Consultant's Corner: Inventory Check – Do you have all your Docs?

Many of our clients ask us if there is a way to check for a set of expected documents in a folder and have some way to indicate that files are missing in that folder. For example, let’s say that we have a “client” folder and we expect to find a certain set of documents in that folder, regardless if they are stored in sub-folders or not. And, if any files are missing, we’d like the folder icon to change color.

In this month’s article, we’ll explore how we can use Laserfiche Workflow and Laserfiche Templates to make this an easy to run process.

Run an “Inventory Check” on a folder

Step 1: Build the “Indicator” Template (If documents are missing)

1. Open the Laserfiche Administration Console and navigate to the Metadata Management node.

2. Assuming you don’t apply a template to your folders already, select the Templates node and press the New Item icon to create a new Template. (Alternatively, you can right-click and select New Template…)

3. Name the template Missing Documents and set the color in the top-right corner.

4. Save the template by clicking OK. Confirm that you want to create the template.

Alternative if you already have assigned a template to the folder:

Copy the folder template, then rename it and set the default color. By doing this, we can keep the existing fields (and values) but still mark the folder with a color that stands out amongst the normal folders. We’ll tell Laserfiche Workflow to use this template copy when it finds missing documents.

Step 2: Build the Laserfiche Search

1. In the Laserfiche Client, navigate to your folder where you would look for the files to see if any were missing.

2. Use the Advanced Search pane to define the following criteria:

a. The Within Folder filter.

b. The Name criteria. Enter one of the document names here

c. The Search Syntax criteria

3. Run the Search

4. Select all the text in the Search Syntax results and Copy it from the gray box. We will paste this into the Laserfiche Workflow that we will build, next.

Step 2: Build the Workflow

1. Launch the Laserfiche Workflow Designer application and configure your new workflow to use the desired repository.

2. Name the new Workflow with a name that reflects the purpose, for example, “Client Files Inventory Check” or something similar.

3. Configure the workflow as a Business Process by checking the box in the properties pane on the right side of the Designer. This will allow the workflow to be run from within the Laserfiche Client (both Web or Windows) in order to manually check a selected folder for missing documents.

4. In the Workflow, add the Search activity and paste the Search Syntax that you had copied from the client.

5. Modify the Search syntax in the Workflow to search for more than just one document. We’re going to search for all of them. We do this by using the Pipe Symbol (|) to search for any or all the files that should be in folder. We can search by file name, field value, or other criteria. In this example, we’ll search by document name.

a. Below is the original syntax with just one document type being searched: ACH Authorization

b. We need to modify the search. Here is the updated syntax to look for all 5 documents we are expecting to find in the folder. Notice that we need to enclose the {LF:Name=} searches into a group, by adding Parentheses to the beginning and end of the search. Within the parentheses, we search for any of the five documents by separating them with the pipe symbol, as shown below.

c. Next, we need to modify the path of the {LF:LOOKIN=} syntax to use the currently selected folder. We want the Workflow to search for the documents only in this folder, right? Within the double quotes, delete the path listed and use the token selector to insert a placeholder for the folder you have selected when running the workflow. Use the Entry ID token.

d. The search results will return a count of how many documents match the search. We’ll use this information in the next step, where we decide if we are going to mark the folder in a different color.

6. Add a Conditional Decision activity below the Search Repository activity in the workflow and drop it on the blue dot.

7. On the first branch within the decision tree set the condition to look for the Result Count is less than 5 from the previous search. Click on the blue box on the right-side properties pane to add the condition.

8. Next, we want to set the Missing Documents template on the folder, when the result is less than 5. Drag the Assign Field Values activity to the branch and release it on the blue dot inside the first branch.

9. Set the properties for this Assign Field Values activity. Select the Template. You won’t need to set any field values, and the template should be applied to the Starting Entry.

10. Publish the workflow by pressing the Publish icon on the top-left of the Workflow Designer’s toolbar.

11. Set the Business Process starting rules when the dialog box pops up. Press, Yes.

12. Login to the repository with an account that has Administrative privileges

13. Once logged in, you can set the color for the Business Process icon, set security and set additional requirements.

14. In this case, we want to make sure that the Workflow Business Process cannot be started just anywhere in the repository. In this example, we will select the Requirements tab, then click on the blue hyperlink to create conditions.

15. We need to modify the default conditions to meet our needs. Click on the Green Name value and change it to Path, change the equals value to starts with, and change the <empty> path to the folder one level above the folder you are going to select.

1. Set the Path

2. starts with

3. Select the folder one level above the folder you are going to select when running this Workflow.

4. Click OK to save the Business Process Rule.

Step 3: Testing

To run this Workflow on a folder, Right-click on the desired Client folder, then select Run Business Process… and select the Workflow Name: Inventory Check and press the green Start button.

If the folder is missing documents or they are not named precisely as expected, you should see the folder change color, as shown below!

You’ve just created an inventory-check in Laserfiche. Congratulations!

If you have any questions regarding Laserfiche Shortcuts or wish to speak with a CDI professional team member, contact us at support@cdi.support.