Export Definition

Export Behaviors are defined by adding and configuring one or more Export Definitions (See Export Definition Types or the Export Definitions section of the Export article). An Export Definition defines export parameters to external systems, such as file systems, content management repositories, databases, or mail servers.

About Export Definitions

Export Definitions are key to exporting document content from Grooper to an end destination, such as file systems, content management systems, and databases.

• One or more Export Definitions are added to an Export Behavior.
• The Export activity executes each Export Definition for each Batch Folder.

Export Definitions functionally determine three things:

• Destination – Where the document content ends up upon export. In other words, the storage platform you are exporting to.
• Content – What document content is exported: attached file content, Batch Page images, full text/OCR data, and/or extracted data from a Data Model.
• File Format – What format the exported content takes, such as a PDF file or XML data file.
  • Not applicable to Data Export. Files are not generated from document content for this Export Definition. Only Data Model data is exported.

How To: Add an Export Definition to an Export Behavior

An Export Definition, as the name implies, defines the connection to a storage destination outside of Grooper. How this connection is made varies depending on the export method.

Click here for an interactive walkthrough

1. Click ... on the Export Definitions property to open the Export Definitions list window.
2. Click the Add button to access the dropdown list.
3. Select an Export Definition from the list.
   • You can have more than one Export Definition configured on an Export Behavior.

Types of Export Definitions

Grooper currently offers the following Export Definition types:

• CMIS Export (common) - Exports document content to a CMIS Repository over a CMIS Connection.
• Data Export (common) - Export data from a document's Data Model to a SQL database or ODBC compliant database
• File Export - Exports files to a Windows file system
• FTP Export - Exports files to an FTP server
• IMAP Export - Exports files to an IMAP email server
• SFTP Export (seldom used) - Export files attached to email messages to an SFTP server

CMIS Export

With a CMIS Export, document content is exported from Grooper to a CMIS Repository via a CMIS Connection.

Click here for an interactive walkthrough

1. Click the Add button within the Export Definitions list window and select CMIS Export.
2. Click the hamburger icon on the CMIS Repository property to expose the Node Object list, then navigate to and select the desired CMIS Repository.
   • You will need to have a CMIS Connection created and a Repository imported FIRST before configuring this Export Definition.
3. Define the CMIS content being exported by selecting the Object Type.
   • Most typically, this will be the CMIS type that corresponds to a "document" for the destination CMIS Repository.
4. The Target Folder property defaults to the root of the repository. Configure this property if you want to export to a specific folder.
5. Configure one or more Export Formats.
   • There are Export Format options for PDF and TIFF, as well as JSON and other text-based files suitable for data extracted from a document's Data Model.
6. Configure additional properties as needed.
7. Click OK when finished.

Data Export

A Data Export sends extracted data from documents to a SQL database via a Data Connection.

Click here for an interactive walkthrough

1. Click the Add button within the Export Definitions list window and select Data Export.
   • You will need to have created a Data Connection within Grooper before configuring the Export Definition.
2. Expand the Connection dropdown (click the ☰ button) and select the Data Connection from the Node selector.
3. Configure Table Mappings.
4. Configure Custom Statements (optional).
5. Click OK when finished.

File Export

With File Export, document content is exported from Grooper to a folder within a Windows file system.

Click here for an interactive walkthrough

1. Click the Add button within the Export Definitions list window and select File Export.
2. Enter the UNC path of the target folder in the Target Folder property.
3. If you want to export to a specific subfolder, define it in the Relative Path property.
4. Configure one or more Export Formats.
   • There are Export Format options for PDF and TIFF, as well as JSON and other text-based files suitable for data extracted from a document's Data Model.
5. Click OK when finished.

⚠

File Export is old. CMIS Export is better. The File Export definition is an older method of exporting to the Windows file system in Grooper. File Export exists for backward compatibility. It can still be used for simple exports to Windows folders, but no further development of this feature will occur. For better long-term support, use the CMIS Export definition with an NTFS CMIS Repository to export documents to Windows file folders.

FTP Export

The FTP Export Definition sends documents from Grooper to an FTP site using the FTP protocol.

Click here for an interactive walkthrough

1. Click the Add button within the Export Definitions list window and select FTP Export.
2. Enter the FTP server URL.
3. Configure one or more Export Formats.
   • There are Export Format options for PDF and TIFF, as well as JSON and other text-based files suitable for data extracted from a document's Data Model.
4. Click OK.

⚠

FTP Export is old. CMIS Export is better. The FTP Export definition is an older method of exporting to FTP sites in Grooper. FTP Export exists for backward compatibility. It can still be used for simple exports to FTP folders, but no further development of this feature will occur. For better long-term support, use the CMIS Export definition with an FTP CMIS Repository to export documents to SFTP folders.

SFTP Export

SFTP Export sends document content to an SFTP site using the SFTP protocol.

Click here for an interactive walkthrough

1. Click the Add button within the Export Definitions list window and select SFTP Export.
2. Enter the server host name.
3. Configure one or more Export Formats.
   • There are Export Format options for PDF and TIFF, as well as JSON and other text-based files suitable for data extracted from a document's Data Model.
4. Click OK.

⚠

SFTP Export is old. CMIS Export is better. The SFTP Export definition is an older method of exporting to SFTP sites in Grooper. SFTP Export exists for backward compatibility. It can still be used for simple exports to SFTP folders, but no further development of this feature will occur. For better long-term support, use the CMIS Export definition with an SFTP CMIS Repository to export documents to SFTP folders.

Mail Export (seldom used)

Mail Export (formerly IMAP Export) exports documents as email messages to a mail server using the IMAP protocol. The export operation appends each document as a new message in the specified mail folder.

Click here for an interactive walkthrough

1. Click the Add button within the Export Definitions list window and select Mail Export.
2. Enter the mail server name.
3. Enter the username and password Grooper will use to access the mail server.
4. Click OK.

Which Export Definition is right for me?

When choosing an Export Definition, you should be asking yourself "Do I want to export files, data, or both?". What content you want to export will inform which destination (or destinations) you export to. Your answer to this question will impact which Export Definition you choose and how you configure it to export document Batch Folder content.

Data Only	If you're purely exporting document data content (values collected from the Extract activity) and nothing else, you're likely looking to export data to a database. Use Data Export to do this.
Files Only	If you're looking to export files, such as PDFs, TIFs, and text files, you have more options depending on the storage destination you want the files to wind up in. Use any of the following Export Definitions, depending on where you want to export. CMIS Export File Export FTP Export SFTP Export Mail Export (very uncommon) All of these Export Definitions have a configurable Export Format property, which will allow you to build an export file of a given format out of Batch Folder content. For example, the PDF Format can be configured to build a PDF file from the Batch Folder's image content (using the images of its child Batch Pages) or its file content (its attached PDF) and the full text data content obtained from OCR. More information on Export Formats can be found in the Export Format article and the Export article.
Both Data and Files	When exporting document content, there are a variety of ways to export both data and files. Commonly, if you want to export both data and files, you will simply add multiple Export Definitions. A Data Export to export data to a database and one of the other Export Types to export files to a storage repository of your choice. You can also export data as a file itself, such as an XML, JSON, or text data file. These are Export Format options available when configuring CMIS Export, File Export, FTP Export, or SFTP Export. More information on Export Formats can be found in the Export Format article and the Export article. Depending on the CMIS Repository you're exporting to, you can use CMIS Export to export both files and data using CMIS Export only. This will be highly dependent on the capabilities of the storage platform (and the CMIS Binding used to connect to it). For more information, please visit the CMIS Export article.

FYI

Grooper's PDF Data Mapping behavior more fully leverages the capabilities of the PDF format when exporting PDF files. With this functionality, you can store classification and extraction data via bookmarking and PDF metadata. This allows you to store most, if not all, document content in the PDF file itself. For more information, please visit the PDF Data Mapping article.