SharePoint
Overview[edit | edit source]
SharePoint is the popular cloud-based document management and workflow platform from Microsoft.
Many businesses adopted SharePoint due to its customizability and integration with Office apps and Windows networks.
SimpleIndex is able to upload and organize files in SharePoint, as well as set managed metadata fields used for index-based searching and workflows.
SharePoint settings are configured in the File Output Settings tab of the Settings Wizard.
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SimpleIndex is able to upload documents and index data to a SharePoint 2010, 2013 or Office365 document library. This setting can also be used to upload files via HTTP POST for integration with a variety of web-based document management systems and custom applications.
Enter the URL of the root folder of the document library in this setting. Folders and filenames created based on index settings will be replicated in the library. If you need to upload all the files to a specific subfolder, you can use a Fixed field with the Folder option checked to indicate this. If you replace the Output folder with the SharePoint URL in the output file path, you will get the resulting URL for the document in SharePoint.
For example:
SharePoint Site URL: http://sharepoint/Records/ Document Library URL: http://sharepoint/Records/Accounting/ Job File Output Path: Output Folder\Invoices\2010\vendor_date_invnum.pdf Final Document URL: http://sharepoint/Records/Accounting/Invoices/2010/vendor_date_invnum.pdf
The Document Library URL is the value that should be entered in the options screen.
Setting Document Metadata[edit | edit source]
When uploading documents, any index fields whose name matches a column name in the SharePoint document library will be used to set the value of that column. Use this method to set extended document metadata automatically.
The index field name must match the internal column name (known as the Static Name) used by SharePoint. This usually matches the display name, but may not if the column name is used elsewhere, has been renamed, or contains certain special characters.
It is recommended that you enter the field name as displayed, and if the value is not set during testing follow the next steps.
There is no good web interface for finding the static name. You can use tools like SharePoint Explorer or PowerShell to find it, or you can get it from the URL when you edit the column setting. The URL looks like this:
The value after the word Field at the end is the static name. You can use %5F and the underline character “_” interchangeably for readability.
Spaces, single quotes and forward slash “/” characters are automatically replaced with their SharePoint character codes (_x0020_, _x0027_ and _x002f_ respectively) so you can leave these in their user-friendly format.
Managed Metadata Columns[edit | edit source]
For managed metadata columns that use taxonomy terms, you must use the term’s unique ID to set the field value instead of the actual value.
Search “export SharePoint taxonomy unique ids” to find various methods for exporting the list of terms and unique IDs.
You can also get the unique ID at the bottom of the term’s setting page in the term store manager.
Convert this list to an Autofill data source to convert the term value to a unique ID. Use an Autofill field that uses the managed metadata column name and is mapped to the unique ID field in the database.
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When exporting to SharePoint Online for the first time, a login dialog window will appear allowing you to enter your user and password, and perform any 2-factor authentication your account requires.
After that your password will remembered until you sign out or your session expires.
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When running SimpleIndex in Server Processing mode, it is not possible for the login window to be displayed. Therefore, it is necessary to run the job interactively first in order to save your credentials before the job can be run as a service.
Because credentials are saved in the user profile settings, the service must run under a user account and cannot use the Local System user. You must also be logged in as the service account user when entering your SharePoint credentials.
In summary, the steps to configure a SharePoint job as a service:
- Login as the service account
- Run the job and enter your SharePoint credentials when prompted
- Install the SimpleIndex Service using the service account
- Start the service job
Remove local files after upload[edit | edit source]
Files are saved to the Output folder before being uploaded to SharePoint. You can keep that copy or select this option to remove it so the SharePoint copy is the only one.