July 24 2018: Update - This feature is currently deprecated. Tags now inherently have a family tagging option. This article is being maintained for informational purposes only. The tag propagation check feature may be re-introduced in the future as part of quality control workflow for Productions



What is tag propagation?


When you upload emails and compressed files like ZIP files to GoldFynch, data (like attachments, or zipped files) are automatically extracted from them and made viewable and searchable. The file from which the information is extracted is known as the 'parent,' and a file that is extracted from the parent is referred to as a 'child.' 


GoldFynch lets you quickly check whether the tags you have assigned to files are applied to other files in their families (i.e., for parent files to their children, and vice versa) and also helps you quickly add tags in where appropriate. This process is known as 'tag propagation,' and helps to make sure the right files are tagged so they can be included (and excluded) from your document review and productions.


Extracting files

Once a compressed file is uploaded to and processed by GoldFynch, a new folder is created alongside the parent file which contains its extracted children. This folder also shares the parent file's name (to indicate that they were extracted from it).


Information about extracted files from the Files view


If you upload an email named 'test.eml' that has two attachments 'file1.pdf' and 'file2.jpg', they are extracted into a directory named test.eml (same as the original email) that contains the files file1.pdf and file2.jpg.


NOTE: If a ZIP file contains folders within folders, these will all be extracted, keeping the folder structure from within the ZIP file intact. In this case, the 'parent' will be the original ZIP file, and all files within it will be child files to it. 


There are two types of warnings that GoldFynch gives you:

  1. Child-to-parent: This warning is shown when an extracted file has a tag, but the parent does not
  2. Parent-to-child: This warning is generated when a parent file is tagged, but the files that have been extracted from it are not

Running a check for tagging issues and inconsistencies


1. Navigate to the 'Tags' view in the left pane

Navigate to the Tabs view

2. Click on the 'check family tag propagation' button coinciding with the tag that you want to run the check for. Once clicked, if there are any potential issues, they will be displayed, as highlighted below. The warnings give you the names and directory paths of both parent and child files that are in conflict


Click the Check Family Tag Propagation button


The file 'file1.pdf' was originally extracted from the email 'test.eml,' but only file1.pdf was tagged as CONFIDENTIAL. So now running a family tag propagation check highlights that test.eml is not tagged.


Tag propagation warnings


Here, the file test.eml is tagged CONFIDENTIAL but its attachments file1.pdf and file2.jpg are not, so a parent-to-child warning is raised


3. Choose one of the 'fix' buttons, depending on which files you want to tag. To fix a single warning's issue, click on that specific warning's fix button


4. Click on the "Apply Fixes" button


Resolve tag propagation warnings


Fixing child-to-parent issues

    There are two options available when fixing child-to-parent issues:

  1. Fix just the parent file: The tag is added to only the file that the child was extracted from, and not any other files in the family
  2. Fix the parent along with the entire family: The parent file, along with all files extracted from it are tagged. If there are folders within the extracted file(s), all sub-files will also be tagged


Tagged child files


The file structure above shows that test.eml contains one file that is tagged and one that is not. Thus, selecting the 'Also tag all of parent's attachments/children as well' option in the 'Fix tag propagation warnings' screen affects 2 files (the parent, and the untagged child)


Fixing parent-to-child issues

While fixing parent-to-child issues, you are given the option to tag all files in the parent file's family (i.e. every file that was extracted from the parent file)

Fixing parent-to-child tag propagation issues


For the above image, test.eml was tagged, and both its attachments were untagged - thus parent-to-child tag propagation would affect them both.


NOTE: The 'Fix all child to parent issues', 'Fix all parent to child issues', and the 'Fix all issues' buttons can be used to quickly resolve all tag propagation issues for a specific tag.


Things to note about tag propagation: 

  • To reduce clutter, child-to-parent warnings are only raised once per parent file. i.e. if file1.pdf and file2.jpg are both tagged, but test.eml is not, only one child-to-parent warning will be raised
  • After resolving any warnings, new warnings may have been generated due to files that are now tagged. It is a good idea to perform a second test after changes are made. For example, if only the parent file is fixed using child-to-parent tag propagation and there are any other untagged files in its family, a new tag propagation check will bring up parent-to-child warnings for each of those untagged files
  • Remember, family tag propagation checks & warnings are just tools to help you manage your tags. GoldFynch flags situations where extracted files and their parents aren't tagged the same way, but that doesn't mean that they should be - that's up to you!