This section discusses the versioning system used for knowledge bases, authoritative documents, cross-references, mappings between controls and requirements, and surveys, including its effects on the relationships these objects have with each other. This information is important to understand and take into account before you begin creating or modifying content.
Versioning in the system means that modifications made to a knowledge base, for example, do not overwrite existing content. Instead, the original knowledge base is kept as version 1.0 and a second version of the same knowledge base is published and available for use. If only minor modifications were made, the new version number may be 1.1, whereas if the knowledge base was edited extensively, the new version number may be 2.0. Once version 2.0 is published, it will not be possible to publish a version 1.2 or any other version number lower than the latest published version.
What must be considered before publishing new versions are the associations existing versions may have with other objects. Risk surveys are associated with knowledge bases; compliance surveys are associated with authoritative documents; and so on. These associations are very important, since it is through them that the system is able to make inferences when consolidating metrics or when deciding which survey should be used when certain requirements are selected in the scope of a compliance project, for example.