Managing Visual Hierarchies (QualityDocs)

Visual Hierarchies form the backbone of the Process Navigator page, which provides a visually-navigated interface for users to find processes and supporting documents in Vault QualityDocs. Documents that support a process can be associated with one or many processes and can be viewed as a user browses their process hierarchy relevant to their role.

Before using Visual Hierarchies, an Admin must complete several configuration steps.

How Process Navigator Visual Hierarchies Work

The Process Navigator content and structure users and process owners see is supported by object types and records of the Visual Hierarchy object: Each configured Visual Hierarchy object type represents a process area (for example, “Quality”), and each Visual Hierarchy record of this type represents one of the following:

  • A parent (root) process within the hierarchy (“Quality Processes”)
  • A child process supporting a parent process (“Document Management & Control”)
  • A child process supporting another child process (“Good Documentation Practices”)

Similarly, Hierarchy Document object records establish the relationship between a Visual Hierarchy record and the Vault Library document which supports it.

QD Process Navigator

Once an Admin creates a hierarchy (a Visual Hierarchy object type) and completes other required configurations, process owners use the Process Navigator UI to create and arrange the Visual Hierarchy records for their area. As they work, Vault ensures the hierarchy structure remains within the limits while automatically creating and associating the underlying Visual Hierarchy and Hierarchy Document records.

Creating & Arranging Visual Hierarchies

Before a process owner can populate a hierarchy, an Admin must create a new object type for the Visual Hierarchy object, which represents the highest level of organization.

Then, process owners use Process Navigator to create and arrange the supporting Visual Hierarchy parent and child records. Alternatively, process owners can or may be required to create and arrange records in Business Admin, or in a custom object tab.

By default, Vault immediately begins displaying newly-created Visual Hierarchy records to Process Navigator users with the appropriate permissions. Depending on your Vault’s configuration, Visual Hierarchy records may need to undergo a review workflow or lifecycle state change before users can see them.

With Process Navigator

To create and arrange Visual Hierarchy records using Process Navigator:

  1. Navigate to the Process Navigator tab.
  2. Select a hierarchy from the top-left selector menu.
  3. Click + Process.
  4. Select an appropriate icon from the drop-down. In the navigator, Vault displays this icon to the left of the record’s Name.
  5. Enter a Name. When you click Save, Vault creates the underlying Visual Hierarchy parent record with default metadata you’ll update later in this process.
  6. Enter a Name for at least one child process related to the parent you just created. When you click Save, Vault creates the underlying Visual Hierarchy child record with default metadata you’ll update later in this process. Vault also automatically associates the new child record with the parent record.
  7. To add additional child processes (under a parent or another child), hover over the desired record’s name and click Add Child Process.
  8. Edit each Visual Hierarchy record you created to populate a Description, along with any other relevant object fields.

To arrange Visual Hierarchy records within their current hierarchy, click Reorder Processes, then drag and drop individual parent or child records accordingly.

To move child records to a different parent in the hierarchy, update its Visual Hierarchy record in Business Admin.

In Business Admin

To create, arrange, and update Visual Hierarchy records in Business Admin:

  1. Navigate to Business Admin > Objects > Visual Hierarchies.
  2. Click Create.
  3. Add a Name and Description for the hierarchy node. Vault displays the Name field value as a clickable item in the navigator, and displays the Description value on the hierarchy details page.
  4. In the Icon Selector field, choose an appropriate icon from the drop-down. In the navigator, Vault displays this icon to the left of the record Name.
  5. In the Parent Selector field, choose a parent Visual Hierarchy record to organize the current record under, or click the binoculars icon to search for one. Visual Hierarchy records without a parent selected in this field are displayed as the top-level nodes of the structure. See Hierarchy Structure Limitations below for more details.
  6. Optional: In the Position within Parent field, enter a value to determine the order in which Vault should display the records in the navigator. If you do not enter a value, Vault places the record after all other records with a populated field value. If multiple records have duplicate values or are blank, Vault displays them in alphabetical order.
  7. Optional: Select a Vault document image file in one or more of the Visual Hierarchy Image fields. These images are available to Process Navigator users from a process’s details page.
  8. Click Save.

To rearrange child Visual Hierarchy records under a different parent record, ensure the parent record exists, then repeat Step 5. The selected child and parent records must be of the same Visual Hierarchy object type.

To rearrange a child record under its existing parent, repeat Step 6.

Editing Process Information

You can use Process Navigator or Business Admin for updating Visual Hierarchy metadata fields.

To update Visual Hierarchy fields using Process Navigator:

  1. Navigate to the Process Navigator tab.
  2. Select a hierarchy from the top-left selector menu.
  3. Hover over the relevant Visual Hierarchy parent or child record and click Edit.
  4. In the Process Information panel, review and populate the Name, Description, and any other relevant fields.
  5. Click Save.

You can also view and edit Process Information fields by clicking on the hierarchy item, then clicking the far-right icon.

Associating Documents to a Process

In order to display a collection of supporting documents in the navigator, you must add those documents to the appropriate Visual Hierarchy object record. User will always see the latest document version they have permission to view, or the latest steady state version if configured by an Admin.

With Process Navigator

To associate documents to a process in Process Navigator:

  1. Navigate to the Process Navigator tab.
  2. Select a hierarchy from the top-left selector menu.
  3. Hover over the relevant Visual Hierarchy parent or child record, then click Associate Documents.
  4. In the Associate Documents dialog, locate and select the checkbox next to the document(s) you wish to include.
  5. Click Save.
  6. Vault displays the Associated Documents panel. Click the + to add additional documents here.

To remove a document, click the relevant Visual Hierarchy parent or child record to display the Associated Documents panel, then hover over the document and click .

In Business Admin

  1. Navigate to Business Admin > Objects > Visual Hierarchies or to a custom object tab.
  2. Click into the relevant Visual Hierarchy object record.
  3. In the Hierarchy Documents section, click Create.
  4. Locate the document by entering a search term in the Document field, or click the binoculars icon to search.
  5. Click Save.

Limitations

Process Navigator cannot be used in certain situations, including when:

  • Creating a Visual Hierarchy record with required custom fields.
  • Starting a workflow or changing a Visual Hierarchy record’s lifecycle state.

Instead, process owners should perform these activities in Business Admin, or within a Vault Admin-configured custom tab.

Hierarchy Structure Limitations

A Vault Admin can configure up to 30 Visual Hierarchy object types, and process owners can create up to 5,000 Visual Hierarchy records per type.

This overall record limit is supported by the following hierarchy structure limitations, labeled accordingly in the image below.

A configured hierarchy’s structure can include up to:

  1. Ten parent (root) processes, or Visual Hierarchy records without a referenced Parent.
  2. 15 child Visual Hierarchy records per parent.
  3. Five levels of parent-child relationship.

Additionally:

  • A given Visual Hierarchy record can include up to 200 documents (associated Hierarchy Document records).
  • You cannot associate Visual Hierarchy object records of a given object type with a record of a different Visual Hierarchy object type.

QD Process Navigator

See Configuring Process Navigator for the permissions required to manage hierarchies in Process Navigator.