Effective dates and withdrawn dates

Effective date and withdrawn date information is associated with each template version as metadata. When you import a template for the first time (version 1.0), the default value for effective date and withdrawn date is blank. If no effective and withdrawn date are defined, new templates will inherit the properties of the parent folder.

When you import a subsequent version of a template (2.0 or greater), the template will inherit the metadata properties of the previous version. If the effective date and withdrawn date had been specified for the previous version, the default value for effective date in the new version will be the current date, and the default value for withdrawn date will be "2999-12-31". If the values are blank, the new version inherits the blank value. Use the Version tab to modify the effective date and withdrawn date.

During template search or document processing, template selection is based on finding the template whose effective date is less than or equal to the input effective date, and withdrawn date is greater than the entered effective date. The most recent version of a template is used if more than one template if found, or if the effective date is not specified.

The following table shows the effective date and withdrawn date for two template versions:

Version 1 Version 2
Template Effective Date Template Withdrawn Date Template Effective Date Template Withdrawn Date Input Effective Date Template Version Returned
2012-02-01 <Blank> 2012-03-01 2012-03-15 2012-02-01 1.0
2012-02-01 <Blank> 2012-03-01 2012-03-15 2012-02-07 1.0
2012-02-01 <Blank> 2012-03-01 2012-03-15 2012-03-01 2.0
2012-02-01 <Blank> 2012-03-01 2012-03-15 2012-03-07 2.0

Scenarios that illustrate the results for different effective dates and withdrawn dates:

  • If you search for a template with an input effective date of 2012-02-01 or 2012-02-07, version 1.0 is returned.
  • If you search for a template with an input effective date of 2012-03-01 or 2012-03-07, version 2.0 is returned.
  • If the effective date is outside the effective date range, the system returns an error message that no template was found.
  • If input effective date is not specified, the current date is used as the effective date:
    • If the current date is in the range for version 2.0, version 2.0 is returned.
    • If the current date is before or after the range for version 2.0, version 1.0 is returned.