2.90:CMIS Export

CIMS Export is one of the Export Providers available to the Document Export activity. It exports content over a CMIS connection, allowing you to export to various content management systems.

CMIS Exports can be either "Mapped" or "Unmapped".  Unmapped Export is a simple export of files to folders.  Mapped Export allows you to export files and their metadata (such as data extracted from documents to fields in a data model) to a repository by mapping the connection between objects in a Content Model within Grooper and the "CMIS Content Type".

Version Differences

As of 2.72, Grooper utilizes what we call the CMIS+ architecture.  This unifies all content platforms under a single framework as CMIS endpoints.  For each platform, a CMIS Binding defines the settings and logic required to exchange documents.  This binding allows for a more seamless integration of multiple platforms.  It standardizes access to document content and metadata across a variety of storage platforms. Once the CMIS Connection is established, a user in Grooper will interact the same way whether its storage platform A or B.

If you're changing over to 2.72, it's likely your experience connecting to and exporting to a CMIS Repository will change.  Review the CMIS article for information on how to set up a CMIS Connection.  There are also new export providers (Mapped and Unmapped Export).  This article will expand on the different ways to export using a CMIS Connection.

Use Cases

Grooper has the ability to connect to the following storage platforms via the "Connection Type" property when adding a new CMIS Connection.

• The ApplicationXtender document management platform.
• The FileBound document management platform.
• CMIS (CMIS Binding)|Content management systems]] using CMIS 1.0 or CMIS 1.1 servers.
• The following Microsoft content platforms
  • The Microsoft Exchange mail server platform.
  • The Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage platform.
  • Microsft SharePoint sites.
• FTP (File Transfer Protocal) and SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocal) servers.
• IMAP mail servers
• The Microsoft Windows NTFS file system.

Unmapped Export

Unmapped Export is the simpler of the two.  Both Unmapped and Mapped Exports will connect to CMIS Repositories (or CMIS bindings at least).  However, "Unmapped Export" exports content as simple folders and files.  You cannot utilize your Content Model to map metadata values to files and folders.  This is a much more "raw" export.  However, you can still export metadata "buddy files" along with your documents.

It is designed for use with CMIS Repositories using a hierarchical file system (HFS), where folders and files are represented by simple object types.  The Microsoft Windows file system, NTFS, is an example of an HFS.  These are basic folder and file structures.  So, they do not require mapped properties upon creation.

• The following utilize simple HFS repositories and are suitable for "Unmapped Export":
  • NTFS
  • FTP
  • SFTP
  • OneDrive
  • IMAP
  • Exchange

Unmapped Export Property Settings

Because there are no values mapped here, this export provider completely ignores anything in the Content Types folder of your CMIS Repository.  Even if you added mapping information to your CMIS Content Type, Unmapped Export will pay no attention.  Any settings you want to adjust should be done in the Export Settings properties of the Document Export

Property	Default Value	Information
General Properties
CMIS Repository		Select a CMIS repository you have imported already from your CMIS Connections. Once you select the repository, an additional property will populate to choose the "Target Folder". If nothing is selected, this will be the "Default Base Folder" of the CMIS Content Type.
Update Link	True	If true, the Content Link on the document will be updated to the point at the exported content. It will change from whatever source it was imported from to whatever it was exported to.
Export Options
Content Format	Native	Here you can change the format of the document upon export, such as exporting it as a PDF. The default property is "Native". However, if no native file version exists Grooper will export a PDF version if possible. If neither a native file version or a PDF version exists, a TIFF file is created. Each Content Format selection has its own editable properties as well.
Metadata Export	(none)	Adjusting this property will allow you to export a metadata "buddy file" with your documents. It can be one of three values. Text - Exports metadata as a text file as a CSV or INI file type. Custom - Exports a custom named file, which was previously generated and saved by another activity, such as XML Transform. XML - Exports standard Grooper XML representing the document's metadata.
Path Cloning	Disabled	Enables or disables path cloning. Refer to the Path Cloning article for more information.
Ignore Mapped Items	False	A Batch Folder object is "unmapped" both if no Content Type is assigned or if the Content Type is assigned but it has no export mappings defined. If true, the export process will ignore mapped items. If false, mapped items will be exported along with unmapped ones.

Version Differences

New to 2.72, the "Link" object can expose several new CMIS properties to field expressions.

• Link.Name - Returns cmis:name
• Link.CreatedBy - Returns cmis:createdBy
• Link.CreatedTime - Returns cmis:creationDate
• Link.LastModifiedBy - Returns cmis:lastModifiedBy
• Link.LastModifiedTime - Returns cmis:lastModificationDate
• Link.AsDocument.MimeType - Returns cmis:contentStreamMimeType
• Link.AsDocument.Filename - Returns cmis:contentStreamFilename

There is also a new method available to return CMIS properties in field expressions:

• Link.GetCustomValue (Name)
  • Returns the value of a CMIS property
  • "Name" can be the ID, query name, or display name of a property
    • Ex: Link.GetCustomValue ("invoice_no")

Mapped Export

Mapped Export is much more powerful. Mapped Export creates a document in a CMIS Repository for each Batch Folder in your Batch.  Using this export provider, you can copy all the relevant data you've collected to wherever you want your documents to go. Or in other words, you can map properties from your Content Model, such as data fields, to an external CMIS repository.

Similar to the pre-2.72 CMIS Export, Mapped Export uses pre-defined mappings.  These mappings are set on the CMIS Content Type object.  Here, we will match fields from the outside content management provider with the associated fields, variables and values from our Content Type in Grooper.  The Grooper Content Type assigned to the Batch Folder determines the rules for exporting each item.  Because of this, all documents processed through Mapped Export must be classified.  You can't get a Content Type without classifying the batch.  So, Grooper wouldn't have any information on how to map the documents.

To perform a Mapped Export, you must enable exporting on the repository's CMIS Content Type. Below shows you to set up the CMIS Content Type object to map values when exporting.

How To:  Set Up the Repository's Export Settings

Step 1Step 2Step 3Step 4Step 5Step 6

In the node tree, navigate to the repository you want to export to under your CMIS connection established in the "CMIS Connections" folder under the "Infrastructure" folder.

By default, the "Export Enabled" property is set to "False". Change this to "True" in order to export to the repository.

The "Export Content Type" property is where you assign the Content Type. This can be any element of a Content Model or the whole model itself. Be careful. If you choose a content model not associated with the batch you want to export, you won't actually export any documents. The Content Type you assign on the export step must match the Content Type you assign here. Otherwise, Grooper is going to get real confused. It will probably act like it exported your documents without actually populating anything in the content management system.

Select the "Export Field Mappings" property to assign your mappings.

The "Property Mapping Control" window will pop up. This list will automatically appear based on how you set up your repository in whichever content management system you are using. The example below is an ApplicationXtender connection. It has just one field from our data model tied to it. Document Type can be assigned according to how these documents were classified. Date Created is a read-only value that will be populated in ApplicationXtender when the documents are imported.

If needed, you can also update "Parent Content Types" and adjust folder level settings and mapping as well. You can also change the default base folder and content format here as well.

Press the "Save" button.

Once you've set this up, you can export to the CMIS repository during the Document Export activity using the Mapped Export provider. You will select the CMIS Repository you wish to connect to using the "Export Settings" properties of Document Export.

Once the Document Export activity runs, your documents' extracted data will be mapped to their corresponding locations in whichever content management system you choose, according to how you defined it on the CMIS Content Type.

Furthermore, Grooper now supports transfer of multi-level objects between Grooper and CMIS.  If your content management system is set up as folders with documents inside, Grooper will import and export seamlessly.  If you have a repository with folders A, B, and C with their own levels of foldering and documents inside, Grooper will retain the hierarchical structure when exporting. This is common with student records, personnel files, case files, and well records.

Version Differences

Grooper Version 2.72 introduces simplified field mappings for Mapped Export.  Fields can now be mapped as they are defined at the root of the Data Model.

If your Data Model looks like the one below with fields in several different sections...

...when you go to map them to (or from) a CMIS repository, the dropdown list will be structured like your Data Model, from top to bottom with each heading listed before the field. This makes it much easier to find which field you're looking for.

Export Settings

After you have your field mappings set up, you will further configure the export using the properties in Export Settings.

Property	Default Value	Information
General Properties
CMIS Repository		Select a CMIS repository you have imported already from your CMIS Connections. Once you select the repository, an additional property will populate to choose the "Target Folder". If nothing is selected, this will be the "Default Base Folder" of the CMIS Content Type.
Update Link	True	If true, the Content Link on the document will be updated to the point at the exported content. It will change from whatever source it was imported from to whatever it was exported to.
Export Options
Content Format	Native	Here you can change the format of the document upon export, such as exporting it as a PDF. The default property is "Native". However, if no native file version exists Grooper will export a PDF version if possible. If neither a native file version or a PDF version exists, a TIFF file is created. Each Content Format selection has its own editable properties as well.
Metadata Export	(none)	Adjusting this property will allow you to export a metadata "buddy file" with your documents. It can be one of three values. Text - Exports metadata as a text file as a CSV or INI file type. Custom - Exports a custom named file, which was previously generated and saved by another activity, such as XML Transform. XML - Exports standard Grooper XML representing the document's metadata.
Path Cloning	Disabled	Enables or disables path cloning. Refer to the Path Cloning article for more information.
Ignore Mapped Items	False	A Batch Folder object is "unmapped" both if no Content Type is assigned or if the Content Type is assigned but it has no export mappings defined. If true, the export process will ignore mapped items. If false, mapped items will be exported along with unmapped ones.