Datahaven Windows® SDK for ECM

You can embed the Datahaven virtual cabinet component and its intuitive, database-driven network folder look-and-feel within any area of the Windows® Form of your application. Other ECM products require the user to perform an ad hoc search, navigate the entire repository, access a separate screen of your application, or worse, access a separate application altogether. Among other things, the Datahaven virtual cabinet component extends the UI of your application and provides the means to programmatically display relevant content to information worker.

Your application can employ buttons, tabs, and other controls and apply user and group security permissions to programmatically determine.

• what content is displayed to what user
• what content is displayed in what context
• whether the content is displayed in a list view or in a folder structure

Your application also can apply various metadata to filter, group, and sort the display of content from any data-driven perspective so that end-users can change the viewpoint of how the content is displayed in a folder structure. The Datahaven virtual cabinet makes all of this possible from within the existing interface of your application.

The Datahaven virtual cabinet component also provides convenient, security-controlled access to advanced ECM functionality through its right-click menu. For example, this capability could allow an authorized user of your application to scan a document directly to a folder, add pages directly to a previously scanned document, or split the document into two or more other documents.

Simply enabling your application to “scan and attach” documents to individual records falls well short of what information workers require in a document management solution. For example, such an approach cannot handle even the slightest transactional complexities, support sophisticated functions like OCR and workflow, or scale as volumes rise.

Embedding the Datahaven document scanning components extends your application well beyond simple file attachments. With Datahaven, your application will be able to support advanced document capture features such as high-volume production-level scanning directly to an automated workflow process, manually adding pages to an existing document, and associating metadata to the document independent of any underlying record in your application.

Additional content and data capture functionality is available using the Datahaven SDK Extensions that provide zonal OCR, integration with digital copiers, email systems such as Microsoft Exchange (Outlook) and fax server solutions such as RightFax.

Embedding the Datahaven viewer component enables end-users of your application to natively view and modify document images. For example, Datahaven’s ability to store documents at the page level and enforce granular security to actions, folders, and content at the user and group levels allow authorized users to apply highlighting and text annotations and redact sensitive information such as a social security number to allow those with the appropriate permission to see through the redaction.

If the Datahaven viewer does not support the file format natively, then Datahaven automatically launches the authoring application on the user’s local machine. Once the Datahaven viewer component displays a document to the user, your application can provide security-controlled access to a wide range of functionality in Datahaven.

Embedding the Datahaven workflow component enables your existing data-centric application to process documents and other “unstructured” content through a fully-customizable workflow process that can proceed sequentially or on an ad hoc basis for authorized users.

Datahaven supports the custom workflow needs of your users by providing your application with complete, programmatic control over things like

• creating custom workflow queues with custom sequences
• 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

The Datahaven forms processing component offers a particularly powerful and flexible workflow solution for your data-centric application. Datahaven offers the ability to process content related to forms data. For example, Datahaven can help your application take advantage of things like self-service web forms, audit checklists, etc. so that the imported data from these forms is associated with related content (e.g., physical documents signed by the user, copies of identity documents, etc.). The Datahaven Forms Processing Extension can be used to

• process web forms and physical checklists (e.g., those paper-based forms used for internal audits and peer reviews) and
• route these forms, their data, and all related content through an automated workflow process.