Importing Documents

Document import consists of a two-stage process. Users either browse to a file location and select a file to import, or users can drag and drop a file onto the document import screen. The document is held in a Document Queue while Document Type and Keyword information is added. Once the necessary information is entered, the document can be imported into OnBase. Depending on your configuration settings, you can also preview image files for easier indexing. With the EDM Services license, up to five documents can be imported at once.

Note:

Some Document Types are configured to require Keyword Values to be entered in order to create and/or retrieve documents. Required Keyword Values are displayed in red for these operations, which may include the following: Document Retrieval, importing, indexing, re-indexing, viewing or modifying Keyword Values, and scanning.

Note:

This two-stage document import process is only available in the OnBase-supported versions of Safari, Firefox, and Internet Explorer.

  1. To import a document, perform one of the following steps:

    • In the Select File field, identify the full file path for the document you are importing. Click the Browse button and browse to the file location.

    • Drag and drop a file onto the Import Document screen.

      Note:

      If OnBase can correlate the file extension to a file type (format), it will automatically select that file type in the File Type field. For example, if you import a file whose extension is .doc, OnBase will select Microsoft Word document (.doc).

      The selected file is added to the Document Queue list on the Import Document screen.

  2. Select the Show Preview option to preview the document being imported. Only previews of image files are displayed. Previews are not displayed for PDF documents larger than 100 MB.
    Note:

    This option is only available if it has been configured by your system administrator.

  3. Select the Initiate Workflow option to add this new document to Workflow.
    Note:

    This option is only available if your system is licensed for Workflow, the Document Type is part of an existing life cycle, and the Document Type is not configured to automatically initiate Workflow when a document is imported.

  4. From the Document Type Group drop-down list, select the Document Type Group to be assigned to the document by OnBase. (The list includes all Document Type Groups to which you have user import rights. These rights are granted by your system administrator.)
  5. From the Document Type drop-down list, select the Document Type to be assigned to the document by OnBase. (The list includes all Document Types to which you have user import rights. These rights are granted by your system administrator.)
    When you select a Document Type, OnBase automatically displays fields for Keyword Types that are used to index documents of that type.
  6. If OnBase has not selected the file type, select the appropriate type from the File Type drop-down list.

    Note the following:

    • Depending on your system configuration, only certain File Types may be available.

    • Documents with a file format of Electronic Form cannot be imported.

      CAUTION:

      Contact your system administrator before selecting the Image Rendered PDF file format, as selecting this file format without the proper system specifications can cause unexpected behavior.

  7. Select the Queue for Full-Page OCR option to add documents to the OCR queue upon import.
    Note:

    This option is only available if your system is set up for OCR. See your system administrator for more information.

    If you select the option to enable this feature, depending on the Document Type OCR format, one of the following occurs:

    • If your Document Type format is configured to be No Full-Page OCR Format, when the document import occurs, a message box is displayed indicating that the document you are importing does not have an OCR format assigned.

      Click Continue to proceed with the import process, or click Stop to cancel the import process.

    • If your Document Type is configured to be <Default> or any other option, the import proceeds as expected.

  8. Select the Document Date. To retain the selected date for future uploads, click the lock button next to the calendar. The selected date is retained until you click the lock button again to unlock it, or until you log off of OnBase.
  9. Type Keyword Values in the Keyword Type fields. Note the following:

    • Depending on your system's configuration, some values may be provided by default. Other Keyword Types may be configured as read-only, preventing you from indexing the document with a value for that Keyword Type. If the Keyword Type name is displayed in red, a Keyword Value is required.

    • If you select a different Document Type during import, entered Keyword Values for common Keyword Types are retained. For example, you enter a Keyword Value for the City Keyword Type and switch to a different Document Type also containing the City Keyword Type. The entered City Keyword Value is retained. This logic does not apply to Default Keyword Values. Default values for common Keyword Types are either updated or cleared when selecting a different Document Type during import, depending on whether the selected Document Type has default values for those Keyword Types.

    Note:

    You can include special characters (such as ñ, å, etc.) in Keyword Values.

  10. If you make a mistake, use the following buttons available at the bottom of the Import Document pane to clear the current indexing values.

    Button

    Description

    Clear Imported Documents: Click to clear the list of imported documents in the Document Queue.

    Clear All: Click to reset all indexing fields except for the file name, which retains the name of the file.

    Clear Keywords: Click to reset all Keyword Type fields.
  11. If you are importing multiple documents, repeat the previous steps to add more documents to the import queue. The number of additional documents that you can add is listed in the Select File pane.
    Note:

    Your system must be licensed for EDM Services to import multiple documents at one time.

    To switch between documents, select a document from the Document Queue.

  12. Click the Import button in the toolbar at the bottom of the panel. The Application Client Connector imports the document to OnBase. If more information is needed to complete the import, a message displays the appropriate instructions.

    • Depending on how the Document Type is configured, or if the imported document is a revision you may be prompted to enter a comment.

    • You may be presented with additional options if you are importing a rendition of a document. For more information, see the section on importing renditions in the Web Client documentation.

    • When the import is complete, a confirmation message is displayed next to the document in the Document Queue.

      Note:

      Before importing the document, OnBase checks its file size against the maximum size allowed for imports. If the document is too large, you are notified that the import failed.

    If you receive an Import Failed message, contact your system administrator.