VERS Classification Levels

VERS classifications levels provide a way for an organization to ensure that documents remain in folders of a similar or higher level of confidentiality. In most Laserfiche scenarios, and according to Laserfiche best practices, most documents will inherit entry access rights from their folders. This provides many benefits in terms of consistency and convenience, but can cause problems if documents are inadvertently moved to folders with less-restrictive security settings. Classification levels act as an extra check, preventing entries from being moved such that they will inherit less-restrictive security than is appropriate.

Classification levels allow you to set a numeric level on documents and folders, and then ensure that entries with a classification level cannot be moved to a folder with a lower numeric level. A classification level has three elements: a name, a numeric level, and an optional description.  The name and numeric level must be unique in the classification level list. Entries classified with a higher numeric classification level value are considered more restricted than documents with a lower numeric value. Entries that have had no classification level set are considered to be at numeric value 0.

You might choose to set up entry access security such that certain folders are more restricted than others. Classification levels would allow you ensure that documents were not moved from more restricted folders to less restricted folders.

For example, you might set three classification levels: "Top Secret" (numeric value 10), "Classified" (numeric value 7), and "Standard" (numeric value 3). You could then create a folder structure with some folders set to the "Top Secret" classification level, some to "Classified," and some to "Standard."  If a document is created with its classification level set to "Top Secret," it could be created or moved to any of the "Top Secret" classification level folders, but it could not be moved to any of the folders classified as "Classified" or "Standard," or to any folders without classification levels set. If a document is created with classification level "Classified," it could be moved to a folder with classification level set to "Classified" or "Top Secret," but not to a folder with classification level set to "Standard," or to any folders without classification levels set.

By default, folders in the repository start with a classification level of "None," with a value of 0, if their parent folder does not have a classification level set. If their parent folder has a classification level set, the child folder's classification level will initially match the parent's. Users with the Manage Entry Access privilege can set other classification levels on folders through the folder's properties.  Documents created in those folders will have classification levels set that match their parent folders, although users with Manage Entry Access can manually choose another value for those entries.

The classification levels that can be set on folders are restricted based on both the classification level of the folder's parent folder and the classification levels of the folder's child folders. A folder's classification level can only be set to a value equal to or lower than its parent folder's value, and a value equal to or higher than the highest value assigned to any of its child folders. Thus, if a folder's parent has a classification level value of 7, and its child folder has a classification level value of 3, the available values for that folder's classification level are 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.

A user with the Manage Classification Levels can create, modify or delete classification levels in the desktop Administration Console or the web client management page. A user with Manage Entry Access can configure classification levels in the Laserfiche web or Windows client.

To view or apply a classification level in the Laserfiche Windows client

Note: Classification levels are only available on folders if at least one classification level has been configured by an administrator for the repository; if there is at least one classification level configured in the repository, a classification level can be set for the folder. They are only available on documents if the parent folder has had a classification level set. Otherwise, this section will not be visible.

Note: Setting the classification level on a document or folder requires the Manage Entry Access privilege.

  1. Right-click a document or folder.
  2. In the General tab of the ClosedDocument/Folder Properties dialog box, use the drop-down menu next to Level to apply a classification level. Next to Parent Level is the classification level set on the entry's parent folder. This will always be equal to or higher than the entry's classification level.
  3. Click OK.

To view or apply a classification level in the web client

Note: Classification levels are only available on folders if at least one classification level has been configured by an administrator for the repository; if there is at least one classification level configured in the repository, a classification level can be set for the folder. They are only available on documents if the parent folder has had a classification level set. Otherwise, this section will not be visible.

Note: Setting the classification level on a document or folder requires the Manage Entry Access privilege.

  1. Right-click on a document or folder and click Properties.
  2. At the bottom of General tab, there is a VERS Classification Level section that displays the current classification level set for the document or folder and the classification level set on the parent folder.
  3. To change the classification level, click on the Classification Level drop-down list and choose a different item from the list. The available classification levels are displayed in ascending order.

To create a classification level

  1. Start the Laserfiche Administration Console.
  2. In the console tree, expand the desired Laserfiche Server item.
  3. Select the desired Laserfiche repository.
  4. If security has been enabled on the selected repository, log in as a user with the Manage Classification Levels privilege.
  5. Expand the Repository Options node.
  6. Select the VERS Classification Levels node.
  7. Right-click and select New Classification Level..., or open the Action menu and select New Classification Level..., or click the New Item button on the toolbar.
  8. In the Name option, type a name for the classification level.  This cannot be the same as the name of any other classification level in the repository, but it can be the same as the numeric level.
  9. In the Level option, type the number level you want to assign to this classification level. This must be an integer number value between 1 and 32767, and must be unique. Higher classification levels are more restrictive, whereas lower classification levels are less restrictive.
  10. Optional: In the Description option, type a description for this classification level.
  11. Click OK to save your classification level.

To modify or delete a classification level

Note: You can only delete a classification level if it is not currently assigned to any entries.

  1. Start the Laserfiche Administration Console.
  2. In the console tree, expand the desired Laserfiche Server item.
  3. Select the desired Laserfiche repository.
  4. If security has been enabled on the selected repository, log in as a user with the Manage Classification Levels privilege.
  5. Expand the Repository Options node.
  6. Select the VERS Classification Levels node.
  7. Select the classification level that you want to modify or delete from the repository.

      8. Tip: If you are deleting classification levels you can select multiple levels to delete at once by holding down the CTRL key.

    • To delete a classification level, right-click the level and select Delete.
    • To modify a level, right-click the level and select Properties. Modify the name and/or description of the classification level.

To create a classification level

  1. Open the web client management page. Sign in as a user with the Manage Classification Levels privilege
  2. Select General in the left pane, then navigate to the VERS Classification Levels tab.
  3. Click the Add button.
  4. In the Name option, type a name for the classification level.  This cannot be the same as the name of any other classification level in the repository, but it can be the same as the numeric level.
  5. In the Level option, type the numeric level you want to assign to this classification level. This must be an integer between 1 and 32767, and must be unique. Higher classification levels are more restrictive, whereas lower classification levels are less restrictive.
  6. Optional: In the Description option, type a description for this classification level.
  7. Click OK to save your classification level.

To modify or delete a classification level

Note: You can only delete a classification level if it is not currently assigned to any entries.

  1. Open the web client management page. Sign in as a user with the Manage Classification Levels privilege
  2. Select General in the left pane, then navigate to the VERS Classification Levels tab.
  3. Select the classification level you want to modify or delete.

      4. Tip: To delete multiple levels at once, select the checkbox next to all the levels you want to delete.

    • To delete the level(s), click the Delete button.
    • To modify a level, click on the name of the level and change the name and/or description of the classification level.