Archiving contract data is the systematic process of storing, preserving, and organizing contractual documents and related information in a secure environment. This practice ensures that the contracts are maintained in an organized manner, allowing for easy retrieval for audits, compliance reviews, legal reference, and historical record-keeping.
Steps in the Archiving Process
During the archiving process, all data for contracts closed before a specified date is consolidated into a single XML file, which is then compressed into a ZIP archive. Once this is completed, the system automatically deletes the associated database entries and documents, freeing up storage space in both the file system and the database. In this compressed form, each contract is represented by just one small file.
If a contract has subcontracts or is linked to a parent contract, all related contract data is archived together. Additionally, for Back-to-Back contracts, the Export LC contract must be archived before the Import LC contract.
The XML document then contains both, as well as all the structured data belonging to the contract, the complete history and also all incoming and outgoing documents. All business documents (except attachments in other formats such as XLS files) are converted into PDF/A files before being zipped, making the documents suitable for long-time archiving as no proprietary applications are required to display the data.
Secure Storage and Accessibility
An entry is generated in a special archive database table per contract, so that contracts can be searched and (history) data can be displayed using the “Info Contract Archive” transaction in the archive. The details of each processed transaction can also be displayed here. All display files are also stored. Since the relevant data is stored and encoded using non-proprietary processes (XML, PDF/A, Base64 encoding, ZIP), it is possible to use external long-term archive systems.
Archiving Contract Data in DOKA SAAS:
Using the Transaction CONCAA as outlined in the table below, you can efficiently process the archival of data. (Please note that only closed contracts are eligible for archiving.)
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Single Contract | Allows an archive to be generated for a single contract (for test or maintenance purposes) |
| New Archives only | If checked, contracts for which CCA records already exist are ignored (i.e. if data for a contract is not deleted immediately when an archive is created, there is no need to recreate the archive for this contract during the next run). |
| Closed before | Only contracts closed before the specified date are displayed. |
| Business Sector Reference | Is only enabled if “Single Contract” has been selected. |
| Contract Data | Includes the content of database table rows for the contract in archive file |
| With field description | The field description is shown in the XML structure with 'Description=' as an attribute |
| Display Files (.dsp) | Includes base64 encoded display files (.dsp) for each business transaction in the contract archive file |
| Documents | Selection as to whether (incoming and outgoing) documents attached to the contract (via SMH) are * ignored * converted to PDF format and included in the contract archive file via the Base64 encoding (attachments are NOT converted to PDF format but are accepted in their original format) * converted to PDF format but the PDF files are not included in the archive (if these are to be saved via some other archiving mechanism, for instance) . |
| Skip Missing Files | Ignoring error messages when a display or document file cannot be opened. The archive is to be generated nevertheless. |
| Base Directory | Identifies the base directory for storing archive files (typically the data partition) |
| Relative Path | Indicates the path name relative to the base directory. This relative path name together with the file name (= own reference of the contract + suffix '.xml' resp. '.xml.zip') are stored as 'fileid' in the CCA row. If a separate directory for each archive run is requested, this can be added here (manually or by a level 6 default rule). |
| Directory per Month | Stores contracts for each month in a separate directory in order to limit the number of files per directory. The relevant month is taken from the closing date of the contract and files are stored in the subdirectory named 'YYYYMM'. Required subdirectories are automatically created on demand. |
| Destination path for export/ZIP | Physical storage path determined by “Base Directory” and “Relative Path”. |
| Compression | Determines whether the generated archive file (with extension '.xml') should be automatically zipped (into a file with extension '.xml.zip' containing only the archive file). Typical compression rates are 80% (i.e. a 500KB .xml file will be compressed into a 100 KB .zip file). |
| Delete Data | Deletes records from the database and flat files for archived contracts (only CCA records are kept). This option can be used together with “Export Contract Data” to delete only data for contracts that have already been archived. |
| Name of ZIP file | Storage path and name of the archived ZIP file are displayed here. |
Once After the required settings have been made, the archiving process is started by clicking the icon. The log of this transaction can be displayed via the icon.
Implementing these steps Under Archiving Contract Data (CONCAA) will streamline operations, making the entire process more efficient and reliable. As organizations continue to evolve, a strong archiving framework becomes indispensable for maintaining a secure and organized repository of their contractual history.
Comments
0 comments
Please sign in to leave a comment.