What is DocServer?
The DocServer window processes documents at the same time as you are scanning or working manually with documents, and is a fully integrated part of PixEdit. DocServer can serve and process an unlimited number of folders that are continuously filled with documents from network scanners and/or multi functional devices. The most common use of DocServer however, is to process the last scanned batch from the current Twain scanner while you are scanning the next one. DocServer does this automatically in the background and your scanner is therefore always ready to scan a new batch.
After Scan processing without locking up your computer You may be familiar with the “After Scanning” concept in PixEdit, where PixEdit, after the scanning process has completed, does deskew, OCR, document separation based on barcodes and so on. The scanning process does not need to be a physical scanning process, the After Scanning process may also fetch documents from a network folder updated by a network scanner or a multi function machine.
The traditional “After Scanning” process will typically take some time, depending on the complexity of the after scanning profile. While PixEdit executes your traditional profile, your PC is locked up so that you cannot scan the next batch. DocServer solves this problem in an elegant way. You can let DocServer take care of executing your Twain After Scanning profile and free PixEdit and the scanner so that you can scan the next batch while the previous one is processed by the Twain After Scan profile in background.
Modern hardware required DocServer takes advantage of the multi processor or multi core capabilities in modern PCs. In order to get the most out of DocServer, you will need a PC with these capabilities. If your PC does not have multiple processors or cores, some tooltips will contain a warning message and DocServer will still work, but with greatly reduced performance. If you experience reduced DocServer performance, ask your IT department to check if your PC is equipped with the necessary hardware.
Multiple document sources folders In addition to execute the current Twain profile after scanning in the background, DocServer can also monitor an unlimited number of folders and process incoming documents with different After Scanning profiles for each folder. DocServer is a separate window in PixEdit, and provides process status such as processed, remaining and error counters. While DocServer processes documents, you can add new folders, create new profiles as well as handle possible production errors. As documents flow through DocServer, they are shown as small thumbnails in DocServer. DocServer fully supports drag and drop technology to move documents between folders and profiles, but more about this later.
Typical basic use of DocServer You have an expensive document scanner and you would like to use its full potential without having to wait for the After Scanning process to complete. With other words, you would like to keep the scanner busy by continuously feeding it new batches of documents and execute the After Scanning profile in background. Simply check “Process scanned document with DocServer” in ScanBar, and the DocServer window will open. Click the Start button in DocServer, and as soon as you have scanned a document or batch of documents using ScanBar, the selected After Scanning profile in ScanBar will be executed by DocServer.
Serving multiple scanners in DocServer DocServer can serve multiple network scanners at the same time as serving the current selected Twain scanner. To let DocServer serve another Twain scanner, simply select a different Twain scanner (if connected to your PC) in ScanBar. If you would like to serve additional network folders or network scanners, click the Add button and specify the folder to be watched by DocServer. If you would like DocServer to use the current default After Scanning profile, all you have to do is to check the “Scan” checkbox. If you would like to create new, or use an existing profile, click the After Scanning Profile button belonging to the new watched folder. To add more watched folders, click the Add button again.
Note that most network scanners or multi functional devices support sending files to different folders from the same machine, depending on how the network scanner is configured. You can of course let DocServer watch several folders even if the folders are filled by the same network scanner. Using this method, you can choose “profile” on the network scanner user panel, and hence After Scanning profile in DocServer. Obviously, even if DocServer is serving different folders with different After Scanning Profiles, the profiles may still save the finished documents to the same folder using for example, different prefixes or file formats.
Drag and Drop documents to DocServer Even if DocServer normally watches folders being filled by network scanners, you can equally well fill those folders yourself using for example Windows Explorer. You may choose between dropping files directly onto any folder specification in DocServer, or drop your files into ordinary folders. This method is also essential when it comes to handle processing errors in DocServer.
For example, you are having batches of files that need different types of processing; some files need to be processed with OCR, others need to be converted to TIFF, some to CALS and so on. Create different folders on your desktop, and give them names indicating the type of process that you would like to use such as “OCR”, “Convert to TIFF” and other meaningful names. Now configure DocServer to watch the folders you just created, and apply a suitable After Scanning Profile for each folder. To process files, simply drop your files into the different folders, either directly into the folders themselves, or into DocServer. PixEdit will immediately begin processing your files in the background.
The DocServer Window
DocServer supports drag and drop. The upper part of the DocServer window contains start and stop buttons, as well as buttons for adding or removing watch folders. Note that the DocServer window runs in a separate computer thread. If your computer contains multiple processors or cores, DocServer will run without any noticeable performance reduction of PixEdit.
Starting and stopping DocServer Click the Start or Stop button in DocServer to do this. If you quit PixEdit while DocServer is running, DocServer will start automatically the next time PixEdit is started. If PixEdit and DocServer is running unattended, and you would like the operation to resume after a power failure, make sure you put PixEdit in the startup group in Windows.
Add / Remove buttons Use these buttons to add or remove watch folders where documents, or batches of documents, are showing up for processing. In addition to folders, DocServer also have a separate entry for the current Twain scanner with its corresponding After Scanning Profile. The current Twain scanner cannot be removed. If you only temporary would like to exclude a specific folder from processing, uncheck the “Scan” checkbox instead of removing the folder specification with the Remove button.
Specifying profiles When you add a new watch folder, you will need to specify what DocServer shall do with the incoming documents in this folder. If you already have made a profile containing these operations, just select this profile from the profile list In DocServer. You can also create or edit an existing profile by clicking the “Edit profile” entry in the profile list.
Always empty This option will ensure that DocServer will continue to process the corresponding folder until the folder is empty before continuing to the next watch folder in DocServer. If unchecked, DocServer will process one single batch or document, and then continue to the next watch folder. If you uncheck this option for all folders, DocServer will serve every folder on a regular basis. Perhaps you would like to have DocServer prioritize your current Twain scanner, and only serve watch folders when DocServer have capacity to do so. Uncheck “Always empty” for all folders, except “Current twain scanner”
Delete source files As DocServer process a watched folder, each processed documents will always be deleted after processing. However, a copy of the original, unprocessed document will be stored in a folder under the original folder called “Processed”. If you have checked “Delete source files”, DocServer will not keep a copy of the original document. If you choose not to delete source files, note that your hard disk sooner or later will be filled up with copies of the original documents. Note that the finished process documents will be stored in a folder according to the used profile.
Document counters DocServer will continuously update several counters so that you can keep track of the production process. There are counters for the amount of processed, remaining and failed documents for each watched folder.
Animation window A thumbnail for each processed page will always be showed in this window.
Error handling This is an important part of DocServer. Typical errors that may happen are corrupt documents, documents with missing barcodes processed with a profile that expects barcode document separators and so on.
When DocServer for some reason fails to process a document, the corresponding red “Failed” counter will be incremented. DocServer will continue with other tasks in the mean time, but sooner or later you will need to correct the situation. To investigate the problem, click the red “Failed” counter to open the folder where the error occurred.
The procedure for error correction varies, depending on the type of error and if the error occurred in a watched folder or in the entry for current Twain scanner. Documents that fail in the profile for current twain scanning will be opened directly in PixEdit when you click the red “Failed” counter, and must be saved manually after you have corrected the problem.
If an error occurs in a watched folder, the failing documents will be stored in a folder called “Not Processed” under the watched folder. To view the content of this folder, click the red “Failed” counter. Maybe you just would like to see the error happen again – click on the red “Failed” counter and simply drag the document back to the watched folder specification in DocServer. As an alternative you can open the failed document in PixEdit, correct the problem and save it back to the original watched folder. You can of course do this while DocServer continues its processing.
Alarms in DocServer Sometimes you may see a DocServer entry displayed with a red highlight color. This indicates that DocServer is temporary or permanently inhibited from processing any documents in the specified watch folder. A red entry line can also indicate that the watch folder is no longer available. DocServer will continue to work with other folders in the mean time, but it is good practice to remove deleted folders from DocServer.