Transmittals and workflows are objects in SPF used to mimic traditional transmittals. Traditionally, transmittal group a set of files issued from a sender for a specific reason to a receiver. When files are issued, this creates copies of the information for each recipient of the transmittal to ensure each recipient has a copy of the transaction, just like each party of a contract has a respective copy of the contract. The transaction also includes the dates when the transmittal was sent and received. SPF does not duplicate the information but allows for users to download or print a copy, if needed.
The process is as follows: First, SPF creates an object called a transmittal. The properties of this object include name, description, and status. It also includes an important piece information that's part of the traditional transmittal: the reason for issuance. Then the content and workflows can be associated to the transmittal to control who receives what and when.
The content attached to the transmittal are the document revisions. For more information about document revisions, refer to The Structure of a Document. To ensure that document revisions remain unchanged once issued a locking functionality called Sign Off freezes the transmitted revisions of the document. Frozen revisions have the status Current and are represented with a different icon from revisions which have the status Working. For more information, refer to The Life Cycle of a Document. The point at which the document moves from Working to Current is typically as it is approved by document control but is defined by the workflow used on the transmittal.
