Bluelake Software - Laserfiche Import Overview and User Guide

Bluelake Software - Laserfiche Import Overview and User Guide

Overview

Bluelake Laserfiche Import is a configurable application for importing documents and metadata into Laserfiche. If supports dynamic document and folder naming as well as multi-instance fields. The application includes a set of standard import formats and supports additional formats through optional add-on licenses.

Supported Import Formats 

Bluelake Laserfiche Import supports the following import formats.

Included with base license:

  • CSV 

  • Tab-delimited text 

  • Custom-configured text formats, such as pipe-delimited files 

  • Raw Documents without metadata

  • Kofax Text Export Connector

  • Kofax Express

For CSV, tab-delimited, and custom-configured text formats, the metadata file must contain a reference to the file system path of the document to be imported.

Requires add-on license:

  • Digitech PaperVision (XML-based)

  • OnBase DIP

  • Konica Minolta

  • Metadata-only formats where the target document name is derived from metadata 
Documents can be imported into on-premise Laserfiche repositories or Laserfiche Cloud. Point-and-click configuration options allow you to define custom document and folder naming based on provided metadata, as well as additional behaviors such as triggering OCR on imported documents (on-prem only) or creating document placeholders when a source document path is not provided.

Each import task’s configuration can be saved as a Profile for repeated use. The Laserfiche Import application may be run on a scheduled basis, passing the Profile Name, or executed ad hoc.

During execution, Laserfiche Import requires a live connection to the Laserfiche repository and consumes a Laserfiche Full User license.

Service Bureau Deployment Scenarios

In a service bureau environment:

  • If the customer uses an on-premise Laserfiche system, Laserfiche Import is typically installed and run at the customer’s location (volume licensing options are available).

  • If the customer uses Laserfiche Cloud, Laserfiche Import may be run and centrally managed from the service bureau’s network.

System Requirements

  1. Windows 7, 10, or 11, or Server 2016 or above, with 20GB of available hard drive space for the application plus the temporary storage of documents as they are imported to Laserfiche.
  2. Laserfiche 10.4 or above (including Laserfiche 11.x, 12.x and Laserfiche Cloud)
  3. If connecting to a local instance of Laserfiche, the Laserfiche repository must be on the same network node as the machine on which Laserfiche Import is installed. A common scenario for on-premise Laserfiche is to install Laserfiche Import onto the Laserfiche Server. This will minimize local network bandwidth use for the files being imported into Laserfiche.

Installation

Please visit https://www.bluelake.com/Home/LaserficheImport to select the version of Laserfiche Import that is suitable to your Laserfiche version. You can download a fully functional demo version of the software that is limited to 30 days and 500 documents. Please contact us if you need an extension on the demo period. The installed application can be converted to a permanent license after purchasing the license key.

After install the application can be found under:
  1. Windows 7, 10 and earlier Server OS's: Click the Start icon, then Programs, Bluelake Software, Laserfiche Import <version>
  2. Windows 11 and more recent Server OS's: Click the Start icon, then All Apps,  Bluelake Software, Laserfiche Import <version>

Configuration Steps

Configuration is organized into multiple tabs, presented in the order in which they should be provided. The basic sequence of steps is as follows:

  1. Specify Laserfiche Login and related information.
  2. Specify the import file information and specify which import fields are to be included or ignored, and (optionally) provide friendly field names for import fields.
  3. Specify the Laserfiche folder and subfolder creation criteria, as well as document names and mapping between import fields and Laserfiche Template fields.
  4. Specify optional criteria for running the application.
  5. Save the collection of information as a “Profile” to be re-used either through the interface or when running as a scheduled task.
To begin Configuration, open Laserfiche Import from the Start menu location, or from the desktop icon and configure the Laserfiche Login tab.
Tab 1 - Laserfiche Login Tab



  1. First, select Local or Cloud for the target Laserfiche repository and fill in the remaining information as requested

    For Local, fill in the LF Server name, for instance, localhost if Laserfiche Import is installed on the Laserfiche Server, or click the browse button to pick from a list of Laserfiche Servers detected by Laserfiche Import. Also provide the Laserfiche Repository name and a Laserfiche Credential to use for the Laserfiche Import process.


    For Cloud, provide the Repository ID in the form r-xxxxxxxx.Laserfiche,com along with the Laserfiche login credentials to use for the Laserfiche Import process. 


    You can find the Repository ID by logging into the Laserfiche Cloud application, go to Account Administration, then select the Plan option and scroll down on the right pane to the Usage section.
                           

  2. With the Credentials set, click the Browse button next to the Volume field and select a volume. This is the first test of whether the credentials have been specified correctly,


    For Laserfiche Cloud, the volume name will be CLOUD whereas with on-premise Laserfiche there will be a list to select from including the most common DEFAULT volume.

    With each of the fields on the Laserfiche Login tab selected, we will move on to the Import File Setup tab
With each of the fields on the Laserfiche Login tab configured, move on to the Import File Setup tab
Tab 2 - Import File Setup Tab


Import File Setup tab options

Import Files From
Copy and paste or use the folder browse button to select the source folder from which file(s) are to be imported.

Include Subfolders
When checked, subfolders below the immediate “Import Files From” folder will be included in the search for metadata import files matching the specified filename pattern.

File Name (or pattern)
Provide a full file name (i.e. export.txt) or a file name pattern (i.e. export*.txt) for selection of files within the source folder.

Metadata File Format
Choose a predefined format such as “Ascii Text”, “Kofax Text”, “Kofax Express”,  Tab-Delimited, or select “Custom” to provide a custom field delimiter, and optionally a custom subfield delimiter character. All field import formats require a carriage return and line feed separating each document record in the import file, as well as one of the fields containing a file path reference to the file itself.



Included Metadata Import File Formats:
No metadata - Allows import of files without metadata, with options for custom folder and document naming and logging of import counts, etc.
CSV - Comma delimited with double quotes surrounding text field contents, with one of the fields containing a document path.
Kofax Text - Supports text files that were exported using Kofax Capture 's Text Exporter.
Kofax Express - Supports text files that were exported using Kofax Express. 
Tab-Delimited - Text files with tab delimiters (chr(9)) between each field, with one of the fields containing a document path. 
XML - Supports generic XML formas. Though flexible, not all XML formats may be supported out-of-the-box.
Custom - The "Custom" option requires a text file with metadata for each document on a new line, with one of the fields being a reference to the related document (either a relative or absolute path). Field delimiters are configurable. One of the more common custom formats is a text file with pipe characters separating fields, with one of the fields representing the path to the related document. This is very reliable format for avoiding conflicts between field contents and field delimiters as sometimes happens to Ascii Text (aka CSV) and other file formats. 

Additional pre-defined import formats
Onbase DIP - For text files and documents created from the Onbase document management system.
Digitech XML - For XML files and documents exported from Digitech/Papervision in their standard export format 
KnowledgeTree XML - For XML files and documents exported from the KnowledgeTree system
Derived filenames - Supports metadata in a text file where the document path must be derived from the metadata. Used for formats such as Konica Minolta and others.

Note that if multi-instance field metadata is being imported, the Custom format is required, with both field and subfield delimiters specified. The subfields will contain the multi-instance field metadata.

Using Custom Formats
When "Custom" is selected see below for a description of the options



Field Delimiter (required)
Provide the field delimiter, such as the pipe (|) character. If you have control over the format of the files to be imported to Laserfiche, when selecting a field delimiter it is very import to select a character that is not likely to appear within the metadata for documents. This is why the pipe (|) character is often used. Note, you can also provide multiple character field delimiters, such as “||”, “@@”, etc., further decreasing the chances that the field delimiter sequence will be found within the metadata.

SubField Delimiter (optional)
Support for multi-valued fields in Laserfiche started with version 8.x. To import meta data to multi-valued fields in Laserfiche, a subfield delimiter must be provided. In addition, the Laserfiche Template field must be configured for “multiple” entries (Laserfiche Admin Console, Metadata fields). 

The specified subfield delimiter will denote multi-instance field data embedded within a field. For instance, if the selected field delimiter is a pipe (|) character and the specified subfield delimiter is ~~, the input file should appear as follows:

             Field 1|Field 2|field 3 value 1~~field 3 value 2~~field 3 value 3|Field 4|… 

Like Field Delimiters, when selecting a Subfield delimiter it is very import to select a character that is not likely to appear within the metadata for documents, and it is permissible and recommended to use a sequence of 2 or more characters to denote a subfield (@@,^^, etc).

Merge
When the merge option is checked, an additional column will appear in the Import fields list. For each field that is checked, and in conjunction with the Mapping tab where these fields are mapped to a Laserfiche template field, if an existing Laserfiche document is found with matching values in the fields, the input document will be added to the existing document in Laserfiche. Otherwise a new document will be created from each import file document record





First Line Contains Field Names only
Check this option is the metadata file contains a "header" line at the beginning containing the individual field names.

Import from File button
After specifying the import file format, click the Import From File button to test the file format, and import a single record from the first non-header line of the file (see First Line Contains Field Names option, above). This also displays sample data from the first line of the file, to assist in identifying which import fields should be made available for mapping to Laserfiche. When “First Line Contains Field Names Only” is checked, the first line of the file is used to set the Field Name value, and the second line is read to provide sample data. Below is an example of a file that included header field names in the first record of the file. Note the "Field Name" column.



Imported Test Record Columns

Field Name
Meaningful field names are useful (though not required) when mapping the import fields to Laserfiche Template fields later, on the Field Mapping tab. If the first line of the import file contains field names and the "First Line contains field names" option is selected, the field names column will be automatically populated with meaningful field names. If not, each field will be assigned a name from "Field 1" through "Field n" where n is the total number of input fields found in the file. You can also click in the Field Name cell for each input field to change the field name from "Field n" to a more meaningful name – for instance “Company Name” instead of “Field 1”, “Code” instead of “Field 2”, etc.

Sample Contents
The Sample Contents column contains the first line of data from the test import from the import file (if "First Line is field names" is checked, this will be from the 2nd line of the file).

Field Usage
Each field has a Field Usage column that determines whether to make the field available for mapping to a Laserfiche Field "[Send to LF]", where to ignore it "[ignore]" and also which of the fields contains the path to the document file [Image File]. 

To complete configuration on the Import File Setup tab, assign a Field Usage value of Send to LF for any field that is to be mapped to a Laserfiche field, and you must designate one and only one field as the field containing the file path reference to the corresponding document.


XML Format setup example


 The Field Mapping tab is used to associate the fields defined previously from the Import File setup, with Laserfiche folder, document or metadata field names:
Tab 3 - Field Mapping

The Field Mapping tab is used to associate the fields defined previously from the Import File setup, with Laserfiche folder, document or metadata field names.


Laserfiche Base Folder

Click on the browse button to browse the Laserfiche folder structure (based on correct login information provided on the first Laserfiche Login tab) – the following window will appear:



In the browse folder window double-click to expand down the Laserfiche folder path and then click Select to select the starting folder where documents will be imported. Double-click to drill down additional levels, as applicable.

 

Subfolder Naming Pattern

Click on the checkbox to enable this function if subfolders are to be created dynamically, based on metadata field values.

 

 Then right click in the Subfolder Naming field to select imported field names to use for folder naming. Create multiple levels by adding backslashes between fields. You can also include static text in the folder path name.

 

 Field Mapping Tab 3 - With dynamic subfolder values configured

 

 

 D

ocument Name Pattern

The document name pattern allows specification of any combination of static text and imported index fields to determine how documents are named in Laserfiche. To access the list of index fields, right click within the document name pattern field. The values forwarded from the Import file are displayed. 

In our example, we want the documents to be named according to the pattern <Street Number> <Street Name> <Document Date>.  Therefore, we will right click 3 times to select Street Number, then select Street Name, then select Document Date, as shown below.

 

We will then manually click into the Document Name pattern field and insert a space between each of the selected field names, as shown below.

 

Static Text can also be included in the Document Name pattern field, in conjunction with meta data fields or on its own. For instance:   

Or to create documents in Laserfiche with static naming - for Instance Inbound documents, Inbound documents (1), Inbound documents (2):
           

 

If the Document Name pattern box is left empty, Laserfiche Import will use the name of the imported “image” file, minus the file extension.

 

Field Mapping

 

The final task on the Field Mapping Tab is to provide the actual mapping between the import fields and Laserfiche. This is accomplished by selecting a value from the Import Field columns dropdown list, for each of the desired Laserfiche fields.

 

Note, if “friendly” names were not provided on the prior Import File Setup tab, then values such as “Field1”, “Field2”, etc will appear in the Import Field dropdown list. In the example below, we provided friendlier names for these fields – i.e. Address Type, Street Number, Street Name, etc.

 

The end result of mapping the remaining fields is shown below.

Field Mapping Tab – Completed:


Be sure to click on the Save button at the bottom of this tab to Save these values.

 The Options tab provides various configuration options that affect how the Laserfiche Import application will operate and is also the launch point for running Laserfiche Import in interactive mode.

Tab 4 - Options

The Options tab provides various configuration options that affect how the Laserfiche Import application will operate and is also the launch point for running Laserfiche Import in interactive mode.

 

Options:

 Image Path in file is the full path
The default behavior is to extract the image file name only, from what is provided as the image name in the import file (ignoring path information if provided). Checking this option will cause the full path as provided in the Import file to be used.

Trigger OCR for document in Laserfiche
If this option is selected, Laserfiche OCR will be triggered for each document as it enters Laserfiche. Note that this option will slow the import process based on the average document size in pages, since Laserfiche OCR will need to run for each document. There are other solutions for OCRing documents after they have entered Laserfiche.


If dynamic folder doesn’t exist, don’t create it
If checked, new dynamic folders will not be created. If a folder does not exist that matches the defined subfolder pattern, the document will be bypassed and an entry made to the log file.

Import Documents with Field Errors|
The default behavior is to bypass documents that have field errors and report them in the log file. Checking this box causes documents with field errors to be imported anyway.

If No Image create placeholders
When checked, if a document is not found for import corresponding to the metadata import record file name, the metadata is imported to an empty document in Laserfiche.

Import 3rd Party OCR text 
This option will import standalone .txt files that match the name of the specified file name in the metadata file, as OCR text in Laserfiche. Text imported this way will lack the context-sensitive yellow-highlighted "hit" links when full text search is performed in Laserfiche. This option is no longer recommended and will be ignored for Laserfiche Cloud.

Save Import Error Records
If errors occur in the import for any documents, the individual metadata records for those documents will be written to a file called _Error, so the metadata or file references might be fixed and the errant records re-imported using the _Errors file instead of the original import file.

Logfile Path

If provided, will override the default location for the application log file which is C:\ProgramData\Bluelake Software\Laserfiche Import

Log file name:
If provided, will override the default file name for the application log file. The default file name is LaserficheImport.log.
Optional: Append process dates to the log file name: 
Place the cursor at the desired insert point in the filename and right click and select either Process Date/Time, Process Date, or Processing YYYY-MM to the log file name.

 

Result: 

      

Appending the Process Date to the log file name has the effect of creating a single log file for all imports processed on a given date. Appending the Process Date/Time has the effect of creating a log file each time Laserfiche Import is executed. Appending YYYY-MM segregates log files for all imports by month and year.

Processed Meta data/Document files Handling:

Move/Copy/Leave in Place options describe what the Laserfiche Import application should do with the metadata file after its records and associated document files are processed. The referenced document files will follow the metadata file selection unless "Leave Document Files in Place" is checked This latter option is useful if you are referencing document files from a legacy system location that should not be disturbed.




NOTE: When a CD or DVD is the source of the Import files and Images, only the Copy or Leave Alone options should be selected, otherwise errors will result since these media are, by definition, READ Only. The typical and recommended option is "Move". 

Send To:
Specify the folder location to receive files after processing, when Move or Copy options are selected. The default will be a /PROCESSED or /ERRORS folder beneath the import file location. Richt-click options are also available to insert processed date values into the Processed or Errors subfolder names.



View Log button
Select this button to view the application log. A sample application log is shown below: 


6/24/2024 11:14:47 AM> ** Processing Started...
6/24/2024 11:14:47 AM> Processing file: E:\Backups\Import\CFile1.txt...
6/24/2024 11:14:47 AM> Creating LF Folder: ABC Files\AR1\Client Files\Smith, Clifford Family
6/24/2024 11:14:49 AM> Created Document (DocID: 14392) Name: Smith Confidential Data
6/24/2024 11:14:50 AM> Created Document (DocID: 14393) Name: Smith 401K Documents
6/24/2024 11:14:52 AM> Created Document (DocID: 14394) Name: Smith Beneficiary Spreadsheet
6/24/2024 11:14:54 AM> Created Document (DocID: 14395) Name: Smith Investment Policy Statement
6/24/2024 11:15:05 AM> Created Document (DocID: 14402) Name: Smith Debrief 5-18-05
6/24/2024 11:15:07 AM> Created Document (DocID: 14403) Name: Smith Debrief 8-10-05
6/24/2024 11:15:17 AM> Created Document (DocID: 14410) Name: Smith Debrief 11-17-04
6/24/2024 11:15:18 AM> Created Document (DocID: 14411) Name: Smith Debrief 11-24-03
6/24/2024 11:15:20 AM> Created Document (DocID: 14412) Name: Smith DWA 5-03-06
6/24/2024 11:15:21 AM> Created Document (DocID: 14413) Name: Smith 401K Changes Fax 4-21-04
6/24/2024 11:15:23 AM> Created Document (DocID: 14414) Name: Smith 401K Statement 8-20-04
6/24/2024 11:15:25 AM> Created Document (DocID: 14415) Name: Smith 401K Statement 11-17-04
6/24/2024 11:15:26 AM> Created Document (DocID: 14416) Name: Smith 401K Statement 11-29-05
6/24/2024 11:15:28 AM> Created Document (DocID: 14417) Name: Smith Address Change Ltr. 7-27-04
6/24/2024 11:15:30 AM> Created Document (DocID: 14418) Name: Smith Retirmnt Pln Fax 12-10-03
6/24/2024 11:15:32 AM> Created Document (DocID: 14419) Name: Smith Yoder Fax 4-09-04
6/24/2024 11:15:33 AM> Created Document (DocID: 14421) Name: Smith Address Change Ltr. 7-27-04
6/24/2024 11:15:35 AM> Created Document (DocID: 14422) Name: Smith New Account Application
6/24/2024 11:15:37 AM> Created Document (DocID: 14423) Name: 2005 Tax Returns
6/24/2024 11:15:39 AM> Created Document (DocID: 14424) Name: 2004 Tax Returns
6/24/2024 11:15:40 AM> Created Document (DocID: 14425) Name: Smith Family Trust
6/24/2024 11:15:42 AM> Created Document (DocID: 14426) Name: Kids Irrev. Tst
6/24/2024 11:15:44 AM> Processed file: E:\Backups\ReadyDoc\ABC Financial\CFile1.txt...
6/24/2024 11:15:44 AM> *********************************
6/24/2024 11:15:44 AM> ** Processing Complete. Summary:
6/24/2024 11:15:44 AM> ** Files Read:       1
6/24/2024 11:15:44 AM> ** Records Read:     33
6/24/2024 11:15:44 AM> ** Records Bypassed: 0
6/24/2024 11:15:44 AM> ** Fields Bypassed: 0
6/24/2024 11:15:44 AM> *********************************

 Final Configuration Task – Save the Settings as a Profile 
The collection of settings provided on the 4 tabs are saved into a “Profile”. The defined profile can then be selected through the interface the next time it is run, or it can also be specified when running Laserfiche Import as a scheduled task.

To Save a profile, select File, Save Profile, as shown below:


The required location for profiles is the working directory at C:\ProgramData\Bluelake Software\Laserfiche Import in a subdirectory called Profiles. The default name is ‘Default’ but any name can be selected. There is no limit to the number of profiles that can be created and used.



Click Save to save the profile. The next time the Laserfiche Import application is launched it will load the last Profile used. Other profiles can be selected by clicking on the “Selected Profile” dropdown list on the upper right of the application window:



Running Laserfiche Import as a scheduled Task

Once configured with at least one profile, Laserfiche Import can be run as a scheduled task under Windows (control panel) Task Scheduler or from a command line. The correct path and information to provide can be found by clicking Help, Task Scheduler Entry as shown below:

   
Task scheduler or command syntax


Product Licensing

When first installed, Laserfiche Import is granted a 30 day, 500 document demonstration license. After install, to view the license status, select Help, License Status, as shown below:

 

The license information will be shown, as depicted below:


To extend the demo license or to convert to a permanent license, please contact Bluelake for a license code. Upon receipt of the license code, click on “Request License” from the License Information window and the Request License window will appear as shown below:

 Paste the license code into the Activation box and click “Activate”:

 

 Click OK to overwrite the existing (demo) license file with the updated license file:

 

 You should then receive the “License File Created Successfully” message and the updated license will display.

 

 Refreshing the license

 Occasionally, license files can become corrupted, or it may be necessary to rebuild or re-image the machine on which Laserfiche Import is installed, requiring a re-installation of Laserfiche Import. As long as the machine MAC address upon which licensing was based has not changed, the original license can be restored from the Bluelake License Server.

 To restore or refresh the product license, click on the Refresh License button.

 

 Click OK to regenerate the license file:

 

 Click OK to overwrite any existing license file with the updated license file:

 

 You should then receive the “License File Created Successfully” message and the updated license will display.

 

Moving the Product License

 t is possible to move an existing product license from one machine to another. To do so, invoke uninstall of Laserfiche Import from Add/Remove Programs.

 

 

At the end of the uninstall if a valid, permanent license is found on the machine, a prompt will appear regarding uninstalling the license.

 

 If the license will continue to be used on the same machine (i.e. after an uninstall/reinstall sequence), select NO to the prompt above. If the license needs to be moved to a different machine, select YES.

 If YES was selected, after a few moments, the deactivation window will display as shown below. Note the deactivation key – this code can be used to Activate the license on another machine:

 

 Optionally, provide one or more email addresses and click “Send Now” to receive the activation code via email.


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