Import sources and connections

Import sources bring documents into DocView Capture without anyone scanning or uploading them in DocView. Each source creates batches for one Batch Setup, which then decides how the documents are processed.

Go to Administration › Batch Settings › Import sources. You need the permission Admin.ImportSources. The page shows your sources at the top, then Add a connection with a card for each kind of source, then the REST API keys.

How checking works

Import sources are checked by the DocView Workers, not by the web server. Every source has a Check every (seconds) interval. When it is due, one DocView Worker checks the source, creates batches for what it finds, and then moves, deletes or marks the items.

• Only DocView Workers whose profile has Polls import folders and mailboxes switched on check sources.
• Only one DocView Worker checks a source at a time.
• Items stay where they are until their batch has been created safely. Folder-like sources first move an item into a .processing folder, so it is never imported twice; an item left there by a stopped worker is picked up again.

Supported files are PDF, TIFF (single and multipage), JPEG and PNG. Files are recognised by their content, not only their extension.

Add a source

1. Click a card under Add a connection (or Add import source at the top).
2. Fill in Name, Batch Setup, Check every (seconds) (at least 5) and leave On switched on.
3. Fill in the settings of the connection. Passwords, keys and connection strings are kept as secrets: save them first under Administration › Settings › Secrets and choose them here. See Settings.
4. Click Test: it signs in and says what is waiting, without importing anything.
5. Click Save.

Folders, file servers and cloud storage

The watched folder, SFTP, FTP, Azure Blob Storage, Amazon S3 and SharePoint work the same way:

What each one signs in with:

• SFTP: server, port, user name, and a password or a private key (with its passphrase). Use Test to read the server's host key and paste it into Host key (SHA256), so DocView only talks to that server.
• FTP / FTPS: server, port, TLS (on by default), passive mode, user name and password.
• Azure Blob Storage: a connection string, or the account address and a SAS token with read, list, write and delete rights; and the container.
• Amazon S3: endpoint (empty for Amazon), region, access key id and secret access key; and the bucket.
• SharePoint / OneDrive: an app registration in Microsoft Entra ID (directory id, application id and client secret) with the Microsoft Graph permission Sites.ReadWrite.All (or Sites.Selected for the site); the site address and the document library.

Important: For a watched folder, the DocView Worker's service account needs read, write and delete rights on the folder, the processed folder and the error folder. On premises the DocView Worker runs as NT SERVICE\DocViewWorker unless you chose another account. Test runs on the web server, so also check the DocView Worker's log after the first real import.

Mailboxes

Email mailbox (IMAP/POP3): the mail server, security and port, the user name and password, the folder (INBOX), the attachment types, whether to add the message text as a page, and what happens after import (mark as read, move to a folder, delete). With POP3, messages are deleted after import.

Microsoft 365 mailbox: signs in as an app registration with the Microsoft Graph application permission Mail.ReadWrite (limit it to the capture mailbox with an application access policy), so no mailbox password is needed. Fill in the directory id, application id, client secret, the mailbox (e.g. invoices@contoso.com) and the folder (Inbox or another folder's name).

Each message with matching attachments becomes one batch. A message that cannot be imported is only marked as read, so you can look at it in the mailbox.

Database tables

Database table or view works like the old DocView IBML import: a query gives the rows waiting, each row (or each group of rows) becomes a batch, and afterwards a statement marks the rows.

The values are passed as parameters, never pasted into the SQL. Give the database user only the rights it needs: read the table, update the status columns.

Scan statistics from IBML, Kodak and other scanning systems

Batches scanned on another system can bring who scanned them, on which scanner, and from when to when. DocView keeps this with the batch and counts it as that operator's scanning, so management sees all scanning in one place: the Operator productivity, Operator performance and Team now figures include it, and the report Scanning on other systems (IBML, Kodak …) shows it per system, operator and scanner, with batches, pages, scanning hours and pages per hour.

• Folders, file servers and cloud storage (with Each batch is: One sub-folder): set Batch file to the file the scanning system writes into each batch folder, for example *.xml. Written by picks a template for IBML, Kodak Alaris or any system: it knows the usual names (Operator, StartTime, EndTime, PageCount, Scanner, BatchID …) as elements, attributes, JSON names or CSV columns. Change any of them: for XML an element or attribute name or an XPath (e.g. //Batch/@Operator), for JSON a dotted path (e.g. batch.operator.id), for CSV a column name; alternatives are separated with |. Batch fields from the file fills batch fields from it too.
• Database tables: set the operator, scanning started, scanning ended, pages and scanner columns and the system's name.
• REST API: send scan[system], scan[operator], scan[start], scan[end], scan[pages], scan[scanner] and scan[batch] with the files.

Dates may be ISO (2026-10-26T09:15:00), UK (26/10/2026 09:15:00), Unix seconds, or a format you give; without a time zone they are in the site's time zone.

Operators as DocView users: a name that is already a DocView user name counts for that user. For others, add a line under Operators as DocView users, e.g. JSMITH → jane.smith. Operators that are not DocView users are shown as the other system names them, marked "not a DocView user".

Every imported batch is processed by its Batch Setup's workflow like any other.

Watch the sources

The list shows for each source its name (off when switched off, the last problem in red), its type, Batch Setup, how many batches it has imported and when it was last checked. The tiles above count the sources, those switched on, the batches imported and the sources with a problem. Click a name or Edit to change a source, the bin to delete it.

REST API keys

Other systems can send documents to DocView Capture over HTTPS with an API key:

1. In REST API keys, type a name for the key, for example the system that will use it.
2. Optionally, select the Batch Setups the key may use. Leave the list empty to allow all.
3. Optionally, choose an expiry date, then click Create key.
4. Copy the key from the green box. It is shown only once.

Click Revoke to stop a key at once. See the REST API page for the endpoints and examples.

Troubleshooting

Related pages

• Importing documents
• REST API
• DocView Workers
• Reports
• Settings