Import a setup from Kofax Capture, Kodak Info Input and other products

Moving from another capture product usually means rebuilding every batch class by hand. DocView Capture can read the other product's export instead. It turns the export into draft Batch Setups: document types, fields, zones, tick boxes, checks, the validation screens, the workflow and the dictionaries. Before anything is created, it shows you exactly what it found and what needs your attention.

Today DocView reads Kofax Capture exports, including the Kofax Transformation Modules (KTM) project, and Kodak Info Input (KII) jobs exports. Importers for ABBYY FlexiCapture and DocuWare are planned.

Before you start

In Kodak Info Input, export the jobs from the administration's Jobs page. Keep the resulting .zip file (it holds jobs.xml and the form types' sample pages). You can also upload jobs.xml on its own, but then there are no sample pages. See How Kodak Info Input maps to DocView.

In Kofax Capture Administration:

Open Import/Export and export the batch class. Tick the option that includes the Kofax Transformation project.
Keep the resulting .cab file.

Important: A Kofax export can contain passwords (for example in batch class settings or release scripts) and processed sample documents with personal data. DocView never reads the passwords into its database. It reads the sample images during the analysis, to place zones on the right page and learn how the forms look. It keeps them only if you choose to (see Keep the sample documents). It deletes the uploaded file as soon as the import is finished.

Import in four steps

Go to Batch Setups and choose Import from Kofax / other products.
Choose Kofax Capture / Kofax Transformation Modules or Kodak Info Input (KII), select the .cab or .zip file and choose Upload and analyse. One KII export can hold many jobs; each becomes its own Batch Setup.

You can also add processed documents (.xdc files, or a .zip of them). They help DocView place zones on the right page when the export has no samples of its own.
Wait for the analysis. The page shows what DocView is working on. Large exports can take a couple of minutes. You can leave the page while it runs and come back later from Recent imports.
Review the result and choose what to do with each part (see below). Decide whether to keep the sample documents. Then choose Create the drafts.

Every Batch Setup is created as a draft. Nothing is published until you choose Release.

What the review shows

For each Kofax batch class, the review has these tabs:

Tab	What you see
Report	Everything worth knowing, sorted by importance. See The report.
Workflow	The Kofax queues mapped to DocView steps, the batch fields and the separation.
Document types & fields	Each form family with its fields, how each is filled (zone and page, tick boxes, calculation, barcode, batch metadata or operator), required fields, double keying, checks and formatting.
Zones	Every zone layout, with a drawing of each page's zones and a table of positions in millimetres.
Tick boxes	The groups of boxes that fill one field, with their values.
Rules & methods	The field checks that were created, the rules to port, and the Kofax script source of each method.
Exports	The Kofax release setups and their field links.
Scripts	The other product's scripts, kept read-only (credentials removed), to port to DocView.
Other settings	Variants, OCR profiles, quality-control sampling and renamed fields.

Each table has a filter and Export to Excel or CSV, so you can share the review with colleagues.

Duplicates and versions

Before creating anything, DocView checks what already exists:

A Batch Setup with the same name. Choose Add as a new draft version of the existing one, Create a copy under another name, or Skip. A new version replaces the existing draft, if there is one. Released versions stay as they are, and batches in progress keep using theirs.
A dictionary with the same name. Choose Replace entries (new version), Keep the existing one, Import as a copy, or Skip.

Every imported version records where it came from: the product, the file and the batch class name. It also keeps the full import report, and the import appears in the audit log.

Once you have created the drafts, the import itself only keeps a summary: the Batch Setups and dictionaries it created, with links to open them. The detailed analysis is no longer needed and is removed, which keeps the Recent imports list fast. The import report stays with each Batch Setup version.

How Kofax maps to DocView

Kofax	DocView
Batch class	Batch Setup (draft)
Queues (Scan, KTM Server, Document Review, Correction, Validation 1–3, Verification, Release)	Workflow steps. Each validation queue becomes its own Index / Validate step, named Validation 1, Validation 2 …
Double correction	Double key on the fields concerned
Batch fields	Batch fields (hidden ones stay hidden)
KTM form family with its validated and rejected classes	One document class per language version of the form, each with its own zones
Advanced Zone Locator	One Advanced zones (form) finder named `AZL` per language version, holding all its zones, with page registration. Fields take their values from `AZL.<field>`
Tick-box logic in class scripts	Tick-box zone of the `AZL` finder, or a Tick boxes (OMR) field
Barcode locator with a search region	Barcode finder with that search area
Validation forms	Screen designs of Validation 1, 2 and 3
Drop-down lists on validation forms	List fields with allowed values
Fields merged or chosen in scripts	Calculated field
Regular-expression and date checks	Field checks
"Not blank"	Required
Script validation methods	Rules imported switched off, each with the Kofax source to port
Dictionaries	Dictionaries, versioned
Release setups	The XML release with the most field links becomes each document type's XML data file and a folder export (see below). The others are kept with their field links; recreate the ones you need as export destinations
Passwords, user IDs, connection strings	Never imported. They are listed by name only
Users, rights, remote sites, trained classifiers	Not imported. They are listed as ignored

How Kodak Info Input maps to DocView

Kodak Info Input	DocView
Job	Batch Setup (draft). Jobs whose names look like tests, demos or workshops are unticked by default
Workflow steps (Scan, Image enhancement, OCR, Classify, Extract, Index, Export)	Workflow steps. Several Index steps keep their names. Branches and parallel (fork/join) branches are put in one line and listed in the report
Server script steps, job and class scripts	Kept read-only on the Scripts tab, to port to DocView rules, calculated fields, event scripts or export scripts
Batch, document and index field types (text, date, number, lists)	Batch fields and document fields with their checks. Drop-down lists become List fields: lists that accept other values only suggest, and lists filtered by another field become dependent lists
Regular-expression validations, required, hidden, read-only, double input	Field patterns, required, hidden, read-only, double key (with a Double-key verify step)
Form types with zones on their sample pages	Zonal fields (text), Tick boxes (OMR) fields and Barcode finders with their search area. Each form type's zones are kept as a zone layout, and its sample pages give a layout classification rule
Azure Form Recognizer, Amazon Textract or Google Document AI with mapping rules	A cloud AI finder that fills the mapped fields; transformation scripts become script formatters. Switch the provider on under System › AI connections
Database actions (lookups)	Database lookups created with the Batch Setups (choose on the review page), with the query converted and the columns they fill. Save each data source's connection string as the secret named in the review (`kii-…`)
Separation by barcode, every N pages, blank page	The same separation rules
Images, XML, CSV, database and script releases	Image format and data files of Output & export, a folder export, and a switched-off SQL Server export. Script releases are kept read-only
Folder classes and their fields, "new folder" separation	Folder types with their fields; the separation rules start folders of the (first) folder type
Default values with variables (`${CurrentDate}`, `${OperatorUsername}`, `${BatchName}`, `${BarCode}` …)	Default values with variables (`{date}`, `{user}`, `{batch.name}`, `{barcode}` …). Counters, export paths and the computer name are listed in the report
Sticky fields	Listed in the report
Data source user names and passwords, cloud keys, credentials in scripts	Never imported. They are listed by name only
Users, groups, scan profiles, trained classifiers	Not imported. They are listed as ignored

Field names stay as they were in Kofax. The only change is that characters DocView does not allow in names become _ (for example e-mail becomes e_mail). The report lists every renamed field.

Forms ready to run

When the export holds forms, DocView builds them so they can run straight away, not only as a list of settings to rebuild:

Language versions. Each language version of a form becomes its own document type, with its own zones.
Advanced zones. Each language version gets one Advanced zones (form) finder named AZL, as Kofax's Advanced Zone Locator. It holds all the zones: text, tick-box groups, single tick boxes and signatures, with page registration. Each field takes its value from AZL.<field>, for example AZL.Surname.
Tick boxes. Tick-box groups get the values from the Kofax script. Single tick boxes and signature boxes are read as tick boxes too. Their value format, such as Y/N or 1/0, is learnt from the sample documents in the export. See Forms, tick boxes and signatures.
Barcodes. Barcode locators with a search region become Barcode finders with that search area.
Recognising the forms. The look of each form is learnt from the export's sample images and saved as a layout classification rule. See Document classes and classification.
Hand printing. Text zones that used a hand-print recognition profile get drop-out and the profile's allowed characters. See Hand printing in comb boxes.
Separation. A Page size and count rule is worked out from the sample pages' sizes and the number of pages per form. See Image cleanup and separation.
Export. The Kofax XML release with the most field links becomes each document type's XML data file, with elements named as the Kofax destinations. A folder export writes it with multi-page TIFF images to C:\ProgramData\DocView\Export\<Batch Setup>. Change the folder to suit your system.
Validation scripts. Kofax validation script methods are imported as script rules, switched off, with their source so you can port them.
Validation screens. Kofax validation forms become screen designs of the steps Validation 1, Validation 2 and Validation 3. See Validation forms.

Validation forms

DocView rebuilds the validation forms designed in Kofax:

Each tab of the form becomes a section. A tab called "Hidden" is left out.
Fields stay in the same rows, and read-only fields stay read-only.
Input widths come from the size of the boxes on the Kofax form.
Drop-down lists become List fields with their allowed values.
Only forms designed in Kofax are imported. Forms a class inherits from another are skipped.

Buttons and free text labels of the forms are listed in the report. Reject and Rescan are commands of the Index screen, so they need nothing more. For other buttons, add a button with a Click script.

Keep the sample documents

The review page has the option Keep the export's sample documents as samples of the Batch Setup. It is ticked by default.

When it is ticked, the samples are added in the background after the drafts are created. Each one is cleaned up and read with OCR. They then open in the zone designer, the Finders tab and the field editor, so you can check zones and finders straight away. See Finders and zones.

Important: The sample scans may hold personal data. Untick the option if you must not keep them. Otherwise the samples are only read during the analysis and not kept.

Tip: Hand printing is read best with a cloud OCR engine. After the import, consider an OCR engine override for the form classes. See OCR engines and languages.

The report

Type	Meaning
Warning	Imported, but check it. Examples: a field Kofax never read although a rule required it, tick-box values that a check rejects, two zones with the same name.
Needs review	Kept, but not yet working in DocView. Examples: rules that used Kofax scripts, release setups to recreate, buttons on validation forms.
Info	What was done. Examples: calculated fields, double keying, quality-control sampling.
Ignored	Deliberately not imported. Examples: users, trained classifier files, sample images you chose not to keep.
Secret removed	A credential found in the export. Only its name is shown.

The report also lists every Kofax Transformation locator with the DocView finder that replaces it:

Code	Meaning
LOCATOR_CONVERTED	Carried over, for example Advanced Zone Locators (as Advanced zones finders) and barcode locators with their regions.
LOCATOR_PARTLY_CONVERTED	A finder to finish, with what to do: format, database and table locators, evaluators, and script locators (imported as Script finders with the Kofax code as a comment and a TODO).
LOCATOR_NOT_CONVERTED	Not available in DocView, with the alternative: trained group locators, MICR and text content locators.
LOCATORS	How many locators were converted, partly converted and not converted.

The report often finds problems the old setup had all along. For example, it flags a required field that no zone ever filled, so that documents always stopped at validation. DocView reads such fields from their zone and flags them for you to check.

After the import

Open the new Batch Setup and work through the report: Warnings first, then Needs review.
Check the AZL finder and the other finders on the kept samples in the Samples & testing panel (Test finders).
Check the export folder, and set up any other export destinations your downstream systems need.
Check the classification rules. Where the import could not learn a layout, learn one from the kept samples, add keyword or barcode rules, or train the classifier with a few sample documents per form (Classifier training).
Test with real documents on the Test tab (Test a Batch Setup).
Release the version (Versions and publishing).

Tip: Import into a test system first. When everything works, export the Batch Setup and import that file on the live system.

For each Kofax Transformation locator and its DocView finder, see Kofax locators and DocView finders.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to do
The analysis takes a long time	Large exports, especially ones with many sample documents, can take a couple of minutes. The page shows the progress. You can leave it and open the import again from Recent imports.
The review page is slow to open	Very large exports produce a big review. Use the filter on each table to narrow it down. Once you create the drafts, the detailed analysis is removed and the import opens straight away.
"The export could not be analysed"	Check that you uploaded the right file. If it keeps failing, send the error text (not the file) to support.
I can't see the review of an old import any more	After the drafts are created, only a summary is kept. Open the Batch Setup to see its import report. Imports you neither complete nor cancel are kept for up to a day.

Need help with a migration?

Email support@docview.ai or call +44 7886 864921. Tell us which product and version you are moving from. Please don't send the export itself, because it may contain credentials and personal data.