The check-in / check-out feature helps users to make changes to shared documents in a more organised manner without losing any changes along the way. Users will have the peace of mind that changes will not be overwritten or deleted.
The check-in / check-out tool allows users who have access to the shared document, to make changes at different times by checking out the document first. When a document is checked out, it is opened by the respective native application on the user's device or machine.
Once the document is checked-out, other users will not be allowed to make changes to the document at that time as it will be locked as a read-only document, leaving the preview and download options available for whoever want to access the document urgently. Throughout check-out other users can see who is working on that document at that moment.
The check-in of the document is only available to the person who checked it out in the first place. When a document is checked in, Cabinet will show the latest version on its desktop but it retains older versions in the system automatically. This level of automation is the reason why no changes can be ever lost. At any point in time, users can revert back to older versions at a click of a button and also see an audit trail of who checked-in previous versions.
Users can also add notes to the document they worked on. In fact, a number of our clients are making it a business rule that when someone checks out/in a document, the user has to add a note to explain what changes were done on the document. This way other users would be able to take over the work, if needed.