MergeMedia for vMedia 2.0

11/07/2017 - Enhanced the Merge Media documentation regarding additional filters.

04/10/2017 - Replaced confusing paragraph regarding: "The MergeMedia feature allows an existing document in vMedia to be included as part of the documents being filed into vMedia during File to vMedia."

07/11/2016 - Added note regarding case sensitivity to the MergeMedia documentation.

NOTE: The MergeMedia feature is only supported by vMedia version 2.0 or higher.

NOTE: vMedia and Collection-Master are separate products. If you would like to acquire Collection-Master or upgrade to vMedia 2.0 or higher, please contact Vertican.

The MergeMedia feature allows an existing document in vMedia to be included as part of the documents being filed into vMedia during File to vMedia. The included documents are copied, and the format is transformed if needed, such that the included documents become an integral part of the document being saved using File to vMedia. If this feature is combined with the Export as PDF feature, the entire document, including all included pages will be exported in addition to being filed in vMedia.

Overview

When filing to vMedia from WordPerfect, the File2vMedia macro has the ability to export and attach previously filed documents that exist within the vMedia database. The attached documents are then available to print and as well as to re-file to the vMedia database.

For example, if you are merging pleadings to file suit, any exhibit documents that were previously filed to vMedia can automatically be retrieved and attached to the suit documents when printed.

Specifications

Must have latest vMedia 2.0 or greater installed.

Must have the File2vMedia.wcm (dated 7/1/16 or later) and the new FTV-Include.wcm macro file from the MODULES\File2vMedia\ folder copied into your shared WordPerfect macro folder for the version being used.

Merge Form Setup

This setup section describes the markers that must be embedded within your document control, for which previously filed vMedia documents are to be attached. On the merge form, on the page prior to where the document should be inserted, add a WordPerfect comment with the following information:

Include vMedia Document= existing document search expression

The bold text in the WordPerfect comment example is identification text that must be typed as shown.

The italicized text must be replaced with an expression that locates one matching vMedia document to insert.

For example, to insert a vMedia document filed with File # 123ABC, Description: Suit Pack 1, the following comment should be used:

Include vMedia Document=fileno='123ABC' and cmt='Suit Pack 1'

Literal values MUST be delimited with single quotes (') especially on the SQL backend where this is a syntax requirement. The WordPerfect SmartQuotes feature needs to be disabled for single quotes during form creation so that WordPerfect does not attempt to replace the single quotes with another character. (Tools>QuickCorrect>SmartQuotes Tab)

Additional filters allow you to refine which documents from the vMedia database will be attached to the merge set:

~F = "First". Only one matching document (the earliest by scan date) will be included.

~L = "Last". Only one matching document (the latest by scan date) will be included.

~A = "All". All matching documents will be included, ordered by the scan date from earliest to latest.

~R: = "Range". Documents that match the specified date range, range specified as YYYY/MM/DD-YYYY/MM/DD
- the R parameter is followed by a ":" (colon)

To include additional documents in the same merge form, simply add additional comment markers to the merge form. The additional documents will be included in the order that the comments appear on each page where multiple comments are listed:

Include vMedia Document=fileno='123ABC' AND cmt='Suit Pack 1'

Include vMedia Document=fileno='123ABC' AND cmt='Demand1'

The referenced document is inserted after the page on which the comment appears. If the include comment is placed on page 1 of a three-page merge form or nested form, the included document's pages will appear starting as page 2 for as many pages that exist, then the remainder of the pages in the merge form will follow.

This release of MergeMedia requires that the search expression equates to exactly one vMedia document. This may be enhanced to match multiple documents in a future release if it is appropriate.

For mass merges using field codes for data such as file numbers, the field code cannot be placed directly inside a comment block in the merge form. Instead, add a line (not in a comment block) somewhere on the page prior to where the inserted document should be placed with the following elements:

Include vMedia Document= existing document search expression

The existing document search expression must be replaced by a document location expression, which can contain merge codes. For example, the WordPerfect template for merging from Collection-Master can contain codes such as FIELD(8) for the file number. In this case the line can look like this:

Include vMedia Document=fileno='field(8)' AND cmt='Suit Pack 1'

Immediately following the expression, add a NESTMACRO to the FTV-Include.wcm macro as shown in the following screen capture.

NOTE: The values MUST be delimited with single quotes (')

For non-SQL vMedia installations, the document location expression must be an exact case match for the item in vMedia. For example, if the user is trying to attach a document in the vMedia database that has the document description “Suit Pack 1”, then the document search expression line in the merge form must say cmt='Suit Pack 1'. If the exact case isn't used in non-SQL installations, then using 'Suit pack 1', 'suit Pack 1', 'SUIT Pack 1' etc. will all generate errors that the document could not be located in the database.

For SQL databases the search is case-insensitive.

When the document is merged on files from Collection-Master, the resulting merge set will include the filed vMedia document with the document description “Suit Pack 1” for each file number that was merged.

Merge Media Error Log

This is an enhancement to the existing Merge Media feature. The new enhancement substitutes a written processing log in place of individual warning dialog message boxes when no media can be found for the supplied query in the merge document.

The default Merge Media exception behavior is to display a timed dialog box at the moment the exception occurs during File to vMedia. Enabling the logging feature will suppress the warning messages for Merge Media queries that return zero matches only. Other types of exceptions (such as a syntax error or an invalid option) will still be displayed in a timed dialog box for immediate correction and will not be logged.

How to Configure:

The Merge Media Log is enabled by adding a MergeMediaLogDir value into the corresponding Station section in the vMedia INI file.

• MergeMediaLogDir= path to a folder where the Merge Media Log will be written.

If enabled, a log file with the name FTVLOG_yyyymmdd_hhmmss_username.TXT will only be created if MergeMedia is used and at least one media query fails to find matching media to include. yyyymmdd represents the current year, month and day. hhmmss represents the time the log file was created (the completion time of FTV). Username is the login name of the user who is performing the FTV. All values use leading 0's to return a fixed length for the time and date.

• A separate log file will be created for each qualifying FTV run regardless of how many documents are in the merge.

• If the log file is created, at the conclusion of the merge, the confirmation dialog will indicate that a Merge Media log file was created and identify the log file path and name. Once the user clicks OK, the log file will be loaded into notepad and displayed for the user to review.