Contents - Index


What's New in This Version

Docs2Manage v2.1.x
New Editions Added
Beginning in this version the image format, database, and storage restrictions were removed making the path easier to upgrade to higher editions in the future.  Also, two new versions were added to fill in the gaps to fit the needs of the home user and different size businesses.  Please read what each edition of Docs2Manage will allow in the Available Editions of Docs2Manage section of this help file or find more details about this on the Docs2Manage website.

Vista Support
The help system in versions before this one will not function on Windows Vista.  The help system was converted to use HTML help instead of Winhelp which is not supported on Vista.  There does not appear to be any other issues of incompatibility on Vista.

Renewable Trial Licenses
If you have an expired trial version of Document Storage System (DSS) or Docs2Manage 2.0.4 or lower, you can install Docs2Manage version 2.1.0 or higher and the 60 day trial period will be reset so the newer version Docs2Manage or Docs2Web can be re-evaluated.  The trial edition now allow 5,000 documents (page records) along with a 60 day trial period.

Less Restrictive Text Extraction
European characters can now be extracted from text based documents (Word, Excel, text-based PDFs, etc.).  In the next few months we hope to make the OCR engine have this ability as well.

Docs2Manage v2.x
Expanded Document Storage Support
Docs2Manage and Document Storage System (DSS) always supported document storage embedded in the database.  This means that a database back-up backs up everything in the system, classifying data and documents.  Besides this support, this version also allows document storage on a local storage device (hard drive, flash drive, or thumb drive), network share, or on a FTP server.  This provides faster access to documents while saving space in the database.  For example, MS SQL Express (free version) has a 4Gb database size limitation.  Having the ability to store the documents separate from the database gives the possibility of 1,000,000 to 5,000,000 document pages instead of 100,000 pages if the documents are stored embedded in the database.  All this functionality is set at the security group level.  Please refer to the Groups, Document Storage, and Users section for details how to configure your system. 

Internationalization and multi-language support
This version introduces the ability for an application to change language and character sets to match the given language.  Docs2Manage has the ability to change languages to any one of ten different languages including English (default), Spanish, German, Chinese, Arabic, and many more.  If your language is not supported, there is even a way to add your own language or modify one of the existing languages.  To change the language in Docs2Manage, please see the Language, Font, and Application Theme Options section in this help file.  Docs2Manage stores these languages in an external table making it possible to make specific changes to words in Docs2Manage.  Docs2Manage even has a dictionary utility that translate other languages not included in Docs2Manage making it possible to add a language to Docs2Manage.  For more details on this functionality please read the Internationalization and Language Support section of this help file.

Document Templates
Document template support has been added as a convenience.  This gives the ability to create documents from blank forms you may have created in the past.  When you create a document from a template, you can edit the document and save it to the system when you are finished, but the document template remains unchanged so it can be used again in the future.  Please read the Document Template Support section for more help about this topic.

Reporting about your documents
Docs2Manage now includes a way to create ad-hoc reports about your documents.  This report is generated based on the search results in document grid.  This report can either be printed out or saved to  a formatted text file.

Docs2Manage v1.x
New Name
Docs2Manage (D2M) is the new name of program previously called Document Storage System (DSS) built on the same basic concepts as DSS.

Document Explorer
Work in this mode to easily view and modify the folder structure on the left side of the window.  The highlighted folder's document results are displayed on the right side.  Double-click a document record will open the document to view the pages.

Simplified interface
The user interface is less complex and more intuitive even for the new user.

Thumbnail Support - Search and view your document by using thumbnail representations of all your pages in a document.  The Documents Page form has a Thumbnail View of all the pages in a document.  Alter the thumbnail size by using the Page Pop-up Menu.  Select from three sizes:  small, medium, and large.  Default is medium.

Security Event Logging
Ability to audit and track who and when your documents are accessed. Additional security features have been included to fulfill requirements in numerous industry security standards.  D2M has the ability to track and report virtually every activity in the program using event logging.  D2M has defined nearly 40 tasks, or "rights."  You can decide which rights to log under the Security menu.  Select from two reports that display the logging activity.

Customizable Themes
Customize the look of the D2M user interface (windows, buttons, etc.) by changing themes.  You may select from one of the predefined options or add your own by adding the D2MTheme.skn file to the Docs2Manage installation directory.  Using the custom setting gives the ability to match corporate colors and brand identity of your company or organization.  Look for details on the www.docs2manage.com website about creating or using a custom theme.

Stored Files now have Preview
When this option is "on", D2M will attempt to create a page preview for files that are stored in D2M.  This allows you to see documents like MS Word or Excel without the need to open them to view.

Document Storage System (DSS) Feature History
Security and Departments (Version 4.x)
Starting in D2M Version 4.x, D2M supports integral security.  The concept of security starts with security groups.  Each security group has its own "virtual" database for each department in an organization.  Each group can customize the D2M categorizing fields to fit each group or department's needs.  Next, D2M allows or denies certain rights for different users.  By storing all the possible users in the database, these users are given the same user names that the database uses.  This means that in order to access documents, the user must have the proper rights to both the database and in D2M.  Then the D2M program was divided into nearly 40 tasks or rights, which a user may or may not have in a particular group.  A collection of rights makes up a role.  When a user joins a group, that user is assigned a role.  A user can have customized rights that deviate from the role by adding or removing rights to the actual user.  A user can be given different roles and rights for each group they are joined to.  If a user is not part of a group, then simply they cannot access that group.  For more information and task necessary to implement security in D2M, read the Rights and Roles, Group and Users, and Joining Users to Group / Special Rights sections.

Document Locking 
Along with Integral D2M Security came the possibility for users to lock documents.  A lock can be placed or removed on a document by clicking the "Lock Toggle" button on the main toolbar in D2M.  To limit other users from editing the document, there are two different types of locks Public or Private.  To read more about the differences in these locks and about document locking in general, please see the Document Locking section about this topic.

Convenience Options
For your convenience, the following features can be configured:
  • Default Action when Adding File or Scan to Occupied Page instead of always being prompted how to add a file or scanned page.
  • Default Format when Storing Non-image Files instead of always being prompted what format to add a file.
  • Show Icons in Page Grid with the ability to shut this feature off to conserve row space.
  • Go to page feature to quickly jump to a specified page
     
    Previewing Documents Stored as Files
    When documents are stored as a file, D2M will display either a preview of the actual document or an icon in the image preview area.  To create the preview, D2M will load the document into a special viewer, which attempts load a preview image or icon based on the file that is trying to be previewed.  Please read more about this option in the Preview Documents Stored as Files section about this topic.

    E-mail Capability (Version 3.06)
    D2M now has an E-mail button on the image toolbar.  This works much like the "Save" button, but the E-mail button assumes you want to E-mail your document.  It opens your default MAPI compatible E-mail client, creates a new E-mail message, and adds the document as a file attachment.  The only other information that needs to be entered is the message subject and the recipient's E-mail address.  Please read the Buttons to Add or Modify Documents and Images section about this topic.

    D2M New User Configuration Wizard (Industry Wizard)
    This dialog box appears when D2M is first installed and the main D2M program is run.  It serves to guide the new user to select which version of D2M is appropriate for them, whether to open a blank or sample database, and allows them to select an industry and further customize the entry and search fields to fit the particular needs of the user's organization.  Please read the D2M New User Configuration Wizard section about this topic.

    Extract Keywords from MS Word Documents (.doc, .rtf)
    D2M can now extract keywords from MS Word Documents when they are stored as a file (not as an OLE Windows Document).  These keywords will be stored the same way an OCRed image page is stored even if the MS Word Document is several pages.  To use this feature, the OCR Plug-in and MS Word must be installed.

    Auto-narrowing Searches (Smart Searches)
    This feature makes searching more logical by repopulating the search drop-down edit fields or search tree with values that exist in the current results as if the search was actually executed.  As you select search values, queries determine the values that exist for the other fields you have not search against yet, so you are only left with choices that will yield results to the search you may next attempt.  Please read the Auto-narrowing your Searches  section about this topic.

    Auto-Cropping
    Auto-Cropping attempts to determine where the edge of a document is and eliminates the white space outside that region.  This can be done during and after the scanning process.  This feature only works against B&W Tiffs.  Please read the Image View Manipulation Menu section about this topic.

    International Font and Character Set Support
    This feature allows you to select a different character set, font, and size, which you may have installed on your system for other languages.  This will change the character set and font for every control inside D2M except the menus, which is controlled by Windows.  This feature does not translate the languages used, but you can customize your entry fields to change the actual language.  Please read the Font and Character Set Options section about this subject.

    On-the-fly Search Tree View
    Rather than using the search dialog, the tree diagram approach works much like Windows File Explorer.  For example, selecting the folder "Bank" may have three source nodes under it labeled "First Bank", "USA Bank", and "Skokie National Bank".  This feature is one of the views available by clicking the "View Toggle" button.

    Redesigned Field Manager Screen (formerly Field Codes)
    The grid in the Field Manager screen is now only used to display the multiple values when a column is defined as a drop-down edit control.  At all other times, the field manager is in the format of a form.  Also, only one field at a time can be modified by selecting which field you desire to edit using the column search drop-down field. Please read the Entering Information about Data Fields section about this subject. 

    XP Menu Themes, Document Icons, and Enhanced Data Grids
    The menus have been redesigned to include representative icons and changed to support the Windows/Office XP theme.  All grids now support alternating colors between data rows, document type icons and descriptions have been added to the pages grid, and double-line column headers.

    Improved D2M Back-up
    The back-up process has been improved by writing the back-up data in smaller chunks.  This will prevent some of the out-of-memory errors that may have occurred when backing up a larger database.  A progress bar has also been added to track the status of the back-up process.  Please read the Backing up the Database / Running D2M from a CD-ROM Dialog section about these changes.

    OCR Plug-in (Version 3.04)
    The optional OCR engine is capable of extracting the text out of an image page and populating a database table, which links directly to the page and document.  This means that if you do a search for a word, or a group of words, any document that contains the words you requested will be retrieved.  Pages that show as green in the page grid, will contain the word(s) you searched for.  The OCR process can also auto-rotate a page till the proper orientation is found to better read the page both on your screen and by the OCR engine.  Please read D2M OCR Plug-in about this update.

    Powerful Keyword Searches
    The OCR feature now populates the new DOCWORDS table.  This means that every word in your document can be used to help find the desired document.  The search screen allows you to perform keyword searches very similar to web search engine.  If you don't opt for the OCR Plug-in, you can still add your own searchable keywords to the Keywords form.  Please read the Keywords Form section about editing or viewing page keywords.

    More Dynamic Page Loading
    D2M used to always attempt to load all pages in a document at one time.  This could cause a great delay for documents or repositories that had a high number of pages.  D2M now only loads the current page data needed to display the current page in the preview area.  

    Security
    D2M is now capable of being password protected.  When a database connection is configured to not store the database password as part of the connection, D2M will display a password prompt dialog when D2M is attempting to be opened.  Please read the Security and D2M for more information about this change.  More specific security control will be coming in the near future.

    Image Format Support
    In addition to Jpeg image format, 1-bit Black and White Tiff, 8-bit grayscale Tiff, and PNG image format are now supported.  These formats available in D2M give D2M no image quality loss support and better storage for documents ranging from B&W to full color.  B&W imaging allows D2M to use high-speed scanners more efficiently.  B&W Tiff can scan at much higher quality while having smaller image storage sizes.  Please read the Image Formats section for more information about this update.

    D2M Printer
    D2M now has a way to capture printed documents through a D2M printer.  This eliminates the need to print documents on paper and then scan them into D2M.  This D2M Printer can be installed while the D2M software is being installed or via the D2M Config program.  This printer can be shared on a network to allow many users to add documents to D2M at the same time.  Please read the D2M Printer and Printer Capture Mode or Installing the D2M Printer sections for more information about this update.

    Repository Mode
    In prior versions of D2M, scanning pages of a document could not be moved to other documents.  Because of this, you always had to have your documents organized so they could be scanned into the appropriate document information record.  The repository eliminates this problem by allowing you to scan large amounts of completely unrelated documents into a repository where they can be moved to new documents at a later time.  This lends itself to high-speed document scanners, which can be loaded with many pages at one time to scan and then digitally organize them at a later time.  Please read the Repository Mode for more information about this new feature.

    Workflow View and Options
    While in the repository mode, clicking the view toggle will switch D2M into a tree view of all the existing repositories (directories).  Pages can be selected from one repository tree or page grid and dragged directly into another repository.  This allows D2M users to pass documents to different users' repositories, so that a user that may know more about them can categorize them.  There is also a setting to refresh the tree view so as documents move; they will automatically show in the new location.  Please read the Workflow & Repository Tree View for more information about this new feature.

    Annotations
    This new feature allows you to mark-up or add graphical features to an image.  This could be feature like a rubber stamp to a post-it note, shape, or line.  These annotations are stored on a separate layer than the image so they can be modified or removed in the future.  There is an option to print and image page with or without these annotations. Please read the Annotations Mode for more information about this new feature.
     
    Printing
    D2M used to rely on third party software of your choice to print documents stored in D2M, but now D2M now allows you to print one or all of the image-based pages tied to a document.  There are also some sizing options to tell the printer how these pages should be printed.  Please read the Printing Options for more information about this new feature.

    Greater scanner control
    D2M now include some features to aid in the use of high-speed scanner including duplex scanning options.  There is even an option to detect and eliminate blank pages, deskew, and despeckle while scanning in Tiff mode.  Images can also be rotated while they are being scanned.  Please read the Scanning Options for more information about these updates.
     
    Image Manipulation
    Document images of any type can be cropped or rotated.  Black & White Tiff images can also be despeckled, deskewed, and blank pages can be detected.  Please read the Image View Manipulation for more information about these updates.

    Field Manipulation
    D2M now has greater field control over the main D2M fields.  Besides the two date fields, the other fields can be either a field edit or combo box.  These fields can also be hidden when they are not needed.  As in the last version, all fields can be renamed to fit your purposes.  Please read the Entering Information about Data Fields for more information about these updates.

    Keyword Searching (of multiple words in any order)
    The Notes/Keywords field allows you to enter multiple words and sentences to the limit that your database will allow.  In the Search dialog the Notes/Keywords field allows you to search for records using keywords separated by spaces.  This works much like a web search engine search.  Words can be searched in any order.  The "Match all keywords" checkbox when checked means that all the words you search must be contained in the record you are trying to find, but in any order.  When this checkbox is unchecked then any records that contain any one of the word you are trying to find will be returned.

    Image readability
    D2M now uses anti-aliasing schemes to make B&W tiffs look like grayscale in the image preview areas. This will make a speckled image look more gray-toned. As a result, scanned tiff image documents look very readable even when they are scaled small on the screen. This does not effect how B&W Tiffs are saved or printed in D2M.

    Database performance
    Beginning in D2M version 3.04+, D2M now attempt to load the current page rather than all the pages in one document.  This prevents very long waits that may have happened in the past when a single repository or document contained a great number of pages.  Please read Database Connection / Building the ADO Connection String about this update.
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