System
Record
Document Management & Workflow System
A functional and technical reference to the system's modules, architecture, data model, roles, and security model.
Introduction
This document provides a functional and technical overview of the Document Management System developed by Newles Technologies. It is intended for stakeholders, administrators, and technical staff who need to understand what the system does, how it is structured, and how access is controlled.
1.1 Purpose
The system centralizes document storage, organization, and lifecycle management, and manages workflows and administrative tasks — sharing of files is made easier.
1.2 Scope
This documentation covers all frontend modules and backend components delivered as part of the system, along with the underlying data model, role-based permissions, and security controls.
System Overview
The system is a web-based application accessed through a browser, structured around a central document repository. Users interact with the system through role-appropriate modules: day-to-day users primarily use the Dashboard, All Documents, and Tasks areas, while Admins additionally manage Roles, Departments, Users, and system-wide configuration.
2.1 Key Capabilities
- Centralized, searchable storage for all organizational documents
- Configurable multi-stage approval workflows
- Role-based access control down to the module level
- Full audit trail of document activity for compliance
- Task and support ticket tracking alongside document work
- Standard and exportable reporting
System Architecture
The system follows a layered architecture: a browser-based frontend communicates with a central API layer, which in turn coordinates a set of backend services and a relational database. File content is held in dedicated object storage rather than the database itself.
3.1 Architecture Layers
Presentation Layer
The web frontend rendering the modules.
Service Layer
Backend components — workflow engine, search indexer, notification service, and others.
Data Layer
The relational database (structured records) and object storage (file content).
3.2 Request Flow — Example: Document Upload
Frontend Modules
The table below lists every module in the system's navigation, its function, and which role(s) primarily use it.
| Module | Description | Primary Users |
|---|---|---|
| Dashboard | Landing screen giving users an at-a-glance summary of activity, pending items and key stats. | All users |
| Assigned Documents | Personal queue of documents that require the logged-in user's action. | All users |
| Deep Search | Full-text and metadata-based search across the entire document repository, with filters. | All users |
| File Request | Lets a user request specific files from an internal colleague or external party via a trackable link. | All users |
| My Workflows | Visual builder and tracker for multi-step document workflows (e.g. review → approve → archive). | Employees Admins |
| Bulk Document Upload | Uploads and processes multiple files at once, with progress tracking and error handling per file. | Employees Admins |
| Reminder | Schedules and manages reminders tied to documents, tasks, or deadlines. | All users |
| Recent Activity | Chronological feed of recent uploads, edits, approvals and other system events. | All users |
| Document Status | Shows and updates the lifecycle status of a document (draft, pending, approved, rejected, expired). | All users |
| Clients | Stores client records and links them to relevant documents and correspondence. | Admins |
| All Documents | Master repository view of every document in the system, with list/grid/preview modes. | All users |
| Document Categories | Defines and manages the category/tag taxonomy used to organize documents. | Admins |
| Approvals | Routes documents through one or more approval stages and records sign-off decisions. | Approvers Admins |
| Documents Audit Trail | Immutable log of every action taken on a document — who, what, when. | Admins |
| Archive | Read-only storage for documents that are closed out but retained for record-keeping. | All users |
| Expired Documents | Surfaces documents that have passed their validity/expiry date and need renewal. | All users |
| Roles | Defines permission sets (e.g. Admin, Editor, Viewer) and assigns them to users. | Admins |
| Departments | Organizes users and documents by department/business unit. | Admins |
| Tasks | General-purpose task assignment and tracking, independent of a specific document workflow. | All users |
| Support Tickets | Internal helpdesk module for logging and resolving system-related issues. | All users |
| Users | Administers user accounts — invites, role assignment, deactivation. | Admins |
Backend Components
Each frontend module is powered by one or more of the backend services below. These are not user-facing but are documented here for technical and maintenance purposes.
| Backend Component | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Database Design & Schema | Relational schema modeling documents, versions, metadata, folders, and their relationships. |
| Authentication Service | Handles login, session/token issuance and renewal, and password policy enforcement. |
| RBAC & Permissions Engine | Evaluates a user's Role and Department against each request to grant or deny access. |
| File Storage Engine | Manages object storage, chunked/resumable uploads, and file version retention. |
| Workflow Engine | State machine that drives My Workflows and Approvals — stage transitions, routing, notifications. |
| Search & Indexing Service | Maintains a search index over document content and metadata for Deep Search. |
| Audit Logging Service | Appends an immutable event record for every create/read/update/delete/approve action. |
| Notification & Reminder Service | Runs scheduled jobs and dispatches email/SMS/push notifications for Reminder and Tasks. |
| Reporting Engine | Aggregates data and generates the outputs shown in the Reports module. |
| Task & Ticket Queue Backend | Manages assignment, status transitions and SLAs for Tasks and Support Tickets. |
| Document Expiry & Archive Jobs | Scheduled jobs that flag expired documents and move closed records to Archive. |
| Admin/User Management API | Backend logic behind Users, Clients and Departments administration. |
| Security Layer | Encryption at rest and in transit, input validation, and rate limiting across the API. |
| Backup & Disaster Recovery | Automated backup jobs, retention policy, and documented restore/failover procedure. |
| Server & Infrastructure | Provisioning, environment configuration, and the CI/CD deployment pipeline. |
Data Model Overview
The core entities managed by the system are summarized below. Relationships between them — e.g. a Document belonging to a Department, or an Approval referencing a Workflow — are enforced at the database and API layers.
| Entity | Description |
|---|---|
| User | An individual account with a Role and Department; owns and interacts with documents. |
| Document | A file record with metadata, current status, version history, and category tags. |
| Document Version | A point-in-time snapshot of a Document, created on each edit or re-upload. |
| Category | A classification label used to organize and filter Documents. |
| Workflow | A defined sequence of stages a Document moves through (e.g. review, approve, archive). |
| Approval | A decision record (approve/reject + comment) tied to a Document and a specific approver. |
| Department | An organizational grouping of Users and, by extension, the Documents they manage. |
| Client | An external party record linked to one or more Documents. |
| Task | A standalone unit of work assigned to a User, with a due date and status. |
| Support Ticket | A logged issue raised by a User and tracked through to resolution. |
| Role | A named permission set (e.g. Admin, Editor, Viewer) assigned to Users. |
| Audit Event | An immutable log entry recording an action, actor, target, and timestamp. |
Roles & Permissions
Access is controlled through the Roles module. The matrix below summarizes default permission levels for the three standard roles; custom roles can be defined with more granular permissions.
| Module Area | Admin | Users | Clients |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dashboard / Recent Activity / Reminder | View | View | View |
| All Documents / Deep Search / Archive | Full | View + Upload | View only |
| Bulk Document Upload / File Request | Full | Full | View + Upload (own) |
| My Workflows / Approvals | Full | Participate | — |
| Document Categories / Roles / Departments | Full | — | — |
| Documents Audit Trail | Full | — | — |
| Tasks / Support Tickets | Full | Full (own items) | View (own items) |
| Reports | Full | Limited | — |
| Users / Clients | Full | View | — |
"Full" indicates create/read/update/delete access; "View" indicates read-only access; "—" indicates no access by default.
Glossary
- Workflow
- A defined sequence of stages a document passes through.
- Approval
- A decision (approve/reject) recorded against a document at a workflow stage.
- RBAC
- Role-Based Access Control, restricting actions based on assigned Role.
- Audit Trail
- The immutable log of actions taken within the system.
- Archive
- Read-only long-term storage for closed-out documents.