Manage Imports tool (FileScan Bridge)
The Manage Import Tool is provided as an interface between scanning software and FileHold. It is also known as the FileScan Bridge. In addition to providing an interface to scanning software it can also be used to import documents from Outlook watched folders, exported from FileHold, import documents from legacy document management systems, or just about any source that can describe what to import as XML.
You should consider using the Automatic Document Importation (ADI) tool if you will be importing over 5000 files at one time.
Manage Imports is controlled by import profiles defined by users with a library administration role or higher. An import profile contains the import name, description, location of the import files, job automation settings, map the metadata fields as needed, optionally perform database lookups for metadata field values, and set the filing location directly or indirectly. Import profiles are local to the workstation where they are created, but they can be copied to other workstations.
All users with a document publisher role or higher can operate Manage Imports when import profiles have been created.
- Documents from scanning application - Use the Manage Imports tool to bring scanned documents via an XML import file into FileHold in the FileHold Desktop Application (FDA). Once files have been scanned they can be imported automatically into the document management system along with any mapped metadata fields.
- Documents that were exported from a FileHold system in a compatible XML format - Use the Manage Imports tool to import documents into the document management system that were exported using the Export function or using the FileHold Instrumentation Tool. This is useful when exporting and importing documents between a demo and production systems.
- Using Manage Imports to transfer files from another system - Manage Imports can be used when transferring data from other systems. These can be document management systems based on shared folders, third party applications, or just about anywhere. The key to importing data will be to stage it appropriately. Manage Imports works based on a description of what to do in an XML file and it copies documents into the repository from the file system.
You can have as many import profiles as needed and use any combination of the source types above. The watched folder option in Manage Imports is a powerful technique to import documents in the background. Care should be taken to ensure that the number of imports and the volume of documents is suitable for the performance of the workstation and network where the FDA is installed.
When creating imports, the import format will need to be defined if the import format in the user preferences has been set to “Both”. Set the import format to:
- Dynamic import / Classic FileHold XML – Select this option if you are importing emails from Microsoft Outlook using the Outlook Watched Folder feature, of if you are importing documents that were exported from another FileHold system.
- Capture / FileHold XML – Select this option if you are importing documents from the SmartSoft Capture scanning software.
If you are using the “Both” option in the user preferences, ensure that folder you select for the import profile contains only one type of XML files. The rule also applied for any of its subfolders. Capture and classic XML files cannot co-exist in the same folder tree.
The following links will provide information on how to create the descriptive XML file or setup auto-filing needed for Manage Imports.
Add documents using dynamic import option
Add documents using manage imports
Importing Microsoft Office Documents into FileHold with Metadata
Migrating a Folder Based Document Repository to FileHold