Version 3.4 Addendum

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1 Version 3.4 Addendum

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3 Table of Contents Overview... 3 Native Documents... 3 Importing Native Documents... 4 From DocSTAR... 4 Drag and Drop... 7 Microsoft Office Integration... 8 Auto Import... 8 Working with Native Documents... 9 Filing... 9 Viewing... 9 Send To Options EPM Verification Update Utility On Top PDF Improvements Expandability for Essential Edition Administrative Changes EPM Document Exchange Native File Types Update Utility Clients WebView and Integration Agent Printing and ing Documents Code 128 Barcode Virtual Cover Sheets Version 3.4 Addendum 1

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5 Overview Version 3.4 contains major enhancements from previous versions, including the ability to store electronic documents (such as word processing files, spreadsheets, and s) in their native formats. This addendum describes each of these enhancements in terms specifically tailored to the experienced user of the prior version. More complete information on most of these features is available in the DocSTAR 3.4 Users Guide, which is installed with the client program. It can be accessed through the Windows Start menu or through DocSTAR s Help menu. Other features are described fully in the Administrator s Guide, which is also installed with the client program and is available through the Windows Start menu. Finally, those features that are specific to the optional WebView and/or Integration Agent modules are described in the respective installation guides contained on the CD provided with each of these products. Native Documents DocSTAR can now import computer files from most applications, including word processors, spreadsheets, etc. and store them in their native format. DocSTAR includes a built-in viewer so that these documents can be shared with users who don t even have the native application program. Like all documents stored in DocSTAR, native documents are protected against tampering using the AuthentiDate feature. Additionally, Version 3.4 applies the United States Postal Service (USPS) Electronic Postmark (EPM) daily to the AuthentiDate codes, as described below. In many respects, native documents are treated like non-image PDFs, which were introduced with Version 3.3. They use the same special templates, which don t allow zone OCR or barcode, but they can otherwise be treated much like any other documents. The great advantage of storing documents natively is that they can be removed from DocSTAR in their original format, and then they can be opened and edited if necessary using their native application. Of course, the original native document remains securely unalterable in DocSTAR. The modified version can be added to DocSTAR as a new document. Version 3.4 Addendum 3

6 Storing customer proposals is one application for which this feature may be useful. Let s say your company writes all of its prosposals for customers in Microsoft Word. Rather than sales reps storing these proposals only in their respective My Documents folders, every final proposal is stored in DocSTAR. Accordingly, all information related to the customer RFP s, purchase orders, specifications, and the proposal are stored in one place and can be retrieved together conveniently. Later, if there is a need to revise the proposal or generate a similar one for a new customer, the original proposal can be opened in Word from DocSTAR; it can then be modified and saved as a new document. Thus, DocSTAR 3.4 s Native Document capability allows DocSTAR to manage all of your documents not just those that originate on paper. The steps involved in storing and using Native Documents follow. Importing Native Documents There are now several methods of importing documents of any type: image, PDF, or native. From DocSTAR The Import Files command is available from the DocSTAR menu of DocSTAR s main screen. It allows any DocSTAR user to import one or more files on demand. For instance, you may receive a TIFF file or PDF file as an attachment in an . You can save it to your desktop and use this method to import it into DocSTAR. 4 Version 3.4 Addendum

7 Choosing it opens this window. You may select one or more files of almost any type from anywhere on your PC or network. After you ve selected files, click Open. If all file types are supported by DocSTAR, then the Import Files dialog appears. (See Unsupported Files, below.) Version 3.4 Addendum 5

8 The names and types of the files you ve selected appear in a list. Note that DocSTAR detects the type of each file, and image only PDF s are distinquished from non-image PDF s. This is because different templates are applied to each. You may select files one at a time, in groups, or all at once. The following options will apply to your selection when you click Import. Title Keywords Security Classification Image Template Native Template Folder Filing Options You may set a document s title if only one document is selected. Otherwise, each document s title will be derived from its file name. Sets keywords for all selected documents. Sets security class for all selected documents. Selects the template for any image files (including image PDFs) among the selected files. Has no effect on native documents or other PDFs. Selects the template for any selected non-image PDFs and native file types. Optionally, places imported documents into the folder you specify. Imported documents always go into the Inbox, but selecting File Manually or File Automatically launches the respective filing process as soon as the Import Files dialog closes. When you ve imported all of the files, the dialog closes. Until then, it stays open showing any files that remain to be imported. If you click Close, the remaining files are not imported. Unsupported Files There are some file types that DocSTAR cannot import. Others may be disabled by your system administrator. Attempting to import any such files will result in a message as shown below. 6 Version 3.4 Addendum

9 You have the option of ing a report of unsupported files to DocSTAR, and we may be able to add support for these files to a future version. File types disabled by your system administrator cannot be reported via you ll have to take that up with the system administrator yourself. Drag and Drop Files can also be imported at any workstation on which DocSTAR is installed simply by dropping them on the DocSTAR program icon on the Windows Desktop. This can be done whether or not the DocSTAR application is currently running. First, open the folder containing the desired file(s). Position the folder on your desktop it so that you can see the DocSTAR icon. Select one or more files and drag them onto the DocSTAR icon and release the mouse button. The Import Files dialog appears, just as though you had gone through the DocSTAR->Import Files menu item and selected them. Note that drag-and-drop importing is not possible during autofiling, scanning, and other intensive DocSTAR client processes. Version 3.4 Addendum 7

10 Microsoft Office Integration Installation of DocSTAR 3.4 automatically adds a special toolbar to three popular Microsoft Office applications: Outlook, Word, and Excel. It contains a single button, which is used to immediately file the current document (or message) in DocSTAR. If any edits had been made to the document since the last time it was saved, you will be prompted to save them when you click this button. You must save any changes before importing the document. Then, if the DocSTAR program is running and is idle (at the Main Window) the usual Import Files Window is displayed. If DocSTAR is not running, it is automatically launched and then the Import Files Window is displayed. Note: if DocSTAR is running, but is not idle, the Import File Window will not be displayed until all other DocSTAR windows are closed. You may choose to file the document immediately using Manual or Automatic mode, or you can leave it in the Inbox to file later. As with all native files, documents imported from these Office applications are displayed automatically within DocSTAR. However, it may be necessary to open the document in the native Office application for full functionality. For instance, an Excel worksheet with multiple sheets or an message with attachments would need to be opened in Excel or Outlook, respectively, to see the additional sheets or the attachments. Auto Import Auto import automatically imports files as they are placed in any one of the designated import directories on your network. It supports images, such 8 Version 3.4 Addendum

11 as those scanned by a digital copier, and native documents that are moved or copied into a designated import directory.. The digital copier (or other device) is configured to save files to one of DocSTAR s import directories. Any documents scanned automatically appear in the DocSTAR Inbox within a couple of minutes. Auto import is configured through the DocSTAR Admin program and is described in the DocSTAR Administrator s Guide. Working with Native Documents Native documents are handled like other documents in most respects. A single search can yield a mix of native, PDF, and image documents and all can be mixed in the same folder. However, there are some aspects of native documents that make them unique. Filing Native documents are filed with a special type of template. In version 3.3, there was a non-image PDF template, but this has now been generalized to support non-image PDF and native documents and is called a native template. OCR and barcode recognition are not available for native templates. However, there is an extract text action available, which captures all text in the document accurately (without using OCR). This action should be used (with a destination of Document Text) if full text searching is desired. Note that the Page Options, Scan Append, and Merge commands cannot be applied to native documents. Viewing One difference you will observe when viewing a native document is that the page navigation controls are not present. Instead, simply use the scroll bar(s) to see more of the document. Another difference is the absence of annotation controls. Native documents cannot be annotated. But the big difference is the addition of the Open Document button. When you click this, you will be prompted to save a copy of the document to any location: your desktop, a local hard disk, or somewhere on your network. Version 3.4 Addendum 9

12 Thus, the document stored in DocSTAR remains unalterable while you are free to do anything you wish with the copy you extract. If you wish to save changes you ve made back into DocSTAR, re-import the document using any of the methods described above. The original and modified documents will each be stored and retrieval, and each will be protected by DocSTAR s AuthentiDate and EPM mechanism. Note: DocSTAR s rendering of native documents may not be 100% accurate for complex documents, such as word processing files with embedded pictures and tables. Use the Open Document button to launch the native application for the most accurate viewing and printing. Send To Options There are now more options available when sending documents in an or saving them as files. Send Document(s) As Native PDF TIF This selection determines the format(s) of the sent file(s). The specific settings are described below. As a general guideline, PDF is a good format for widespread readability without the ability to easily edit. TIF is also not easily editable and can be read by many users. Native documents should be distributed when you know the recipient has the native application and may wish to use it to open and perhaps modify the document(s). This setting will each native document in its respective native format. This choice is only available when sending each document in its own file and when there is at least one native document present. If any image documents are present, a secondary selection allows you to choose whether they are sent as PDF or TIF. This will convert each document into a PDF or combine all documents into a single PDF, depending on the Documents Per File selection. Converts each document into its own PDF or combines all documents into a single PDF, as above. 10 Version 3.4 Addendum

13 EPM The AuthentiDate feature built into DocSTAR since version 2.3 guards documents against undetected alteration, but version 3.4 brings this to a whole new level of security. Each day, DocSTAR applies the US Postal Service s Electronic Post Mark (EPM) to the collective AuthentiDate codes of all documents filed that day. Even if someone were to crack the AuthentiDate process within DocSTAR, the EPM would detect that the system had been tampered with on that particular day. Accordingly, authenticity is doubly protected and backed by the US Postal Service and federal laws. Note: This service requires that the DocSTAR server has an Internet connection and that it is licensed to use the EPM service (see the Administrator s Guide). Verification Short documents are verified automatically using the locally stored AuthentiDate codes and EPM receipt. Successful verification is shown in blue in the document information area. Longer documents are not initially verified because this may take several seconds. (The definition of exactly how long is long is set by in the Administrator s program.) Clicking on the Verify AuthentiDate button to verify a long document or to display more details on any document. Any missing tags are reported. Missing tags will be common for documents from older versions of DocSTAR or which are still in the Review Box. See Version 3.4 Addendum 11

14 the Administrator's Guide for instructions on Adding Tags to documents from prior versions. Any date variation among the pages of a multipage image is reported; this isn t necessarily a problem it is just the result of scanning and appending pages to a document that has already been filed. The AuthentiDate info for individual pages can be seen by choosing Data Screen view mode as described in Chapter 3 of the Users Guide. Note: Any alteration (or corruption) of the document or its AuthentiDate or EPM information is reported in red! Additional assurance of document authenticity is available by pressing the Verify Remote EPM button. This will check the EPM receipt stored locally with the USPS server. Update Utility DocSTAR s Update system is used to change the title, keywords, or custom fields of many documents at once. For instance, if a client of yours a company were to change its name as the result of a merger, then you would make the corresponding change in your accounting system or CRM software or other applications you use. However, the old name may be found in the keywords of hundreds of documents, which would otherwise have to be updated one-by-one. With this new mechanism, an update can be run, which would change all occurrences of the old name to the new name in one step. 12 Version 3.4 Addendum

15 Updates are prepared by your system administrator, or may be installed as part of a customization project or application-specific integration. There may be many different updates, which can be run, in your system: one for client name changes, one for employee name changes, etc. Updates are run from the Updates command in the File menu of the DocSTAR main window. When running an update, you are prompted to enter one or more parameters, which vary for each update. There is then a confirmation step, in which DocSTAR tells you how many records are about to change. The changes are only made permanent if you confirm them. Warning: Updates are very powerful, and can easily do irreparable harm to your database. You may be forced to restore data from a backup, losing most of a day of work or more, if your backup is not up to date. Due to their powerful and dangerous nature, updates may be restricted to the system administrator. They are fully described in the Administrator s Guide. Your administrator should provide site-specific documentation to you if there are any updates, which you are allowed to and expected to run. On Top The DocSTAR Manual File and View windows now have the ability to be pinned on top of other applications. This allows you to keep a DocSTAR document visible as you perform data entry or verification in another program. This avoids the hassle of having to flip back and forth (using the mouse or Alt+Tab key) between DocSTAR and the other application. On Top mode is activated by clicking the pin tool in the toolbar or selecting it through the View menu. When this mode is activated, the DocSTAR window automatically adjusts to half screen size and remains visible even when another application is active. Clicking the pin again returns DocSTAR to its normal mode. PDF Improvements The Adobe Reader is no longer needed for viewing PDF files. This allows PDFs to be annotated and makes PDF viewing more consistent with the viewing of scanned documents. The same zoom, annotation, and page Version 3.4 Addendum 13

16 navigation controls you use for image documents now operate on all PDF files. On the other hand, the Rescan, Scan Append, and Page Options commands are still not available with PDF files. Expandability for Essential Edition Under version 3.3, the DocSTAR Essential Edition was severely limited in terms of inherent features, number of users, and available add-on modules. Expansion beyond these limits required upgrading to the Workgroup model. These limits have been lifted by version 3.4. Essential Edition systems can now add users and any of the modules available for other systems, except as limited by operating system or hardware platform. Accordingly, the symbol, which appeared in the version 3.3 User s Guide, is no longer present. In many cases, it has been replaced with this symbol,, indicating that the corresponding feature is available through an optional module. Administrative Changes The following changes fall within the purview of the system administrator and are fully documented in the Administrator s Guide. EPM As described above, the EPM is applied to DocSTAR s AuthentiDate codes each day to confirm that no tampering has been attempted to falsify the content of a document. Each EPM is stored by the USPS for seven years to provide third party verification of document integrity. 14 Version 3.4 Addendum

17 There is a service fee for use of the EPM, but this is typically included with SoftCare, your annual DocSTAR software maintenance plan. The View Licenses button will show the number of days of EPM service used and left. EPM licenses can be replenished by your DocSTAR service provider. Document Exchange Note: As of Version 3.4, Attaché is the preferred mechanism to export all types of DocSTAR documents with all of their filing information, including custom fields. The export mechanism described as Document Exchange is a legacy feature for compatibility with older versions of DocSTAR. It does not support PDF, native, or COLD documents nor does it support custom fields. Furthermore, it relies on document tags to exchange document titles and keywords along with the images. Native File Types DocSTAR can import over 150 different file types, but that doesn t mean that you, as Administrator, want to permit importing of all of them. For Version 3.4 Addendum 15

18 instance, you might find that DocSTAR s rendering of certain complex files is not 100% the same as that of the native application, and you wish to ensure that no one uses or distributes a DocSTAR-generated document that is less than perfect. Or, you may feel that storing executable (EXE) files in DocSTAR may lead to copyright violations or virus-distribution risks. Therefore, this screen allows you to forbid importing of certain types on a system-wide basis. By default, all types are enabled. You can choose to disable file formats that you feel to be problematic, or you may disable all and only permit those that you know to be necessary for users. Enabling or disabling file types will not affect any documents already stored in DocSTAR it will simply permit or disallow importing of these in the future. Users attempting to import file types, which have been disabled, will receive an error message as described under Unsupported Files, above. 16 Version 3.4 Addendum

19 Another option on this window is to treat image file types as native documents. This option applies to these file types: AFX, BMP, BRK, CAL, CLP, CUT, DCX, DIB, GEM, GIF, ICO, IFF, IMA, IMG, IMT KFX, LV, MAC, MMR, MSP, MCR, PBM, PCD, PCX, PGM, PIC, PNG, PNM, PPM, PSD, RAS, SGI, TGA, WMF, WPG, XBM, XPM, XWD. Normally, these files are handled as image files by DocSTAR, so they are converted to JPG or TIF, depending on whether they are color or bitonal (black and white), respectively. Choosing to import these files as native means that they will not be converted and therefore will retain all of there original properties. However, because they will behave like other native files, native templates will apply to them, and they will not be able to be annotated. See Chapter 3 of the User s Guide (Manual File) for other differences between image and native files. Update Utility As described above, DocSTAR 3.4 includes a utility for performing updates of filing (indexing) information on a large number of documents at once. Updates are defined by the system administrator or a DocSTAR technician or may be prepackaged as part of an application-specific integration. They may be restricted so that only the administrator or selected individuals may run them, or they may be public so that anyone can run them. Warning: The update mechanism is an extremely sharp tool. An improperly defined update can effectively destroy your DocSTAR database, making many or all of your documents inaccessible. Even a properly defined updated, if misused, can have this effect. Therefore, it is recommended that their creation be limited to the most highly skilled administrators or technicians, and that their use be limited to the administrator or to the smallest possible number of well-trained users who absolutely need them. Please see the Administrators Guide for an explanation of how to define updates. Clients With the appropriate module installed, each DocSTAR user has the ability to send an directly from DocSTAR s Send To function, as described Version 3.4 Addendum 17

20 in Chapter 6 of the User s Guide. DocSTAR checks for an client program on the workstation in the following order: Any MAPI-compliant client, including Outlook Microsoft Outlook Express Lotus Notes DocSTAR typically uses the first client found. How performs, particularly when the Preview option is selected, is dependent upon the client program used. It is possible that two or more clients will be present, and that the one first found by DocSTAR will not be the one desired. In this case, contact your service provider to help disable DocSTAR s use of any undesired client. Note: If support for another client is desired, please request this through the contact page on our website: If no client is present, DocSTAR will attempt to send an through the Internet using SMTP protocol, communicating directly with the recipients mail servers. However, this mechanism does not allow you to identify yourself the sender or use the Preview function. Thus, its use is not recommended. WebView and Integration Agent These optional modules have both received signficiant enhancements, which coincide with the release of Version 3.4. Printing and ing Documents Webview and Integration Agent (IA) users will enjoy a much simplier process for printing or ing documents. First, it is still necssary to click the download button on the Webview/IA toolbar. This will cause the entire document to be downloaded to the browser client. How long this takes depends upon the size of the document and the speed of your network connection. The document is actually converted to a PDF file for download. Therefore, it will be displayed using the Adobe Reader right within your browser. 18 Version 3.4 Addendum

21 The steps of saving the document to some other location and then opening it as was often necessary for TIFF files have been eliminated. When the download is complete, print the document simply by clicking the Reader s printer icon or by choosing Print from the File menu of your browser. The document may be sent as an using the Send Page as command, which is also found in the File menu. Note that there is an Administrative setting to choose between PDF and TIFF file download in WebView and Integration Agent. Open the Administrator s program, click on the WebView button, and ensure that this is set to PDF to take advantage of this enhancement. Code 128 Barcode Integration Agent includes the ability to create barcoded cover sheets. Two different barcode fonts are available: Code 39 (or 3 of 9 ) and Code 128. The 3 of 9 font is free, and it provides compact barcodes, but it has a very limited character set: the upper case alphabet, all digits, and a few punctuation marks (-, $, %, +, and /). The Code 128 barcode has been licensed for your use with DocSTAR and contains almost all ASCII characters (upper and lower case letters, digits, spaces, and punctuation). However, its use is a little trickier. A special translation function is provided with Integration Agent for using this barcode font. This translation function is essential to creating proper barcodes with this font. See the Webview and Integration Agent installation guides for more information on Code 128 and other cover page operations. Virtual Cover Sheets An alternative to the cover sheet offered in Integration Agent is the Virtual Cover Sheet. This feature, supported in DocSTAR version 3.4 or later, provides a way to transfer filing information from another application to DocSTAR without printing a cover sheet. Like printed cover sheets, Virtual Cover Sheets (VCS) are generated from an integrated application as a document is processed. They take fields passed from the application and store them in a special database record. A VCS ID number is displayed for the operator. Typically, this number is written unobtrusively in the top, right-hand corner of the first page of the Version 3.4 Addendum 19

22 document. That document is later scanned, and the filing clerk types in the VCS ID number to retrieve all of the fields stored in the VCS, filing the document accurately and automatically. VCS may be preferable to printing cover sheets because of potential confusion, which arises when users must retrieve their own cover sheets from a shared printer. Also, they are more environmentally friendly you don t have to print paper to eliminate paper. Users may still use a barcode separator, blank sheet separator, or scannerspecific separator with VCS to delimit each document in a stack. But isn t the point of VCS to eliminate extra sheets? The beauty of separator sheets used with VCS is that they are not document-specific, so they can be preprinted and available at each user s desk and they may be reused many times. One more benefit of VCS is that DocSTAR can report on any that have been created, for which no corresponding document has been filed. This can identify a document that was lost sometime between processing and scanning, or which has been improperly filed. Complete information on creating and using Virtual Cover Sheets is included in the Integration Agent Installation Guide. 20 Version 3.4 Addendum