2023.1:Import Watcher (Service)

This article is about an older version of Grooper. Information may be out of date and UI elements may have changed.
2025	2024	2023.1

WIP	This article is a work-in-progress or created as a placeholder for testing purposes. This article is subject to change and/or expansion. It may be incomplete, inaccurate, or stop abruptly. This tag will be removed upon draft completion.

An Import Watcher is a Grooper Service that schedules and runs Import Jobs. It uses an Import Provider to query files in a file system or content management system that meet specified criteria according to a defined schedule (every minute, every day, only on Sundays, etc.). These files are imported into Grooper as documents (folder Batch Folders) in a new inventory_2 Batch.

• Afterward, the imported files can be (and should be) moved, deleted, or modified to prevent repeat imports in the next polling cycle.

About

An Import Watcher is a service that is required for importing digital documents, such as PDFS, into Grooper. The Import Watcher creates "Import Jobs" that bring in files to new Batches in Grooper. It is also required to automate scheduled imports as well as for ad-hoc user directed imports from the Imports Page.

To make use of an Import Watcher you first will have to install the service via Grooper Config. If all you want to do is ad-hoc user directed imports, you're good to go after installing and starting the service. If you would like to set up a polling loop or set specific times to periodically import documents, you will be able to do that from the Grooper Web Client after you have installed the Import Watcher service.

How To

Installing the Import Watcher Service

In order to create Import Jobs to bring digital documents into Grooper, you will need to install an Import Watcher service. To install any service, you will need admin access to Grooper Config. Open Grooper Config and follow the instructions below:

1. Click on "Edit Services" located in the Grooper Config toolbar.

2. When the "Service Manager" window pops up, you will see a list of all the services that are currently running on your server.
3. Click on "Install..." in the toolbar at the top.

4. When the "Install New Service" window pops up, click on the drop down in the top right to select the repository you want to install the Import Watcher for.
5. Select "Import Watcher" from the list of services.
6. Click "OK" in the toolbar at the top.

7. In the "Import Watcher" pop up window, enter your user name and password in the two bottom properties. Be sure to include your domain followed by a backslash (\) in your username.
8. Click "Execute".

9. Now your Import Watcher service should show up in your list on the "Service Manager". Select the Import Watcher you created.
10. Click "Start" in the top toolbar to start the service.

Scheduled Imports

If you would like to set Grooper to import documents periodically throughout the day, you will want to set up Scheduled Imports on the Import Watcher you installed. You can do this through the Grooper Web Client following the instructions below:

1. Select the "Machines" folder in the node tree.
2. Select the server with the installed Import Watcher from the Machines List at the top.
3. Select the Import Watcher from the list of services installed on the selected server.
4. Click the ellipsis icon to the right of the Scheduled Imports property in the property grid on the right.

A "Scheduled Imports" window will pop up. Continue to either the #Setting Up a Polling Loop or #Setting Up Specific Times sections and follow the instructions there depending upon what type of Scheduled Import you want to configure.

Setting up a Polling Loop

There are two different ways to set up a Scheduled Import: A Polling Loop or Specific Times. We're going to start with how to set up a Polling Loop.

A Polling Loop will periodically attempt to import files from a repository (based on a Provider you will set up). You can customize the frequency and times in which the polling loop runs.

1. When the "Scheduled Imports" window pops up, click on the + icon at the top of the window.
2. Select Polling Loop from the drop down options.

3. An entry for your Polling Loop should appear in the List of Import Schedules.
4. Enter a Name for your Polling Loop and set up a Provider. For instructions on how to set up your Import Provider, take a look at the CMIS Import article.

5. Scroll down to the "Scheduling" options. Set an Interval. This will be how often Grooper will attempt to import files.
   • You can set the time interval as seconds, minutes, or hours. So, if you set it to 30s, then every 30 seconds, Grooper will attempt to import files from the specified location set by your Provider. If you set to 1h, then it will attempt once every hour. In this example, we have set it to 1m or every one minute.
6. Set the Hours of Operation. This is the times the polling loop will run. Here we've put in general working hours of 8AM-5PM.
   • There are many different valid formats you may use for the times. 8am, 8AM, 8:00am, and 8:00AM will all work. If you want to start at a time not set at the top of the hour, simply use the 8:30AM format. Make sure you separate the two times with a hyphen (-) to indicate the range.
7. Set your Days of Week. Grooper will run this polling loop only on the days of the week that are checked.

8. When you are finished configuring your Polling Loop, click "OK" in the top right of the "Scheduled Imports" window.

9. Click the save icon on the property grid to save your changes to your Import Watcher.

Setting Up Specific Times