Retrieve Version History

This activity retrieves version history information for a document. See the tokens this activity produces.

ClosedHow does this activity look in the Designer Pane?

  • Once added to a workflow definition, the default name of an activity can be changed. Providing a custom name for an activity helps you remember the role it plays.

    To name an activity

    1. Add an activity to your workflow by dragging it from the Toolbox Pane and dropping it in the Designer Pane.
    2. Select the activity in the Designer Pane.
    3. Under Activity Name in the Properties Pane, replace the default name.

      4. Note: Activity names cannot be the same as any other activity name in the workflow, they cannot be the same as the workflow's name, they must be less than 100 characters, they must contain at least one alphanumeric character, they cannot be "Name," and they cannot be the same as the activity's runtime type (which is usually only an issue with custom activities).

  • Use the Activity Description to provide descriptive text to help you remember the role that the activity plays in the workflow. All activities contain a default description that you can modify while constructing your workflow.

    To modify an activity description

    1. Add an activity to your workflow by dragging it from the Toolbox Pane and dropping it in the Designer Pane.
    2. Select the activity in the Designer Pane.
    3. Under ClosedActivity Description in the Properties Pane, replace the default description.

  • The Options property box determines the types of version history to retrieve.

    To retrieve version history properties

    1. Add the Retrieve Version History activity to your workflow definition by dragging it from the Toolbox Pane and dropping it in the Designer Pane.
    2. Select the activity in the Designer Pane.
    3. In the Properties Pane, click anywhere in the Options property box to open the Retrieve Version History dialog box.
    4. Select the Only retrieve latest X versions check box to only retrieve a certain amount of versions.
    5. In Create tokens for the following properties, select the version properties to retrieve.

  • To select which entry or entries an activity will act on

    1. Add the activity to your workflow by dragging it from the Toolbox Pane and dropping it in the Designer Pane.
    2. Select the activity in the Designer Pane.
    3. In the Properties Pane, in the appropriate property box, choose which entry the activity will act on.
      • Starting Entry: The entry the workflow began with.
      • Other Entry: To choose an entry that was returned or created in a previous step in the current workflow, click the Select link and choose an entry from the Select Entry dialog box.

        • Note: Some activities do not have the starting entry selected by default. If you are configuring one of these activities, click the Select link to choose an entry for the activity to act on.

    • Note: If you have more than one connection profile for your workflow definition, the Connection Profile property box lets you specify which connection profile this activity will use.

Tokens for Retrieve Version History

The Retrieve Version History activity produces the following tokens.

Name Description Sample Syntax*
Version The document version numbers of the retrieved version history. %(RetrieveVersionHistory_Version)
Created By The user that created the version. %(RetrieveVersionHistory_CreatedBy)
Creation Date When the version was saved. %(RetrieveVersionHistory_CreationDate)
Comments The comment associated with this version of the document. %(RetrieveVersionHistory_Comments)
Labels The labels associated with this version of the document. %(RetrieveVersionHistory_Labels)
Changes The parts of the document that were modified for the version. %(RetrieveVersionHistory_Changes)
Signatures** The Laserfiche digital signatures used to sign the version. %(RetrieveVersionHistory_Signatures)
Summary An aggregated list of all values in the version history . %(RetrieveVersionHistory_Summary)

*The RetrieveVersionHistory portion of the syntax changes to match the activity's name as specified in the Activity Name property box. Note that all non-alphanumeric characters, except underscores, are removed from the name.

** Creating new digital signatures is no longer supported, and starting with Laserfiche 12 Spring 2026, new versions will hide the signature feature. For more information, see the End-of-Life Announcement for Laserfiche Digital Signatures.