Understanding document properties

Meridian stores and displays data about each document called metadata. The metadata is stored in properties, which can be considered database fields. Meridian uses properties in a manner similar to the way Windows keeps track of a file’s name, size, date created, and date modified. The properties in Meridian are used to track and manage the documents and may include such properties as Revision Number, Project Number, Status, Title, and many more. The document type of a document determines which properties are associated with the document.

You will encounter three kinds of properties when working in Meridian:

• Read-only: You cannot change the values of these properties. Examples are Creation Time and Size.
• Restricted: You can only select a value from a list of standard values.
• Unrestricted: You may type a value you want.

Meridian displays properties on property pages. Each property page contains properties that are related to one another in some way. The document type of a document determines which property pages are associated with the document. Every vault document displays at least a Document property page that contains basic metadata such as workflow Status, To-Do, Location, Type, and so on. Property pages appear for existing documents and may also appear when you create new documents so that you can type any known information. That information may be used to automatically name the document and store it in the correct folder.