Documents vs. file attachments
CalmCompliance treats Documents and file attachments differently. Documents are versioned, reviewable records managed in the Documents module. File attachments are uploads added to other records, such as a personnel file or a company record, and they are not versioned.
Documents are versioned first-class records
Documents live in the Documents module and are designed for policies, procedures, and other governed content. Every document has a version history, an owner, and a publish state, and you can assign it an approval workflow and a review schedule.
Version control: Each change creates a new version. You can see the full history of who changed what and when. Document Versioning explains how minor and major versions work.
Distribution and acknowledgment: You can distribute a document to staff and track who has viewed it.
Governance: You can require approvals before publishing and set review schedules so policies do not go stale.
Library management: All documents live in a shared library with categories, tags, and search. You can also attach them to locations or assets for in-context access.
Upload a finished PDF using Uploading Documents, or write content directly in CalmCompliance with Creating Editor Documents.
File attachments belong to other records
File attachments are uploaded directly onto records in other modules, such as People, Compliance, or Service Desk. They provide evidence or context for that specific record.
No versioning: Replacing a file attachment means deleting the old upload and adding a new one. There is no automatic version history.
Expiry dates: Some modules let you set an expiry date on a file attachment and flag it as required for compliance. For example, a certificate uploaded to a personnel record can be marked with an expiry date so the system tracks when it needs renewing. See Upload a file and set an expiry date on a personnel record.
Module-scoped: The file lives on the record you attached it to. Access depends on the permissions for that module and record.
When to use Documents versus file attachments
Use Documents when the content is a policy, procedure, or guide that needs a lifecycle, governance, and wide distribution. Use file attachments when you need to add a contract, certificate, photo, or other evidence to a single record.
Need | Use |
|---|---|
Version history and audit trail | Documents |
Approval workflow or review schedule | Documents |
Distribute to staff and track acknowledgment | Documents |
Attach a certificate to a person with an expiry date | File attachment on the personnel record |
Upload a contract to a company record | File attachment on the company record |
Add a photo as evidence to an issue or requirement | File attachment on that record |
If you later decide that a file attachment should become a governed document, download it and upload it as a new Document so it gains versioning and governance.
Block-scoped file attachments
File attachments can also be scoped to a specific block on supported asset, location, and personnel records. Block-scoped attachments inherit the parent block’s QR scan visibility and appear in the record’s file attachment list with a link back to the block. For details, see Attach files to asset, location, and personnel blocks.