displays an alert prompting you to update the record type to take advantage of new features. Updating the record type will add additional fields and relationships to the Document record type so you can see who made changes to your documents and when.

This alert will not appear in sites created in 25.4 or later since the Document record type will already include these fields and relationships.

To update the Document record type:

1. Open the Document record type.
2. Click UPDATE NOW in the banner located at the top of the record type. The following fields and relationships are added to the data model:
   • Fields:
     • createdBy
     • modifiedOn
     • modifiedBy
   • Relationships:
     • createdByUser
     • modifiedByUser
3. Click SAVE. A full sync will occur on the record type.

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