How to Create a New Workflow

In the Remote Administration Console, select the Workflows node and click (Create New Workflow) on the toolbar or select the corresponding item on the shortcut menu. Alternatively, you can create a copy of an existing workflow and make the necessary changes to its properties. To duplicate a workflow, right click it and select Duplicate on the shortcut menu. To view or edit the properties of a workflow, select its node and click (Workflow Properties) on the toolbar or select the Properties... item on the shortcut menu.

In the Workflow Properties dialog box, specify the desired document processing parameters.

  • The General tab contains image import parameters:
    • workflow name
    • workflow type
    • workflow priority
    • schedule (optional)
  • The 1. Input tab contains the type of the input source and the path to the source.
  • The 2. Process tab contains OCR parameters:
    • OCR languages to be used
    • image optimization method
    • OCR mode
  • The 3. Document Separation tab contains document separation parameters.
  • The 4. Quality Control tab contains the following quality assurance parameters:
    • verification options
    • Exceptions folder
    • error handling options
  • The 5. Indexing tab contains the following indexing parameters:
    • types of documents to be indexed
    • use a script to set up document identification and indexing
    • assign operators for manual indexing
  • The 6. Output tab contains the following export parameters:
    • output formats and their settings
    • destination folder
    • XML result folder

Workflow types

Workflows can be divided into several types based on their parameters.

A brief description of the main workflow types follows, together with some recommendations on selecting the most appropriate workflow type for your needs.

  1. Hot Folder type. For this workflow type, the input source is a shared folder on a local or network drive or an FTP folder. ABBYY FineReader Server will periodically check this folder for new files and create processing jobs for them. Jobs are then automatically placed into a processing queue.
    • If a job is created for each input file, an image is placed into a processing queue immediately upon arrival into the Input folder.
    • If a job is created for each Input folder, images are placed into a processing queue according to a schedule.
      • When executing this workflow type, original images are deleted from the Input folder.
  2. Document Library type. For this workflow type, the input source is a shared folder on a local or network drive or an FTP folder. Processing of files is either initiated by a user or starts according to a schedule. The workflow stops once all the files in the Input folder have been processed. If new images arrive into the Input folder after the workflow has stopped, the user will need to initiate their processing manually or wait for the workflow to start at the next scheduled time.
    • Clicking Start will process only the new image files, i.e. those that have not yet been recognized.
    • Clicking Restart will process both old and new image files, i.e. those that have already been recognized and those that have not yet been recognized.
      • When executing this workflow type, original images are not deleted from the Input folder.
  3. Mailtype. For this workflow type, the input source is an Exchange Online mailbox or a POP3\IMAP server inbox.

Hot Folder and Document library types compared

Hot Folder Document Library
Main difference The Hot Folder workflow type is used for automated processing of incoming images. Original images will be deleted from the Input folder. The Document Library workflow type is used for processing incoming images by user command or based on a schedule. Original images will not be deleted from the Input folder.
Processing Images are processed as and when they arrive. Images are processed by user command or based on a schedule.
Life cycle Once initiated, the workflow will remain active until stopped or restarted by the user. The workflow will stop once all the images in the Input folder have been processed.
Progress indicator No progress indicator is displayed because in principle the workflow can run for ever. A progress indicator is displayed in the additional details pane.
Interaction with  Microsoft Office SharePoint Share Point can only be a target for output data. A Share Point library can be both a source of document images and target for output data.
Recommendations We recommend using this workflow type for digitizing paper archives. We recommend using this workflow type for processing existing electronic archives where original document images must be preserved.

Note. To reduce network traffic, create the Input and Output folder on the same computer where the Server Manager is installed.

Note. If the Input folder, the Output folder, and the Exceptions folder are located on network drives, be sure to specify the complete paths to the folders, including the name of the workstation (e.g. \\Station Name\Folder \Subfolder). Drive letters (e.g. J:) cannot be used.

Note. If you change the parameters of a running workflow, the old parameters will be used for those jobs that are already in progress.

Note. You can process the first few pages of documents and skip the rest to decrease processing time and save pages in your license.

Note. There is no limit to the number of workflows that you can create. However, having more than 100 active workflows in one instance of FineReader Server may slow down the Remote Administration Console. If you require more than 100 active workflows, consider splitting them between two FineReader Server instances.

26.03.2024 13:49:48

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