Importing documents
When a file is uploaded as document the content of the file is stored as Base64 Code in the Document content (documentContent) property of the document object. In this process the properties Size in bytes (size) and Checksum (checksum) are updated.
Depending on content (and not file extension) a file type (MIME-type) is determined and assigned to the Content type property. This type is referred to by the browser in order to show the document. Depending on browser settings per file type it may refer to designated applications or request an individual choice from the user to determine how to show the document.
In an interactive document import the name or the source file (incl. file extension) is assigned as a default Name (name) for the document. Basically, this name can be reassigned arbitrarily by the user. Changes to the contained file extension (if any) have no functional influence on how the document is presented or opened by the browser. Since an internal document ID (Id) is assigned to the document upon creation in Lobster Data Platform / Orchestration, the name does not have to be unique.
For specific file types (images, PDF), contained Barcodes can be automatically detected and evaluated, to enable automatic referencing or splitting multi-page files into individual documents.
See Barcode detection for details.
Referencing, the process of assigning a document to a certain data object, is triggered when a document object is saved. Specific properties of the document are required to define parameters for the search process, whereas others are assigned values during the search.
See Assigning documents for details.
Example 1: Interactive document import without barcode detection
Starting from the overview for 'Documents' an interactive document import without barcode detection can be executed by the following steps:
Click New in the ribbon to initialize a new document object.
Select a source file or drag & drop it as Document content. The Name property below is automatically initialized with the file name. A Description can be optionally added.
Select Document type and Reference type as required (see Assigning documents for details).
Select a class for Referenced entity, if a selection is necessary for the Reference type selected (see Document reference type for details).
A Reference string fitting the logic of the Reference type must be provided as a key for searching the data object to assign the document to.
Click Save to trigger referencing and create the document.
Result (example):
In this example scenario, an image ('passport photograph') should be assigned for each user account, based on image files that already specify the internal user ID as part of the file name ('USER_2701.jpg' etc.).
A completely unspecific category ('Upload') is assigned as a Document type and the Reference type ('Entity id') is also generic and identifies any type of data object by its ID.
The class 'User (...)' has been selected as the Referenced entity and appears write-protected (grey) for successfully assigned documents.
The user ID ('2701') was manually copied from the file name as a Reference.
The Reference state ('Referenced') was set during the referencing process and confirms that the document was successfully assigned to the user with ID 2701.
Example 2: Interactive document import with barcode detection
Starting from the overview for 'Documents', an interactive document import without barcode detection could be executed by the following steps:
Click New in the ribbon to initialize a new document object.
Select a source file or drag & drop it as Document content. The Name property below is automatically initialized with the file name. A Description can be optionally added.
Select Document type and Reference type as required (see Assigning documents for details) and select a class for Referenced entity, if a selection is necessary for the Reference type selected (see Document reference type for details).
In contrast to the previous example, a Reference is not provided, as is is provided by a barcode to detect inside the PDF-file which might look like the following sample:
Click Detect barcodes to start the process, which requires further settings in a sub dialog:
Apply settings (see Barcode detection for details) as required.
Click Scan in the ribbon to detect barcodes from the document.
►NOTE◄ For each relevant barcode, a document is immediately created and referenced as far as possible without further confirmation.
Result (example):
In this example, a Code 128 barcode containing the string 'USER-2701' was detected, as automatically amended in the document Description ('Detected barcodes: ...').
As this barcode value matches the Barcode filter, the Barcode pattern is applied to produce the numeric substring '2701' as Reference.
Using Reference type 'Entity Id' and the choice for class 'User (...)' as the Referenced entity, the reference can be resolved as in the example.
The Reference state 'Referenced' confirms the process was successful.
►NOTE◄ Detect barcode can only be executed before the current document is created.