Checks before an export goes out

Before an export goes out, RedactBox checks it against the redactions you have already made in the project. If an item in the export still contains a word you redacted somewhere else, the export is held until you redact it or choose to export anyway. After the export, the export card lists anything you should look at before you send the ZIP.

The check looks for words you have already redacted. It cannot find a name nobody has redacted yet. For that, use Possibly missed redactions before you export.

Where the check runs

Open the Export step (or press Shift+3) and pick what to export. The Redaction check section of the Export plan runs again every time you change the selection. While it works it reads Checking for text you redacted elsewhere…

When nothing is left, it reads Nothing you redacted elsewhere is left unredacted in these items. and you can start the export as usual.

When an export is held

The check looks for every term the project has redacted with Search & Redact, a word list or People and identifiers. If an item in the export holds one of those terms without a redaction, the section says how many items and which terms, for example 12 items still contain text you redacted elsewhere: Penwick. Each term is listed with its item count. The button at the foot of the panel reads Export held.

You have three ways on:

1. Redact in these items. Adds a redaction for every listed term to the held items, the same redaction Search & Redact would have made. The check then runs again. Only editors can do this; anyone else sees Only editors can redact. Ask an editor of this project.

2. Review. Opens the list of items under each term, by subject, so you can see what would have gone out. Hide items closes it again.

3. Export anyway. Tick it to export without redacting. The audit trail records that this export was made with these items unredacted, and Audit Logs shows the export with the number of items and the terms.

If the check could not finish (a very large project, or a moment's outage), it says so and offers Check again. An item too long to check also holds the export. RedactBox never treats a check it could not finish as clear.

Notes that do not hold the export

• Other spellings. A case-sensitive term found in another case ("MAISIE" for "Maisie"). Those redactions only match the exact case.

• Text you redacted by hand elsewhere that appears here unredacted. A hand-made redaction covers one place, so this is for you to judge.

• Not checked. Spreadsheets with cell redactions, and attached files that have not been converted or cannot be read. Open them to confirm. When anything was not checked, the clear message says in the items we could check.

Words that follow approvals

A Search & Redact run with Approved items only covers the items approved at that moment. What happens to items approved later is a project setting, After you redact a word with Search & Redact:

• Also redact it in items as they're approved (the default). The word is redacted as each item is approved, and the person approving sees, for example, Maisie redacted in 12 newly approved items. Undo in Tools › Redactions.

• Ask me first. The person approving sees 12 of these contain words you've redacted and chooses Redact them or Approve without.

Either way, the export check still holds anything left unredacted. Search & Redact also tells you how many unapproved items hold the word (· also in 4 items not yet approved). See Search & Redact.

Warnings that never block

• Files still being prepared. "3 attached files are still being prepared. They are not in this export until they are ready." The line goes once they are ready.

• Files held back. Pictures and scans with no text to search wait until someone checks them in Tools › Attachments and keeps them.

• Names not hidden. If Redact names in exports is off in the project's settings, the panel says Names in this export won't be redacted. Change in Settings. It is off by default, so you will see this on most exports.

• Attached files not included. If Include attached files in exports is off, the panel says Attached files aren't included in this project's exports. Only the messages go out. A new project has it on; a project created before attached files arrived has it off until the owner turns it on in Project settings.

What else stops an export

• A bulk redaction still running. The button reads Bulk redaction in progress… until it finishes.

• A redaction RedactBox cannot place for certain. That document is not sent with a guess. It is counted as a document that could not be produced, and the summary inside the ZIP names it.

• A document too long to export with redactions. A very long document is left out the same way, with a reason that ends Split it into smaller files, redact those and export again. See Attached files RedactBox can't open.

After the export: what the card tells you

When the export finishes, the Last export card on the Export screen adds up to three notes.

Check N pages in M documents by eye. On these pages a redaction box could not be matched to the printed text, usually a scan or a document whose text layer does not line up with the print. The box was drawn at least as large as RedactBox has always drawn it. Each document is listed with its pages and the reason. Open those pages in the ZIP and look before you share.

N attached files are not in this export. Open it to see each file, the message it came with, grouped by the reason. These names are listed only for you: the ZIP gives the number but not the names, because a file name can itself be personal data. The reasons are in the table at the end.

Redactions changed while this export was being made. Shown on the export's card in the Tasks tray when a colleague added, removed or changed a redaction during the export. Export again to include the changes.

Example: a held export on a school SAR

1. Early on, you redacted "Penwick" (a member of staff) with Search & Redact, on approved items only. The project is set to Ask me first.

2. On Friday a colleague approved 12 more messages and chose Approve without.

3. On Monday you open Export. The check reads 12 items still contain text you redacted elsewhere: Penwick.

4. Click Review. All 12 are staff bulletins where her name should be withheld, so click Redact in these items. The check clears.

5. Start the export. The card says 1 attached file is not in it: Needs a password, so RedactBox could not open it. Unlock it and export again, or tell the requester it is outstanding.

Common reasons an attached file is not in an export