2023.1:Grooper Infrastructure (Concept): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:40, 23 December 2020

What is Grooper? Grooper is a repository of information made up by 13 tables in a SQL Server Database and associated files in a Windows file share. This information is displayed to the user via several application(s) that display a 1 to 1 relationship of what exists in that database and fileshare. Gaining an understanding of how to properly create using Grooper begins by first understanding the structure of its architecture, and why it is built the way that it is.

Grooper InfrastructureSystem Architecture

The Four Layers of Grooper

Grooper consists of four main components that constantly interact with one another:

Database
File Store
Licensing
Application

The Database

This is the core component of Grooper as all aspects of the functionality and configuration of a Grooper repository are stored here as metadata in cells of tables. There are 13 tables that make up the Grooper database:

dbo.AccessControlEntry

This table contains the information necessary for implementing Grooper’s node-level security architecture.

Column Name	Data Type	Size	Description
Id	int	10	unique number referencing the table's row
NodeId	uniqueidentifier	16	guid associated with node from Grooper node tree
PrincipalId	uniqueidentifier	16
Permissions	in	4

dbo.CustomStats

Definition incoming ...

Column Name	Data Type	Size
SessionId	int	4
Name	Varchar	64
Value	Float	8

dbo.FileStoreEntry

This table contains the information necessary for associating filestore objects with Grooper nodes. Note: a node with associated files will also contain those files’ filestore object locations, names, and mimetypes in the “files” column of TreeNode.

Column Name	Data Type	Size	Description
Id	int	4	sequential number assigned to object in row
FileId	uniqueidentifier	16	guid assigned as the name of the object (stored in the filestore with this number followed by .grp)
NodeId	uniqueidentifier	16	guid associated with node from Grooper tree
FileStoreId	uniqueidentifier	16	guid given to the node referencing the file store

dbo.License

This table contains information relating to Grooper licensing, including the licensing and tamper keys.

Column Name	Data Type	Size	Description
Id	int	4	unique number referencing the table’s row
SerialNumber	uniqueidentifier	16	guid of serial number
LicenseText	Varchar	1024
CustomerId	Varchar	256	number given to customer owning the license
CustomerName	varchar	256	string name given to customer owning the license
MachineId	varchar	40	unique identifier of the machine which the license was generated for
LicenseCode	varchar	50	shorthand for the type of license assigned
LicenseDesc	varchar	256	description of the type of license assigned
Quantity	int	4	amount of licenses given upon assignment
Expires	int	4
ExpirationDate	datetime	8	date and time the assigned license expires
ResetInterval	varchar	12	basis on which the assigned licenses resets
LastReset	datetime	8	date and time the license was last reset
RemainingCount	int	4	amount of licenses remaining since assigned
TamperKey	varchar	256

dbo.LicenseCheckout

This table contains information relating to checked out licenses.

Column Name	Data Type	Size	Description
Id	int	4	unique number referencing the table’s row
LicenseCode	varchar	50	string defining the license code
LicenseDesc	varchar	256	definition of the type of license in use
UserName	varchar	256	windows user to whom the license is checked to
MachineName	varchar	256	hostname of machine using the license
ModuleName	varchar	256	Grooper module occupying the license
CheckoutTime	datetime	8	date and time the license was checked out
CheckoutId	uniqueidentifier	16

dbo.Lock

This table contains one row per locked node; prevents overlapping access to various resources.

Column Name	Data Type	Size	Description
NodeId	uniqueidentifier	16	guid of node from Grooper hierarchy tree
UserName	varchar	64	windows user that applied the unlock
MachineName	varchar	64	hostname of the machine where the unlock occurred
ModuleName	varchar	64	Grooper module that executed the unlock
ProcedureName	varchar	64	the procedure executed to apply the unlock
CreateDate	smalldatetime	4	date and time the unlock occurred

dbo.Log

This table contains the Grooper log, which is represented in the Event Viewer of Grooper Design Studio.

Column Name	Data Type	Size	Description
Id	int	4	unique row identifier
TimeStamp	datetime	8	date and time the event was logged
Type	int	4	type of event logged
ProcName	varchar(MAX)	-1	name of procedure associated with the event
Message	varchar(MAX)	-1	message displayed in and defining, in general, the event
UserAccount	varchar	64	windows user under which the event triggered
MachineName	varchar	64	hostname of the machine under which the event triggered
NodeId	uniqueidentifier	16	guid of parent node associated with ‘NodeName’
NodeName	varchar	256	Item Name, or name of node associated with the triggering of the event
NodeType	varchar	64	type of Grooper Node defining the ‘NodeName’

dbo.NodeReference

This table contains a list of all referenced nodes, and what other nodes they are referenced by. Used to protect referenced nodes from deletion, and in determining what nodes are necessary on exporting.

Column Name	Data Type	Size	Description
NodeId	uniqueidentifier	16	guid given to node in Grooper hierarchy tree
ReferencingNodeId	uniqueidentifier	16	guid of parent node associated with ‘NodeId’

dbo.ProcessingTask

This table contains tasks submitted for activity processing as part of production batches.

Column Name	Data Type	Size	Description
Id	int	4	unique row identifier
BatchId	uniqueidentifier	16	guid of batch related to running process
NodeId	uniqueidentifier	16	guid of node related to batch in running process
Settings	varchar(MAX)	-1	json properties of running node
ModuleName	varchar	256	module running current task
Status	int	4	status of current task (i.e. running, error…)
UserName	varchar	256	windows user that submitted task
MachineName	varchar	256	hostname of machine running task
PageCount	int	4	number of pages in batch being processed
Submitted	datetime	8	date/time when processing batch was submitted
Started	datetime	8	date/time when processing batch started
Completed	datetime	8	date/time when batch process completed
Priority	int	4	numeric value (1-5) given to sort batch priority
Scope	int	4	the level of the batch that a step is processing
StepNo	int	4	current step of batch process
BatchName	varchar	256	name of batch in processing
BatchProcessName	varchar	256	name of process associated with batch in processing
StepName	varchar	256	name of step of process associated with batch in processing

dbo.ServiceInstance

This table contains a list of installed services. Note: If an installed service does not have a reference in this table, it will not show up in Grooper Config.

Column Name	Data Type	Size	Description
Id	int	4	unique row identifier
RepositoryId	uniqueidentifier	16
MachineName	varchar	64	hostname of pc running Grooper service
ServiceName	varchar	256	name of Grooper service running
TypeName	varchar	256	typer of Grooper service running
PropertiesJson	varchar	2048	json information defining /Node Properties/Properties
UserName	varchar	64	windows user running Grooper service
Password	varchar	64	password of windows user running Grooper service
InstanceNo	int	4	number of a specific service on a machine
ThreadPirority	int	4	numeric value given to service thread to determine processor priority

dbo.SessionStats

This table contains statistical information regarding batches in Grooper.

Column Name	Data Type	Size	Description
Id	int	4	unique row identifier
BatchId	uniqueidentifier	16	guid for batch node
BatchName	varchar	256	name of batch
BatchProcessId	uniqueidentifier	16	guid of process node related to the batch
BatchProcessName	varchar	256	name given to process by end user
StepName	varchar	256	name of step in the process
ProcessingScope	in	4	the level of the batch that a step is processing
ModuleName	varchar	256	name of Grooper module
ModuleDisplayName	varchar	256	name of Grooper module given to batch process step
MachineName	varchar	256	hostname of pc running batch
UserName	varchar	256	windows user under which the batch is running
StartTime	datetime	8	time batch was initiated
EndTime	datetime	8	time batch ended or was terminated
TasksProcessed	int	4	number of tasks processed in batch

dbo.Setting

This table contains only the Database version, including build number.

Column Name	Data Type	Size	Description
Name	varchar	64	DatabaseVersion
Value	varchar	1024	Current installed Grooper Database version

dbo.TreeNode

The main Grooper table, TreeNode contains one entry for every object in the Grooper node tree. Composed of the following columns:

Column Name	Data Type	Size	Description
Id	uniqueidentifier	16	The node’s unique ID. A GUID autogenerated by Grooper.
RowId	int	4	Identity Column for the table. Generated by SQL server.
RowVersion	timestamp	8	A timestamp column, updated when the node is changed. Used by certain processes to determine if the node has been updated.
Name	varchar	256	The name of the node.
TypeName	varchar	64	The name of the object type of the node
ParentId	uniqueidentifier	16	ID of the node’s parent. The Grooper Root node has a parent ID with all zeros.
NodeIndex	int	4	Index of the node in its containing object (usually a folder)
Attributes	int	4	A flags attribute indicating whether the node has the following attributes: read-only, fixed contents (no children may be added), sorted (children will always show up in alphabetical order), has ACL, is a system object (may not be changed).
NumChildren	int	4	Number of children.
Properties	varchar(MAX)	-1	Column containing the JSON properties for this node.
NodeValues	varchar(MAX)	-1	metadata about the node that pertains to Grooper modules
Files	varchar(MAX)	-1	objects in the Grooper file store associated with the node

Using a SQL database as the core of Grooper allows for great efficiency. Every property of every object in Grooper, as a result of being a simple entry in a table, can be loaded into memory and accessed nearly instantly. This would not be the case otherwise (if for example Grooper repositories were defined by something like a project file), as file i/o is one of the slowest aspects of modern computing. This also allows the discrete management of objects on an individual basis to allow multiple users to work in one environment and prevent work overlap by locking objects.

The File Store

The File Store in Grooper is a file share in a Windows environment. It houses the files associated with objects in Grooper that have information that would otherwise be inefficient to store in (a cell in) a database table.

The Grooper Filestore exists at a user-specified location. This may be a local or an network path, but if a filestore is given a local path, computers connecting to that repository remotely will not be able to access it. If you want to set up a repository so that other computers can connect to it, make sure you reference the filestore using a UNC path!

The filestore contains three levels of directories. A typical filestore entry will exist on disk as, e.g. 00 > 00 > 00 > [guid].grp. Each of the lowest-level folders in the filestore will have a maximum of 256 files, at which point a new folder at that level will be created. If the lowest level contains 256 folders, a new folder will be created at the level above; this gives the Grooper filestore a limit of 256 ^ 4 = 4,294,967,296 files stored on disk.

While the filestore entries are all given .grp extensions, the contents of the file are unaltered from their “actual” form. If you navigate to the .grp file associated with a pdf imported using full import, for exmaple, you can open it and view it with a pdf viewer. The files in the filestore are intentionally obfuscated to prevent users from interacting with them outside of Grooper, as they are essentially Grooper-internal files.

Although the majority of files in the filestore relate to batch objects (split pages, imported documents, image processing undo objects, etc.), some files are the result of other in-Grooper processes such as layout data, OCR character data, etc.

It's important to understand that not all objects in Grooper have files associated with them. A Data Type, for example, does not have any files directly related to it, therefore no entries in the Grooper filestore. An object like a Lexicon, if it contains any entries, will have a .txt file that stores its contents. One can easily view any files associated with an object in Grooper by going to the Advanced > Files tab of the object.

The Application

This is the most visible aspect of Grooper as it is the software you interact with that displays the currently active repository. It consists of several pieces:

Every object in the Grooper Node Tree is an object, or row, in a specific table, the dbo.TreeNode table. The GUI of Grooper is essentially wrapping information from the Grooper database, and associated files from the Grooper File Store, into a series of grids and windows that allow you to directly interact with that database, and its related Windows file share, without writing SQL queries.

Licensing

A Grooper license is provided to you after confirmation of purchase. This license key is entered in Grooper Design Studio either on the Licensing tab of the Grooper Root Node or on a License Server object by pressing the Activate Online button. The licensing is ultimately stored on the License Server object, so either of these methods accomplishes the same end goal. This applies the licensing to the Grooper repository that was being represented by Grooper Design Studio upon activation. This license can, subsequently, be hosted from that repository to any other Grooper repository via an instance of a Grooper License Server service pointed at the repository that has an active license.

@@ Line 310: / Line 310: @@
 The filestore contains three levels of directories.  A typical filestore entry will exist on disk as, e.g. 00 > 00 > 00 > [guid].grp.  Each of the lowest-level folders in the filestore will have a maximum of 256 files, at which point a new folder at that level will be created.  If the lowest level contains 256 folders, a new folder will be created at the level above; this gives the '''Grooper''' filestore a limit of 256 ^ 4 = 4,294,967,296 files stored on disk.
-While the filestore entries are all given .grp extensions, the contents of the file are unaltered from their “actual” form.  If you navigate to the .grp file associated with a pdf imported using full import, for exmaple, you can open it and view it with a pdf viewer.  The files in the filestore are intentionally obfuscated to prevent users from interacting with them outside of '''Grooper''', as they are essentially '''Grooper-internal''' objects.
+While the filestore entries are all given .grp extensions, the contents of the file are unaltered from their “actual” form.  If you navigate to the .grp file associated with a pdf imported using full import, for exmaple, you can open it and view it with a pdf viewer.  The files in the filestore are intentionally obfuscated to prevent users from interacting with them outside of '''Grooper''', as they are essentially '''Grooper-internal''' files.
 Although the majority of files in the filestore relate to batch objects (split pages, imported documents, image processing undo objects, etc.), some files are the result of other in-'''Grooper''' processes such as layout data, OCR character data, etc.