How to check a document register against a delivery folder

A document register describes the files expected in a handover. The delivery folder contains the files actually supplied. Comparing them reveals gaps and extras—but only when both sides are prepared consistently.

1. Freeze the package boundary

Choose the exact folder that represents the delivery. Decide whether subfolders form part of the package. Do not scan a working directory containing superseded copies, temporary exports and personal notes unless those files are genuinely part of the handover.

If the package is still changing, record when the check was performed and repeat it after the final files are assembled. A result is evidence about one folder state at one moment; it is not a permanent guarantee.

2. Prepare the register

Use a controlled CSV or XLSX export. Identify the worksheet, the real header row and the columns containing document number, revision and expected filename. Remove title blocks above the header only if your process permits it; otherwise select the correct header row in the checking tool.

Before matching, inspect a small preview. Confirm that accented characters, leading zeros, hyphens and file extensions appear as intended. A wrong column mapping can produce a neat but meaningless report.

3. Choose the matching rule

Use Exact Filename when the register contains the agreed complete filename. It is the strongest filename-level comparison because the whole expected name participates in the match. Use Document Number in Filename when filenames contain variable descriptive text but preserve a controlled document-number token.

4. Scan without changing source files

Select the delivery folder and include subfolders only when the package structure requires it. A read-only preflight should enumerate files without renaming, moving or deleting them. If files are stored through OneDrive, make placeholders available locally before scanning so the operating system can expose the actual items reliably.

5. Review every result class

Ready

Exactly one scanned file satisfies one register expectation. This means the filename-level rule passed; it does not certify the document’s contents.

Missing

No scanned file satisfies the expectation. Confirm whether the file was omitted, named differently, placed outside the scanned boundary or intentionally withdrawn without the register being updated.

Unexpected

A scanned file has no corresponding register expectation. It might be a readme, transmittal, superseded document, duplicate export or valid deliverable missing from the register. Classify it rather than deleting it reflexively.

Ambiguous

More than one candidate satisfies one expectation. Inspect every candidate path. Ambiguity often exposes duplicates across subfolders or filenames that reuse the same document number.

6. Resolve exceptions at the source

Correct the controlled register or delivery package according to your organisation’s procedure, then run the comparison again. Avoid editing an exported report to make the totals look clean; the report should describe the package, not replace it.

7. Preserve the evidence

Export the complete result, not only the filtered failures. Record the matching mode, register version, folder location or package identifier, whether subfolders were included and the time of the check. Keep the report with the handover evidence where your quality system requires it.

Deliverable Preflight implements this process locally on Windows and exports the complete result to CSV or XLSX. See the actual application screens or compare the two rules in Exact filename vs document-number matching.