IBM Enterprise Records, Version 5.1.+            

Defining a disposition schedule

An authorized user defines a disposition schedule and associates the schedule with a record category, record folder, or record type. A disposition schedule can be defined by a Records Manager or Records Administrator. In the PRO data model, a Records Manager, Records Administrator, or Reviewer can assign a disposition schedule to an entity. In the Base and DoD data model, a Records Manager or Records Administrator assigns a disposition schedule to an entity.

Disposition schedules can have multiple phases, where the affected entities go through disposition steps such as review, export, transfer, or destruction. Although a disposition schedule does not require multiple phases, the schedule generally includes two phases: If your display setting for Disposition schedule wizard in your User Preferences is set to Simple (see IBM Enterprise Records User preferences and IBM Enterprise Records site preferences), the schedule defaults to one phase using the auto destroy action with no retention.

To define a disposition schedule:

  1. Select the Disposition tab.
  2. Click Disposition Schedules.
  3. Click Add Disposition Schedule.
    Restriction: If your display setting for Disposition schedule wizard in your User Preferences is set to Simple, the Steps panel will not show Set Phases.
    1. Enter the name and description of the schedule. The description is optional.
    2. Enter the name of the authority responsible for the disposition of entities and click Next. This field is optional.
    3. Click the corresponding radio button to select the trigger that initiates cutoff. If your display setting for Disposition schedule wizard in your User or Site Preferences is set to Simple, the only possible trigger is the Internal Event trigger.
      • For the calendar date, you can type in a date or use the calendar control. this is for a normal disposition schedule
      • For Predefined Date, Internal Event, External Event, or Recurring Event, select an item from the menu. These items were created previously in the IBM Enterprise Records Configure tab. Click Show Details to display the details of the trigger. For information about adding the triggers, see Adding a predefined date, Adding an internal event, Adding an external event, or Adding a recurring event trigger.
    4. Set the cutoff offset. See the Set cutoff and cutoff offset section later in this topic for more details.
    5. Set the condition that triggers a cutoff of entities. A cutoff can be an automatic or require approval. To require approval, specify a disposition cutoff action. For an automatic cutoff, do not specify a disposition cutoff action. If your display setting for Disposition schedule wizard in your User and Site Preferences is set to Simple, the Disposition Cutoff Action is not shown.
      • Each cutoff action was previously added in the IBM Enterprise Records Configure tab and has an associated workflow. The disposition sweep automatically launches this workflow after the cutoff plus any offset. For a normal disposition schedule, the Disposition Cutoff Action menu contains only those actions that belong to the Cutoff action type. For more information about actions, see Actions.
    6. If desired, modify Cutoff Base to specify the cutoff base date. The CutOff Base menu provides a set of IBM Enterprise Records date properties that calculate cutoff dates based on individual IBM Enterprise Records entity properties.

      Set the cutoff offset. Please see the Set cutoff and cutoff offset section later in this topic for more details.

    7. If your display setting for Disposition schedule wizard in your User or Site Preferences is set to Detailed, click Next to create one or more retention periods, called phases, for the current schedule. If you click Finish, entities associated with the disposition schedule do not have a specific retention period. If your display setting for Disposition schedule wizard in your User Preferences is set to Simple, click Finish, there is only one phase using the Auto Destroy action, RMAutoDestroyAction, Is Screen Required is set to False, the Default Retention is 0 Years 0 Months 0 Days, and no Alternate Retentions are automatically created.

Set cutoff and cutoff offset

In IBM Enterprise Records, you can define a retention period by setting a retention on a phase or the cutoff offset.

When there is no cutoff offset specified and the retention period is set on the phase, sweep does a cutoff on the entity when the event condition becomes true. If the entity that is being cutoff is a container, this container is also closed, preventing the addition of a new record. The retention is then computed as the cutoff date plus the retention period defined on the phase. The following rules apply to the computation of the cutoff date, depending on the different schedule configurations:
  • Use of an internal event trigger and a cutoff base date set to an entity property -

    The cutoff date is the value of the cutoff base date.

  • Use of a date type of event trigger (external event, predefined date) and a cutoff base date set to Event Date -

    The cutoff date is the date of the event trigger.

  • Use of an internal event trigger and a cutoff base date set to Event Date -

    The cutoff date is the date when sweep runs.

  • Use of both a date type of event trigger (external event, predefined date) and a cutoff base date set to an entity property -

    The cutoff date is the latest of the two dates.

When using a cutoff event offset, the entity is not cutoff until the end of this offset period is reached. Therefore, the container stays open during the retention period. The following rules apply to the computation of the cutoff date, depending on the different schedule configurations:
  • Use of an internal event trigger and a cutoff base date set to an entity property -

    The cutoff date is the value of the cutoff base date plus the cutoff offset.

  • Use of a date type of event trigger (external event, predefined date) and a cutoff base date set to Event Date -

    The cutoff date is the date of the event trigger plus the cutoff offset.

  • Use of an internal event trigger and a cutoff base date set to Event Date -

    The cutoff date is the date when sweep runs plus the cutoff offset.

Important: It is not recommended that you use this last configuration because any update on the schedule, like its name, triggers a sweep re-computation of the cutoff date and the new sweep run date plus the offset, postponing the cutoff. If no record property can be used for the cutoff base date, it is preferable to use a retention on the phase.

If your display setting for the Disposition schedule wizard is set to Simple in your User or Site Preferences, the schedule defaults to no retention on the phase and makes use of the offset mechanism to define the retention instead.

Set phases

Associating phases with a disposition schedule allows different operations on an entity at different intervals. Each phase specifies a disposition action and retention period for an entity. For example, to review an entity before disposal, add two phases in the disposition schedule. The first phase specifies a review of the entity, and the second phase specifies the disposal of the entity. IBM Enterprise Records executes multiple phases in a disposition schedule in the sequence that you add the phases to the schedule.

You can also define multiple Alternate Retentions within a phase. Alternate retentions provide variable retention periods based on a property value. When none of the alternate retention conditions are true, IBM Enterprise Records uses the default retention period. When more than one alternate retention condition is true, then IBM Enterprise Records applies the alternate retention with the longest retention period.

Important: The number of alternate retentions or the complexity of their criteria will have a performance impact on retention calculation.

After IBM Enterprise Records applies the cutoff action on an entity, the first phase of a disposition schedule is applied to that entity. At the end of the retention period of the first phase, entities are due for the disposition action associated with the phase. IBM Enterprise Records completes the associated disposition action, the next phase in the schedule begins after approval from an authorized user.

To add a new phase in the disposition schedule:

  1. Click Add New to open the Phase Properties page.
  2. Enter a name and description for the phase.
  3. Select a Phase Action from the menu.
    • Actions were previously created in the IBM Enterprise Records Configure tab.
    • IBM Enterprise Records completes the action on entities at the end of the phase.
    • Each action includes a predefined workflow that IBM Enterprise Records launches for that action.
    Restriction: Phases that transfer or destroy entities are final phases. You cannot add another phase after these types of actions.
  4. In the Is Screening Required field, select True to require a review of entities before launching the workflow associated with the phase. If screening is not required, select False.
  5. If you select the Transfer, Export, or Interim Transfer action for the phase, enter a location in the Export Destination field. The location can be:
    • On a remote server. For example, \\server name\folder name.
    • A folder on a local drive. For example, local drive:\folder name.
  6. Specify a Default Retention period for entities in this phase. A value is required if you are not assigning alternate retention periods.
  7. To set up conditions so that entities remain in the phase for longer or shorter times based on a property, complete the following steps to create alternate retention periods.
    1. Click Add New to display the Alternate Retention window.
    2. Select a property name from the menu.
    3. Select an operator from the list.
    4. Specify the property value. The value you enter depends on the property.
    5. Select the Retention Base as the starting date for the retention period.
    6. Specify the Retention Period Days in years, months, and days. IBM Enterprise Records adds the value specified here to the Retention Base. On the resulting date, IBM Enterprise Records applies the phase action to the entity.
    7. Click Accept to add this alternate retention to the current schedule and return to the Phase Properties window.
    8. Continue adding alternate retentions for each condition by clicking Add New. IBM Enterprise Records populates the data from the previous alternate retention in all of the fields so that you can change the required fields. If necessary, you can select the Remove check box of an alternate retention and click Apply to remove that condition.
  8. Finish the phase by clicking Accept. IBM Enterprise Records adds the phase and the details to the list of phases in the schedule.
  9. To add more phases, click Add New. Otherwise, click Finish to complete the disposition schedule.


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Last updated: August 2011
define_a_disposal_schedule.htm

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