Filestream Ltd File Stream Document Management Integration Overview (C) Filestream Ltd 2011
Table of Contents Introduction... 3 Components... 3 General API... 4 Command Line Search... 6 Search Shortcut File... 7 Bookmark Shortcut File... 8 Cabinet Extension Scripts... 9 Extension Mechanism...10 Web Service API...11 2
Introduction This document is intended for developers who want to write custom integrated solutions to work with File Stream Document Management. It provides an overview of the various integration components available to the external developer. The document will explain how these components are accessed and what they can be used for. Components The File Stream API consists of the following components: General API Command Line Search Search Shortcut File Bookmark Shortcut File Cabinet Extension Scripts Extension Mechanism Web Service API The General API has a rich collection of methods to perform many different tasks within File Stream. This includes methods to log in and out of the system, import documents into the system, look for Barcodes or OCR values on an image, imprint text on an image, change some of the document s standard values such as its subject etc, add notes to a document, Index a document into a cabinet, search for a specific document and download it, or view it in a separate stand-alone viewer or open it in the full File Stream application, and pushing list data into cabinet list fields. The Command Line search, Search Shortcut and Bookmark Shortcuts are simple file-oriented mechanisms for searching for documents in the system and displaying them within the system. Cabinet extension scripts allow you to have control over the indexing mechanism. When documents are indexed / re-indexed into a cabinet with a script attached, you can perform tasks such as validate entered values or lookup other values from an external system before allowing it to be indexed. The Extension Mechanism allows extending some parts of the application via externally installed DLLs. Currently this is limited to extending the workflow module and some parts of the scheduler module. This mechanism is not directly available to external developers: however, we can develop extension DLLs to meet your specific requirements should you require specific functionality in a work flow or elsewhere in the system. The Web Service has a set of methods to allow you to have a web enabled solution to access File Stream data across the web such as searching or re-indexing documents via a web service. 3
General API Installation The General API is packaged in a single DLL called FS4CoreApi.DLL. This DLL is automatically installed and registered on any system which has the File Stream application installed. In the development environment you simply need to install and license the File Stream application and you need to purchase the File Stream API license. Deployment In the run-time environment you need to install and license the File Stream application on any PC which runs your external code which accesses the API. Depending on how you access the API (See Access Mechanisms below) you may also need to deploy the FS4CoreApi.DLL and its dependencies along with your solution. Licensing You need to purchase the File Stream API license and annual maintenance before you can use the functions in this API to write any integrated solutions. If your integration uses any of the Barcode or OCR methods then you must purchase the corresponding Barcode / OCR license for your development machine and the end user customer must purchase the corresponding Barcode / OCR license for each machine which runs your integration. COM Registration Although this API is a.net managed code assembly, it also exposes a COM interface as an alternative access mechanism for those integrations which cannot or do not want to reference it as a managed assembly. In order to use the COM access mechanism you first need to register the API on both the development system and on every end user run-time system. The simplest way to register for COM access is to install the File Stream application and run it once. Running the application will automatically register the API s COM interface on the system. You can also manually register it as follows :- Run regasm.exe ( in C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727 ) in an elevated command prompt >C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\regasm <Path to FS4CoreApi.DLL> 4
Access Mechanisms 1. The General API can be accessed from a managed.net solution by directly referencing it in your document management software integration project. Advantages: Simple to use. Provides Intellisense in your code. Disadvantages: Can only be used from a.net project. Need to deploy FS4CoreAPI.DLL and other dependency DLLs from File Stream along with your solution. Need to re-build your project and re-deploy your application every time File Stream is updated to a different version. Please note that the API is currently only available in a 32 bit assembly. Your application should be built to specifically target the x86 CPU and NOT Any CPU. A 64 bit release will be made available at a future date. 2. The API can also be accessed via its COM wrapper using late binding. Advantages: Can be used from legacy applications, managed and un-managed code. No need to deploy the DLLS or re-build your project except on major upgrades. Disadvantages: More cumbersome to use. No Intellisense. Functionality The General API has a rich collection of methods to perform many different tasks within File Stream Document Management software. This includes methods to log in and out of the system, import documents into the system, look for Barcodes or OCR values on an image, imprint text on an image, change some of the document s standard values such as its subject, etc, add notes to a document, Index a document into a cabinet, search for a specific document and download it, or view it in a separate standalone viewer or open it in the full File Stream Document Management application, and pushing list data into cabinet list fields. Custom Functionality Additional functionality can be added to the API upon request if you want to achieve some functionality which is not currently available via the API. We will consider your requirements and provide custom functionality if possible. Note that there may by an additional cost involved. 5
Command Line Search Installation, Deployment, Registration This mechanism is built-in within the main application. There is no separate installation, deployment or registration requirement. Licensing You need to purchase the File Stream API license and annual maintenance before you can use this mechanism. Functionality This method has been replaced by the Search Shortcut file (see below). However you can still use this method. It is very similar to the Search Shortcut file method except you launch the File Stream Exe from your application and pass it the path to the search file via a command line parameter. 6
Search Shortcut File Installation, Deployment This mechanism is built-in in the main application. There is no separate installation or deployment requirement. Licensing You need to purchase the File Stream API license and annual maintenance before you can use this mechanism. Registration The file type extension.fs4search must be associated with the File Stream application. This association is automatically made when the File Stream application is installed on a PC. You can also manually associate this file type with the File Stream exe (FS4CoreApplication.exe). Functionality A search shortcut file is a small XML file of a specified format. It includes database details and a search specification consisting of a cabinet name and index values to search for. When a search shortcut file is double clicked, it automatically launches the File Stream Document Management application and performs the search. This is useful as a mechanism to have desktop shortcuts to specific searches or for calling up a File Stream search from within your application, for example to view a specific invoice, etc. Your application can create a search shortcut file and launch it or cause it to open in File Stream via the General API. 7
Bookmark Shortcut File Installation, Deployment This mechanism is built-in in the main application. There is no separate installation or deployment requirement. Licensing You need to purchase the File Stream API license and annual maintenance before you can use this mechanism. Registration The file type extension.fs4bookmark must be associated with the File Stream application. This association is automatically made when the File Stream application is installed on a PC. You can also manually associate this file type with the File Stream exe (FS4CoreApplication.exe). Functionality A bookmark shortcut file is a small XML file of a specified format. It includes database details and a list of Documents Id s. When a bookmark shortcut file is double clicked, it automatically launches the File Stream Document Management application and displays all the bookmarked documents. This is useful as a mechanism to have desktop shortcuts to specific sets of documents to access them more easily without having to search for them in the system. Your application can create a bookmark shortcut file after performing one of the Search methods in the General API or Web Service to obtains the document id values. Your application can create a bookmark shortcut file and launch it or cause it to open in File Stream via the General API. 8
Cabinet Extension Scripts Installation, Deployment, Registration This mechanism is built-in within the main application. There is no separate installation, deployment or registration requirement. You need to deploy your cabinet script and point to it in cabinet maintenance. Licensing You need to purchase the File Stream API license and annual maintenance before you can use this mechanism. Functionality The script must be written in VBScript using a template script which is provided. The script must adhere to a specific interface and implement all the methods of that interface. The script is called every time the user manually indexes / re-indexes a document into the cabinet from the Index panel in the main application. Note that the scripting mechanism is NOT available from the Web Client module or when documents are indexed using other mechanisms such as via the scheduler or via the API or Web Service methods. With cabinet extension scripts you can Validate entered index values and fail the process or change the index values before allowing it to continue indexing Look up index values from external sources such as other applications or databases and populate index values on a document Rename a document s file name in the system before continuing to index it Manually index a document using a reference to the General API object. This allows you to take over the indexing mechanism and index the document completely as required including targeting it to a different cabinet Change a document s retention date before continuing to index it Specify different default values for the index panel, for example default a field to a different value depending on the user Custom Functionality Additional functionality can be added to the Scripting mechanism upon request if you want to achieve some functionality which is not currently available. We will consider your requirements and provide custom functionality if possible. Note that there may by an additional cost involved. 9
Extension Mechanism File Stream has an extension mechanism which allows extending some parts of the application via externally installed DLLs. Currently this is limited to extending the workflow module to some parts of the scheduler module. This mechanism is not directly available to external developers, however, we can develop extension DLLS to meet your specific requirements should you require specific functionality in a work flow or elsewhere in the system. We will consider your requirements and provide custom functionality if possible. Note that there may by an additional cost involved. Examples of extensions already developed include sending e-mails from a work flow task, monitoring incoming e- mails from the scheduler, updating records in and obtaining records from external accounting systems during work flow processes, imprinting (approval stamps) on documents during work flow tasks, automatically indexing documents during workflow tasks 10
Web Service API Installation In your development environment you require an IIS Server and you need to install the File Stream Web Service module on the IIS server. Deployment In run-time environment you require an IIS Server and you need to install the File Stream Web Service module on the IIS server. Licensing You need to purchase the File Stream WEB API license and annual maintenance before you can use the Web Service API to develop your solution. You need to purchase and license the File Stream Web Module on your development machine or your IIS Server. The end user customer must purchase and license the File Stream Web Module on their IIS Server. Access Mechanism The Web Service is implemented as a standard Web Service (XML/SOAP). Its interface can be obtained via a WSDL file. Your application can be a rich client application or a web application which can access a standard web service. Your application can be written in any suitable language. You can have your own web service or ASP.NET application as the back end to your application and have it call the File Stream web service. Functionality Access Methods Various methods to access a File Stream database, to log in and log out as a File Stream user. URL Search You can format a URL to access a specific document and call it from a web browser to view the document image in the browser. Universal Search You can send a search specification in XML and receive back XML containing a set of documents found. You can then use other methods to access each of those documents and download its image file. 11
Universal Re Index You can send a re-index specification in XML to cause a given document to be re-indexed with different values. Document Methods Various methods to access a document, download the image, add document notes, set retention date, delete the document, etc. Custom Functionality Additional functionality can be added to the Web Service API upon request if you want to achieve some functionality which is not currently available. We will consider your requirements and provide custom functionality if possible. Note that there may by an additional cost involved. 12