Command Line Interface

The Command Line Interface allows SimpleIndex to be integrated with custom software solutions with minimal programming. This interface allows you to specify all job settings, set index values and process images with a single command.

SimpleIndex also has the ability to run a command line application automatically before or after each batch (pre-process/post-process). These can perform file format conversions on the import and export files, upload files to an FTP server, email files, or launch a custom application integration.

Custom Application Integration

SimpleIndex makes it easy to add document images to an existing custom database application. By mapping the index fields in SimpleIndex to fields in your [[database], SimpleIndex creates a direct interface to your application’s data. It can create new records for the images you scan, or update images and index information in existing records. All of this can be done with your existing database, with the resulting images and index information made available immediately in your custom application.

The Command Line Interface is another component that makes integrating SimpleIndex with custom applications simple. All of the information you need to scan, process, organize and store documents is saved with the SimpleIndex configuration file. Using the Command Line Interface, your application can launch SimpleIndex, specify a configuration file and pre-set index field values, and have SimpleIndex automatically scan your documents, organize them, and link them to your database without any user intervention whatsoever.

Since this is all implemented via the command line, it only takes the proper configuration file and a single line of code to integrate fully automated scanning in your application. Viewing documents can be done with another line of code that simply opens the current image file in SimpleIndex using SimpleSearch, or in the computer’s default viewer like Windows Picture Viewer or Adobe Acrobat. This design makes SimpleIndex a much easier way to add document imaging to a custom application than other application or SDK solutions.

Command Line Execution

Another powerful feature of SimpleIndex is that jobs can be executed from the command line and completed without user intervention. This allows programmers to implement fully automated document scanning in their applications with just a few lines of code. Non-programmers may also take advantage of this feature by designing program shortcuts with pre-defined index values and modes of operation. Using these methods, the work of the scanner operator can be reduced to a single mouse click.

Command Line Parameters

Usage 1: SimpleIndex [options]

Options:

• /c:configfile - specify a configuration file to use
• /m - specifies “manual” mode; disables automation and allows user to interact with prompts
• /u:userid - uses the specified user ID for database logon and audit features
• /p:password - uses the specified password for database logon
• /d:# - enables the processing log with the logging detail level specified by # (0-5)
• /#:value - where # is a field number (1-99), sets the index data for that field to value
• /i:inputfolder - override the Input folder setting in the job config
• /o:outputfolder - override the Output folder setting in the job config
• /e - run in SimpleSearch mode
• /t - exits the program after batch processing is finished

Usage 2: SimpleIndex configfile [field1value] [field2value] [field3value] …

Using this form allows you to simply double-click a configuration file and have SimpleIndex execute it.

Opening SimpleIndex Configurations from an Icon

The command line interface allows saved SIC config files to be double-clicked, starting SimpleIndex and running the job automatically. If the batch is pre-indexed, the whole process will run unattended.

SimpleIndex job files can be opened from other applications, including the hotkeys on many scanners. By mapping hotkey events to SimpleIndex jobs, users can load documents, press the button for that document type, and have all the files scanned and indexed automatically.

By default, pre-indexed jobs run minimized when launched from an icon or command line. A dialog box is displayed when the batch has completed to let the user know it is finished. Use the “/q” option to suppress this dialog.

If you want to be able to open a config file by double-clicking it but not have it automatically start processing, you can create a shortcut to that config that includes the “/m” switch. This will disable automatic processing and only open SimpleIndex with the specified config.

Integrating with Custom Applications

Using the command line interface, all your program has to do is launch SimpleIndex with the appropriate configuration, and images can automatically be linked to the data in your application. There are a few ways to do this:

• Use the Insert or Update database modes to update your database directly.
• Import the images and index information from the Index Log.
• Assume file structure based on the index data. If index field values are used to create a standard file naming convention, files can be opened from other applications by calculating the path on-the-fly.