How Content Manager OnDemand processes index information

Content Manager OnDemand processes index information to help it complete several different types of tasks: loading data to the database, creating applications, creating application groups, and searching for reports in folders.

Every item stored in Content Manager OnDemand is indexed with one or more group-level indexes. Groups are determined when the value of an index changes (for example, account number). When you load a PDF file into Content Manager OnDemand, the ARSLOAD program invokes the PDF indexer to process the indexing parameters and create the index data. The ARSLOAD program then loads the index data into the database, storing the group-level attribute values that the PDF indexing program extracted from the data into their corresponding database fields. The following illustration shows the index creation and data loading process.

You typically create an application for each report that you plan to store in Content Manager OnDemand. When you create an application, you define the indexing parameters that the indexing program uses to process the report and create the index data that is loaded into the database. For example, an INDEX parameter includes an attribute name and identifies the FIELD parameter that the indexing program uses to locate the attribute value in the input data. When you create an application, you must assign the application to an application group. The attribute name you specify on an INDEX parameter should be the same as the name of the application group database field into which you want Content Manager OnDemand to store the index values.

You define database fields when you create an application group. Content Manager OnDemand creates a column in the application group table for each database field that you define. When you index a report, you create index data that contains index field names and index values extracted from the report. Content Manager OnDemand stores the index data into the database fields.

To search for reports stored in Content Manager OnDemand, the user opens a folder. The search fields that appear when the user opens the folder are mapped to database fields in an application group (which, in turn, represent index attribute names). The user constructs a query by entering values in one or more search fields. Content Manager OnDemand searches the database for items that contain the values (index attribute values) that match the search values entered by the user. Each item contains group-level index information. Content Manager OnDemand lists the items that match the query. When the user selects an item for viewing, the Content Manager OnDemand client program retrieves the selected item from cache storage or archive storage.