Close a version

If all of the work for one version is complete, you can close the version. This prevents anyone from accidentally creating or changing content for that version.

A version is made up of the following nested levels:

  1. Version (the highest level)
  2. Container
  3. Containerparts
  4. Objects in the version (topics, maps, etc.)

You must close all the objects in a lower level before you can close a higher level.

Important:

If objects in a closed version are shared with other versions that are still open, you cannot edit the shared object in the open versions. Once a version is closed, you cannot change any content that appears in it. This includes content it shares with open versions. Otherwise, you could change the shared content, and closing a version would not stop further changes to its content.

For example, TopicA is shared between Version1 and Version2 in a product. If you close Version1, you can no longer edit TopicA in the context of Version2. You must create a new instance of (fork) TopicA in Version2.

To close the version:

  1. Set all objects in the library or product to the final stage in their workflow (for example, Authoring:done or Authoring:complete).

    This includes all of the following:

    1. Conrefs
    2. Images
    3. Topics
    4. Maps
    5. Resources

    Each of these children have their own workflow, and each must be set to its final status before you can close the containerparts.

  2. Set every containerpart in the version to Authoring:closed by doing the following:
    1. Right-click the version, and select Locate Containers.
      The Search Results view updates with the container for the version.
    2. Right-click the container, and select Change Status.
    3. In the Change Status dialog, select Authoring:closed.
      A Cannot change status error message appears showing all the containerparts with a status that needs to change before you can change the container.
    4. Click Locate.
    5. Click OK.
      The Search Results view now shows all the containerparts you need to change the status for.
    6. Multi-select all the containerparts, right-click and select Change Status.
    7. In the Change Status dialog, select Authoring:closed.
    All the containerparts move to Authoring:closed unless you missed changing the status of an object in one of them. If you missed anything, you receive a message saying which objects need their status changed first.
  3. Right-click the container, and select Change Status.
  4. In the Change Status dialog, select Authoring:closed.
    The container moves to Authoring:closed.
  5. Right-click the version, and select Change Status.
  6. In the Change Status dialog, select Authoring:closed.

The version moves to Authoring:closed.

Note: If you need to update the content for the version in the future, you can always reopen the version by changing its status back to Authoring:development.