The review status black hole
Document controllers need to know which files have been approved, rejected, or are still under review. In Forma, this information is buried per-file — there is no way to export a consolidated view. Teams end up maintaining manual trackers in SharePoint or Excel, cross-referencing Forma reviews one at a time. The tracker is out of date before it is finished.
One file at a time
Forma shows review status per file. For 500 files, that is 500 clicks.
No consolidated view
No built-in report showing approval status across a folder or project.
Trackers go stale
Manual spreadsheets fall out of sync within hours of being created.
How Foreman pulls review and approval status
Enabling the "Review Status" toggle in your attribute extract adds two columns automatically:
- Approval Status — the outcome of the review: Approved, Rejected, Pending, and so on.
- Review Status — the review state itself: OPEN, CLOSED, etc.
These values are pulled directly from the Forma review workflow API. Here is what the output looks like:
| File Name | Version | Approval Status | Review Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| ARCH-TWS-XX-ZZ-DR-A-0001.pdf | 4 | Approved | CLOSED |
| STRU-TWS-XX-ZZ-DR-S-0042.pdf | 2 | Rejected | OPEN |
| MEP-TWS-XX-ZZ-DR-M-0103.pdf | 1 | Pending | OPEN |
| ARCH-TWS-XX-ZZ-SP-A-0010.pdf | 3 | — | — |
Files without reviews
Files that have never been part of a review show empty values for both columns. When a file has been through multiple reviews, Foreman picks the most recent one (highest sequence number) so the report always reflects the latest state.
Real-world scenarios
Review status data becomes far more valuable when combined with scheduling and filtering. Here are three patterns teams use in practice.
Weekly approval status report
A document controller on a rail infrastructure project needs to report which design packages have been approved. They configure an extract with: File Name, Folder Path, Version, Approval Status, Review Status, and Modified Date. Scheduled weekly on Mondays. The report lands in their inbox — they filter for "Rejected" or "OPEN" to follow up with the relevant discipline leads.
Stage gate readiness check
Before a design milestone, the project manager needs evidence that all files in the "For Approval" folder are approved. They run a one-off extract with Review Status enabled, filter the output for anything not "Approved", and share the exceptions list with the design team. The milestone meeting has a concrete, auditable input instead of verbal assurances.
Compliance audit trail
Schedule a monthly extract of all files with approval status, custom attributes (Suitability, Discipline), and Modified Date. Save each month's export. Over time, this creates a versioned audit trail showing when approvals happened and what changed between reports — exactly the kind of evidence an appointing party expects at handover.
Combining with other attributes
Review status is most useful when it appears alongside the rest of your file metadata. A single extract can combine standard attributes, custom classification fields, and review data into one report. Here is an example column configuration that gives a complete picture:
Example column configuration
This gives you a single report combining file metadata, custom classification, and review status. The Forma URL column links directly back to the file in Forma for quick access.
Performance considerations
Expect longer extracts for large folders
Fetching review status requires one API call per file. For large folders (1000+ files), expect the extract to take longer than a metadata-only run. The progress dialog shows a dedicated "Fetching review statuses" phase so you can see exactly where the process is. For recurring reports, schedule during off-peak hours to avoid impacting other workflows.
Key takeaway
Review and approval status was trapped inside Forma's per-file UI. With Foreman's Review Status toggle, it becomes just another column in your extract — alongside file names, dates, custom attributes, and everything else. Schedule it weekly and your approval tracker stays current without anyone touching a spreadsheet.