2023:Import Provider

Import Providers enable you to import files into Grooper from a variety of sources, such as file systems, mail servers, and other on-premise and cloud based document storage platforms.  

Import Providers can be used in two ways:

• To perform manual "ad-hoc" file imports when creating new Batches from the IMPORTS page.
• To perform automatic, scheduled file imports using one or more Import Watcher services (set up in Grooper Config).

There are three categories of Import Providers:

• CMIS Import Providers
• Legacy Import Providers
• Other Import Providers

CMIS Import Providers

CMIS Import Providers are used to import content over a CMIS Connection from CMIS Repositories. This allows 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.

• 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 the item's available metadata, such as a documents name, file type, creation date, archive status, or other variables.

BE AWARE!! Import Descendants was created as a simplified version of Import Query Results. In almost all cases, it is preferable to use Import Query Results. It is more fully featured and more developed.

For more information, visit the CMIS Import article.

Other Import

There are two import mechanisms you cannot use a CMIS Connection for. These have very specialized import mechanisms requiring unique providers.

• OPEX Import
  • This provider is necessary to import content using OPEX Scanning Devices (commonly used for mailroom automation).
• Test Batch
  • This provider allows users to import content from a Grooper test Batch.
  • Most typically, this provider is used by Grooper designers testing a Batch Process. It has little uses in production scenarios.

Legacy Import Providers

These providers exist in Grooper for backwards compatibility.

• In newer versions of Grooper, it is best practice to use a CMIS Import Provider with an analogous CMIS Connection type.
• However, they are still supported for older versions of Grooper that are upgraded to more current ones.

The Legacy Import Providers are as follows:

• File System Import
  • This provider imports content over a local network to the Windows file system.
  • The analogous CMIS Connection type is NTFS.
• FTP Import
  • This provider imports content using the FTP protocol.
  • The analogous CMIS Connection types is FTP.
• SFTP Import
  • This provider imports content using the SFTP protocol.
  • The analogous CMIS Connection types is SFTP.
• Mail Import
  • This provider imports content to mail servers using the IMAP protocol.
  • The analogous CMIS Connection type is IMAP.
  • FYI: If you are importing from a Microsoft Exchange server (i.e. you are using Outlook) you should use the Exchange CMIS Connection type. It is more fully featured, and will interoperate with Exchange email clients better.

For more information on how to set up a CMIS Connection and how to import using a CMIS Import Provider, visit the following articles:

• CMIS Connection
• CMIS Import