CMIS Import (Import Provider)

CMIS Import is an Import Provider used to import content over a CMIS Connection, allowing users to import from various on-premise and cloud based storage platforms.

Documents are imported from CMIS Connections using either the Import Descendants or Import Query Results providers. These can be used in two ways:

• To perform manual "ad-hoc" imports when creating a new Batch in Grooper Dashboard or Grooper Design Studio.
• To perform automated, scheduled imports using one or more Import Watcher Grooper services.

Import Descendants will import all documents within a designated folder location of a CMIS Repository. Import Query Results allows you to use a query syntax similar to a SQL query (called a CMISQL query) to set conditions for import based on a documents name, file type, creation date, archive status, or other variables.

About CMIS

CMIS stands for "Content Management Interoperability Services".  It is an open standard that allows different content management systems to inter-operate over the Internet.  This standard protocol allows Grooper to use many different platforms for importing and exporting documents and their contents.  Once a CMIS Connection object is created, Grooper can exchange documents with these platforms. "Interoperability " means Grooper has the same access to control the system as a human being does. It is a "one-to-one" connection to the platform, allowing full and total control.

Upon connecting to an external content management system, Grooper will be able to see the "repositories" associated with it.  A repository, in computer science, is a general term for a location where data lives. Different systems refer to "repositories" in different ways.  An email inbox could be a repository. A folder in Windows could be a repository. A cabinet in ApplicationXtender could be a repository. It's a place to put things. We standardize the various terms used by various storage platforms to simply "repository".

These repositories are "imported" into Grooper as a CMIS Repository object, as a child of the CMIS Connection object. This doesn't import data into Grooper in the traditional sense of importing documents into a batch. "Importing" here is more like bringing the repository into a framework Grooper can use (creating the CMIS Connection object). Upon importing the repository Grooper has full file access to that location in the storage platform.

For our purposes, repositories are like filing cabinets full of documents.  Once a connection is established, it's like giving Grooper a key to that cabinet.  You can open the various drawers of that cabinet. You can pull out files and put files into. The storage platform or content management system is like the cabinet. The CMIS Connection object is like the key. The CMIS Repository object is like a drawer in the cabinet. You "connect" to the cabinet by turning the key. You "import" the repository by opening the drawer. Now you can see there are documents in there! You can take them out. You can read them and put them back in. You can put new ones in. You can use this "open" connection to the "drawer" however you need.

CMIS+ Architecture

Grooper expanded on this idea in version 2.72 to create our CMIS+ architecture. CMIS+ unifies all content platforms under a single framework as if they were traditional CMIS endpoints. Prior to version 2.72, there was only one type of CMIS Connection, a true CMIS connection using CMIS 1.0 or CMIS 1.1 servers. Now, connections to additional non-CMIS document storage platforms can be made via "CMIS Bindings". This provides standardized access to document content and metadata across a variety of external storage platforms.

Using this architecture, Grooper is able to create a simpler and more efficient import and export workflow, using a variety of storage platforms. You now use CMIS Import and CMIS Export providers, regardless of the storage platform. They connect to a CMIS Repository imported from a CMIS Connection and use that as Grooper's import or export path.

How you create a CMIS Connection only differs from CMIS Binding to CMIS Binding, as each binding has a different way of connecting to it. You don't connect to an Outlook inbox the same way you connect to a Windows file folder, for example.

CMIS Bindings

A CMIS Binding provides connectivity logic for external storage platforms, allowing CMIS Connection objects to import and export content. Grooper's CMIS+ architecture expands connectivity from traditional CMIS servers to a variety of on-premise and cloud-based storage platforms by exposing connections to these platforms as CMIS Bindings. Each individual CMIS Binding contains the settings and logic required to exchange documents between Grooper and each distinct platform. For example, the AppXtender Binding contains all the information Grooper uses to connect to the ApplicationXtender content management system.

CMIS Bindings are used when creating a CMIS Connection object. The first step to creating a CMIS Connection is to configure the Connection Type property. Which binding you use (and therefore which platform you connect to) is set here. First, the user selects which CMIS Binding they want to use, selecting which storage platform they want to connect to. The second step is to enter the connection settings for that binding, such as login information for many bindings.

Current CMIS Bindings

Grooper can connect to the following storage platforms using below using CMIS Bindings:

• The ApplicationXtender document management platform.
• The Box cloud storage platform.
• The FileBound document management platform.
• 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.
  • Microsoft SharePoint sites.
• FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) servers.
• IMAP mail servers
• The Microsoft Windows NTFS file system.

Import Descendants

This section needs expanding. Some info is located at the Import Descendants article.

Import Query Results

This section needs expanding. Some info is located at the Import Query Results article.

Version Differences

CMIS+ Infrastructure (2.72)

As of 2.72, Grooper utilizes what we call the CMIS+ infrastructure.  This unifies all content platforms under a single framework as CMIS endpoints.  Prior to version 2.72, there was only one type of CMIS Connection, a CMIS connection using CMIS 1.0 or CMIS 1.1 servers. Now, connections to additional non-CMIS document storage platforms can be made via "CMIS Bindings".

The settings and logic used to connect Grooper to an individual storage platform is contained in its corresponding CMIS Binding. For example, the AppXtender Binding contains all the information Grooper uses to connect to the ApplicationXtender content management system. Which binding you use (and therefore which platform you connect to) is set by creating a CMIS Connection and choosing the appropriate binding as the "Connection Type".

Using this architecture, Grooper is able to create a more standardized import and export workflow. You now use CMIS Import and CMIS Export providers regardless of the storage platform. They connect to a CMIS Repository imported from a CMIS Connection and use that as Grooper's import or export path.

Only how you create a CMIS Connection differs from CMIS Binding to CMIS Binding, as each binding has a different way of connecting to it (You don't connect to an Outlook inbox the same way you connect to a Windows file folder, for example).

Legacy Providers (2.72)

Old import and export providers should be replaced with this new functionality. While Grooper's older import and export providers are available as "Legacy Import" and "Legacy Export" providers, these components are depreciated. They will still function but will no longer be upgraded in future versions of Grooper.

Grooper can import documents using CMIS Connections via "Import Descendents" and "Import Query Results". Grooper can export via the CMIS Export providers, Mapped Export and Unmapped Export.

New Connection Types (2.72)

By creating the CMIS+ architecture, we have been able to create new connections between Grooper and content management systems. Grooper can now connect to Microsoft OneDrive, SharePoint, and Exchange via new CMIS Bindings. Since these were created as CMIS Bindings, they can be used by the CMIS Import and CMIS Export providers. Instead of having to create three new import providers and three new export providers for a total of six brand new components, we can use the already established CMIS import and export providers in the CMIS+ framework. A user can create a CMIS Connection using the OneDrive, SharePoint or Exchange Bindings, and use the same import and export providers for them as any of the other CMIS Bindings.

This will also allow Grooper to create CMIS Bindings to connect to currently unavailable content management systems in the future much quicker and easier.

Import Mode (2.72)

In version 2.72 the "Import Mode" property replaces previous versions' "Sparse Import" property.

Import Mode allows control over the connections Grooper makes and/or retains to the imported documents.

Mode	Speed	Comments
Full	Slow	Full import of content and their properties. Required if deleting content from the source on import.
Sparse	Fast	Imports a link to the document's source and its properties but not their content. This produces a usable document in Grooper without copying the full content into Grooper, saving time upon import. This mode is the same as enabling the old "Sparse Import" property in previous versions.
Link Only	Fastest	Only imports a link to the document's source. Does not produce a usable document. The document's properties must be loaded in a step in a Batch Process.

Full

Both properties and content will be loaded. This is the slowest import mode, because the full content of each document is copied during a single-threaded import process. As such, this mode is not well-suited for high-volume imports, but provides some useful advantages in low-volume import scenarios.

For example, Normal mode allows items to be deleted immediately on import, which can be important when using the Import Watcher service. Also, Normal mode avoids the need for any follow-up load operations in the Batch Process.

Sparse

Properties will be loaded, but content will not. This mode is much faster than a Full import, because no content files are copied into Grooper. Instead, a link is saved on each Grooper document, and content is retrieved on demand directly from the CMIS Repository. This type of document is called a sparse document. Sparse documents can be used just like any other document, with the caveat that display and processing speeds may be reduced.

After a Sparse import, document content can be loaded in parallel using the "Execute" activity in a Batch Process. Choose CMIS Document Link as the "Object Type" and Load Content as the "Command"

Link Only

No content or properties will be loaded, making this the fastest import mode. It imports nothing more than a link to each document, and offloads all property and content loading to parallel operations in the Batch Process.

After a LinkOnly import, document properties and/or content can be loaded using the "Execute" activity in a Batch Process. Choose CMIS Document Link as the "Object Type" and Load Content as the "Command"

Import Disposition (2.72)

2.72 also adds an Import Disposition property to CMIS Import. This allows you to change your documents disposition upon importing them into Grooper. You can delete them, move them to a folder, or update one or more properties on the document itself. This can be leveraged with Import Watcher to prevent repeatedly importing the same document.

Disposition	Comments
Delete Item	Enables or disables deletion of the input item immediately after import Can only be enabled if "Import Mode" is set to "Full"
Move to Folder	Specifies an optional folder in your CMIS Repository to which items are moved after import.
Update Properties	Defines one or more property values to be updated on import. Allows you to type a list of "key-value pairs" where the "key" is the name of the property and the "value" is what change you want to make to that property. You can type one entry per line in the format key=value Examples: Archive=true Sets the archive attribute on a file Status=PENDING Sets the "Status" field on ApplicationXtender documents. Imported=true Sets the "Imported" field on SharePoint documents. IsRead=true Sets the "IsRead" flag on an Exchange message.