Creating a Laserfiche Connector Profile

To use the Laserfiche Connector to search, scan, import, assign templates, take screenshots, open websites, run a workflow or Workflow business process, launch another application, or write to another application you need to create a profile. Each of these actions needs a separate profile, even if the action will be performed from the same application.

Creating a Profile

  1. Right-click the Laserfiche Connector icon in the notification section of the taskbar. If the Laserfiche Connector icon is not in your taskbar, open Laserfiche Connector from the Start menu.
  2. Select Add Profile from the taskbar menu. Alternatively, select Configuration, and in the Laserfiche Connector Configuration dialog box, click Add.
  3. Configure the following pages in the wizard.

Create Profile

On the Create Profile page, define the action Laserfiche Connector will take. After configuring this page, click Next.

  1. Profile name: Specify a name that describes the action you want the profile to take. This is the name users will see when they click the Laserfiche Connector button in the target application.
  2. Action: From the drop-down menu chose the action the profile will perform.
    • Assign a template and fields to a document or set of documents
    • Import documents or pages into a repository
    • Launch a website
    • Launch an application
    • Scan documents or pages into a repository

      • Note: To use the scanning option, Laserfiche Scanning must be installed on the machine from which the Laserfiche Connector profile is run.

    • Search for a document or set of documents
    • Start a workflow
    • Start a Workflow business process
    • Take a screenshot
    • Write data to an application
  3. Depending on the action you select, you can choose where Laserfiche Connector will perform the action; e.g., in the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client, in the Laserfiche Repository Web Client, in WebLink, in the document that's currently open in the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client, or in another application.
  4. Optional: With some actions, you can then choose if you want Laserfiche Connector to start a workflow or business process after the profile runs. You can pass information gathered by the action the profile performs to the workflow or business process.

Get Information

On the Get Information page, specify if Laserfiche Connector will gather information from an application, command line parameters, or the field values of an entry in the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client.

An application

  1. Click Add source application, and drag the target to the application you want to use Laserfiche Connector with. The application profile will be automatically filled in.
  2. Next to Analyze using, specify how the information from the application or website will be retrieved.
    • JavaScript to find controls: The JavaScript method should be used with most desktop applications and with websites displayed in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome. If you cannot select the controls you want with JavaScript, try the UI automation method.
    • OCR to extract text: This option gets the text directly from the window using optical character recognition. It does not interact with the controls on the page. Click the settings button next to this option to configure advanced OCR options:
      • Language: By default, the OCR language is set to English, which means the OCR engine is optimized to return English words. If the windows you are OCRing are in a different language, choose the language from the drop-down menu. If the language you want is not listed here, you can manually add a language. Learn how to add a language.
      • Invert color: If the color of the image should be inverted to optimize OCR. If you select Auto, the OCR engine will check the background color and decide if it needs invert the image while performing OCR. If you select No, no inversion will occur. This setting is useful if the image has black characters on a white background. If you select Yes, black and white images will be inverted. This setting is useful if the image has white characters on a black background. By default, this option is set to Auto. If OCR accuracy is poor and you know the color scheme for the pages you are OCRing, you might want to change this option to Yes or No.
      • Ignore horizontal and vertical lines: Select this option if you want the OCR process to ignore horizontal and vertical lines so they are not mistaken for characters or numbers. Occasionally, selecting this option may remove valid characters such as the letter I.

        • Tip: If you want to configure even more advanced OCR options before you finish creating the profile, edit the OCRparameters.xml file the Laserfiche Connector's install directory. (E.g., C:\Program Files\Laserfiche\LFConnector. Learn more about these OCR options.

    • UI Automation to find controls: Most applications let you select controls using JavaScript. However, UI automation may be needed for some applications, or it may let you select different controls than JavaScriptdoes.
  3. Under Apply profile to, select if the profile will be available anywhere in the application or website, or if it will be available only on a specific window or web page.
    • The whole website/application: Select this option to make this Laserfiche Connector action available in all web pages on the web server or in all parts of the application.

      • Example: If you select a web page with the URL http://www.laserfiche.com/en-us/Conference/Register, and select the option, The whole website, the profile will apply to all web pages that start with www.laserfiche.com.

    • This window/page only: Select this option to precisely define which websites or windows the profile will apply to. You can use regular expressions to specify a range of web pages or windows. Learn more.
  4. Click Save.
  5. Under the added application, select Preview the token values when running the profile to prompt the user who ran the profile to review the retrieved token values before the values are used to complete the profile action. In this prompt, users can edit the token values directly or drag a target button to capture new values.

    6. Example: A profile takes information from a Human Resources application and assigns that information as field values to documents in Laserfiche. By turning on this option, users can review that the correct information was captured from the Human Resources application, change any values as needed, and then click OK to let Laserfiche Connector assign the values to the documents' fields.

  6. Define the information you want to gather from the application, by creating tokens. Later in the Profile Creation Wizard, you will use these tokens to pass information to Laserfiche or another application. The first token is create for you. Under Token name, give it a descriptive name.

    7. Defining Tokens in Laserfiche Connector

  7. Define the token's value. How you retrieve values, depends on how the page was initially analyzed:

    8. Note: After you analyze the application, do not change its state (e.g., on a web page, do not navigate to another page) until you have defined your tokens. If you change the state of the application before you've selected the controls to use for populating tokens, you can introduce a disparity that makes Laserfiche Connector unable to get the information from the referenced application.

    • JavaScript or UI Automation: If you chose either of these methods for analyzing the window, drag the target button next to Token name to the controls that you want to get information from.

      • Note: If you are unable to select the controls you want, you may want to switch from JavaScript to UI Automation (or vice versa). Click the Edit button under Source Application to change this setting. (Note that changing this setting will remove any tokens you've already configured.) Additionally, you may want to review the settings described in the help topic: Configuring the Third-Party Application.

      1. The Token name will be automatically populated, but you will want to give it a more intuitive name since you'll need to select this token from a list later in the wizard.
      2. Next to Token content, you can use the drop-down menu to specify which part of the control will populate the token's value. In general, you will want to use the "label" value if one is available.
      3. Click Add token to create more tokens. Click X to delete tokens.
      4. Optional: To create multi-value tokens, create multiple tokens with the same name. These tokens will be combined into a single multi-value token.
    • OCR: If you chose to OCR the window, the first token, named ScreenText, is created for you. This token contains all the text in the applications window (or on the web page). If you only want to use some of the text on the page, add tokens that capture only the text you need.

      • Tip: Specifying areas of the page to capture text from only works if the text appears in the same location every time the page is loaded. If the text changes locations, applying a regular expression to the Screen Text token is a more reliable way to extract the text you need. Learn more.

      To capture part of the text on the page

      1.  Click the Add button at the bottom of the wizard.
      2. Click the text button next to the blank token that appears. The application window you defined in the previous step will be selected (and the rest of your screen will be grayed out).
      3. Draw a box around the area you want to OCR and get text from.
      4. The Token name will be automatically populated, but you will want to give it a more intuitive name since you'll need to select this token from a list later in the wizard.
      5. Click Add at the bottom of the wizard to create more tokens. Click X to delete tokens.
      6. Optional: To create multi-value tokens, create multiple tokens with the same name. These tokens will be combined into a single multi-value token.
  8. Optional: You can create tokens with values from multiple applications or web pages by clicking Add application.

    9. Note: This option is not compatible with showing the search result count in the target application or showing search results in a docked window. Learn more. To use those search options, you can only retrieve values from one application or website.

    Getting Information from Multiple Applications with Laserfiche Connector

    1. In the Add Application dialog box, drag the target to the new application.
    2. Select how you want to analyze the application using the drop-down menu next to Analyze using. Learn more.
    3. Under Apply profile to, specify if you want to get information from the whole website/application or only the current page.
    4. Under Application details, you can specify if Laserfiche Connector will retrieve values from the applications automatically, without any user input, or if the user will need to manually click a Continue button in the applications for Laserfiche Connector to retrieve information. You may want a user to manually advance the process if you need the user to enter or check information in the application before continuing. Even if you select the Immediately, if possible option, Laserfiche Connector may default to having the user manually click the Continue button in the applications in the following situations:
      • The user has closed the target application, web page, or window that Laserfiche Connector needs to get values from.
      • Multiple windows or web pages meet the criteria for being the target page. For example, if multiple windows have the same name or you've used regular expressions to define the target window and multiple windows meet the criteria.
      • The target window or web page has an action running on it making it busy or unavailable to Laserfiche Connector.
      • The target web page is open in an un-selected tab.
    5. Define instructions that will be shown to the user when they need to advance the process manually. Even if you selected to immediately switch between applications, it's a good idea to provide back-up instructions in case Laserfiche Connector cannot automatically identify the applications and needs the user to manually switch between the applications.
    6. You can have Laserfiche Connector automatically launch this application when it's retrieving the control values. Select Launch the application if it is not already started, browse for the application (.exe file) you want Laserfiche Connector to open, and define any parameters you want to pass into the application.
    7. Click Save.
    8. Optional: Click the Edit button to change these settings for the application or website. Click the Delete button to delete an application or website. When you delete an application or website, all its tokens will be delete too. If you delete the source application, the application listed below it will become the source application.
    9. Define tokens for the new application as described above.

Command line parameter

Select this option if you plan to start the profile from the command line and want to skip retrieving tokens from a source application. Even if you do not select this option, you can still start a profile from the command line.

In general, we recommend passing only token values through command line parameters that Laserfiche Connector cannot retrieve from the target application directly. Note that if you retrieve a token value from a source application using Laserfiche Connector, and then define the same token in the command line parameter, and two token values are available when the profile runs, the token will be recognized as a multi-value token.

In the command line argument, you can identify the profile you want to run based on its ID number, its name, or its path. Then specify each token you want to assign a value to after /tn and the corresponding value after /tv. You can specify the token's type and formatting pattern either in the command line or in an XML file. For profiles that import documents, you can specify a file path to import documents from. This parameter prevents the Import Files dialog box from being shown when running the profile.

Example: Command Line

[Path to Connector EXE]LFC.EXE /rpi [ProfileId]

/rpn [ProfileName]

/rpp [ProfilePath]

/tn [TokenName]

/tv [TokenValue]

/tt [TokenType]

/tp [TokenFormattingPattern]

/tff [TokensFromFilePath]

/importfile "[full file path]"

/importfile "[path1]" /importfile "[path2]" ...

Sample Token XML File

<LFCCustomizeTokens>

<LFCToken Name="DateTimeControl" Type="DateTime" Pattern="yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss">

<Value>2017-09-28 13:07:34</Value>

</LFCToken>

<LFCToken Name="MultivalueTokens">

<Value>a</Value>

<Value>b</Value>

</LFCToken>

</LFCCustomizeTokens>

Laserfiche Repository Windows Client

If you select the Write data to an application action, you can retrieve information from an entry the user selects or opens in the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client. This action is run from a Laserfiche Connector button on Laserfiche Repository Windows Client's folder browser or from an open Laserfiche document. Click Next to retrieve field values from the entry. Learn more.

Note: If you are using Laserfiche Connector with Laserfiche Cloud, many of these profile types will have you specify a Cloud repository URL. Use this URL format: https://app.laserfiche.com/laserfiche/?repo=r-000ab000 when creating a profile that connects to the Laserfiche web client in Laserfiche Cloud. Replace 000ab000 with your repository ID. Use this URL format: https://r-000ab000.laserfiche.com when setting up a Laserfiche Connector profile that uses the Laserfiche Server/Repository option to connect to Laserfiche Cloud. Replace 000ab000 with your repository ID.

Assign Templates and Fields to Search Results or the Currently Open Laserfiche Document

Assign Templates and Fields to Search Results or the Currently Open Laserfiche Document

  1. The next step in the wizard will change depending on the application you chose on the first page.
    • If you selected to assign templates and fields in the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client, the Laserfiche Repository page will appear. Users can be prompted to sign into their repository in a variety of ways:
      • Network Repository: Select this option if your organization has installed Laserfiche on your local network.
        1. Specify the Laserfiche Server and repository you want to search for documents and folders in.
        2. To configure Laserfiche Connector to use secure network communications when connecting to the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client, select the Use TLS connection checkbox.
        3. Specify how users will be prompted to sign into the repository:

          • Windows authentication: Users' Windows account will be used to automatically sign them in.
          • Laserfiche authentication: Users will be prompted to provide their Laserfiche credentials.
          • Laserfiche Directory Server authentication: Users will be automatically signed in using Laserfiche Directory Server's single sign on. If you select this option, provide your directory service's STS URL and your Laserfiche Directory database. The database name is also the licensing site's display name.

        4. Click Next.
      • Laserfiche Cloud: Select this option to have users be prompted to sign into their Laserfiche Cloud account.
    • If you chose to assign templates and fields in the web client, the Laserfiche Repository Web Client Repository page will appear. On this page, specify your Laserfiche Repository Web Client's URL and repository. Additionally, specify if users will be prompted to sign into the repository or if their Windows account will be used to automatically sign them in. To assign metadata in a Laserfiche Cloud repository, use this URL: https://app.laserfiche.com/laserfiche and your repository ID in the format r-xxxxxxxx.
    • If you chose to assign templates and fields to the currently open Laserfiche document, the Templates page will appear, which lets you update the template of the currently open Laserfiche document. See step 3 below.
  2. On the Search Criteria page, specify the terms you want to search for.
    • Select Quick search to search document text, entry names, all fields, and/or annotation text. Use the token button to select tokens that you defined earlier in the wizard. Under Entry Type specify if you want the search to return documents, folder, shortcuts, or some combination of those entry types. Learn more about quick searches.
    • Select Advanced search and enter Laserfiche advanced search syntax to run a more complex search than the Quick search option offers. Use the token button to select tokens that you defined earlier in the wizard. Learn more about Laserfiche advanced search syntax.

      • Tip: Instead of manually writing advanced search syntax, open the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client and perform a search that will return the same type of results you want Laserfiche Connector to return. Open the Advanced search box in the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client , and copy the advanced search syntax that has been generated for you. Paste this syntax into the wizard and change the syntax (for example, by inserting tokens for hard coded values) as desired.

  3. On the Template page, select which template you want to assign to the search results or the currently open document:
    • Keep the current template: Select this option if you want to keep the templates that are already assigned to the search results.
    • Unassign the current template: Select this option to remove templates from all search results.
    • Assign the following template: Select this option to assign a new template to all search results. Then, click Load. You will be prompted to sign into a repository before the templates load. This sign in is only used for retrieving templates from the repository.
  4. If you are applying a new template or removing a template, the Remove the template's fields when it's unassigned checkbox lets you remove all fields associated with the template that was previously assigned to the search results or currently open document. If this checkbox is cleared, the previous template's fields will remain assigned to the search results or currently open document, even though the template itself will be removed.
  5. On the Fields page, provide values for the fields in the template you selected.
  6. Optional: Click Add/Remove fields to add fields not associated with the template. In the Choose fields dialog box, select fields to add to the search results or currently open document. You must provide values for these fields for them to be applied.

    7. Note: When users run this profile, a dialog box will appear listing the first 25 search results (including their templates and their paths). The user must confirm that the metadata should be updated on these search results. This confirmation dialog box prevents users from accidentally overriding existing metadata on, or adding new metadata to, several documents at once.

Import Documents or Pages

  1. The next step in the wizard will change depending on the application you chose on the first page.

    • If you selected to import into the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client, the Laserfiche Repository page will appear. Users can be prompted to sign into their repository in a variety of ways:

      • Network Repository: Select this option if your organization has installed Laserfiche on your local network.
        1. Specify the Laserfiche Server and repository you want to search for documents and folders in.
        2. To configure Laserfiche Connector to use secure network communications when connecting to the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client, select the Use TLS connection checkbox.
        3. Specify how users will be prompted to sign into the repository:

          • Windows authentication: Their Windows account will be used to automatically sign them in.
          • Laserfiche authentication: They will be prompted to provide their Laserfiche credentials.
          • Laserfiche Directory Server authentication: They will be automatically signed in using Laserfiche Directory Server's single sign on. If you select this option, provide your directory service's STS URL and your Laserfiche Directory Server database. The database name is also the licensing site's display name.

        4. Click Next.
      • Laserfiche Cloud: Select this option to have users be prompted to sign into their Laserfiche Cloud account.

    • If you chose to import to the Laserfiche Repository Web Client, the Laserfiche Repository Web Client Repository page will appear. On this page, specify your Laserfiche Repository Web Client's URL and repository. Additionally, specify if users will be prompted to sign into the repository or if their Windows account will be used to automatically sign them in. To import into a Laserfiche Cloud repository, use this URL: https://app.laserfiche.com/laserfiche and your repository ID in the format r-xxxxxxxx.
    • If you chose to import into the currently open Laserfiche document, the Templates page will appear, which lets you update the template of the document you are importing pages into. Select one of the following options, and then proceed to step 3 below.
      • Keep the current template: Select this option if you want the document you are importing into to keep the template that is already assigned to it.
      • Unassign the current template: Select this option to remove the template from the document the profile is importing into.
      • Assign the following template: Select this option to assign a new template to the document the profile is importing into. Then, click Load. You will be prompted to sign into a repository before the templates load. This authentication is only used for retrieving templates from the repository. After the list of templates, select a template from the list.
      • If you are applying or removing a template, the Remove fields from unassigned templates checkbox lets you remove all fields associated with the template that was previously assigned to the currently open document. If this checkbox is cleared, the previous template's fields will remain assigned to the currently open document, even though the template itself will be removed.

      Note: If you are importing into the document currently open in the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client, and the imported document's type is on the file conversion list to be imported as Laserfiche pages, by default, you can chose where the pages will be appended during import (e.g., before the first page of the document, after the last page of the document, or after a specified page in the document). If the imported file is an electronic document, it will overwrite the original entry. You can change this behavior by editing the XML. Learn more.

  2. On the Import Document page, configure the name, path, template, volume, and post-processing instructions for the imported document.
    1. Next to Name, specify a name for the imported document. The %(FileName) token provided for you will be replaced by the document's existing name when the profile runs. You can remove this token, or add other text (including other tokens), to save the document under a different name in the repository.
    2. Next to Folder path, specify where the document will be saved in the repository. Use the tokens to make the path dependent on information gathered from the target application or website.
    3. Click Load if you want to assign a template and/or volume to the imported document. When you click Load, you may be prompted to provide your repository sign in information. This authentication is only used to retrieve templates and volumes. After the lists of templates and volumes have loaded, select a template and/or volume. Learn more about volumes.
    4. Under Post processing, specify what you want to happen to the source file after it's been imported into Laserfiche. Learn more.
      • Kept in original folder: Source files will remain in the folder from which they were imported.
      • Deleted: Source files will be deleted.
      • Moved to: Source files will be moved to another Windows folder. Specify the full path to a folder on the current machine or use a UNC to specify a folder on a network drive (e.g., \\ComputerName\ShareName\Path). You can enter regular text, click the Token button to use tokens, or use a combination of the two.
  3. On the Field Mapping page, provide values for the fields in the template you selected.
    • Optional: Click Add/Remove fields to add fields not associated with the template. In the Choose fields dialog box, select fields to add to the imported document or currently open Laserfiche document. You must provide values for these fields for them to be applied to the imported document or currently open Laserfiche document.

Launch a Website

  1. On the Website page, specify the URL of the website you want Laserfiche Connector to open. The website will open in the user's default browser.
  2. Use the token button to add token to the URL. Click Encode tokens for use in URL if your token's values will include white spaces or other characters that will break URLs. Clear this option if your token includes all or part of an existing URL, and you want to maintain the URL's integrity. You can also manually encode non-token values using Closedthis reference.

Learn how to configure Laserfiche Connector to open and populate a Laserfiche form.

Launch Another Application

  • On the External Application page, browse for the application (.exe file) you want Laserfiche Connector to open. Next to Arguments, define the parameters you want to pass into the application. Click the token button to use tokens in the parameters.

Scan Documents or Pages

  1. The next step in the wizard will change depending on the application you chose on the first page.

    • If you selected to scan into the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client, the Laserfiche Repository page will appear. Users can be prompted to sign into their repository in a variety of ways:

      • Network Repository: Select this option if your organization has installed Laserfiche on your local network.
        1. Specify the Laserfiche Server and repository you want to search for documents and folders in.
        2. To configure Laserfiche Connectorto use secure network communications when connecting to the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client, select the Use TLS connection checkbox.
        3. Specify how users will be prompted to sign into the repository:

          • Windows authentication: Their Windows account will be used to automatically sign them in.
          • Laserfiche authentication: They will be prompted to provide their Laserfiche credentials.
          • Laserfiche Directory Server authentication: They will be automatically signed in using Laserfiche Directory Server's single sign on. If you select this option, provide your directory service's STS URL and your Laserfiche Directory Server database. The database name is also the licensing site's display name.

        4. Click Next.
      • Laserfiche Cloud: Select this option to have users be prompted to sign into their Laserfiche Cloud account.

    • If you chose to scan to the Laserfiche Repository Web Client, the Laserfiche Repository Web Client Repository page will appear. On this page, specify your Laserfiche Repository Web Client URL and repository. To scan into a Laserfiche Cloud repository, use this URL: https://app.laserfiche.com/laserfiche and your repository ID in the format r-xxxxxxxx.
    • If you chose to scan into the currently open Laserfiche document, the Scan Options page will appear. On this page, you can specify the Scan Mode (described in step 2), but you will not need to configure details about the scanned document. After you configure the scan mode, the next step in the wizard is the Templates page, which lets you update the template of the document you are scanning pages into. Select one of the following options:
      • Keep the current template: Select this option if you want the document you are scanning into to keep the template that is already assigned to it.
      • Unassign the current template: Select this option to remove the template from the document the profile is scanning into.
      • Assign the following template: Select this option to assign a new template to the document the profile is scanning into. Then, click Load. You will be prompted to sign into a repository before the templates load. This sign in is only used for retrieving templates from the repository.
      • If you are applying or removing a template, the Remove fields from unassigned templates checkbox lets you remove all fields associated with the template that was previously assigned to the currently open document. If this checkbox is cleared, the previous template's fields will remain assigned to the currently open document, even though the template itself will be removed.
  2. On the Scan Options page, configure the following:
    • Scan Mode: Basic mode provides a fast and simple interface requiring minimal configuration. It includes basic image enhancements, optical character recognition, an interface to populate metadata, and the ability to scan one document at a time to a single destination. Standard mode lets you perform advanced image enhancements and processes, scan multiple documents at once, customize how and where documents are organized and stored, and configure default document properties that will be applied to future documents. Learn more.
    • Scanned Document: If you are not scanning into the currently open Laserfiche document, provide a name and path for the scanned document. Use tokens to insert values from the target application into the name and path. Additionally, click Load if you want to assign a template and/or volume to the scanned document. When you click Load, you may be prompted to provide your repository sign in information. This authentication is only used to retrieve templates and volumes. After the list of templates and volumes has loaded, select a template and volume from the lists.

      • Note: When scanning to the Laserfiche Repository Web Client, the &, #, and + characters must be HTML encoded if you want to use them in the document name, folder name, or folder path. See how to HTML encode these characters.

  3. The options on the Field Mapping page depend how you configured the previous pages in the wizard.

    4. Note: Ensure that you give default values to all required fields on this page of the wizard or this Laserfiche Connector will fail to run.

    • If you are scanning to the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client or Laserfiche Repository Web Client, and you loaded templates and selected one from the list, the Field Mapping page lets you provide tokens or values for the template you specified. You do not need to provide values for all the fields in the template.
    • If you are scanning to the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client or Laserfiche Repository Web Client, and you did not load templates but provided a template name manually, the Field Mapping page lets you add fields and values manually. Only fields in the template will be updated with the values specified on this page. If you add a field to this page that's not in the specified template, it will not be added to the document, even if you provide a value for the field.

      • Note: When scanning to the Laserfiche Repository Web Client, you cannot assign values to a field whose name contains the ] (right bracket) character, and the | (bar) character is not supported in the field values.

    • If you are scanning into the currently open Laserfiche document, the Field Mapping page lets you provide values for fields in the template. Additionally, click Add/Remove fields to add fields not associated with the template. In the Choose fields dialog box, select fields to add to the scanned document or currently open Laserfiche document. You must provide values for these fields for them to be applied to the currently open Laserfiche document.

Search for Documents

  1. The next step in the wizard will change depending on the application you chose on the first page.

    • If you selected to search in the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client, the Laserfiche Repository page will appear. Users can be prompted to sign into their repository in a variety of ways:

      • Network Repository: Select this option if your organization has installed Laserfiche on your local network.
        1. Specify the Laserfiche Server and repository you want to search for documents and folders in.
        2. To configure Laserfiche Connector to use secure network communications when connecting to the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client, select the Use TLS connection checkbox.
        3. Specify how users will be prompted to sign into the repository:

          • Windows authentication: Their Windows account will be used to automatically sign them in.
          • Laserfiche authentication: They will be prompted to provide their Laserfiche credentials.
          • Laserfiche Directory Server authentication: They will be automatically signed in using Laserfiche Directory Server's single sign on. If you select this option, provide your directory service's STS URL and your Laserfiche Directory Server database. The database name is also the licensing site's display name.

        4. Click Next.
      • Laserfiche Cloud: Select this option to have users be prompted to sign into their Laserfiche Cloud account.

    • If you chose to run the search in the Laserfiche Repository Web Client, the Laserfiche Repository Web Client Repository page will appear. On this page, specify your Laserfiche Repository Web Client's URL and repository. Select the checkbox if your Laserfiche Server is version 9.1 or later.
    • If you chose to run the search in WebLink, the WebLink Repository page will appear. On this page, specify your WebLink URL and Database ID. Select the checkbox if your Laserfiche Server is version 9.1 or later.
  2. On the Search Criteria page, specify the terms you want to search for.
    • Select Quick search to search document text, entry names, all fields, and/or annotation text. Use the token button to select tokens that you defined earlier in the wizard. Under Entry Type specify if you want the search to return documents, folder, shortcuts, or some combination of those entry types. Learn more about quick searches.
    • Select Advanced search and enter Laserfiche advanced search syntax to run a more complex search than the Quick search option offers. Use the token button to select tokens that you defined earlier in the wizard. Learn more about Laserfiche advanced search syntax.
    • If you selected to search for documents in the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client or Laserfiche Repository Web Client, you can select the Show search count checkbox to run the search in the background and show the number of search results in the target application as a link. If only one document was found by the search, clicking the link will open the document. If multiple documents were found by the search, clicking the link will open a list of those documents. Learn more.
      • If you are running a search in the Laserfiche Repository Web Client t and you select this option, specify how users sign into their Laserfiche repository. If they use Windows credentials, the search results will automatically appear. If they use a Laserfiche user name and password, they will be prompted to sign in before they can see the search results.
      • If you are running a search in the Laserfiche Repository Web Client,and you select this option, you can also select to Show the search results in a docked window. The window will be docked to the target application and can be undocked, resized, and moved as needed.

      Tip: Instead of manually writing advanced search syntax, open the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client and perform a search that will return the same type of results you want Laserfiche Connector to return. Open the Advanced Search box in the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client, and copy the advanced search syntax that has been generated for you. Paste this syntax into the wizard and change the syntax (for example, by inserting tokens for hard coded values) as desired.

Start Workflow

If you chose to start the workflow on search results, see the Search for Documents instructions above and then continue to this section.

Note: If you select the Search for documents action and then select the Run a workflow or business process after performing this action option, the search results will open in the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client t and then the workflow will run on them. If you select the Start workflow action and choose to run the workflow on search results, the search will run in the background, without opening the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client, and the workflow will start.

  1. On the Run Workflow page, enter your Laserfiche Workflow Server's web service//Workflow web application directory URL. Learn more about the Workflow web service.

    2. Tip: Ensure the WCF HTTP Activation feature is enabled so that Laserfiche Connector can access the Laserfiche Workflow web service. In Windows 10 or Windows Server 2016, you can turn the feature on here: .NET Framework 4.7 Advanced Series -> WCF Services -> HTTP Activation.

  2. Click Load Workflows.
  3. Select the workflow you want to run from the drop-down menu.
  4. Optional: Click Preview to see the workflow in Laserfiche Workflow Web application.
  5. Select if you want to use the entries the profile interacted with as the starting entries or if the workflow doesn't require a starting entry. If you select to use entries in previous steps as starting entries, the workflow will run once per entry.

    6. Example: If your profile searches the repository, select Use entries in previous steps as starting entries to run the workflow on each search result. Alternatively, if your profile imports a document into the repository, select this option to run the workflow on the imported entry.

  6. Under Input parameters, provide any input parameter values or tokens to pass to the workflow.
  7. Click Next.

Start Laserfiche Workflow Business Process

Note: Laserfiche Workflow Business Processes have been deprecated and replaced with Laserfiche Forms Business Processes.

If you chose to start a Workflow business process on search results, see the Search for Documents instructions above and then continue to this section.

Note: If you select the Search for documents action and then select the Run a workflow or business process after performing this action option, the search results will open in the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client and then the business process will run on them. If you select the Start Laserfiche Workflow business process action and choose to run the business process on search results, the search will run in the background, without opening the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client, and the business process will start.

  1. On the Business Processes page, sign into the repository the business processes are associated with, and click OK.
  2. Select the business process you want the profile to run.
  3. Click Next.

Take a Screenshot

  1. The next step in the wizard will change depending on if you're taking a screenshot of an application or a web page.

    2. Note: The scrolling options are only available if you are taking a screenshot of a browser window. Additionally, if the browser is Chrome or Firefox, the page must be analyzed using JavaScript. Learn more.

    • Draw to select a region of the page: Select this option if you want users to be able to select a portion of the application or web page to screenshot. If you select this option, when users run the Laserfiche Connector profile, they will be able to click and drag their cursor to capture a portion of the page.
    • Screenshot the visible portion of the page: Select this option if you want Laserfiche Connector to automatically screenshot the entire visible area of the application or web page.
    • Screenshot the whole page: Select this option if you want Laserfiche Connector to screenshot the entire web page. Laserfiche Connector will automatically scroll the page to capture the page in its entirety.

      • Note: Only the initial height of infinitely scrolling pages will be captured.

    • Select a region that extends beyond the visible area: Select this option if you want users to be able to screenshot a section of the page that extends beyond the visible portion of the web page. When users run the Laserfiche Connector profile, they will be able to select a region of the page. Laserfiche Connector will then start automatically scrolling the page to extend their selection to the entire length of the page.
  2. The next step in the wizard will change depending on which application the screenshot is being saved to. You can configure the application the screenshot is saved to on the first page of the wizard.
    • If you chose to import the screenshot into the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client, users can be prompted to sign into their repository in a variety of ways:
      • Network Repository: Select this option if your organization has installed Laserfiche on your local network.
        1. Specify the Laserfiche Server and repository you want to search for documents and folders in.
        2. To configure Laserfiche Connector to use secure network communications when connecting to the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client, select the Use TLS connection checkbox.
        3. Specify how users will be prompted to sign into the repository:

          • Windows authentication: Their Windows account will be used to automatically sign them in.
          • Laserfiche authentication: They will be prompted to provide their Laserfiche credentials.
          • Laserfiche Directory Server authentication: They will be automatically signed in using Laserfiche Directory Server's single sign on. If you select this option, provide your directory service's STS URL and your Laserfiche Directory Server database. The database name is also the licensing site's display name.

        4. Click Next.
      • Laserfiche Cloud Select this option to have users be prompted to sign into their Laserfiche Cloud account.
    • If you chose to import to the Laserfiche Repository Web Client, the Laserfiche Repository Web Client Repository page will appear. On this page, specify your Laserfiche Repository Web Client's URL and repository. Additionally, specify if users will be prompted to sign into the repository or if their Windows account will be used to automatically sign them in. To import into a Laserfiche Cloud repository, use this URL: https://app.laserfiche.com/laserfiche and your repository ID in the format r-xxxxxxxx.
    • If you chose to import the screenshot into the currently open Laserfiche document, the Templates page will appear, which lets you update the template of the document you are importing pages into. Select one of the following options, and then proceed to step 4 below.
      • Keep the current template: Select this option if you want the document you are importing into to keep the template that is already assigned to it.
      • Unassign the current template: Select this option to remove the template from the document you are importing into.
      • Assign the following template: Select this option to assign a new template to the document you are importing into. Then, click Load. You will be prompted to sign into a repository before the templates load. This authentication is only used for retrieving templates from the repository. After the list of templates appears, select a template.
      • If you are applying or removing a template, the Remove fields from unassigned templates checkbox lets you remove all fields associated with the template that was previously assigned to the currently open document. If this checkbox is cleared, the previous template's fields will remain assigned to the currently open document, even though the template itself will be removed.

      Note: If you are importing into the document currently open in the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client, you can choose where the pages will be appended during import (e.g., before the first page of the document, after the last page of the document, or after a specified page in the document). You can change this behavior by editing the XML. Learn more.

  3. On the Import Document page, configure the name, path, template, and volume for the imported screenshot.
    1. Next to Name, specify a name for the document the screenshot will be saved in. The %(WindowTitle) token provided for you will be replaced by the name of the window the screenshot was taken from. You can remove this token, or add other text (including other tokens), to save the document under a different name in the repository.
    2. Next to Folder path, specify where the document will be saved in the repository. Use tokens to make the path dependent on information gathered from the target application or website.
    3. Click Load if you want to assign a template and/or volume to the imported document. When you click Load, you may be prompted to provide your repository sign in information. This authentication is only used to retrieve templates and volumes. After the lists of templates and volumes have loaded, select a template and/or volume. Learn more about volumes.

      4. Note: If you scrolled to capture an entire web page or scrolled to capture a section of a web page, the screenshot will be automatically separated into individual pages. The height of each page can be configured in the profile's XML. Learn more.

  4. On the Field Mapping page, provide values for the fields in the template you selected, if any, on the previous page.
    • Optional: Click Add/remove fields to add fields not associated with the template. In the Choose fields dialog box, select fields to add to the imported screenshot or currently open document. You must provide values for these fields for them to be applied.

Write Data to an Application

  1. The next step in the wizard will change depending on if you chose to get information from the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client or another application on the first page of the wizard.
    • If you chose to get information from the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client, the Retrieve Fields page will appear. On this page, select if you want to use Laserfiche field tokens in this profile. Selecting to use field tokens lets Laserfiche Connector insert Laserfiche field values into another application. If you select to retrieve fields, specify the repository you want to retrieve values from. Users can be prompted to sign into their repository in a variety of ways: 
      • Network Repository: Select this option if your organization has installed Laserfiche on your local network.
        1. Specify the Laserfiche Server and repository you want to search for documents and folders in.
        2. To configure Laserfiche Connector to use secure network communications when connecting to the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client, select the Use TLS connection checkbox.
        3. Specify how users will be prompted to sign into the repository:

          • Windows authentication: Their Windows account will be used to automatically sign them in.
          • Laserfiche authentication: They will be prompted to provide their Laserfiche credentials.
          • Laserfiche Directory Server authentication: They will be automatically signed in using Laserfiche Directory Server's single sign on. If you select this option, provide your directory service's STS URL and your Laserfiche Directory Server database. The database name is also the licensing site's display name.

        4. Click Next.
      • Laserfiche Cloud: Select this option to have users be prompted to sign into their Laserfiche Cloud account.
    • If you chose to get information from another application or from command line parameters, the Write Controls page will appear. Proceed to step 2 below.
  2. On the Write Controls page, click Add target application and drag the target to the application you want to write information to. ClosedSee a list of supported applications for writing data.

    3. Supported applications for writing data

    Note: Even if Laserfiche has not explicitly confirmed support for an application, there is still a good chance Laserfiche Connector can write information to the application.

    • Windows Forms (WinForms)
    • Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)
    • Java Applications
    • Internet Explorer
      • Controls in Internet Explorer versions 9 and later (with the exception of buttons) are supported when analyzing the application with JavaScript or UI Automation.
    • Chrome
      • Controls in Chrome (with the exception of buttons) are supported when analyzing the application with JavaScript.
    • Firefox
      • Controls in Firefox (with the exception of buttons) are supported when analyzing the application with JavaScript.

  3. Specify how controls in the application will be found.
    • Use JavaScript to find controls: The JavaScript method should be used with most desktop applications and with websites displayed in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome. If you cannot select the controls you want with JavaScript, try the UI automation method.
    • Use UI Automation to find controls: Most applications let you select controls using JavaScript. However, UI automation may be needed for some applications, or it may let you select different controls than JavaScript does.
  4. Select whether the profile will write to any page, or if it will only write to a specific window or web page.

    5. Note: It's important that the target application's page or window is specific and unique from the source application's page or window. The profile may fail to run as expected if multiple pages or windows match the page or window specified here.

    • The whole website/application: Select this option to write any pages on the web server or in the application that have a similar structure as the page you dragged the target to.

      • Example: If you select a web page with the URL http://www.laserfiche.com/en-us/Conference/Register, and select the option, The whole website, the profile will apply to all web pages that both have a similar structure as the selected web page and that start with www.laserfiche.com.

    • This window/page only: Select this option to precisely define which websites or windows the profile will apply to. You can use tokens to specify a window title or page name. Learn more. You can also use regular expressions to specify a range of web pages or windows. Learn more.
  5. Under Application details, you can specify if Laserfiche Connector will write values to the applications automatically, without any user input, or if the user will need to manually click a Continue button in the applications for Connector to write information. You may want a user to manually advance the process if you need the user to enter or check information in the application before continuing. Even if you select the Immediately, if possible option, Laserfiche Connector may default to having the user manually click the Continue button in the applications in the following situations:
    • The user has closed the target application, web page, or window that Laserfiche Connector needs to write to.
    • Multiple windows or web pages meet the criteria for being the target page. For example, if multiple windows have the same name or you've used regular expressions to define the target window and multiple windows meet the criteria.
    • The target window or web page has an action running on it making it busy or unavailable to Laserfiche Connector.
    • The target web page is open in an un-selected tab.

    Define instructions that will be shown to the user when they need to advance the process manually. Even if you selected to immediately switch between applications, it's a good idea to provide back-up instructions in case Laserfiche Connector cannot automatically identify the applications and needs the user to manually switch between the applications.

  6. Select the Launch application if it's not already started option to have Laserfiche Connector automatically open the target application when the profile is run. Next to Program, browse for the application (.exe file) you want Laserfiche Connector to open. Next to Arguments, define the parameters you want to pass into the application.
  7. Click Save.
  8. Define which controls you want to write information to in the target application. ClosedLearn more about writing to controls.

    9. Controls you can write data to

    • Text box, text area, or document: Laserfiche Connector can write string values to these controls. If the text box is a password input field, Laserfiche Connector may not be able to write data to it.
    • Combo box, list box, or drop-down menu: Laserfiche Connector can select an item on these lists by writing either the item's value or label to the control. If the control accepts values not on its original lists, Laserfiche Connector can write a value to the list. Radio button: Laserfiche Connector can select a radio button by writing a value that starts with the letter "t" or "y" (case insensitive) or by writing the number 1 to the control. It can clear a radio button by writing a value that starts with the letter "f" or "n" (case insensitive) or by writing 0 to the control.
    • Checkbox: Laserfiche Connector can select a checkbox by writing a value that starts with the letter "t" or "y" (case insensitive) or by writing the number 1 to the control. It can clear a checkbox by writing a value that starts with the letter "f" or "n" (case insensitive) or by writing 0 to the control.
    • Button: Laserfiche Connector can click a button by writing a value that starts with the letter "t" or "y" (case insensitive) or by writing the number 1 to the control.

      • Note: If you are using JavaScript to analyze the control, you must to modify the JavaScript in the XML profile to automate clicking a button.

      1. Define the button control on the Write Control page following the instructions in step 6 above.
      2. After finishing the Profile Creation Wizard, open the XML for the profile.
      3. Ensure the profile is using JavaScript. Even if you select the JavaScript option, if Laserfiche Connector cannot select the controls using JavaScript it may automatically switch to UI Automation. In the <StepDef type="WriteControl"> look for the <Element> for the button control. Locate the Pattern attribute and ensure the value is "JavaScript." If UI automation is being used, the Pattern attribute's value will be "value."
      4. The JavaScript attribute in the button control's Element will have the value: function(v) { $('#DERIVED_HRCD_QS_SEARCH_PB &gt; IMG:nth-child(1)',$('#ptifrmtgtframe').contents()).val(v).trigger(‘change’); }

        5. <StepDef type="WriteControl">

        <Attributes />

        <Elements>

        <Element>

        <Attributes>

        <Attribute name="Condition" value="/Root[1]/Pane[1]" />

        <Attribute name="FillValue" value="%(A)" />

        <Attribute name="Hint" value="Search" />

        <Attribute name="Pattern" value="Javascript" />

        <Attribute name="Javascript" value="function(v) { $('#DERIVED_HRCD_QS_SEARCH_PB &gt; IMG:nth-child(1)',$('#ptifrmtgtframe').contents()).val(v).trigger(‘change’); }" />

        </Attributes>

        <Children />

        </Element>

        </Elements>

        </StepDef>

      5. Replace .val(v).trigger(‘change’); with .click();

    1. Next to Control name, provide a name that describes the control you are writing to. Providing a descriptive name makes it easier to identify these controls in the profile's XML file.
    2. Drag the target button to the control you want to write to. The selected control will be outline in red.
    3. Next to Value to write, insert the information you want Laserfiche Connector to write to this control. Click the token button to insert information from a Laserfiche repository or another application.

      4. Tip: If you are getting information from the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client, and you selected to use Laserfiche fields in the profile, all the fields in the repository will be available as tokens. To quickly find the field you want, type the field name in the Search fields text box. Then, click the arrow next to fields to see a list of fields that match your search term.

    4. Click Add control at the bottom of the wizard to write to more controls. Click X to remove controls.
    5. Select an option from the drop-down menu under Next action, to have Laserfiche Connector either automatically click a button or press ENTER after the controls are insert into the application or website. Then, click Next.
      • If you are writing to an application, either select the Click the specified button option and drag the target to the button you want it to click, or select the Press ENTER option.
      • If you are writing to a website, select Click the specified button, or press ENTER in the specified text box, and then drag the target either to the button you want to click or to the text box you want to press ENTER in.

      6. Note: To use this option to commit data to a web page, the web page be analyzed using JavaScript. Data cannot be committed to web page analyzed with UI Automation. See step 3 above.

      Example: Frank has configured Laserfiche Connector to write values to a search field in his company's directory, but he also wants Laserfiche Connector to automatically run the search. He selects the Click the specified button option and drags the target to the search button on the directory website. When the profile runs, a value will be automatically written to the search field and the search will immediately run.

Run Process

If you chose to start a workflow or Laserfiche Workflow business process after the profile's initial action completes, you can configure the workflow or business process on the Run Process page. You can also pass parameters to a workflow. Learn more about Workflow.

To run a workflow

  1. Select to Start a workflow.
  2. Enter your Laserfiche Workflow Server's web service/Workflow web application directory URL. Learn more about the Laserfiche Workflow web service.

    3. Tip: Ensure the WCF HTTP Activation feature is enabled so that Laserfiche Connector can access the Laserfiche Workflow web service. In Windows 10 or Windows Server 2016, you can turn the feature on here: .NET Framework 4.7 Advanced Series -> WCF Services -> HTTP Activation.

  3. Click Load Workflows.
  4. Select the workflow you want to run from the drop-down menu.
  5. Optional: Click Preview to see the workflow in Laserfiche Workflow Web application.
  6. Select if you want to use the entries the profile interacted with as the starting entries or if the workflow doesn't require a starting entry. If you select to use entries in previous steps as starting entries, the workflow will run once per entry.

    7. Example: If your profile searches the repository, select Use entries in previous steps as starting entries to run the workflow on each search result. Alternatively, if your profile imports a document into the repository, select this option to run the workflow on the imported entry.

  7. Under Input parameters, provide any input parameter values or tokens to pass to the workflow.
  8. Click Next.

To run a Laserfiche Workflow business process

Note:Laserfiche Workflow busiess processes have been deprecated and replaced by Laserfiche Forms business processes.

  1. Select to start Laserfiche Workflow business process.
  2. Provide your repository credentials to access the list of business processes.
  3. Select a process from the list.
  4. Click Next.

Running the Profile

  1. On the Running the Profile page, select one of the following options for the button users will click to launch the profile.
    • Default settings: Use the default button size and position for this profile.

    • Customize icon, size, and position: Select to show or hide the button in the target application. If you've selected to show the button, you can configure the following properties.
      • Use the slider to specify the size of the button
      • Drag the button to the location you want it to appear in the application.
      • Click Change icon to change the button's icon. Select an image file, and click Open.
      • Select the Allow users to reposition the button checkbox to allow users to right-click and move the button to a new position if they want to customize their personal layout. If the profile shares a button with other profiles, they will be able to separate out a unique button for this specific profile. The button's new position will be saved even after they exit Laserfiche Connector. They will also be able to right-click and reset the button to its original position.

      Tip: You can also change the button's size and position in the XML profile. Learn more.

    If you have multiple profiles for the same target application or website, you can position the buttons for those profiles in different spots on the page.

    • If multiple profiles are sharing a button and you want them to have separate buttons, right-click the button and select Separate. Drag the newly separated buttons to different positions on the page.
    • If you place buttons in the same spot on the page, they will combine into a single button. Clicking this button provides a drop-down menu for you to select the profile you want to run. This composite button can only be repositioned if all the profiles in it can be repositioned.

    Configuring the Laserfiche Connector Button

  2. Under Keyboard Shortcut, specify the key combination that will run this profile.

Test

On the Test page, click Test to run the profile on the window, application, or browser you used to configure the profile. If the test does not run correctly, see Troubleshooting.

Note: If you test a profile configured to update templates and fields, a dialog box will appear showing you the first 25 search results (including their templates and their paths). If you click Yes in this dialog box, the metadata on all search results will be updated with the test values. Note that this action may apply new templates to entries and overwrite existing field values. Click No if you don't want to make changes to the search results.

Working with Profiles

The Laserfiche Connector Configuration dialog box lets you see and interact with all the profiles available to the currently signed in user. From this dialog, you can add a profile, change the keyboard shortcuts associated with a profile, edit the profile's settings, delete a profile, or clear the current user's saved sign in information for the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client.

Changing the keyboard shortcut for a profile

  1. Right-click the Laserfiche Connector icon in the notification section of the taskbar. If the Laserfiche Connector icon is not in your taskbar, open Laserfiche Connector from the Start menu.
  2. Select Configuration.
  3. Select the profile you want to change the keyboard shortcut for.
  4. Click Shortcut.
  5. Define a new keyboard shortcut by select a combination of keys in the Assign Keyboard Shortcut dialog box.
  6. Click OK.

Edit a profile

    s
  1. Select the profile you want to edit.
  2. Click Edit to open the Profile Creation wizard.

    3. Note: If the Profile Creation wizard doesn't recognize the profile, it will open the XML directly in Notepad. The wizard may not recognize the profile if its XML has already been edited to include advanced features not included in the wizard. Learn more.

  3. Work through the Profile Creation Wizard, making any changes as needed. You may need to re-select applications and tokens as you make your changes.
  4. Optional: To edit advanced options in a profile's XML directly, see Editing a Profile.

Deleting a profile

  1. Right-click the Laserfiche Connector icon in the notification section of the taskbar. If the Laserfiche Connector icon is not in your taskbar, open Laserfiche Connector from the Start menu.
  2. Select Configuration.
  3. Select the profile you want to delete, and click Delete.

Enabling or Disabling a Profile

By default, newly created profiles are immediately enabled and ready to run. You can enable or disable profiles on a per-user basis.

To enable or disable a profile

  1. Right-click the Laserfiche Connector icon in the notification section of the taskbar. If the Laserfiche Connector icon is not in your taskbar, open Laserfiche Connector from the Start menu.
  2. Select Configuration.
  3. In the Laserfiche Connector Configuration dialog box, right-click the profile you want to enable/disable and select either Enable or Disable. To enable/disable multiple profiles at once, multi-select the profiles, right-click and select either Enable or Disable.

Clearing saved sign in information

If a user has selected the "Remember me" option when signing in to run a profile that connects to the Laserfiche Repository Windows Client, and then wants to sign in as a different user, the authentication information will need to be cleared from the Laserfiche Connector Configuration dialog box.

  1. Right-click the Laserfiche Connector icon in the notification section of the taskbar. If the Laserfiche Connector icon is not in your taskbar, open Laserfiche Connector from the Start menu.
  2. Select Configuration.
  3. Select Clear saved sign ins. The "Remember me" setting will be cleared for the current user in all profiles.