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Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture for applying multiple disposition schedules to documents. A file plan includes a plurality of containers, wherein each container is capable of providing management information for documents. A plurality of disposition schedules are defined, w

Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture for applying multiple disposition schedules to documents. A file plan includes a plurality of containers, wherein each container is capable of providing management information for documents. A plurality of disposition schedules are defined, wherein each disposition schedule provides rules to use to determine documents in the file plan to dispose. At least two of the plurality of disposition schedules in the file plan are applied to one document in the file plan to determine whether to dispose of the document.

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What is claimed is: 1. A method, comprising: providing a file plan including a plurality of containers including a first and second containers, wherein the first and second containers provide management information for documents, and wherein the containers are arranged in a hierarchical relationshi

What is claimed is: 1. A method, comprising: providing a file plan including a plurality of containers including a first and second containers, wherein the first and second containers provide management information for documents, and wherein the containers are arranged in a hierarchical relationship, wherein a plurality of containers are arranged in a hierarchy defining containers as descendants and ancestors of each other, and wherein the first container is a descendant of the second container in the hierarchical relationship; defining a plurality of disposition schedules for the first and second containers at different levels of the hierarchy, wherein each disposition schedule provides at least one disposition rule to use to determine when to dispose of a document assigned to the first container in the file plan to which the disposition schedule applies, and wherein the rules of the disposition schedules defined for the first and second containers are different; determining at least two disposition schedules that apply to one accessed document, wherein a first of the determined disposition schedules is defined in information for the first container in the file plan providing management information for the accessed document and wherein a second of the determined disposition schedules is defined in the information for the second container; and applying the determined at least two disposition schedules in the file plan from the first and second containers to document metadata for the accessed document in the file plan assigned to the first container to determine whether to dispose of the accessed document by performing: applying at least one disposition schedule from the container to which the document whose document metadata is being considered is assigned; and applying at least one disposition schedule from each container having at least one disposition schedule and that is an ancestor to the container to which the document is assigned. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein applying each disposition schedule comprises processing the rules of the disposition schedule and document metadata to determine whether the disposition schedule rules are satisfied, wherein the document whose metadata is processed is disposed of only if all the applied disposition schedules are satisfied. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein document metadata is included within the document or included in a record information object representing the document. 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: defining multiple disposition schedules for one container, wherein applying the at least two disposition schedules comprises applying the multiple disposition schedules defined for one container to the document assigned to the container. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein record information objects represent documents, wherein document metadata for one document is stored in the record information object representing the document, and wherein a document is assigned to one container by including the record information object in the container. 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising, for each document in the file plan: setting a flag indicating whether to apply disposition schedules from ancestor containers; and applying the at least one disposition schedule defined for the first container to which the document is assigned and not applying the at least one disposition schedule for the second container in response to the flag indicating to not apply disposition schedules from the ancestor containers, and wherein the at least one disposition schedule defined for each container having at least one disposition schedule and that is an ancestor to the container to which the document is assigned, including the second container, is applied in response to the flag indicating to apply disposition schedules from the ancestor containers. 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: defining at least one disposition schedule for one document, wherein applying the at least two of the disposition schedules in the file plan further comprises applying the disposition schedule defined for the document. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein multiple disposition schedules that apply to one record information object provide different disposition schedule rules, wherein the rules of one disposition schedule provide criteria for document metadata comprising at least one of a type of the document and content of the document. 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: invoking an application as part of applying the at least two disposition schedules, wherein output from the invoked application is used to determine whether to dispose of the document. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the invoked application processes document metadata to produce the output. 11. A system, comprising: a processor; a file plan including a plurality of containers including a first and second containers, wherein the first and second containers provide management information for documents, and wherein the containers are arranged in a hierarchical relationship, wherein a plurality of containers are arranged in a hierarchy defining containers as descendants and ancestors of each other, and wherein the first container is a descendant of the second container in the hierarchical relationship; a records manager executed by the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising: defining a plurality of disposition schedules for the first and second containers at different levels of the hierarchy, wherein each disposition schedule provides at least one disposition rule to use to determine when to dispose of a document assigned to the first container in the file plan to which the disposition schedule applies, and wherein the rules of the disposition schedules defined for the first and second containers are different; determining at least two disposition schedules that apply to one accessed document, wherein a first of the determined disposition schedules is defined in information for the first container in the file plan providing management information for the accessed document and wherein a second of the determined disposition schedules is defined in the information for the second container; and applying the determined at least two disposition schedules in the file plan from the first and second containers to document metadata for the accessed document in the file plan assigned to the first container to determine whether to dispose of the accessed document by performing: applying at least one determined disposition schedule from the first container to which the document whose document metadata is being considered is assigned; and applying at least one determined disposition schedule from each container having at least one disposition schedule and that is an ancestor to the container to which the document is assigned, including the second container. 12. The system of claim 11, wherein applying each disposition schedule comprises processing the rules of the disposition schedule and document metadata to determine whether the disposition schedule rules are satisfied, wherein the document whose metadata is processed is disposed of only if all the applied disposition schedules are satisfied. 13. The system of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise: defining multiple disposition schedules for one container, wherein applying the at least two disposition schedules comprises applying the multiple disposition schedules defined for one container to the document assigned to the container. 14. The system of claim 11, wherein the operations further perform for each document in the file plan: setting a flag indicating whether to apply disposition schedules from ancestor containers; and applying the at least one disposition schedule defined for the first container to which the document is assigned and not applying the at least one disposition schedule for the second container in response to the flag indicating to not apply disposition schedules from the ancestor containers, and wherein the at least one disposition schedule defined for each container having at least one disposition schedule and that is an ancestor to the container to which the document is assigned, including the second container, is applied in response to the flag indicating to apply disposition schedules from the ancestor containers. 15. The system of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise: defining at least one disposition schedule for one document, wherein applying the at least two of the disposition schedules in the file plan further comprises applying the disposition schedule defined for the document. 16. The system of claim 11, further comprising: invoking an application as part of applying the at least two disposition schedules, wherein output from the invoked application is used to determine whether to dispose of the document. 17. An article of manufacture comprising a computer readable storage medium implementing code for records management operations, wherein the code causes operations to be performed, the operations comprising: providing a file plan including a plurality of containers including a first and second containers, wherein the first and second containers provide management information for documents, and wherein the containers are arranged in a hierarchical relationship, wherein a plurality of containers are arranged in a hierarchy defining containers as descendants and ancestors of each other, and wherein the first container is a descendant of the second container in the hierarchical relationship; defining a plurality of disposition schedules for the first and second containers at different levels of the hierarchy, wherein each disposition schedule provides at least one disposition rule to use to determine when to dispose of a document assigned to the first container in the file plan to which the disposition schedule applies, and wherein the rules of the disposition schedules defined for the first and second containers are different; determining at least two disposition schedules that apply to one accessed document, wherein a first of the determined disposition schedules is defined in information for the first container in the file plan providing management information for the accessed document and wherein a second of the determined disposition schedules is defined in the information for the second container; and applying the determined at least two of the disposition schedules in the file plan from the first and second containers to document metadata for the accessed document in the file plan assigned to the first container to determine whether to dispose of the accessed document by performing: applying at least one determined disposition schedule from the first container to which the document whose document metadata is being considered is assigned; and applying at least one determined disposition schedule from each container having at least one disposition schedule and that is an ancestor to the container to which the document is assigned, including the second container. 18. The article of manufacture of claim 17, wherein applying each disposition schedule comprises processing the rules of the disposition schedule and document metadata to determine whether the disposition schedule rules are satisfied, wherein the document whose metadata is processed is disposed of only if all the applied disposition schedules are satisfied. 19. The article of manufacture of claim 18, wherein document metadata is included within the document or included in a record information object representing the document. 20. The article of manufacture of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise: defining multiple disposition schedules for one container, wherein applying the at least two disposition schedules comprises applying the multiple disposition schedules defined for one container to the document assigned to the container. 21. The article of manufacture of claim 17, wherein record information objects represent documents, wherein document metadata for one document is stored in the record information object representing the document, and wherein a document is assigned to one container by including the record information object in the container. 22. The article of manufacture of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise, for each document in the file plan: setting a flag indicating whether to apply disposition schedules from ancestor containers; and applying the at least one disposition schedule defined for the first container to which the document is assigned and not applying the at least one disposition schedule for the second container in response to the flag indicating to not apply disposition schedules from the ancestor containers, and wherein the at least one disposition schedule defined for each container having at least one disposition schedule and that is an ancestor to the container to which the document is assigned, including the second container, is applied in response to the flag indicating to apply disposition schedules from the ancestor containers. 23. The article of manufacture of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise: defining at least one disposition schedule for one document, wherein applying the at least two of the disposition schedules in the file plan further comprises applying the disposition schedule defined for the document. 24. The article of manufacture of claim 17, wherein multiple disposition schedules that apply to one record information object provide different disposition schedule rules, wherein the rules of one disposition schedule provide criteria for document metadata comprising at least one of a type of the document and content of the document. 25. The article of manufacture of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise: invoking an application as part of applying the at least two disposition schedules, wherein output from the invoked application is used to determine whether to dispose of the document. 26. The article of manufacture of claim 25, wherein the invoked application processes document metadata to produce the output.