Getting documents and other content into the repository regardless of its source

The first step in the use of your content-enabled solution involves getting content—paper documents, faxes, email, etc.—into the Datahaven repository. The more options your content-enabled solution makes available (and the ease-of-use of these options) to “get content into” the repository, the more your solution will be used to its full potential.

Datahaven's content capture functionality goes well beyond simply scanning and attaching documents or uploading electronic files. The content capture tools available with Datahaven include

• production-level scanning
• ad-hoc and desktop scanning
• MFP- and copier-based scanning
• drag-and-drop
• copy-and-paste
• automated file imports
• inbound and outbound fax integration

By using these content capture methodologies in conjunction with Datahaven's embedded data and object model, you will be well on your way to creating a truly content-enabled software solution.

Associating metadata with scanned documents and other captured content

Once your content-enabled solution has captured the document or other unstructured content, the next step—data capture—serves to add structure to this unstructured content by associating metadata with it. Whether your application will rely on manual data entry or automated technologies such as barcode recognition and advanced OCR to extract data, associating metadata with unstructured content is critical to creating a content-enabled solution. Datahaven streamlines this process by

• providing your application with programmatic access to Datahaven's data and object model
• managing system-defined metadata such as date, time, series, etc.
• allowing custom, user-defined metadata related to users, folders, and file types

Leveraging automated data extraction using OCR, OMR, ICR, and barcode recognition to accelerate the data entry process

The Datahaven SDK and its extensions provide fast, accurate data capture for all document types and easily adjusts to changing needs. For example, by leveraging the ability to dynamically identify documents and automatically extract data from them, your content-enabled solution will be able to process a wide range of forms, including medical claims, surveys, applications, invoices, shipping bills, and tax returns.

• Fingerprint virtually any type of form or document — e.g., invoices, shipping documents, mortgage documents, insurance files, and EOBs
• Process any type of data — e.g., machine print (OCR), hand print (ICR), barcode recognition, or checkboxes and bubbles (OMR)
• Ensure the highest level of data accuracy using automatic validations and data lookups and, if necessary, automatic routing for human verification

 

Autofile: Programmatically naming and filing the captured content

One of the most challenging aspects of any document content management solution is the degree to which end-users control where to file content and what to name individual files. Without the ability to consistently enforce a useful naming methodology and filing taxonomy, the efficacy of content management systems breaks down over time. Datahaven resolves these issues with its Autofile™ technology and, in the process, creates additional flexibility for your application to provide users with access to related content stored in the Datahaven repository.

Autofile: Ensuring naming and filing is done the same way every time

Using simple, server-side scripting commands to perform a database-driven set of steps triggered by system-level actions such as scanning, barcode recognition, and workflow actions, developers have the ability to

• create dynamic folder structures and programmatic filing of content using pre-defined metadata and business rules
• call stored procedures to perform custom operations at the database or server level
• extend Autofile to any action that occurs in your existing application

With Autofile, Datahaven ensures that the same data elements control the naming and filing of content every time. This provides a consistent filing approach across media types, even over long periods of time. The power of Autofile™ is its programmatic use of the same data to organize content into a uniform taxonomy and file it within this taxonomy the same way every time regardless of the media type (e.g., scanned, imported, faxed or emailed documents or other files) and regardless of the end-user's other actions or preferences.

Autofile: Enhancing search by displaying related folders

This programmatic filing and storage methodology gives rise to a unique and powerful ability to access content that you cannot find with other enterprise content management solutions. Nearly all ECM solutions on the market limit a user's ability to access content within their repository to a search screen or a workflow queue. This limits a user's access to those content objects listed in a specific, pre-existing queue at a particular moment in time or to those content objects produced by search terms (that hopefully are broad enough and accurate enough). Autofile™ allows your application to leverage a uniform taxonomy to give your application the ability to identify and display related folders of content in Datahaven's database-driven file cabinet interface.

Processing documents and other content and related metadata through electronic workflow

Datahaven’s content-centric workflow enables your data-centric application to present one or more items of content and related metadata within a workflow queue for authorized users to review, route, approve, and perform other actions (e.g., splitting documents and adding annotations at the page-level). Your data-centric application may already include automated workflow processes that apply business rules to require, for example, that an invoice over $5,000 requires two levels of approval. Datahaven’s workflow would supplement this functionality by enabling the data-centric application to display the image of the invoice to authorized users as well as any supporting documentation such as a purchase order or proof-of-delivery.

 

By embedding Datahaven's workflow component, your application will have complete programmatic control over things like

• creating custom workflow queues
• identifying specific content stored in the Datahaven repository
• staging content in hidden or temporary workflow queues
• presenting specific items of content and their related metadata within particular workflow queues for review, routing, approval, and other actions (e.g., adding annotations and comments at the page-level, and assembling document packages from a variety of source materials)
• controlling who has access to each workflow queue and what actions each user or group can take with the content

Processing electronic forms data and related content

In addition, Datahaven's electronic forms processing technology offers a particularly powerful and flexible workflow tool for your application. Using Datahaven's electronic forms processing capabilities, your application can

• display data (whether entered manually by the user on a web-based form or rendered from an internal or external database query)
• allow users to enter or modify the data
• route documents and other content (such as voicemails, images, and Microsoft Office files) side-by-side with the form through its workflow
• route the form independently through workflow just like documents and other content

Examples of the wide variety of uses for Datahaven's electronic forms processing technologies, include

• importing user-entered data from a form on a web site
• processing checklists (e.g., those paper-based forms used for internal audits and peer reviews) as electronic forms
• routing these forms, their data, and all related content through a workflow process

Obviously, information workers will need the ability to view the files stored by your content-enabled solution. The Datahaven viewer control can launch within a fixed window or sit atop other screens to maximize screen real estate. Datahaven manages and allows access to any filetype. If Datahaven does not support the native viewing of a file type, it launches the application associated with the file type (e.g. MS Word for a .doc/.docx file) from the local machine.

Many power users of enterprise-class, data-centric applications also have needs related to advanced document and content management functionality such as splitting and merging documents, adding text and highlight annotations, redacting sensitive portions of a document, etc.. Absent the ability of a content-enabled solution to offer this advanced functionality, users will have to work around these shortcomings. This often leads to inefficiencies because users will, for example, print and re-arrange documents and add handwritten notes. Perhaps more importantly, tasks like these will take place outside of the system which will result in an incomplete "system of record" and increase the organization's exposure to compliance and other legal issues.

All of the ECM functionality in the world is of limited use if the information worker cannot easily find the content needed to perform a task. In other words, it’s not about how much content end-users have access to—it’s about their having instant access to the right content.

Datahaven's search technologies aid your controlling application by conducting searches of the metadata associated with content stored in the Datahaven repository. Once Datahaven identifies and returns the search results, your application controls how to present these results to the user, including the ability to

• display the entire contents of the repository
• display the contents of an individual folder or folder tree
• display an individual file, list of files, or queues
• dynamically update any of these display options to match the current record displayed by your client-server application

By displaying the results of the programmatic searching and filtering process in the Datahaven virtual cabinet component, users of your data-centric application will immediately see these results on the active screen. No need for the user to toggle between separate screens or tabs in your application.

 

What’s more, the Datahaven virtual cabinet component also provides nearly infinite flexibility in how to display the filtered results—as an individual item, as multiple items in a list, organized in folders, etc. Your application also can dynamically re-organize—or allow the user to do so on ad hoc basis—the folder structure to reflect a more useful view of the content.

In other words, Datahaven enables your existing data-centric application to programmatically identify, retrieve, filter, and display to each information worker a customized, security-trimmed view of relevant content stored in the Datahaven repository. No need for the user to perform an ad hoc search. No need for the user to navigate the entire content repository. No need for the user to access a separate ECM system. If the user navigates to another record or another area of your application, the search results automatically update.

Once presented to the user, your application can provide security-controlled access to the full range of functionality in Datahaven, including the ability to

• tag multiple items for distribution
• perform a wide range of actions on the content
• view the audit trail associated with the content object

Getting content out of the repository

The Datahaven Toolkit Technologies allow your application to programmatically identify, retrieve, and display the content stored in the Datahaven repository in a wide variety of ways. From these views, the output methods of the Datahaven Toolkit Technologies provide a number of additional tools that allow users to identify specific content and data. For example, once your application displays a results list of content, the user may create a tag list by tagging specific documents, pages within a document, or combinations of files, documents, folders, forms, and pages.

Your application can provide users with access to the tag list to allow output actions to be performed on the tagged content, such as print, fax, email or export. If emailed, selected or tagged documents can be merged into one document and include the document's metadata in the email text body.

 

The Datahaven Toolkit Technologies also offer several advanced output methods, including the programmatic ability to

• capture outbound fax images and related metadata and redirect all of this back into the Datahaven repository for automatic indexing and storage
• export the content and related metadata of an entire tree structure to an XML file to make this information available to users external to the Datahaven system (sample screenshot below)

• render a combination of text streams, print streams, and other electronic files to create customized versions (e.g., adding table of contents, headers and footers or banners to documents) of content stored in the Datahaven repository,
• generate a read-only storage archive (e.g., storage of EDI invoice data), and
• produce hybrid documents from multiple file formats (e.g., TIFF and PDF files)

Enforcing security at the document and page-level

The security of content afforded your application by Datahaven is granular through its use of privileges and permissions at the user and group levels and can be further enforced on a particular area of a document by applying security redactions. Privileges are available actions like scanning and printing. Permissions, on the other hand, are security settings related to access to folders and documents.

Your application can choose from at least three options when implementing or modifying its security model.

• First, it can use its own security model and specifically set content-related privileges and permissions for its own users and groups whenever a specific user accesses content.
• Second, it can pass the user or user's group membership programmatically to allow privileges and permissions to be set automatically as set up in the Datahaven security model.
• Third, your application can leverage Active Directory.

Auditing actions and using the data to measure performance

Datahaven enables your data-centric application to configure how it generates audit trails. Audit trails in Datahaven can be configured to track and record every action at the document level. This includes, date, time, user, and the action performed. Actions that can be recorded include

• viewing a document
• scanning and creating a document
• printing, emailing or faxing a document
• routing, approving and indexing a document
• annotating, splitting or merging a document

 

Document deletion, if allowed at all by your application, is tracked by migrating all deleted information to the Datahaven system logs. The audit trail function also allows the end-user to add their own note onto a document's history. This note will be recorded with their user name, full name, date and time and the note itself.