OnBase - Disconnected Scanning

Owned by Karl Madsen
Last updated: Sept 14, 2015 by Russ Bauer
5 min read

Table of Contents

Carleton no longer owns licenses for the Disconnected Scanning module. This technology was purchased as a fix to issues that were encountered with scanning stations that would throw a Kofax 75 error. Now in a pure Windows share, windows client/server environment where all scanning elements are either bound to the domain, or are using the App Server (Unity or Web client), the Kofax 75 error is no longer surfacing. The Disconnected Scanning licenses we once owned were traded in for regular scanning licenses.

OnBase Disconnected Scanning is a module that allows users to scan batches locally, and upload those batches to the OnBase system.  We are anticipating this will help to eliminate the dreaded Error #75 that has plagued our system for the past year. 

Disconnected Scanning uses the Application Server to upload the batches, and eliminates the needed for the OnBase Client on those machines where Disconnected Scanning has been implemented.

Installation

Disconnected Scanning is part of the Hyland Client Components software package, and requires separate licensing. Contact ITS for installation and licensing help.

At some point during installation and/or the first time the software is run, you are prompted for the following:

Setting

Value

Local disk group

This is the local disk location for the batches before they are uploaded. If this is a shared workstation, the folder needs to be available to all users who will be doing disconnected scanning. Consider placing it at the top of C:, such as C:\OnBase_Disconnected_Scanning.

Server location

https://onbase.carleton.edu/AppServer/Service.asmx

Data source

Leave as <default> for server default.

Launching

For normal operations, log in to the client using a "Local" login:

The first time a user launches Disconnected Scanning, or the first time after a configuration change such as new document types or keyword type changes, you wil need to run Disconnected Scanning as Administrator in order to update local settings.

To run Disconnected Scanning to update local settings, Right-Click on the Disconnected Scanning Icon and select Run as Administrator:

Each user will need to have some settings written to the computer that only happen when Run as Administrator is selected. Choose "Server" instead of "Local" as the login type.

Launching as administrator needs to be done the first time for each user, and may need to be done again for each user if configuration changes are made on the server that affect scanning, such as changes to document types.

In the above visuals, note that rather than an OnBase admin account (adminlalacroix) you should be logging on as the Windows administrator and using the users's credentials to log in to OnBase.  

After configuration changes are made, ITS staff will need to reset the OnBase Application Server for the changes to become available to Disconnected Scanning. Resetting the application server disconnects all connected users, making this an after-hours activity. So the basic steps are:

  1. perform an IISRESET on the web server
  2. launch disconnected scanning as .\admin on that machine
  3. log into disconnected scanning as the user, and choose the Server button
  4. log into disconnected scanning as the user, and choose the Local button

Uploading batches

It is important to understand that batches will not be available to other users until they have been uploaded to the server.  Please be sure to upload any or all batches before completing your shift for the day. 

Using Disconnected Scanning

For those users familiar with scanning documents into OnBase, the interface is very similar.  However, does not provide an interface for retrieving documents. 

1.  Launch Disconnected Scanning by double clicking on the icon.

Currently, Disconnected Scanning does not support the automatic login feature, so you will be prompted for OnBase credentials. If you need to create or reset your local OnBase password, please run the classic OnBase Client (with automatic login) and select "Change password" under the User menu. If that fails, call the ITS help desk.

2.  Select the Scan Queue and Scan Format you would like to use for scanning documents.

3.  Follow the steps you would normally do for scanning/indexing documents.

Batches will accumulate in the "Awaiting Index" queue.  At this point, you can either start indexing documents or upload the batches for indexing at a later time.

4.  To upload the batches, click on the Server option in the menu bar.

5.  To upload all batches in a particular scan queue, select Upload batches...

The default is to select all the scan queues a user would have access to, however, you can use the check boxes to select a specific queue to upload.

6.  To upload specific batches, select Upload Specific Batches...

Use the check boxes to pick which particular batches you want to upload.

Additional documentation

The Disconnected Scanning Module Reference Guide (MRG) is available on the Hyland Community website (https://www.hyland.com/community/). ITS keeps a copy locally as well, and can provide it upon request.

For ITS: Restarting the application server

Whenever there are configuration changes that affect Disconnected Scanning, we will need to restart the application server. This will end all existing sessions, and so you will want to do this after hours. To restart the application server:

  1. Make a Remote Desktop Connection to onbase.carleton.edu. Use an account that can run as administrator on the server.
  2. On the Start Menu, search for cmd.exe, right-click and "Run as administrator".
  3. At the cmd.exe prompt, run the command "iisreset". This will stop and restart IIS.