Overview

nVIRO’s record retention functionality provides a flexible and configurable framework for purging records that no longer need to be maintained in the system. Record retention rules can vary in many ways based on the:

• state / agency

• environmental program area

• type of record or document

To accommodate needs across various agencies, program areas, and record types, nVIRO provides the ability to configure the retention rules in the system which allows fine tuning of when specific record types are eligible for purging. Once identified, the records may be approved for purge or exempted from purge for a user defined period of time.

The following diagram shows the process flow:

Configure Record Retention Rules

Retention Rule List

xxx

Retention Rule Creation

xxx

To define a record retention rule:

“Document Only” Retention Rules

In some situations, there may be documents associated with a record that do not need to be retained for the same duration as the record. For example, for a submission record it may be important to keep a pdf record of the submission copy of record. However, there may be various other working documents on the submission that do not need to be retained for as long a period. In this situation a “Document Only” retention rule may be defined to specify purge of documents belonging to a certain document category.

To define a “Document Only” retention rule:

Identify Purge Candidates

A nightly (or weekly) process assesses the records and documents in the system against the defined retention rules. Records identified for purging are

Review Purge Candidates

Purge Candidates List

Records identified for review are displayed in a purge candidates list. There are two types of lists - one for records identified for purge, and one for documents identified by a “Document Only” rule.

To view the purge candidates list

Export Purge Candidates

Records identified for review may be exported to an Excel spreadsheet (.csv format) for analysis.

To export a list of records:

Do filters apply to the export?

Approving Records for Purge

Records and documents identified for purge are reviewed and approved for purge. Approved records are then queued for deletion which will occur whenever the purge records system process runs. Depending on configuration, it may be scheduled to run nightly or on a weekend. Note that once a record has been approved for purge, when the purge process is executed, the record is permenantly deleted.

To exempt a record:

• x

Exempting Records from Purge 

Records and documents identified for purge may be exempted from purging for a user specified period.

To exempt a record:

• x

Purge Records

A nightly (or weekly) system process deletes the records that have been approved for purging.

When functional area records are purged, all records belonging to those record (documents, workflows, events, etc.) are permenantly deleted.

When documents identified by a ‘document only’ rule are purged, only the document record and document content (file) are permenantly deleted.