SimpleIndex lets you run any SimpleIndex job as a Windows service for fully unattended processing. This is particularly useful for high-volume, high-demand applications where scanned images are coming from many remote workstations, as well as small and large implementations utilizing network scanners or digital copiers. In server mode, images are saved to a “hot folder” on the server where they are processed automatically. SimpleIndex performs barcode recognition, OCR and other indexing tasks and exports formatted files to storage and database servers.

Server processing licenses may be added to any version of SimpleIndex. Unattended processing is possible without a server license, but a user must be logged on to the workstation for it to execute. Windows services run automatically when the computer is booted up, even if nobody is logged on. You must have a Server license to run SimpleIndex on Windows Server operating systems.

SimpleIndex Servers can run multiple jobs on different schedules on the same server, or run multiple instances of the same job simultaneously to take advantage of multiple CPUs.

Server Processing

  • Run multiple jobs on different schedules
  • Run multiple copies of the same job for parallel processing and increased throughput
  • Server licenses can be purchased in 1 Million Page per Year increments as an add-on to any workstation license
  • Unlimited page barcode processing license available with Advanced Barcode Server
  • Server processing compatible with Windows 7 or above and all Windows Server versions

Command Line Sample

When using the Simple Software products it can be beneficial to run the software from a command line script. With this you can run other Simple Software Job configurations or Windows Batch Files (.bat) or Task Manager or other command line methods automatically.

You can find sample formats of the command lines for Simple Software products below.

​SimpleIndex:
“C:\Program Files (x86)\SimpleIndex\SimpleIndex.exe” /c:”Path to job file”

SimpleSend:
“C:\Program Files (x86)\SimpleIndex\SimpleSend.exe” “Path to job file” /hide /run

SimpleQB:
“C:\Program Files (x86)\SimpleIndex\qb\SimpleQB.exe” “Path to job file” /hide /run

/hide and /run in the SimpleSend and SimpleQB examples above hide any windows from being displayed and automatically runs the process respectively.

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Command Line to Auto-close SimpleIndex

This is used to closed SimpleIndex after the job has been completed automatically. This can be useful if you only run one batch in SimpleIndex at a time and don’t need it after that batch is complete. Instructions to Auto-close SimpleIndex when Batch is complete: Open the SimpleIndex Job Configuration that you would like to set to auto close when the batch is is complete.Open the Job Settings Wizard from the File menu.Go to the Advanced Settings step and expand Pre-Process & Post-Process options.In the Post-Process field put the following: taskkill -f -im simpleindex.exe Save the Job Configuration. Alternate Intructions: Open the Job Options from the File menuIn the Batch tab put the following in the “Post-Proc” field: taskkill -f -im simpleindex.exeClick OK and then Save from the File menu
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Fixes for Service not Correctly Running

If the ​Service stops and isn’t running properly there can be a variety of different causes for this.  You can follow the procedures below to fix this in most cases. Check Event Log, which is here: Administrative Tools>Event Viewer>Windows Logs>Application  Then select “Filter Current Log…” on the right and in the “Event sources:” field drop down pick these:  SimpleIndex, SimpleIndex Service & SimpleIndexService (and anything else that says SimpleIndex)  Look at the errors, which will tell you why it’s not working.   Find the Temp folder for SimpleIndex and delete any batches that are there after stopping the Service in the SimpleIndex Service Control and Options Panel   Clear Registry of the Temp Files HKEY_USERS\(User ID for the User Running the Service)\Software\SimpleIndex\  Then delete the folders for the names of the Configurations that are not starting in the Service Control Panel
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Using alternate database schemas

In SQL Server, Oracle and MySQL (among others) user logons are associated with a default “schema” that determines which tables and views they can see.

Users may have access to other tables and views that aren’t in their schema. When connecting to the database these tables will show up in the list, but when you try to get the list of fields you get an “Invalid object reference” error.

To reference these tables, use [Schema].[Table] for the table name to explicitly reference the table.

You can also change the user’s default schema on the server to the one matching the table.

A third option is to create a view under the user’s default schema that selects the necessary records.

At the present time you cannot enter [Schema].[Table] in the wizard, so if you need to use this workaround configure the job in the wizard and modify the table name in the old job options screen.

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Service Configuration Paths

The paths to the configuration files that are stored in the list in the Service Control and Options panel is located in the registry here:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SimpleIndexService\Jobs

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How do I delete an image and it’s database entry?

If your Job Settings Wizard configuration’s of Database mode setting is set to “Update Existing Records”, the database record and the image will be deleted when you delete an image from a batch. The Table Name must be an updateable query or table and you must have sufficient permissions for both the database record and the file.

You cannot delete files with SimpleSearch. To enable retrieval users to change indexes, rename or delete files, use a SimpleIndex Standard license.

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How do I export index data to a database?

There are a variety of ways to connect to your database. Detailed instructions are provided in the Manual (check the Help menu). Here is a brief overview of the steps involved: -Create a job configuration to scan and index files -On the database tab, set the “Database Mode” to “Insert New Records” -To use ODBC, enter the data source name or file in Data Source -To connect directly, select your database type under “Select a Data Source” and click Start. A series of dialogs will prompt you for database connection information. -Select destination Table or View and click Reload -For each index field, select the corresponding database field that will receive that field value -The “Output File Field” will receive the path to the exported file Once you have created records in your database in “Insert” mode, you can change to “Retrieve and View Records” and use SimpleIndex or SimpleSearch to search and view the files.

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Is it possible to have the scanned image itself added to a database and not just the image path?

Yes. Image files can be inserted into binary fields in Access, SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL and other databases.

Check the “Store files as binary objects” option on the Database tab and the “Output File Field” setting can be mapped to a binary field.

If using PDF, MS Office or other non-image files, use the File Type Field to store the file extension of the stored file.

SimpleSearch mode will let you view files stored using this method as well.

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How do you configure a field to select from a list of possible values?

List fields are populated using a text file or database field containing the values for that list. The text file scenario will be described first. To configure a list field, go to the Index tab in the Job Options. Create a list field by selecting “List” for the field type and give it a name. In the “List File/Field” setting for this field, put the full path or UNC to the text file containing the list or click “Set” to browse to the file. If you have not created a file, you can put the path where you want the file stored here and click the “Edit” button. This will open the file in Notepad; new files will prompt you to create them. On each line of the text file you will put one of the possible values that you want to be able to select from while you are indexing with SimpleIndex. You can copy this information from another source and paste it into the text file. Save the file in Notepad and close it. The List field is now configured! To use

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Is it possible to restrict user access to certain documents in Retrieval Mode?

If the database you use to store index information has security access features, you can use these to manage access to documents with SimpleIndex retrieval mode.

In your database, create user accounts and groups and assign them the appropriate permissions to records in your document database.

In SimpleIndex, check the “Require Logon” option on the Logging tab to force the user to logon to the database using the accounts you created. When they search and view documents, they will only be able to access records that the corresponding database user has been assigned access to.

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How do you configure full text searching in Retrieval mode?

On the Database tab there dropdown in the lower portion of the panel for Full Text OCR Field. Put the name of the field that will store the full-text data there. This must be configured both for Insert and Retrieval mode configurations. The database field needs to be sufficient length to store the entire text of your document. Of course, the Insert Mode configuration must have “Enable Full Page OCR” checked to generate full text data from images. Text from MS Office documents, PDF files and existing OCR text files can be used without setting this option. When designing your Retrieval Mode configuration, create a Text field to use for full text search queries. On the Database tab, set the corresponding “Database Field Name” to the full text database field. When searching on your full text field, SimpleIndex finds the text you enter no matter where it appears in the document. It is able to match partial words. It does not perform boolean or natural language search

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I know nothing about databases. Can I still use the database and Retrieval Mode features?

Yes! We’ve made it simple to create a database that you can use to store index information and perform searches with SimpleIndex Retrieval Mode. Once you have configured a SimpleIndex job to scan and store documents on your network, use these steps to create a database to store index information for searching: 1. On the database tab, make sure “Create Generic Access DB” is selected in the drop-down and click “Start”. 2. Save the Access database in a location accessible to all SimpleIndex users. All the settings on this form will be filled in automatically after you save the database. 3. Change the “Database Mode” to “Insert New Records”. This means that when the job is run, new records will be added to the database as new files are processed. 4. Save the this configuration. 5. To create a configuration for searching and viewing, simply change the “Database Mode” setting to “Retrieve and View Records”. You may

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Network Scanners & Copiers

Most digital copiers have the ability to scan a TIFF or PDF file to a shared folder on your network. However, getting an image with a recognizable filename and index fields you can search on is usually a labor intensive, if not impossible task. SimpleIndex with SimpleCoversheet provides a way for the whole office to organize documents they scan with your existing digital copiers. SimpleIndex uses barcodes to automate the process of tagging and filing documents. This can be accomplished by embedding barcodes in the documents when they are printed, or by using SimpleCoversheet to create barcode index pages that are encoded with the filing data. SimpleIndex can be configured to run fully unattended as a Windows service or scheduled task. It monitors the folder for new scanned files, reads the barcodes and files them accordingly. The key values from the barcodes are used to tell SimpleIndex when a new file starts, what folder to store the document in, what to name the file and other tags t
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Automated Processing & 1-Click Interface

 Your browser does not support the video tag.SimpleIndex® 1-click scanning and indexing is enabled with its command line interface. SimpleIndex job files can be saved and opened just like a Word document. When you open a job file, SimpleIndex begins processing a new batch automatically. Scanning, processing (OCR, barcodes, database autofill, etc) and export happen in sequence with no further input from the user. For unattended processing, the command line interface lets you use Windows services and scheduled tasks to automate OCR, barcode recognition and database export tasks. The Command Line Interface also allows SimpleIndex to be integrated with custom software applications with minimal to no programming required. Field values, processing folders and other settings can be passed as command line parameters Any SimpleIndex option can be set using XML job files Database export links processed files to your app automatically Control application behavior (display window, exit after proc
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Streamlined Interface

The Fastest, Most Accurate Scanning Solution As with any repetitive task, a few seconds saved scanning and filing a single document quickly adds up to dozens or hundreds of hours over the course of a long project or daily routine. The most import part of planning your imaging project is to find the most efficient way to capture documents and file them correctly. Creating an efficient scanning and indexing process will save you countless hours of labor over the life of your project. SimpleIndex is faster and easier because it is designed to perform all of the steps necessary to scan, process, verify and export images in one continuous workflow rather than requiring the user to click extra buttons each time to initiate the next step. When taken to the extreme, SimpleIndex is capable of performing all of these tasks automatically just by clicking an icon on your desktop or a link in a browser. SimpleIndex does this by saving all of the settings for a scanning workflow to a file that can b
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Indexing Solutions with Barcode Recognition

Barcode recognition is the most efficient way to capture index data printed on documents. If you are unfamiliar with the use of barcodes in document scanning, you can learn more about barcodes in our Barcode Scanning Guide, but if you want to know more about barcode use with SimpleSoftware products, read on. Your browser does not support the video tag. Some documents already have key information in barcode format on them. In many cases adding a barcode to a document is as simple as changing or adding a font. Adding barcodes to new documents is preferable as all the index data is on the document at the time it is created and in a format that can be read with near 100% accuracy. As an alternative to placing barcodes on the individual documents, it is possible to print out a barcode cover page and place it on the file before it is scanned. The SimpleCoversheet application was designed to make this easy by providing a simple interface for selecting index values and printing a standard
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Zone OCR and Dynamic OCR

Many document scanning solutions use Zone OCR to obtain index data from the page, while SimpleIndex improves upon this time-tested but ultimately limited model with its unique Dynamic OCR feature. Let’s look at the difference between the two methods: Zone OCR Zone OCR is used to read document indexes or tags from text on the page. It is a great way to automate the data entry associated with scanning documents. However, there are several limitations to zone OCR that must be overcome: Index information must be in the exact same place on every pageDocuments shift and skew during scanning, causing the zones to not line upIf surrounding lines or text on the document are too close, they can encroach on the zone Dynamic OCR SimpleIndex overcomes these limitations by using Dynamic OCR technology to locate the desired text even when it moves around on the page. Our simplified version of Dynamic OCR works great for many types of documents at a fraction of the cost of other solutions. Index
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Database Integration

Unprecedented Control of Database Interactions Open database integration is a powerful feature of SimpleIndex® and one that furthers its interoperability with custom programs. Instead of using a proprietary database, SimpleIndex allows you to map its index fields to cells in any database table. It can be configured to create new records, update existing ones or retrieve them for viewing. Using these three basic database functions, SimpleIndex is able to interface with and operate on any database. Automatic Indexing Using Existing Data The Autofill feature of SimpleIndex is an easy way to associate many index fields with one document without retyping data that already exists in another database. Autofill uses a database lookup to retrieve records that match a key value entered by the user. Blank index fields are then filled in automatically with the data from this lookup. The result is a document database with many different possible search fields, of which only one needed to be entered
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