Overview

You can archive the print output of your existing application programs in Content Manager OnDemand without changing the print data stream or writing programs to process the data. In Content Manager OnDemand, the print output of an application program is called a report. Content Manager OnDemand provides programs that can automatically index the report, add the index data to the database, divide the input data into indexed groups of pages (documents), compress the documents, and copy the compressed documents to storage volumes. After you load a report into the system, your users can query, retrieve, and view or print pages of the report using one of the Content Manager OnDemand client programs.

The Content Manager OnDemand data indexing and loading programs process input files that reside on a Content Manager OnDemand server. When you index a report that contains AFP data (or if you plan to convert line data to AFP data), you must make sure that the data indexing program can access the resources required by the report. Resources include page segments and fonts.

You can create up to 128 index fields for each type of report that you define to Content Manager OnDemand, providing many ways for users to query information contained in a report. The number of index fields that you define depends on the organization of the data in the report. For example, when you index a report that contains logical items, such as policies and statements, you might define index fields for the date, customer name, customer number, balance due, transaction number, and amount. When you index a report that contains transaction data, such as a general ledger, you might define index fields for the date and transaction number. After you determine what index fields you need and define them to the system, Content Manager OnDemand extracts the index values from a report during the load process and stores them in records that are added to the database.

Content Manager OnDemand compresses report data into storage objects, using information that you specify in the application. Depending on how you configure storage management for your application groups, Content Manager OnDemand can automatically copy the report to cache storage and archive storage.

The load process saves messages in the system log each time that you load an input file into the system. You can open the System Log folder and view the messages for information such as the name of the input file, the indexing information, and the number of rows that were added to the database.

The load process provides checkpoints so that you can restart a previously interrupted load process. You can recover or restart the steps that add the index data to the database and copy the storage objects to storage volumes.