How Content Manager OnDemand uses index information

When you load a report into Content Manager OnDemand, the data loading program invokes ACIF to process the indexing parameters and extract index data from the report. The data loading program then updates the database with the index data, storing the group-level attribute values that ACIF extracted from the report into database fields.

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) or when the maximum number of pages for a group is reached. Figure 1 shows an overview of the index creation and loading process.

Begin figure description. This flow diagram is explained in the surrounding text. End figure description — Figure 1. Indexing reports

You typically create a Content Manager OnDemand application for each report that you plan to store in Content Manager OnDemand. The application contains the indexing parameters that ACIF uses to process the report and create the index data that is loaded into the database. The parameters contain indexing specifications, determine whether ACIF converts line data reports to AFP data, and indicate the types of resources that ACIF collects. For example, an INDEX parameter includes an attribute name and identifies the FIELD parameter that ACIF 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 one of the application group database fields.

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 use ACIF to index a report, ACIF creates index data that contains the index field names and the 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 ACIF attribute names). The user constructs a query by entering values in one or more search fields. Content Manager OnDemand searches the database for documents that contain index values (ACIF attribute values) that match the search values entered by the user. Content Manager OnDemand lists the documents that match the query. When the user selects a document for viewing, the Content Manager OnDemand client program retrieves the document from cache storage or archive storage. If the document contains page-level indexes that were generated when the report was processed by ACIF, the user can move to a specific page of the document by using the page-level index information.

Note: Only group-level indexes are stored in the database. Page-level indexes are not stored in the database. This means that users cannot use page-level indexes to search for reports that are stored in the system. Page-level indexes are stored with the document. After retrieving a document, the user can use the page-level indexes to move to a specific page in the document. ACIF can only generate this type of page-level information when converting the input data to AFP. This type of page-level information is generated by specifying the CONVERT=YES and INDEXOBJ=ALL parameters, and by creating an index field with the TYPE=PAGE or TYPE=PAGERANGE option. For more information, see the discussion of TYPE=PAGE in INDEX.