2023:CMIS Connection (Object)

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cloud CMIS Connection node objects provide a standardized way of connecting to various content management systems (CMS). These objects allow Grooper to communicate with multiple external storage platforms, enabling access to documents and content that reside outside of Grooper's immediate environment.

  • For those that support the CMIS standard, the CMIS Connection connects to the CMS using the CMIS standard.
  • For those that do not, the CMIS Connection normalizes connection and transfer protocol as if they were a CMIS platform.

Grooper is able to connect to a variety of storage platforms, from simple file systems (such as Windows native NTFS system), to email sources, to full-fledged content management systems. The CMIS Connection object allows you to configure connection settings, allowing Grooper to integrate import and export control. With these settings saved on a Grooper object, they are easily referenced by an Import Watcher service or Export Behaviors applied by the Export activity for automated batch processing.

Which platform is connected is defined by the CMIS Connection's Connection Type property. Once the connection is made to a specific storage location, called a "repository", Grooper has direct access to import and export documents from and to folder locations in the repository.

Furthermore, Grooper has import and export access to metadata available to the particular platform. For example, sender and receipt metadata from emails received from email servers. This also gives Grooper the ability to map extracted data elements from documents to corresponding data element locations in a content management system.


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. 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.


Now, Grooper connects to any external storage platform by creating and configuring a CMIS Connection (not just CMIS 1.0 or CMIS 1.1 servers).

  • Once a CMIS Connection is created, Grooper can "interoperate" with these platforms.
  • "Interoperability " means Grooper has the same access to control the system as a human being does.
  • Grooper has a "one-to-one" connection to the platform, allowing full and total control.


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 providers and CMIS Export, regardless of the storage platform.

Anatomy of a CMIS Connection

When connecting Grooper to external storage platforms, you'll start by creating a CMIS Connection. There are three important parts to understanding a CMIS Connection

  • The CMIS Connection itself.
  • It's Connection Type (and the "CMIS Binding" you select).
  • It's child CMIS Repositories

FYI

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 folder in a Box account could be a repository. A cabinet in ApplicationXtender could be a repository.
  • We standardize the various terms used by various storage platforms to simply "repository".
  • Put simply, it's a place to put stuff.

For newer users, the difference between a CMIS Connection and a CMIS Repository can be confusing (and it doesn't help that some people use the terms interchangeably!). The key distinction is as follows:

  • The CMIS Connection is the object in Grooper that Grooper uses to establish a connection to some external system.
    • The Connection Type determines which specific platform you're connecting to, and any settings required to connect to it.
  • CMIS Repositories represent a location within the connected platform.
    • These are created after creating the CMIS Connection.
    • Typically, these represent a folder location in the storage platform.

For example, imagine you want to use Grooper to connect to a Windows file system folder on some networked server.

  • First, they would create a new CMIS Connection
  • Then they would choose NTFS for its Connection Type
  • Then they would import the folder location as a CMIS Repository
    • It is then this CMIS Repository Grooper will point to when importing from or exporting to this folder location.
    • The CMIS Connection is just the thing that allows Grooper to connect to Windows in this case. It is the CMIS Repository that acts as the Windows file system folder in Grooper.


To reiterate, there are three basic steps involved to connect Grooper to external storage platforms:

  1. Create a CMIS Connection
  2. Configure its Connection Type to select which platform you want to connect to (and enter any settings to connect to that platform).
  3. Import storage locations as one or more CMIS Repositories, which are created as children of the CMIS Connection.

FYI

Importing a CMIS Repository is not the same as importing documents to a new Batch.

  • "Importing" here is more like bringing the repository into a framework Grooper can use.
  • Upon importing the repository, Grooper has full file access to that location in the storage platform.

CMIS Bindings (AKA Connection Types)

How you configure 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.
  • Thus, the property configuration for the Exchange binding is different from the NTFS binding.


A CMIS Binding provides connectivity to external storage platforms for content import and export. Each individual CMIS Binding contains the settings and logic required to exchange documents between Grooper and each distinct platform.

  • The Exchange Binding contains all the information Grooper uses to connect to Microsoft Exchange email servers (i.e. Outlook inboxes).
  • The AppXtender Binding contains all the information Grooper uses to connect to the ApplicationXtender content management system.
  • The NTFS Binding contains all the information Grooper uses to connect to a Windows file system.
  • And so on.

When creating a CMIS Connection the first step to configure the Connection Type property.

  • When you select a Connection Type you're selecting which platform you want to connect to (using a CMIS Binding).
    • First, you select which platform you want to connect to (which CMIS Binding you want to use)
    • Then, you enter connection settings unique to the platform (any values the CMIS Binding needs to connect to the platform, like login information for many platforms)

Current CMIS Connection Types

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

Most Commonly Used

Somewhat Commonly Used

Less Commonly Used

  • FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) servers.
  • IMAP mail servers

Least Used

  • Content management systems using CMIS 1.0 or CMIS 1.1 servers.
  • The FileBound document management platform.
  • The IBM FileNet platform.


How To

Create a CMIS Connection and Import a Repository

The following are very general instructions on how to add a CMIS Connection to Grooper. Which document storage platform you connect to is determined by the Connection Type property.

This tutorial will use the NTFS binding as its example, connecting to a networked Windows File System folder.

Add the CMIS Connection

CMIS Connections are created and configured in the Global Resources folder of the Grooper Node Tree.

How you name this object is up to you. However, it's a good idea to at least include which CMIS Binding you're going to use. We're connecting to a Windows File System folder using the NTFS binding. The folder's name is "Grooper Import Export". Hence, our name "NTFS - Grooper Import Export"

Select the CMIS Binding

Configure the Connection Settings

The Connection Settings will be configured differently depending on which 'CMIS Binding is selected. The settings shown here are specifically for the NTFS binding.

⚠

Each CMIS Binding has different connection settings required for connection. Depending on the CMIS Binding chosen for the Connection Type this step will be configured differently.

However, once connected, CMIS Connections are largely the same across CMIS Bindings. That's the whole point. The CMIS Connection object allows for more standardized access to a variety of different storage platforms in terms of how Grooper interoperates with them.



Verify Repository Connection

Import a Repository



You can now use this repository for import and export operations. Grooper has full access to this folder location to bring in documents and export processed documents.

View the Repository

FYI

All storage platforms can be browsed in this manner via their corresponding CMIS Binding, not just the NTFS binding.



Examining Type Definitions

  • Properties that are both readable and writeable will be listed as "ReadWrite" under the Updatability column.
    • Upon exporting Batch Folders, these properties can be edited by mapping property data, such as extracted Data Elements.
    • For example, the NTFS binding allows you to write filenames upon document export (via the Export activity). Therefore, there is a writable "Cmis Name" property.
    • Export mappings are configured as part of an Export Behavior configuration when adding a CMIS Export Export Type.
  • Read only properties, such as the file's MIME type information, will be listed as ReadOnly.


One of the big differences across CMIS Bindings will be these Content Types. Documents and folders are represented differently by a CMIS Repository depending on the CMIS Binding.


FYI

Whether listed as "Item" or "File" or anything else, the first Content Type generally corresponds to a "document" in the storage platform, and the second content type (generally named "Folder") corresponds to a "folder" in the storage platform.


Version Differences

2021 Export Behaviors

Version 2021 changed how export operations are performed by introducing the concept of Export Behaviors. Behaviors in general centralize a Content Model and its component Content Type objects importance in various activities. Export Behavior configurations determine how the Export activity exports content to an external storage platform.

The most drastic changes effect how extracted Data Elements are mapped for file, folder, and data indexing. Whereas previously, these mappings were configured using Content Type child objects of a CMIS Repository, these mappings now occur as part of the CMIS Export Export Type configuration when adding an Export Behavior.

2.9 Box Integration

Grooper 2.9 sees the addition of the Box.com document storage platform into the CMIS fold via the Box (CMIS Binding).

2.72 Legacy Providers

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 Descendants" and "Import Query Results". Grooper can export via the CMIS Export providers, Mapped Export and Unmapped Export.

2.72 New Connection Types

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.

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