Copying objects with associated documents have different outcomes, depending on whether your system is configured for shallow copy or deep copy functionality.

When an object is copied with a shallow copy system configuration, the new copy references the document with the same relationship as the original. For example, if the original product has two Reference document associations, and one Described By document association, links are copied to those documents in the same way.

When an object is copied with a deep copy system configuration, the system creates new versions of the source documents, and associates them in the same way as the original object associations. For example, you have product M341 with a reference document at version C, and want to copy that product to create a new product with a deep copy system configuration. The system copies the product, and create a new reference document with a version value of A.

For Reference document, deep copy uses the content from the latest version iteration. For Described By documents, the system uses the content from the specified version when creating the copy.

To enable deep copy functionality, set these property settings to true:

When versioned documents are copied to the clipboard, they retain the association and version detail and that is visible in the clipboard. You cannot copy documents if you do not have access permissions for those documents. When the document is pasted, it retains the association type of Reference document or Described By document.

When mass copying documents, you can choose which product documents to copy. You are prompted for which documents you wish to copy. For example, if you want all product documents, but only the reference documents for colorways, you can specify those options.