Offline Processing Guide

Transcript

Offline Processing Guide for ShareScan Licensing, Copyright, and Trademark information The information in this document is subject to change and does not represent a commitment on the part of Nuance Communications, Inc. The software described in this document is furnished under a license agreement. The software may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of the agreement. It is against the law to copy the software on any medium except as specified in the license agreement. No part of this document may be reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval systems, or translated into any language for any purpose other than the purchaser’s personal use, without the written permission of Nuance Communications, Inc. © 2011 Nuance Communications. All Rights Reserved. Nuance, the Nuance logo, eCopy PaperWorks and OmniPage are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. Customer Support services Customer Support services include the following components: n Customer support for licensing, registration, and other non-technical issues n Technical support n Hardware RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization), where applicable Note: Nuance Communications does not provide hardware support. Contact your hardware dealer/distributor, or system integrator for support information. The support services are available to registered users of Nuance Communications software during the warranty period or for the duration of your software Maintenance and Support (M&S) agreement. Contact your supplier for details, as described in the M&S agreement. The main Support page is at http://support.nuance.com, where you can obtain information about Customer Support services, hours of operation, contact information, policies, and process descriptions. In the list of products, select the eCopy product and then click Go. The Support Overview page opens. In addition to support provided by your dealer or distributor, the Ask eCopy Web site provides 24x7 access to a knowledge base. To access Ask eCopy, click the link on the main Support page. If you purchased your software directly from Nuance Communications, check Ask eCopy for solutions to your technical problems. If necessary, open a ticket from the Ask eCopy Web site. Contact information US/North America Corporate Headquarters Telephone: +1.781.565.5000 Customer Support Services Telephone: +1.781.565.4600 Outside North America Please contact your local dealer or national sales organization. Table of Contents 1 - About Offline Processing 2 - OCR 2.1- OCR-related tips 3 - ShareScan Administration Console settings 3.1- Offline processing settings 3.1.1 - Configuring Offline processing (example) 5 5 6 6 6 7 3.2- Document settings 8 3.3- Scanner settings 9 3.4- ScanStation settings 10 3.5- Registry settings 10 4 - Notification service 10 4.1- Enable for all Connector Profiles settings 11 4.2- Enable for all Devices settings 11 4.3- Enable for licensing notification 12 4.4- Configuring Service: Notification settings 12 5 - Activity Tracking report tool 14 5.1- Activity Tracking operation 15 5.2- Activity Tracking settings 15 6 - Document Tracking service 6.1- Document Tracking settings 17 18 1 - About Offline Processing Offline processing is a ShareScan functionality designed to speed up the workflow at the MFP and improve user experience, as users no longer have to wait at the device for the completion of their scan jobs. The documents are created in the background, offline, using a lower-priority queue, in order to enable devices to be still responsive, and not hindering the users even during peak periods. This lower priority may result in a longer timeframe for document creation, depending on various factors (job size, system resource availability, scan job resolution, whether it is color or BW, and so forth). Offline processing uses a separate Output Creator process than the online process queue, so running an offline and an online job parallel does not cause the system to deadlock. We advise using offline processing in the following scenarios: 1. having text-based output formats (DOC, Searchable PDF, and so forth) 2. having large-sized files 3. scanning numerous pages For scan jobs entailing high DPI color scanning and OCR, offline processing should always be turned on. For more detailed information, see ShareScan Administration Console settings. The following ShareScan functionalities can be particularly useful in conjunction with Offline processing: Notification service provides information on how to configure notifications for your offline (or online) processed documents. Activity Tracking Report allows you to generate and overview reports about the activity levels and actions on a configurable basis (for example, per device, or per connector). Document Tracking allows you to monitor the passage of individual documents in the ShareScan workflow - including offline processing. 2 - OCR Scanning offers a highly efficient way to distribute and store business documents. However, careful consideration must be given to the file format and scan resolution. Choosing the wrong settings can result in poor image quality or unacceptably large files. Scanning converts a printed page into an image. These images are converted via the OCR process to several possible document formats, for example, PDF (especially Searchable PDF) or various Microsoft Office formats (for example, DOC or DOCX). As the the application creating the output file must be able to intelligently recognize different regions as text or graphics and apply the appropriate compression technology to each region, this is a resource-intensive process. The sheer amount of raw data and system resources involved in creating a high-quality output via the OCR process makes using OCR online a less optimal solution, as it negatively affects user experience. Routing such jobs to offline processing is an effective way of improving user experience and system resource distribution. -5- 2.1- OCR-related tips n n n n n Use OCR only if it is a requirement on the backend service (for example, document storage – if a full text index or search feature is used). We advise leaving the OCR engine turned off by default, with the user having the option to turn it on for specific jobs. When scanning a large number of documents with OCR enabled, using 200 dpi grayscale or 300 dpi BW is recommended for optimal performance. If accuracy is not a key factor, you can set the OCR engine accordingly, providing a speed increase. This is only valid for jobs using OCR, and can be modified via the SetOCRSpeed registry setting. The following options are available: l 1 - 3-way voting, prefer accuracy l 2 - 2-way voting, prefer accuracy l 3 - 3-way voting, prefer speed l 4 – 2-way voting, prefer speed l 5 – fastest OCR (default) We advise you to consider and restrict the output document format according to your needs, as several output types (for example, DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, and Searchable PDF) perform OCR, consuming more server resources in the process. For OCR-intensive environments, we advise having a central OCR server, in order to improve scalability and processing times, as well as better network load balancing. 3 - ShareScan Administration Console settings You can use the Settings pane of the Connectors tab to set a number of options - for each connector profile separately that benefit from enabling offline processing. Note that unless otherwise specified, users at the MFP may override the settings entered via the ShareScan Administration Console. If you need to avoid it, disable User Modify for each connector profile. 3.1- Offline processing settings You can set Offline processing for your connector profiles via the ShareScan Administration Console. Offline processing must be set separately for each connector profile. -6- Enabling this feature for a connector profile puts the final processing of the scanned document into a background process. This is typically used with large scanned documents to enable the user at the device to continue scanning while the previous document is being processed. When Offline processing is enabled, the Redirect screen shows the following options: n Done: Takes users to the Home screen where they can scan a new document. n New destination: Enables users to send the current document to a different connector. n n If offline processing is enabled for a job, or it is automatically processed offline, the New document option is not available on the Redirect screen. You can check this by using the built-in Simulator of the Administration Console. Note: When Offline processing is enabled, scanning settings are not preserved from one job to another and the user must reenter them for each scanned document. The maximum number of simultaneous processes is limited to half the number of CPU cores on the machine running the ShareScan Administrator Console (for example, a quad-core CPU can run two offline processes simultaneously). Additional offline jobs are queued. Offline processing works only with OCR services. It does not work with EBAS or FPE. 3.1.1 - Configuring Offline processing (example) 1. Start the ShareScan Administration Console, and click the Connectors tab. 2. Click the Scan to Desktop connector. 3. On the Settings panel, check the Enable Offline Processing checkbox. -7- 3.2- Document settings We advise using offline processing for the following settings: n Enable Searchable Text is checked n File Format is set to a text-entailing format (DOC, PDF, and so forth) n Color Compression is set to High -8- 3.3- Scanner settings The Resolution and Color Depth (Pixel) settings also influence scanning times, so consider activating Offline processing for a high-resolution, color scan job. -9- 3.4- ScanStation settings Follow the steps below to increase offline processing speed with ScanStation devices: 1. Launch regedit from the command prompt. 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Nuance\ShareScanManager. 3. Locate the OfflineSlowdownTime (Type Reg_SZ) registry entry. 4. The value of the registry entry specifies the time (in seconds) offline jobs are suspended on ScanStation devices before starting the OCR / output document creation for every page. This setting should be used on ScanStations where the hardware is not very powerful, and offline jobs are used, and the user wants to perform additional scans after sending the job to (offline) processing. Possible values: n -1 : no wait before offline processing a job n 0 : default (15 sec) n Any positive integer : the amount of wait in seconds before starting the offline processing Note: On ScanStation devices, all offline jobs are put on hold while the user is performing actions on the ScanStation device – this is to facilitate a better user experience for the actual task. 3.5- Registry settings n n By default, all non-completed jobs are moved to offline processing after 4 minutes. This can be changed via editing the relevant registry setting (OnlineProcessingTimeout under HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Nuance\ShareScan\ShareScanManager) By default, jobs remain in the offline processing queue for 4000 seconds maximum; after that, the document is considered a failed job, and indicated as such. We advise raising this timeout value when a large number of documents is being processed regularly, or when processing time-consuming jobs. To do this, set the value of the OutputCreatorRetryCreationWithOfflineAndDT (Type Reg_SZ) registry setting under HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Nuance\ShareScanManager. The value of the setting is in seconds (default is 1000 seconds), which is multiplied by 4, as there are always four retries. 4 - Notification service To provide feedback on job statuses, enable the Notification feature of ShareScan. The Notification service notifies the preconfigured recipients based on events occurring in ShareScan that are configured to use an SMTP notification. The service is located on the Configure Services tab under Common Services. - 10 - ShareScan sends an SMTP message through the email server specified in the SMTP Server address. With a predefined setting, the message contains customized messages that display specific data, for example, Subject, Header, Body, and Footer. The notifications can be descriptions of errors, warnings, or informational data from completed scan jobs. The main functions of the service are detailed in the following chapters. 4.1- Enable for all Connector Profiles settings You can enable the Notification service for all your configured connector profiles. Setting Description Enabled Select the Yes check box to enable the service for all Connector profiles. Clear the check box to disable the service for all Connector profiles. Notification level The notification levels are available: l All: Sends all messages by ShareScan. l Warnings: Warning messages sent by ShareScan. l Errors: Sends only error messages sent by ShareScan. l Job successfully sent: Sends a message containing details about the completed scan. 4.2- Enable for all Devices settings You can enable the Notification service for all devices controlled by your ShareScan Manager. Setting Description Enabled Select the Yes check box to enable the service for all devices. Clear the check box to disable the service for all devices. Notification This feature is not supported yet. - 11 - 4.3- Enable for licensing notification You can enable the service for license-related purposes. Setting Enabled Description Select the Yes check box to enable licensing notification. Clear the check box to disable licensing notification. When you click the Test button and the Notification service is correctly configured, a test message appears. If the configuration includes an invalid email server or addresses, an error is not generated or reported. To ensure that the service works correctly, send a test message and ensure that it is sent with the correct information. During runtime, the ShareScan Manager uses the information to trigger an email notification based on the notification level. 4.4- Configuring Service: Notification settings This section details the available configuration options for the Notification service. - 12 - Setting Description Configured Select the Yes check box so that a device can use the service. Clear the check box to prevent a device from using the service. SMTP Server Configuration Contains the settings that you use to configure the SMTP server. SMTP Server The SMTP server name, which is the DNS name of the e-mail server that is used to send the SMTP message. SMTP Server Authentication The authentication method used to send SMTP mail to the SMTP server. In the second column, click the authentication option, Anonymous, or Use Credentials: l l Anonymous: The default value. When Anonymous, pointer moves automatically to the Email address section. Use Credentials: Activates the Username, Password, and Domain fields so that you can specify the values. Username The SMTP username. Password The SMTP password. - 13 - Setting Description Domain The SMTP domain. Email address All the addresses must be in the SMTP format ([email protected]). From Email address from which email messages are sent (originator of the message). To Email address to which an email is delivered (recipient of the message). Semicolons are used to separate addresses. Cc Email address to which an email is delivered (carbon copied recipient of the message). Semicolons are used to separate addresses. Send to session logon user Select Yes to send a notification email to a Session Logon user or clear the check box if you do not want to send it. Message Specifies the settings for the components of a message. Subject Specifies the subject that appears in the email. Header Specifies the header to include in the email error message, which is appended to the top of the message. Press Ctrl+Enter to start a new line. Body Specifies the custom text that is included in the email error message, which is appended to the body of the message. Press Ctrl+Enter to start a new line. Footer Specifies the text that is included in the email error message appended to the bottom of the message. Press Ctrl+Enter to start a new line. Message Type The following SMTP message types are available: l l Plain Text: The SMTP message is sent as a plain text. HTML: The SMTP message is sent in an HTML format with background color and product logo as the signature. 5 - Activity Tracking report tool The Activity Tracking report tool provides quick and easy access to the tracked activity in the form of an UI instead of writing to a file. If the Activity Tracking report is configured in the Services tab of ShareScan Administrator Console and enabled for a device, all the scan job activity information is recorded into the database and is presented with a user interface with all the information. When the Activity Tracking function is enabled for a device, Manager generates a log file. This file is in XML format and enables easy processing with many of the available tools. To configure the Activity Logging function: 1. In the console tree, select Devices > . 2. Select Activity Tracking in the Services tab and then Enabled. 3. Specify the settings and click Save. From Administration Console, under Advanced, click the Tools section to open the Activity Tracking report tool. - 14 - The Activity Tracking dialog appears. 5.1- Activity Tracking operation The scan job activity is written to the database after the Connector sends the final document to its destination successfully. By the time the Redirect form is displayed, the transaction is being written to the database in the background. In case of an error sending the document using the Connector, since the Redirect form is not displayed, the activity is not written to the database. This means that only successful transactions and activity are being recorded. When a Connector profile has Offline processing enabled, the final document creation and processing is performed in the background (Error message or Redirect form status is not available). In this case, the following scenario can happen: n n n If the final document is created successfully, but could not be sent out to its destination using the Connector, the activity is logged into the database with an error message returned by the Connector along will all the additional information about the scan job. If the final document creation failed, then the activity is logged into the database with an error message returned by the Manager along with all the additional information about the scan job. If the final document was created successfully and sent to its destination using the Connector, the activity is logged into the database with a Success message along will all the additional information about the scan job. A part of the Activity Report has the data filled in by the Connector at run time. It is the Connectors responsibility to fill this information using the Publishing Interface. 5.2- Activity Tracking settings The Activity Tracking tool allows you to view the basic columns or extend the grid by right-clicking and selecting columns, such as File size, Document type, Total documents, and so on. Clicking an individual row displays additional information about the Scan Job in the bottom panel. Settings Description Select Manager This tool displays by default the activity for all the devices (which have the service enabled) connected to the selected Manager. Clicking it displays a list of Managers. Use this function to see the activity of devices configured for different Managers. This window does not list all the devices for every Manager. It is assumed that you know which device or devices are configured with which Manager. Filter by This is a filter based on a Device, Connector, Date Time, or the authenticated user - 15 - Settings Description (choose the filters appropriately). The filter works as an “and” condition and displays only those rows based on the condition selected. The Select one or more filters dialog appears. Enter the following values: l l l Date Time: Presents date and time of the job successfully sent. The display is localespecific date and time. An icon (attachment) is visible in front of the Date Time field if Document Tracking is enabled. Date and time are presented in MM/dd/yyyy and AM/PM formats. Device information: Device name and Device IP address of the device from where the job is performed. Authenticated user: Session Logon username or the username published by the Connector. Note: The username published by the Connector supersedes the Session logon username. l Connectors: You can filter by the connectors used for this job. l Status: You can filter by All, Success, and Failure. l Apply: You can apply the settings. Export Exports the filtered list to an XML file. Refresh icon Fetches the new transactions and scan job activity from the database. Dialog Pin/UnPin Clicking the Pin button makes the window a TopMost window. Unpinning it removes it from being a TopMost window. Date Time Date and time of the job successfully sent. Device name Device name and device IP address of the device from where the job is performed. Authenticated user Session logon username or the username published by the Connector. Connector Name of the Connector used for this job. Profile name and the button text (also known as display name) is displayed in the details panel when the row is clicked. Total scans Total number of pages scanned before any processing, page removal, and so on is applied. Destination Filled in by the Connector in use. Example: If using Exchange connector, the recipients list will be displayed. If using a Fax Connector, either the recipients or the Fax numbers is displayed. Status For a successful job, this column has Success as the value. If the profile in use has Offline Processing enabled, this field will contain either the success or the failure message. For a Failure as the value, a detailed message is available. Display area Provides information on Activity Tracking entry settings. - 16 - Settings Additional columns Description To view additional fields in the columns, right-click in the list view control, to bring up a menu and either select each individual column or click Select all: l l l l Document type: The following formats are supported: TIFF, PDF, and JPEG. Document size: Size of the final document in kB. If multiple documents are generated due to batching, the size is the total size of all the documents combined. Total documents: Total number of documents generated for the job. Document encryption: Indicates whether the document created is encrypted or not (Yes/No). l Searchable text: Indicates whether searchable text is performed or not (Yes/No). l Blank Page removal: Indicates whether blank page removal is enabled or not (Yes/No). l Batching: Indicates whether batching is enabled or not (Yes/No). l l Bates/Endorsement: Indicates whether Bates/Endorsement is enabled or not (Yes/No). Select all: You can select all fields at once. 6 - Document Tracking service Document Tracking allows you to monitor a document passing through the ShareScan workflow. The service is located on the Configure services tab under the Connector services section of the ShareScan Administration Console. If the Document Tracking service is enabled for any of the Connector profiles, an icon is added to the first column of the row for that Scan Job in Activity Tracking, indicating that the Document has been tracked. Hovering over the attachment icon displays the name and location of the tracked document. Double-clicking the attachment attempts the ShareScan Administration Console to open the document, if it has access to the location of the document. If the location cannot be accessed, an appropriate message indicating the error is displayed. - 17 - 6.1- Document Tracking settings Setting Configured Description Configuring Service: Document Tracking: l l Folder location Checked (Yes): Allows a device to use the Document Tracking service. This option creates a black and white PDF file, without encryption or searchable text information. The file name for the document is added to the Activity Tracking log. Unchecked: The device cannot use the Document Tracking service. All the fields and properties are disabled. The full path and file name for the folder. The location must be in the current Windows domain or in a trusted Windows domain (it can be even on the local machine where the ShareScan Manager is running, but you have to make it a shared network folder with the proper access rights. Click the button on the far right side in the folder location value area to select file location. The Browse for folder window appears that allows you to browse the network for a shared folder. If you type in a folder location, make sure you use a UNC format (\\servername\foldername) – a mapped drive format cannot be used. Credentials You must have access rights to the specified location. Enter the following credentials to access the Activity Tracking folder: l User name: User's login name. l Password: User's password (hidden characters). l Domain: The domain associated with the user's login name and password. - 18 -