Document Manager

The server is the core of the Document Manager system. It can communicate with the Document Manager Desktop and with the document management environment (content repository) -- whether on the same machine or on different machines in different locations.

To the IT manager, the tiered structure provides a scalable system whose parts can be distributed so documents are stored close to those who use them most but available to the entire organization. To the end user, the server and it's component services appear to be a seamless extension of the desktop.

Rendition Services generate copies of documents in a commonly accessible file format (EX: PDF, TIFF, thumbnail, or OCR text) for distribution throughout an organization. These copies are called "renditions". Users cannot edit most rendition formats so a company can publish and distribute renditions of important documents without sacrificing control over content. For example, when a general user accesses a standard operating procedure manual, that user may actually view a PDF rendition.

Automation Services let an administrator define time-based automatic actions called "processes" to build document control procedures into a system. Each process is a two-phase activity: a search followed by an action applied to the results of that search. Two process examples:

• Search the document library once every month for plant drawings that have reached their decommission date and schedule them and any related files for deletion after review by a records manager.

• Search the document library once each week for procedures that have been replaced or changed to an inactive state and archive them to a CD ROM or other off-line media.

Print/Plot Services let users print high-quality output from many file types without the native applications on their desktop. It uses native applications to generate print-ready data and it queues the print job to the selected output device. Users can select a single file, several files, or an entire folder to print. Multi-threaded processing enables Print/Plot Services to process multiple print/plot queues concurrently.

Lifecycle Services provide rules-based document management control.

• It gives administrators the flexibility to determine the level of control they want to exercise over the creation, modification and distribution of important documents.

• It lets an administrator build organization business rules into the system. Typical rules specify who may initiate a change, edit a document, view a work in progress or approve final changes. Or they can tell Document Manager to perform automatic actions such as moving a document to a new folder when a document moves from one stage in its life cycle to the next.

Notification Services automatically send email(s) to specified personnel whenever a user-defined event is triggered. It simplifies notification to users when a new standard operating procedure is issued or when a drawing is added to the system. Notifications:

• are triggered by items entering a state that has a related notification.

• are sent via email or directly to the message window of the Document Manager Desktop. (Use of the message window in the Document Manager Desktop requires a connection to a Lotus® Sametime Server. The message window is not restricted by the type of library connection.)

• are sent to one person, a group, or a distribution list.

• can contain Property information, copies, or document links. (Document links are pointers that enable the user to retrieve the document from the library environment by opening the link)

Cache Manager objects are small files containing configuration information for menus, action dialogs, folders, etc. The cache files are stored on the Server. As changes are made to the Document Manager configurations through the Document Manager Designer, the Cache Manager updates those configurations in the library and to the cache files that are stored on the Server. The use of cache files enhances Document Manager Desktop performance by reducing the resource utilization that occurs in client/server applications.