vParser Importer

Click here to view details regarding a command line driven implementation of the vParser Importer.

Overview

When used with a SQL-enabled database, vMedia has the ability to import and organize multi-page PDF documents based on various codes. The imported documents immediately appear within the Viewing Module of vMedia. You can also add comments and set other values, during import, so that you can organize and quickly find your documents in vMedia.

Specifications

vMedia SQL: This feature is only available in vMedia SQL. Please contact Client Services if you would like to use this feature.

Required file format: Multi-page PDF text file; scanned/raster PDF documents will not work.

Redaction: You can designate a portion of the final document to be redacted by setting a dark background for the text box containing the text to be redacted.

Naming: The name of the PDF document is not used during the import.

Structure: All PDF files must be placed in one folder. The files will be moved to a new “Processed” folder as they are successfully imported. Files with errors will remain in the original folder.

Logging: A detailed log file named “IMPORT_VParser_Log.txt” can be found in the vMedia installation directory.

Configuring the Processing Expressions

The following section describes the various commands that can be embedded within your PDF file to control how documents are imported. For large imports, these commands can be automatically inserted into your PDF documents via a merge from Collection-Master. For example, the WordPerfect template for merging from Collection-Master can contain codes such as FIELD(8) for the file number or FIELD(500) for the document description (as set up in Collection-Master). Once merged, the PDF resulting files will contain text boxes to control how vMedia imports the documents.

To indicate the start of a document, include a text box with the following line at the top of the PDF page you want to be first in the imported document:

VMEDIASTART=[optional value name]=/ [optional value]~[optional value name]=/ [optional value]

NOTE: Make sure that the text within the text box does not wrap onto more than one line. The entire string must appear on one line. Use white text so that it does not appear in the imported document.

To set a vMedia value during import, use these optional value names:

FILENO is the vMedia “File Number” for the document.
CMT is the vMedia “Document description” for the document
Additional vMedia values can be set by including a text both with a “Magic String.”

Example: VMEDIASTART=FILENO=/1222435~CMT=/GARN FORM

Another useful command is “VMEDIASTOP”. When placed in a text box at the top of a page, it prevents that page and any following pages in the document from being imported until the next VMEDIASTART code is encountered. This is useful for a situation where a firm merges multiple copies of a document to be printed, but only wants one copy to be imported into vMedia.

Example: VMEDIASTOP=

Procedure

From the Master Control screen, click on the [Import/Export Module] button.

Highlight your desired vMedia database from the list and click [Select].

From the Bulk Document Import list, click [vParser].

NOTE: Once a profile is selected, the desired profile will load. Focus remains with the profile selector after the load.

Enter a profile in the Select Profile field at the top of the interface.

Selection Options

Click on the drop-down button to display a list of profiles and select your desired profile.

Type leading characters to select desired item.

Use [Alt-Down Arrow] to display the drop-down list of profiles.

Cycle through the profile options with the the up or down arrow keys.

Use any combination of the previous selection options.

Edit the Location field or accept the default settings.

[Save Profile] is optional. Click this button if you want to save the current settings for future use.

Click [Import Documents].

vParser Command Line Importer (vParserCMD.exe)

A command line driven implementation of the vParser Importer

vParserCMD can be used to schedule vParser processing of existing vParser profiles using task scheduler or batch files with no user input or interaction. Procedural and process logs are created and maintained in order to track and audit the results.

vParserCMD.EXE is a separate program from the main vMedia software, but relies on the existing vMedia configuration to process files. The computer upon which vParserCMD is run must be configured for vMedia.

Prerequisites for Deployment

The user logged in must be an authorized vMedia user at the POWER USER tier or above.

A suitable vParser profile must already be created using the main vParser module inside vMedia.

Usage Instructions

vParserCMD

{Import Profile Name}
{INI File Containing Profile}
{DB Prefix to Import Into 6-char}
Ex. vparserCMD Default Import vParser.ini CLS088

NOTE: If any parameter has embedded spaces, it must be quoted.

If a parameter should be skipped (remain at the default) a period can be used as a placeholder.

The DB Prefix is the first 6 characters of the database CF table or DSN file name. (i.e. CLS000)

A path can be prepended if the database is not located in the vMedia Main directory.

Defaults:

Profile Name= Profile name is required and has no default
INI File= Import_vParser.INI located in the vMedia home folder (same as the UI based vParser uses)
DB= Default vMedia database as configured for this machine ID

Optional troubleshooting switches (Set in the vMedia INI file under the Station Group):

VPCMD-DebugMode=1 (automatically un-hides the processing UI screen and leaves the UI running during and at the completion of the import until closed by the user.)

VPCMD-DebugLog=FQFN of log file to append/create (provides logging of configuration and startup errors that occur prior to the time the exporter begins processing files)

NOTE: A processing log file is always created or appended to when the import is run.

The processing log file is specified in the profile LogFile= option and defaults to IMPORT_vParser_Log.Txt located in the network vMedia folder.

The processing log file may be shared with other users who are running the vParser from either the command line or the UI based importer for all profiles that specify a common log file FQFN.