ABBYY FormReader Enterprise Edition User`s Guide © 2007 ABBYY. All rights reserved.
Contents Introducing ABBYY FormReader Enterprise Edition ....................................................... 6 About ABBYY FormReader Enterprise Edition .................................................................................................................................................................... 6 ABBYY FormReader Enterprise Edition process overview........................................................................................................................................
Introducing the Scanning Station............................................................................................................................................................................................... 25 Scanning Station Interface............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 25 Scanning Station main window....................
Page component ................................................................................................................................................... 46 Variant component ............................................................................................................................................... 47 Repetition component ...........................................................................................................................................
Correction Station hotkeys .................................................................................................................................... 66 Export and Monitoring Station hotkeys................................................................................................................. 66 Frequently Asked Questions ........................................................................................................................................................................
Introducing ABBYY FormReader Enterprise Edition About ABBYY FormReader Enterprise Edition ABBYY FormReader Enterprise Edition is a form capture system that is a distributed client–server application built on ABBYY FormReader and Microsoft SQL Server/MSDE technologies.
stations. The stations transfer data via the Data Server, and the only protection key for the entire system is installed on the Data and License Server. System setup is separated from the form capture process and is performed on a special station – the Administration Station.
Correction Station The Correction Station is used to assemble batch documents and edit the results of multipage rules. The operator of the Correction Station is guided by program prompts and consecutively assembles a batch and validates data using multipage rules. Once a batch is verified and validated, it is sent to the Export and Monitoring Station.
Installing, Uninstalling and Starting the Form Capture System Software and hardware requirements Server requirements: • • • • • • • • • PC with Pentium 300MHz processor (Windows Server 2003, XP); Pentium 200MHz processor (Windows 2000) Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows Server 2003, 2000 Server (SP2 or higher), XP, 2000 Professional (SP2 or higher).
Installing the Server and Stations from the installation CD–ROM 1. 2. 3. Insert the ABBYY FormReader Enterprise Edition installation CD–ROM into your CD–ROM drive. Select the ABBYY FormReader Enterprise Edition item from the Autorun program’s menu or run setup.exe from the root folder of the installation CD–ROM. Then follow the installation program’s instructions. In the Select Network Components dialog box: • If you wish to install the Data and License Server only, select the Install Server option.
The ABBYY FormReader Enterprise Edition destination folder must be located on the same computer where you are running the setup program. 9. Once the Server is installed, connect the hardware protection key to the USB port of your computer. Installing a Station remotely from the Server From the computer on which you wish to install the Station, run setup.exe located in the Server destination folder on the computer where the Server is installed. Then follow the installation program’s instructions.
Administration Station Administration Station Interface Administration Station main window The main window of the Administration Station is divided into two panes. The left–hand part contains the project itself – the settings for batch types, operators and stations. The settings are displayed in a tree–view format. When you select a tree object in the left– hand pane, its “contents” are displayed in the right–hand pane.
Forward Allows you to go the next object. Up Allows you to move up one level in the project tree. Edit Edits the selected object (if editing is enabled for this object). Delete Deletes the selected object. Typical actions of the administrator The sequence of actions typically performed by the administrator of ABBYY FormReader Enterprise Edition to prepare the system for operation: 1. 2. 3. 4.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Select the Document Templates object in the required batch type. In the Action menu, select the New... item. The Document Template Creation Wizard will be launched. Follow the instructions of the wizard. If required, edit the structure of the document template. Specify document template rules. You can edit the name, structure and rules of the template. To edit the name of a document template: 1. 2. 3. Select the required document template. In the Action menu, select Edit Name...
3. In the Edit Rule dialog box, edit the rule. To delete a rule from a document template: 1. 2. Select the required rule. In the Action menu, select Delete. Document template export settings Document template export settings are specified in the Batch Type Setting dialog box when you specify export settings for the batch containing the selected template (see Batch Type Setting for more details).
You can edit (i.e. add, edit or delete page templates), replace or set up a page template library. You can view the list of blocks and one–page rules specified for a given page template library. To do this, select a page template in the project tree, and then select Action>Properties... The Page Template Properties dialog box will appear. Batch type structure A batch type structure is a description of document templates in a special structure description language.
3. In the Edit Rule dialog box that appears, edit the rule. To delete a batch type rule: 1. 2. Select the required rule. In the Action menu, select Delete. Setting up a Batch Type When creating or editing a batch type you should set up the options for processing and exporting all batches belonging to the batch type. In order to set up or edit the batch type settings, open the Batch Type Settings (select the batch type in the project tree, and then go to Action>Settings...).
• • Delete blank pages. This option allows you to reduce the size of your batches due to removing blank pages included into the batch by mistake. Get local copy for recognition. This option will help to speed up batch processing due to creating local copies of the processed batches and processing them on the station rather over your LAN. Verification and Correction Stations.
separately for each of the document templates of the selected batch type. To do this, select the necessary template in the list and click Settings... Note. You can use custom export modules during export to content management systems (CMS). Custom export modules must be installed on the computer where the Export and Monitoring Station is installed, and the modules must be registered in the system.
1. 2. 3. 4. Run the Administration Station. Select the required document type in the project tree. Then in the Action menu, select Edit Form Identifiers... In the dialog box that opens, add or remove the required form identifiers. Important! If you use an *.mxfd file to create a batch type, its list of identifiers must contain at least one identifier. Rules A rule is a formalized description that applies certain restrictions to data as well as establishing relations between data in a batch.
Automated registration settings Batch registration is the first step in forms processing and consists in creating a new batch, entering its registration parameters, and adding images to the batch. Batch registration can be performed manually by the operator of the Scanning Station or automatically by the Registration Station. In the case of automated registration, the program will check the user defined "Hot Folder" for new images every 60 seconds. Any images detected in this folder are formed into a batch.
\\HotFolder\Page2.tif \\HotFolder\Page3.tif – Field1_Value Field2_Value In the case, we recommend setting up the scanning program so that scanned images are placed into the Hot Folder itself or into its first level subfolders. When creating a batch, the program will add to it all the images listed in the Image elements of the corresponding description file.
Operator management An operator is a user of the system who has been assigned roles and permissions to process certain batch types. Creating, editing and deleting operators To create a new operator: 1. 2. 3. In the project tree, select the Operators object. In the Action menu, select New... In the Operator dialog box that appears, specify the operator’s login, password, roles and batch types (separately for each role) that the operator will be allowed to process.
Operator permissions You must specify batch type processing permissions for each operator. If an operator has no permissions for processing a batch type, the batches associated with this type will not be sent to this operator. Use the Operator dialog box, to specify and edit operator permissions. To open this dialog box, select Operators in the project tree, select the required operator, and then select Action>Properties...
Scanning Station Introducing the Scanning Station The Scanning Station is the first station to process forms in the form capture system. The Scanning Station is controlled by a scanning operator whose tasks include: • • Batch registration: The operator creates a new batch, enters its registration parameters, and scans paper forms (the images will be added to the batch automatically) or adds to the batch form images obtained from other sources.
Toolbar buttons: Button Description Scan (multi–functional Scan button) Scan Multiple Pages Scans a batch page. Scans several batch pages. Add Adds images stored in the image folder to the batch. The image folder is specified when setting up the station. Add from... Adds images stored in any folder to the batch. When selecting this item, specify the path to the folder. Opens the Batch Registration Parameters dialog box where you can check the correctness of the registration parameters you entered.
renumbered. If the current page number is less than the new one, the numbers of the pages between the current number and the new number will be incremented by 1. If the current page number is bigger than the new one, the numbers of the pages between the current number and the new number will be reduced by 1. If you select several pages, the program will renumber only the page that has the smallest number (and the adjoining pages if there is already a page that has the same number).
Registration Station Introducing Registration Station ABBYY FormReader 6.5 Enterprise Edition can be set up to monitor a user defined folder for new images, add the detected images to a batch of a specified type, and send the batch to the Recognition Station for further processing. Each batch is automatically provided with a name and registration parameters as specified by the user in the preliminary settings.
Toolbar buttons: Button Description Start Launches the registration process. Stop Stops the registration process. Lock Locks all the commands of the Registration Station except the Unlock command Unlock Unlocks the commands of the Registration Station. Typical use scenario The Registration Station runs in automatic mode and does not require constant operator involvement. (The Registration Station is supervised by the operator of the Scanning Station.) 1.
• Unlocking the Registration Station To unlock the station commands, click the Unlock button (or select Registration>Unlock) and in the dialog box that opens, enter the operator login and password. Important! If the station has been locked by another operator, once you enter your login the registration process will stop (after the registration of the current batch has completed) and the station will close down. To resume the process, you need to re launch the station. © 2007 ABBYY. All rights reserved.
Recognition Station Introducing the Recognition Station The Recognition Station is intended for automated recognition. The station runs in unattended mode. The recognition operator only starts the recognition process. Batches from the Recognition queue are automatically processed and sent to the Verification or Correction queue.
Toolbar buttons: Button Description Start Starts the recognition process. Stop Stops the recognition process. Lock Locks all the station commands, except for the Unlock command. Unlock Opens the Unlock Recognition Station dialog box where you can unlock the station commands. Typical actions of the recognition operator 1. 2. 3. Start the station (select Start>All Programs*>ABBYY FormReader Enterprise Edition>Recognition Station). In the Login dialog box, type in your login and password.
Verification Station Introducing the Verification Station The Verification Station is used to verify uncertain characters and characters explicitly marked for verification and to validate data by using one–page rules (see ABBYY FormReader Help: Working with application/Checking recognition results). The Verification Station is controlled by a verification operator who verifies and validates data following the program’s prompts.
Toolbar buttons: Button Description Verify Verifies unverified pages. Validate 1 Validate Data Using One–Page Rules Starts validating data by using one–page rules. (multi–functional button) Continue Validation Allows the operator to go to the next page with one–page rule errors. Stop Validation Stops validating data by using one–page rules. Allows the operator to send the batch to the next station. Send Typical actions of the verification operator 1.
Correction Station Introducing the Correction Station The Correction Station is used to assemble batches and validate data. If there is no Verification Station in the system, data are verified and validated on the Correction Station using multipage and one–page rules. One–page rules are also used to validate data if the administrator has made the corresponding batch type settings.
Correction Station toolbar The Correction Station toolbar contains the buttons which provide shortcuts to the standard menu commands, such as verifying batch pages, validating data using one–page and multipage rules, etc. Button Description Verify Verifies unverified pages. Validate 1 (multi–functional button) Validate Data Using One–Page Starts validating data by using one–page rules. Rules Continue Validation Allows the operator to go to the next page with one–page rule errors.
To start validating the data by using multipage rules manually, click the Validate 2 button on the toolbar or select Processes>Validate Data Using Multipage Rules. 5. Send the ready batch to the next station (select Batch>Send). 6. Once you have finished working with batches, close the station (select Processes>Close Station). * – For the Windows operating systems lower than XP, select Start>Programs.
To delete the template matching results and page data, select the required page, and then select the Delete Blocks and Data command in the Page menu. Changing the scanning and recognition settings To change the scanning and recognition settings, select Batch>Options... In the Options dialog box that appears, open the Scanning/Opening tab or the Recognition tab and change the settings, if necessary. (For more information about the scanning and recognition options, refer to the ABBYY FormReader Help file.
Export and Monitoring Station Introducing the Export and Monitoring Station The Export and Monitoring Station is the last station used to process forms. This station is used to export completely processed batches. Additionally, the station is used to monitor and control the operation of ABBYY FormReader Enterprise Edition. The station is controlled by an export and monitoring operator. Batches can be exported in automated or manual mode.
• Batches • Tasks • Sessions • Event Log • Reports • Operators • Registration Parameters • Rules When you selecting an object in the left–hand pane of the window, its “contents” will be displayed in the right–hand pane. Object Information displayed in the right–hand pane of the main window: Project The list of the objects included into the project.
Object Information displayed in the right–hand pane of the main window: Event log The list of all events in the system: • login and logoff, • operation execution, • information, • opening and closing batch processing sessions on the Verification and Correction Stations, • errors and warnings that occurred during batch processing, • batch passing through the processing queues, • batch creation, • batch deletion, • batch export completion.
Typical actions of the export and monitoring operator 1. 2. 3. Start the station (select Start>All Programs*>ABBYY FormReader Enterprise Edition>Export and Monitoring Station) In the Login dialog box that appears, enter your login and password. Start the export process. To export selected batches: 1. 2. 3. In the project tree, select Batches. In the batch list, select the batches you wish to export. In the Export menu, select Export Selected Batches.
4. In the Assign to Operator dialog box that appears, enter the operator login. Important! You can only assign a batch to an operator within the same queue. Deleting a batch The export and monitoring operator can delete a batch from the database. To delete a batch from the database: 1. 2. 3. In the project tree, select Batches. In the batch list, select the batch you wish to delete. In the Action menu, select Delete.
Creating, editing and deleting an operator The export and monitoring operator can create new operators and change the settings of the existing operators. To create an operator: 1. 2. 3. In the project tree, select Operators. In the Action menu, select New... In the Operator dialog box that appears, specify the operator’s login, password and roles and the batch types (separately for each role) which the operator will be able to process. To change the operator’s password: 1. 2. 3. 4.
3. Click Move. Important! All the events that took place during the specified period will be deleted from the data base. Information about these events will be saved in a CSV file located in the specified folder. Viewing the license parameters The export and monitoring operator can view the following information about the license: • • the license parameters and their current status, the workstations that are working at the moment. To view information about the license: 1. 2. Select Tools>License...
Appendix Supported image formats Type BMP PCX PNG JPEG TIFF Color Black–and–white, gray, color Black–and–white, gray Black–and–white, gray, color Gray, color Black–and–white – not compressed, CCITT3, CCITT4, Packbits; gray – not compressed, Packbits, JPEG; color – not compressed, JPEG Black–and–white, gray Files in PDF format DCX PDF Structure description language Custom batch type structure and custom document template structure are described in a special structure description language.
“” – the name of the field which value is checked, “” – the specified field value. Definition: A page sequence meets the above description if it consists of one page, this page is recognizable and corresponds to the required template, and the page field values are equal to the specified values (if they are specified). Examples: Page("А") – a recognizable page with the ‘A’ template.
Descriptive multipage rule language Multipage rules (MRs) are written in а special descriptive multipage rule language. Below follows а formalized description of the multipage rule language in terms of the meta–linguistic formulas. Terminal symbols are boldfaced.
Multi–dimensional constant Syntax. { { , } } Value. The expression value is a collection consisting of one–dimensional constant values. Sample expression. {5, `Name`, 4.5, true} Page field reference Syntax. # ( | * ) ! # Meaning. The “visibility scope” of a document is the pages directly contained in it; the pages contained in its children are not “visible.
1. Suppose we have the following expression: #A!Summa#>5 • If there are no pages corresponding to the «À» template in the document, the result will be an empty collection. • If there is only one page corresponding to the «À» template, the value will be True if the value of the «Summa» field of the page is more than 5, and False otherwise.
7. 8. Like is string comparison operation, In is occurrence indicator: the dimension of the result is the dimension of the first operand. Each result element is True if the respective element of the first operand is present in the second one; otherwise the result is False. Examples. {`My`,`Your`} & {` name`,` age`} is {`My name`,`Your age`} {2,–1} In {3,5,1,2} is {True, False}.
2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. For Max and Min, the result is the maximum and minimum element respectively. For NumMax and NumMin, the result is the number of maximum and minimum element (in the operand value). For First and Last, the result is the first and the last element respectively. For Count, the result is the dimension of the operand’s value. For Same, the result is True if all elements of the operand are the same, and False otherwise.
Abs ({–2,`3.0`,`4b`}) is {2, 3, #Error} Formatting operator: Format Syntax. ::= ( … | Format ( , ) | … ) Meaning. Before the operation begins, the value of the МE1 operand is converted to the string type. Then dimension matching is performed. If it is successful, the result dimension is the maximum of the dimensions of the involved operands. The result itself will be a string.
SubStr({`Olga`, 23, `ffe`, `Mary`}, 1, 1) is {`O`, `2`, `f`, `M`} SubStr({`Olga`, 23, `ffe`, `Mary`}, {1, 2, 3, 4}, 1) is {`O`, `3`, `e`, `y`} Use examples. If you want all the ‘DocCode’ fields of all pages corresponding to the ‘A’ template to begin with the prefix ‘_D’, specify the following rule: SubStr (#A!DocCode#,1,2) = `_D`. Selection operator: IIf Syntax. ::= ( … | IIf ( , , )| … ) Meaning. The meaning of the operator is as follows: the MR1 operand is a selection condition.
• FormPages • Field • Fields The form data are accessible through the global object Form of the FormDocument type. Enumerations Enum TErrorLevel Enum TErrorLevel EL_Warning EL_Error EL_CriticalError End Enum Determines the level of an error: EL_Warning corresponds to a warning, a form data error. The form data with these warnings and errors can be exported. EL_Error means a form data error. Data with this error can be exported. EL_CriticalError refers to a critical error.
• • • • DateValue specifies the date value to be converted to the string. DateType specifies the date format (see Enum TDateFormat). YearLength specifies the number of digits in the year (see Enum TYearLength). DateSeparator specifies the delimiter of the date parts. It should consist of one character only. If the method is called without one or several default parameters, the default parameters specified for the form will be used (see SetDefaultDateFormat).
Field type Return values Check mark group Type: Variant(vbString) If the case of multiple selection the property returns “–2”. If no check mark was selected, the property returns “–1”. If the first check mark in the group was selected, the property returns “1”. If the second check mark in the group was selected, the property returns “2”. ... If the last check mark in the group was selected, the property returns “number_of_the_last_check_mark_in_the_group". Any other data are regarded as invalid.
Note: It is recommended to use this method for converting the field text to the number instead of the standard VB Script methods CCur, CInt, CDb, as the standard methods use the system number format, which can vary on different computers. Global objects The users have access to the Form global object. This object belongs to the FormDocument type and represents the document of the current form.
The pageDefName and fieldName arguments specify the field array (the fieldName field for each page matched with the pageDefName template in the form document). The function returns the sum of the array elements. Empty summands are regarded as 0.
Export procedure In order to implement a custom export procedure, you must create an ActiveX component and implement in it a method with the following signature: Function ExportBatch( _ ByVal ExportData As String, _ Optional ByRef ResultReport As String _ ) As Long The first argument, ExportData, contains the export settings and batch data in the XML format. The specification for these data is given below in the ExportData argument section.
producer string Yes Product name and build number. For example, ABBYY FormReader Enterprise Edition (build 511). The "root" element contains nested elements: Element name Repetitions number Description exportSettings 1 Export settings batch 1 Batch data "exportSettings" and "exportSetting" elements The "exportSettings" element is a set of export settings: both standard, determined by the form capture system architecture, and custom, added for processing a specific batch type.
The collection includes the following FormReader parameters: • The time and date when the batch was created, • The name of the computer on which the batch was scanned, • The name of the computer on which the batch was verified, • The name of the computer from which the batch was exported, • The current time and date, • The name of the operator who exported the batch, • The name of the Windows user.
"page" element Corresponds to one page. The "page" element has the following attributes: Attribute name Type Required? Description pageNumber integer Yes Batch page number. pageTemplate string Yes The name of the page template (if the page has not been recognized, the attribute value is an empty string). pageImagePath string Yes Full path to the page image file. pageStatus enum Yes Page status. See the status list below. annexBarcodeValue string No Barcode value.
Glossary A Administration Station Program used for setting up the form capture system: adding and setting up batch types, assigning roles and permissions to operators. Annex A batch page that has no template but takes part in batch assembly. B Batch assembly Binding batch pages into documents according to the document templates and the batch structure. Batch identification number (ID) The unique number of a batch within the form capture system.
'Multipage rule warning' (document status) A status assigned to a document if, when validating data by using multipage rules, the program has detected errors of optional multipage rules ('Warning' multipage rules) and these errors could not be corrected for some reason. N '(No errors)' (page status) A status assigned to a page on which the program has not detected verification or one–page rule errors or all the detected errors have been corrected.
Batch Send Ctrl+Shift+B Verification Station hotkeys Main window Menu To: Verify Page Press: Verify Shift+F7 Update batch page list F5 Continue Validation Alt+A Close Station Ctrl+Shift+Q Assign with Status One–page Rule Warning Ctrl+Shift+Y Reset Status for Selected Pages Ctrl+Shift+Z Batch Send Ctrl+Shift+В Correction Station hotkeys Main window Menu To: Press: Scan Recognize Processes Verify Batch Ctrl+K Scan Multiple Pages Ctrl+Shift+K Stop Scanning Ctrl+T Add from...
View Batch dialog box Menu To: Press: File Exit Ctrl + X Edit Advanced Search... Ctrl + F View Open Page... Ctrl + G Frequently Asked Questions Is it necessary to install the Data and License Server on a separate computer? The Data and License Server is a database (MSDE or SQL), a file storage unit, and a license server. If the server workload is low, you may install it not on a separate computer but, for example, together with one of the Stations.
