Training Module: Saving your document and using snapshots

This module will explain how save works in Lawmaker and what fall-backs there are if you run into any difficulties or need to rollback to an earlier version at any point.

📘 Introduction

Saving your document

📚 Exercises

🛠️ Getting Started

Before you can complete this exercise, you will need your own training project containing a half finished bill to continue drafting.
If you haven’t got one already, create a project containing a half finished bill: Drafting a bill.xml
The following steps will allow you to create the data required for this exercise.

How to create a new project

Download the XML document for the exercise by clicking on the link you’ve been provided with. By default, the downloaded file is usually placed in the “downloads” folder on your computer.
Log in to Lawmaker.
From the Dashboard, create a new project of the type you need for the exercise. Give it a title such as [Your Initials] Drafting a bill. (See Creating a new project.)
From the Project tab for that project, select Document Actions > Upload document, and select the XML file for the exercise which you have downloaded. It can be uploaded into the default folder that has been created in the project. (See Create a new document by uploading an XML file.)
On the newly uploaded document version, select Actions > Update Document Information and update the Title to match the title you originally gave the project.
Duplicate this document version using Actions > Duplicate version and call the new version the name of this module. We will create a new document version per module.
Open the duplicated version in the Editor

✏️ Exercise 1: Auto-save to restore the auto-save version

This exercise will demonstrate how the auto-save snapshot will preserve any unsaved changes.

If you haven’t already done so, duplicate the imported bill version and name it the description of this module so you can easily track work related to these exercises. Make some edits to the document and wait for auto-save to run. Close the Editor to mimic a loss of connection and see how you can restore the auto-save version.

Detailed steps to test auto-save

Open your document in the Editor
Insert a new section after section 1
Do not save your changes and wait for the green Auto-save message to appear in the top right of the Editor (it runs ever couple of minutes although it will wait for a pause in your typing before running so as not to disrupt your work)
When auto-save has run, close the Editor tab by clicking on the cross in the browser tab (don’t use the Close Editor button) - you will see a browser warning message asking you if you want to leave. Click on the Leave button
On the Project tab, find your document and toggle the triangle to the left of the version description to see the snapshot versions. The Auto-saved snapshot version will be present
Open the green working version in the Editor. In the dialog box that appears, you have the option of continuing to work on the auto-save version that was detected, or discard your changes
Select Continue working

✏️ Exercise 2: Using snapshots to create alternate versions

This exercise shows how you can create snapshots to help you manage alternate versions.

You can save snapshots of your document which will create a separate snapshot document that you can return to later and restore provisions from if required. Snapshots are also created whenever you generate PDFs, download ZIP files, duplicate or publish from your working version so you may see a long accumulation of snapshot versions overtime against a working version. Lots of opportunities to rollback to earlier versions if desired.

Recreate the following changes to section 1 by inserting a new subsection after subsection (1)

Step 1: Make some changes and save a snapshot

Insert a new subsection into section 1 and save these changes as a snapshot

Detailed stepson saving a snapshot version

Place your cursor in subsection (1) and click Enter to insert a new subsection
Type For the purpose of this section, meetings are held remotely if they are held without all of the persons attending them, or without any of those persons, being together in the same place. into the empty Text placeholder element
Save a snapshot by selecting Documents > Take snapshot and give it a descriptive name
Close the Editor without saving these recent changes
On the Project tab, toggle the view of snapshot versions under your green working version (you might need to refresh the page) and you will see the snapshot you just created

Step 2: Restore the changes from a snapshot

You later decide to go with the snapshot version of section 1 so you need to update the working document with this version.

Detailed steps to restore data from a snapshot version

Open the snapshot version in the Editor. It will be read-only.
View the Project tab and open the working version of your document in the Editor at the same time so that you have 2 x Editor tabs open
In the snapshot version, use the structure view to select section 1 and copy it using keyboard shortcut CTRL+C
In the working version, highlight section 1 using the structure view
Paste over the revised version from the snapshot using keyboard shortcut CTRL+V

You can copy content from any snapshot in this way and paste it into your working version. This includes PDF snapshot versions, download snapshot versions etc.
The AUTO-RECOVER snapshot version is created every time you save and if there were any issues saving your document back to the database, this auto-recover version is a quick and simple way to access any data otherwise lost.
You can copy individual provisions or the whole body from a snapshot version using the structure view to select the portion you want to copy.

☑️ When complete…

Save your changes and close both Editor tabs using the Close Editor button in each tab.