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As a follow-up to the previous article, “Generating a Microsoft Word Contract from Laserfiche Forms Data,” this post focuses on how Laserfiche can be used to capture a signature from a Laserfiche Form and insert it directly into a MS Word document! In this month’s article, CDI’s Software Trainer, Kyle Knebel, will guide us through how to accomplish the insertion of a signature into a MS Word document. Most of these steps are outlined in the article linked above. Kyle, what document type will you be showing us for the example today? The steps included below will outline signatures on a Contract document. 1. Create your MS Word document. a. First, you should get your document set up in MS Word. b. For example, in the text area where the signature appears, enter the special word “1CompanyName1”. We will later use the Find-Replace function to replace the boilerplate text with the actual name that was typed in Laserfiche Forms. c. Following this same idea, we could add some text like “2EffectiveDate2” where we want to replace it with the actual contract effective date. d. And the same for the expiration date, we could add some text like “3ExpirationDate3” where we want to replace it with the actual expiration date. e.The signature field is going to be different. We need to use a MS Word Merge Field. You will place the merge field as desired, but it must have the following format. It must be prepended with “Image:”. For example, the field could be created called “Image:Signature1”. The colon is crucial. i. To insert a Merge field, select the Insert Tab, then select the Field option from the Quick Parts Menu option in the Ribbon Bar. or ii. Next, choose the “MergeField” type and enter the Field Name in the top-right corner. It must be in the format of “Image:{anything}”. For example, “Image:Signature1” would be entered without quotes. f. Save the new MS Word document to a windows folder. Later, you will upload this document as a Master Document within the Update Word Document Workflow activity. 2. Creating the Laserfiche Contract e-Form and Business Process Next, you’ll want to add a Signature Field to your Form that you just built in the Laserfiche Forms Business Process. a. Open Laserfiche Forms and click on the Manage tab. b. Once in the Designer Screen, skip down to the Forms section and open the appropriate form or create a new form. c. Insert the Signature Field. d. Go to the Process Diagram section in the Process Designer. e. Configure the process steps to send the Contract Metadata to Laserfiche Workflow. 1. Drag the Start Message Activity to the canvas and release it. 2. Open the details pane of the Message Start Event on the right side of the screen. 3. Set the Starting Form (there should only be one) 4. Next, drag the Workflow Service Task Activity to the canvas 5. Click on the green Message Start Event so that you see the connection arrow above it. 6. Connect the activities with an arrow from the green Start Event linked to the Workflow Task. Click and drag the arrow over to one of the Service Task’s connection points and release onto one of the points. 7. Click on the Service Task icon and open the details pane, then enter the Workflow Name. Let’s call it “Contract – MS Word”. *Note: The workflow has yet to be built, but we will name it here in this step, and use the same name when we build the workflow. 8. Drag the End Event Activity to the canvas. 9. Connect the Service Task to the End Event. f. Save the Process Diagram by clicking on the Save button at the top right of the screen g. As you can see, the Business Process is very simple, with just three steps. We can now move on to the Laserfiche Workflow Designer. h. Navigate to the Settings > Access Rights section and assign the users who will be using this form, and then go to the Settings > Process Options to publish the workflow. 3. Creating the Workflow to Generate the MS Word Contract document. a. Launch the Laserfiche Workflow Designer windows application. b. Name the new workflow as you named it in the Forms Service Task and connect it to the local Laserfiche Repository using the Manage Workflow Connection Profiles link. c. Build the Workflow Activities that will fill out the MS Word Contract. i. Drag the Retrieve Business Process Variables Activity to the workflow canvas. ii. Set the properties on the activity to connect to the Forms server, set the Form and select the field values to Retrieve. iii. Next, add the Update Word Document Activity iv. Configure the properties of the activity by uploading the Contract document you just edited (the one with the replaceable text). Press the ellipsis button to select the Word file attachment. v. Press the Add button, press the ellipsis button and select your Word file. Click OK, then press Close. vi. Next, modify the Update Word Document activity so that it runs the Find-Replace Function that updates the values for the contract. · In the Modifications property box on the right-hand pane, Press New… · Using Find Replace for the company name field, enter the “Find what:” value as the replaceable text, which in our example is "1CompanyName1". 1. Check “Match case”, “Match whole word” [1] and enter the token for “Replace with:” value [2]. 2. Select the %(RetrieveBusinessProcessVariables_Company) token and click OK. In our example, we will have three Find-Replace Modifications. vii. Add the other Find-Replace modifications by adding the other Date Replacement Fields. viii. To add the signature, we need to create a new Simple Field Merge Modification. 1. Click New… and select Type: Simple Field Merge 2. Click on the Import field names from the document hyperlink and say Yes to the confirmation pop-up. 3. You should now see a Field name listed; allowing you enter the Value that should be inserted into the Merge Field. 4. Click OK to save the modification. You should now see four modifications in the list. ix. To store the Contract as a signed document in the repository, you’ll use both the Create Entry Activity and the Attach Electronic Document Activity. 1. Drag the Create Entry activity onto the canvas, after/under the Update Word Document Activity. Set the properties of the activity… 2. Then add the Attach Electronic Document Activity. Set the properties on the activity. Choose Activity as your Source… Set the Update Word Document>Result File as the source… Set the Attach File To as Other Entry and select Create Entry>Output Entry… Click OK. d. Publish the new workflow, which will not require any conditions nor a schedule. It should Validate without errors, but if you get any warnings or errors, correct the issue and then republish. Validation will run and then you can press No when asked if you want to create start rules. Since the Forms process starts the workflow, there is no need to give Workflow any start rules for this workflow. You're Done! Before: After: Thanks again, Kyle! Now that readers have completed all three steps, it’s now time to sign some contracts by filling out that new Form. If you have any questions or wish to speak with a CDI professional team member for assistance, contact us at support@cdi.support.

Laserfiche 10.4.2 is now released! This release includes new features as well as performance and bug fixes for Laserfiche Forms, Workflow, Directory Server, and Laserfiche app. Also recently released is Import Agent 10.4, including security and configuration enhancements for email archiving. New capabilities include: More easily deploy and install Laserfiche for on-premises, virtualized, or Azure/AWS private cloud environments with an expanded deployment toolkit that reduces implementation time Multi-factor authentication for LFDS users Better identify process bottlenecks and inefficiencies using out-of-the-box insights reports that monitor process health metrics, such as task loads, work-in-progress, and process completion rates Expanded control to troubleshoot Forms business processes with new skip, retry, and interrupt actions for active steps Enhanced mobile image capture with support for front-facing cameras and improved capability to auto-crop documents using back-facing cameras More options to download the Laserfiche app, now available through the Microsoft Windows App Store, Business Store, and Education Store, and more! To learn more or to download Laseriche10.4.2, log in to Laserfiche Answers.

Each month the CDI Employee Spotlight showcases individual CDI staff members, highlighting not only their tireless work contributions but also who they are as a person. This month’s spotlight shines bright on another one of our newest team members, Joshua Emilio. Joshua, how long have you been at CDI, and what responsibilities do you have? “I started working at CDI last September as a Business Process Consultant. Since then, I have been training with Aaron and the rest of the consulting team to understand Laserfiche as well as how to successfully support our consulting opportunities. Being a Business Process Consultant, I am responsible for setting up and configuring Laserfiche for our clients. It has been very eye-opening learning about Laserfiche and the capabilities it has for enterprise use, and I can’t wait to help our clients to maximize the potential of Laserfiche for their use.” Can you tell us more about yourself? "I am a fresh graduate from the University of Washington here in Seattle, and I was originally from Jakarta, Indonesia. It has been a fun adventure here in the States and I look forward to exploring more of the country and its huge culture. Furthermore, I have enjoyed Seattle and Washington State a lot as it has a lot of nature such as mountains and lakes.” Is there anything about you that your clients wouldn't believe or would be surprised to know about you? “I think a lot of you will be surprised that I have an identical twin who also studied here in Seattle, as well.” What is the best part of your job here at CDI? “The best part of my job is the variety of work I do day-to-day. We have a huge variety of clients and needs, and it is always freshening to deal with different tasks daily.” Thanks, Joshua! We appreciate you taking a moment to share more about yourself and your role here at CDI. You're a fantastic addition to the CDI team and a great asset to many of our clients. We look forward to seeing your skills and expertise in action.

Each month the CDI Employee Spotlight showcases individual CDI staff members, highlighting not only their tireless work contributions but also who they are as a person. This month’s spotlight shines bright on one of our newest team members, Mitul Poshia. Mitul, how long have you been at CDI, and what responsibilities do you have? “I was recently hired on by CDI in September of 2019, as a Business Process Consultant. My job here is to develop business solutions that help solve my client’s needs.” Can you tell us more about yourself? “Yes, I was born and raised in Central Washington. It’s an amazing place for any outdoor sport. Personally, I like going hiking, camping, and boating in the summer. In the winter, you catch me snowboarding down a mountain. My biggest passion since a young age has been with electronics and technology, where I would build systems, networks, and websites.” Is there a Laserfiche feature or CDI product or service available that you are surprised more clients don’t take advantage of? “Hands down Quick Fields has blown me away. It is essentially a very simple program that takes a document, scans it into Laserfiche, and assigns the metadata based on your document text. Just this little process can save a lot of time when you have 1,000s of documents that need metadata assigned. Once Laserfiche has the document, Workflow, the powerhouse of Laserfiche, can do anything you like with the document thereafter.” Thanks, Mitul! We appreciate you taking a moment to share more about yourself and your role here at CDI. We love having you here and are excited for the opportunity to have you serve more and more CDI clients for years to come.

Welcome to the October edition of CDI’s “Consultant’s Corner.” In this article, CDI’s Software Trainer, Kyle Knebel, walks us through the need-to-know secrets of the new Laserfiche Mobile App, 10.4. This updated Laserfiche app lets you work with business processes and documents, interact with Laserfiche Forms, capture and work with documents in and outside your repository, and search for information while on the go. Kyle, what is new in the latest version of the Laserfiche App 10.4? The 10.4 release of the Laserfiche App introduces a number of new features including: More biometric support New recycle bin Searching for documents on a map by their location description Bulk approval of forms tasks New forms tasks sorting options are now available Forms tasks can be opened directly in the app through email notifications. What is the new recycle bin? In Laserfiche App 10.4, when deleting documents, pages, electronic files, or folders, the items can now be sent to a recycle bin instead of being immediately deleted. Prior to 10.4, the app would immediately delete these entries. How do you mark a document with a location when using the app? Many of our devices are set up to capture location data when we take photos. If you want to upload a photo to the Laserfiche repository with location data, the App will provide a location editor bar in a grey box at the bottom of the image. Tap this box to enter the location, which can be from the EXIF data in the image, or your current location, or from a map location you pick out. If you have turned off GPS location services in your photo app, you might have to pick a location from a map or from your current location (check your device’s Privacy settings to be certain). How do you search for documents on a map by location description? In the main navigation menu, select Maps You can search by neighborhood, address, city, state, zip code, or location description within the zoomed-in area. What’s new with biometric support? Now, Android users can use fingerprint authentication on those devices that support it. This feature was previously available only to Apple iOS devices. How do you approve forms tasks in bulk (LF App 10.4)? To bulk approve multiple tasks at once in your Laserfiche Forms Inbox, select more than one task by checking the checkboxes to the left of each task, then press the more options icon (vertical bullets) in the top-right corner and select the Submit option. How can you sort forms tasks? By clicking on the Sort By value in the top-right corner of the Inbox, a pop-up window will allow you to select your preferred method for sorting your tasks. Can you save Draft copies of your Forms for Offline use? Yes, you can save a Draft form and download it for offline use. Step 1) Start a Forms process in your App (or from a browser), and save it as a draft - this will only work for those forms where it is set to allow saving as a draft. Step 2) In the LF App, go to the Drafts tab in your Tasks list. Press the more options icon (vertical bullets) on the right side of the saved draft and choose Save Offline Copy. Can you create saved searches in the App, as I do in the Laserfiche Client? As of version 10.3, the LF Mobile App supports saved searches. At the bottom of the search pane, you will find a Save Search button. You can save this search as a new search or replace an existing search. Can you open a Forms task in the Laserfiche App by a hyperlink in an email? For user notification emails in Laserfiche Forms processes, a Laserfiche administrator can configure the Mobile Server to send entry links to a Mobile App URL. This link will appear in the email as a link to the task in the Laserfiche App. For Laserfiche Administrators: What is Mobile Device Management (MDM) and how is it used? MDM lets administrators control, secure, and enforce policies on smart devices. Using the MDM software of your choice (for example Citrix Endpoint Management, Microsoft Enterprise Mobility, and many others) administrators can define the following Laserfiche App values and certificate settings and distribute them to users' devices: App Values Mobile server URL Repository Forms server Organization (if using Laserfiche Directory Server) Username Upload using Wi-Fi only: If set to true, users will always upload documents using Wi-Fi and will not be able to disable the Upload using Wi-Fi only option in the app. Use Document mode: If set to true, Document mode will always be used and documents will always be auto-cropped when taking photos to upload to the repository. Upload as grayscale: If set to true, images uploaded to the repository or as a Forms attachment will always be captured and uploaded in grayscale only. Certificate Settings Self-signed certificate - This option controls if users can connect to servers using SSL with self-signed certificates. Certificate pinning must be disabled for this option to function properly. Certificate pinning - If you do not want users to connect using self-signed certificates, you can configure this option so users can only connect if the certificate they are using is in the certificate pinset. Certificate pinning set - If using certificate pinning, you can define the certificate thumbprints in this section. As an Administrator, can you control LF App Authentication and LF App Security Settings? As you can see in the screenshots below, there are several enhanced security settings available from the Mobile Server Configuration page. These settings include: Inactivity timeout Disabling the ability to remember the login credentials Document encryption options Document export options Thanks, Kyle! We hope you enjoyed all the information Kyle covered in this article regarding the newly updated Laserfiche Mobile App. If you have any questions or wish to speak with a CDI professional team member, contact us at support@cdi.support.

Welcome to this month’s edition of CDI’s “Consultant’s Corner.” In this article, CDI’s Software Trainer, Kyle Knebel, walks us through building and customizing reports in Laserfiche Forms, version 10. If you are not familiar with Laserfiche Forms, it is a web application that allows organizations to collect, process, and route information based on easy-to-fill-out e-forms. By utilizing Laserfiche Forms 10, your organization can create web forms to collect or work with information, as well as business processes to define how that information is routed, interacted with, and managed. Let’s begin. Kyle, what are the differences in Forms Essentials and Forms Professional? Reporting tools in Laserfiche Forms vary, depending on the type of Forms system in place in your environment. The image below shows the Forms features available for each version. Compared to Forms Essentials, Forms Professional adds the advantage of including: · The Performance Dashboard to the Operational Reports area · data aggregation options like count, sum, min, and max · data visualization options like charts and graphs What is new in Laserfiche regarding Building and Customizing Reports in Forms in version 10? Version 10.1 - Performance Dashboard added, and the Operational Dashboard now shows User task distribution. Version 10.2 - Adds custom Column selection with labels and sort order; the new Summary Report feature can now run mathematical calculations on summary fields. Version 10.3 - The Operational Dashboard and Performance Dashboard is now combined into an Operational Report. A generated report can be saved as a snapshot. Reports and snapshots can be downloaded. Version 10.4 - No new reporting enhancements, but lots of other product enhancements! What kinds of reports are pre-built? When you create a new Business Process, Laserfiche Forms 10.3 or greater automatically builds an Operational Report for that process. It is available in the Reports>Operational Reports tab. For any business process, you will find a matching Operational Report. This Operational Report will provide metrics for the selected process and its tasks. It is a quick way to identify bottlenecks, overdue tasks, and high achievers. You can easily filter the reports based on: · tasks or instances · currently running or finished status · date filters What kinds of reports can I create myself? You can build any custom report you need. The types of reports available include: · Summarized Reports - aggregate data into a report of any chart type · Table Reports - display data in table columns · Column/Bar Reports - compare values across categories · Line/Area Reports - visualize quantitative (numeric) data · Pie Reports - compare numerical proportions · Funnel Reports - present decreasing proportions How do I create my first report? A Summary Report or a Table Report are two of the most common basic report formats that I see users building in Laserfiche Forms. Many reports are focused on summarized totals or information tracked over time. Let’s take the example of a Summary Report for a hypothetical Expense Reimbursement Request form. To build the report, we take the following steps: Step 1) Navigate to the Reports page via the tab at the top of Laserfiche Forms. (You’ll need to be a Process Creator or System Administrator to build reports) Step 2) While viewing the Custom Reports list, click on Create Report in the top-right corner. Step 3) Select the data visualization option you prefer, for example, Summarized, then press Select at the bottom-right corner. Step 4) Select one or more processes from the list of available Forms processes in your system by checking the box to the left of the process name, then press Select at the bottom-right. Step 5) Name the Report and make it visible to users or groups who will use the report. Step 6) At this point, you will be presented with the report design page. You’ll want to set the… 1) Report Visualization (Summarized or Table usually works well) 2) Set Type (Column) and Group Instances By (Date) In this case, I’d recommend grouping the instances by the Form’s date of submission, grouping the dates by week, and by year. You’ll need to scroll through the Group Instances By list to choose the field from the form (Expense Reimbursement). I chose (A) Date. Then I grouped the dates by (B) Week. Then I checked the box to add (C) Also group by year. Step 7) Next, you’ll want to add the Vertical Axis. For example, if I wanted to summarize weekly expenses by the total amount requested, I’d add a column for the Total_Reimbursement_Requested field. I’d label it and add the Sum option to summarize the data. Step 8) You are now ready to save the report by clicking the Create button at the top-right corner Another example could be a report based on how many instances are submitted of a form submission within a specific process. Since a Forms process could have more than one e-form being submitted or reviewed by users, it might be useful to see if the number of submissions in a week match the number of approvals within that same week. What’s an example of an Advanced Report and how do I create it? An Advanced Report might be a custom report built using values obtained from two or more business processes. An Advanced Report may not be too different from a Basic Report, but it uses some advanced techniques. Two advanced techniques that are useful are: 1. Linked Variables 2. Filters For example, using Linked Variables, you can take field values from two different processes and combine them within a single report. Let’s say you have a Purchase Order form that collects the total amount. In another Form, you have an Add-On Purchases form that is used to order more items from the same Vendor. Linking the two fields in your report could allow you to combine the totals without having to do any math calculations. A filter lets you define the type of instances you want to include in the report. For example, to restrict the report to only instances that have a form with the name Starting Form. Linked Variables 1) To link two variables, you first need to add the other process(s) that have a similar field type, like an Amount, to the report. After selecting the report type ( i.e. Summarized, Table, Column/Bar, Line/Area, Pie, and Funnel), select more than one process from the list. You’ll see the processes listed at the top of the report, shown with a + symbol between them. 2) You’ll then need to link the two fields (variables) together. Press the hyperlink icon to link the fields. 3) Choose the Add Link button, then select the process and its related field. The only processes visible will be the ones you had selected 4) Select the variable for the first process to be used. Make sure to name the resulting single Linked Variable. It’s been named AmountTotals in this example. 5) Press Add Variable to connect the second variable from the second process. 6) Next, in the Report>Summary Data Column section, add the Linked Variable, along with any other data columns. 7) Finish and test your report as normal. Filters 1) Click Filters, then click Add Filter. 2) Set the criteria for the new filter. Optional: Click Add a filter in the box to add a condition to the filter. Optional: Click Add another set of filters to add another filter. 3) Click Set Filters. After you set the filter, the Filters button label will increment by 1 for each new filter. We hope you enjoyed this overview on Laserfiche Forms 10 with Kyle. If you have any questions or wish to speak with one of the professionals at CDI, send us an email at support@cdi.support.

In early 2020, a new fully redesigned learning platform, Aspire, will be launched. Aspire will provide an exceptional virtual learning experience. Specifically designed with our users in mind, below are a few highlights: Intuitive navigation that makes it easy to discover new courses Robust user education content so you will always find something new A modern design that creates an enjoyable experience IMPORTANT - Laserfiche will be importing transcripts for users who have logged into the current Laserfiche Certification platform sometime in the last two years. They encourage you to log into your portal before the end of the year so that they can make sure to transfer your transcript and course records to the new system, Aspire. Click here to login now and make sure your records are transferred. Log In to Your Current Account Laserfiche Learning & Development is committed to providing you, our valued users, an exceptional online learning experience. We hope you enjoy our new platform, Aspire!

It is well known that Laserfiche Forms is typically used to capture data and other information directly from users. But, many of our clients have extended the functionality of Laserfiche Forms by leveraging Laserfiche Workflow to accomplish many things Forms cannot provide on its own. One of these extended capabilities is the insertion of information into a MS Word document. To accomplish this, users continue to use Forms to capture contract details like the parties involved, dates, and amounts. Then, with the help of workflow, have those contract details automatically inserted into a Word document for review and printing. In this month’s article, CDI’s Software Trainer, Kyle Knebel, will walk us through how to accomplish the insertion of information into a Word document. In this example, we’ll fill out a Contract document. The instructions below are broken up into three main steps: Step 1: Create your MS Word contract document Step 2: Creating the Laserfiche Contract e-Form and Business Process Step 3: Creating the Workflow to Generate the MS Word Contract document Let’s begin! Step 1: Create your MS Word contract document. a. Get your contract document setup in MS Word; along with the Replacement Token text that will be replaced by the information coming from the Form. Replacement Token Text examples: Company Name = 1CompanyName1 Contract Effective Date = 2EffectiveDate2 Expiration Date = 3ExpirationDate3 *We will later use the Find-Replace function to replace the replacement token text with the actual data and dates. b. Save the new MS Word document to a windows folder. Later, you will upload this document as a Master Document within the Update Word Document Workflow activity. Step 2: Creating the Laserfiche Contract e-Form and Business Process Next, you’ll want to build your Laserfiche Forms Business Process, which really is a pretty simple design. You gather some information on the e-form, and then upon submission, the data is used by Laserfiche Workflow to create the filled-out MS Word Contract. Open Laserfiche Forms and click on the Manage tab. a. Create a New Business process in Laserfiche Forms Designer (you can create one from scratch or pick a pre-built template) We’ll create a Blank process for this example. Give the process a name and then press Create. b. Once in the Design screen, skip down to the Forms section and create a new form. Click on the Create New Form link and give it a name, for example, Contract Submission Form. c. Insert a Single Line Field for the Company name, insert date fields for the Effective Date and Expiration date fields. and d. Go to the Process Diagram section in the Process Designer. e. Configure the process steps to send the Contract metadata to Laserfiche Workflow. 1. Drag the Start Message activity to the canvas and release. 2. Open the details pane of the Message Start Event on the right side of the screen. 3. Set the starting form (there should only be one) 4. Next, drag the Workflow Service Task activity to the canvas 5. Click on the green Message Start Event so that you see the connection arrow above it. 6. Connect the activities with an arrow from the green start event linked to the Workflow task. Click and drag the arrow over to one of the Service task’s connection points and release onto one of the points. 7. Click on the Service task icon and open the details pane, then enter the Workflow Name. Let’s call it Contract – MS Word. *Note: The workflow has yet to be built, but we will name it here in this step, and use the same name when we build the workflow. 8. Drag the End Event activity to the canvas. 9. Connect the Service Task to the End Event. f. As you can see, the Business Process is very simple, with just three steps. We can now move on to the Laserfiche Workflow Designer. g. Navigate to the Settings>Access Rights section and assign the users who will be using this form, and then go to the Settings>Process Options to publish the workflow. Step 3: Creating the Workflow to Generate the MS Word Contract document. a. Launch the Laserfiche Workflow Designer windows application. b. Name the new workflow as you named it in the Forms Service Task and connect it to the local Laserfiche Repository using the Manage workflow connection profiles.. link. c. Build the workflow activities that will fill out the MS Word Contract. 1. Drag the Retrieve Business Process Variables activity to the workflow canvas. 2. Set the properties on the activity to connect to the Forms server, set the Form and select the field values to retrieve. 3. Next, add the Update Word Document activity 4. Configure the properties of the activity by uploading the Contract document you just edited (the one with the replaceable text). Press the ellipsis button to select the Word file attachment. 5. Press the Add button, press the ellipsis button and select your Word file. Click OK, then press Close. 6. Next, modify the activity so that it runs the Find-Replace function that updates the values for the contract. i. Press New… ii. For the first field, enter the Find what: value as the replaceable text, which in our example is 1CompanyName1. a. Check Match case and Match whole word and enter the token for Replace with: value. b. Select the token and click OK. In our example, we will have three Find Replace modifications. 7. Repeat the modifications by adding the other replacement fields. 8. When the Update Word Document activity runs, by default, it creates a new document from the source document it used as a template. To access this document, you will need to pair the Update Word Document activity with an Email or Attach Electronic Document activity. To store the Contract as a document in the repository, you’ll use both the Create Entry activity and the Attach Electronic Document activity. i. Drag the Create Entry activity onto the canvas, after/under the Update Word Document activity. ii. Set the properties of the activity… iii. Then add the Attach Electronic Document activity. Set the properties on the activity. Choose Activity as your Source… Set the Update Word Document>Result File as the source… Set the Attach File To as Other Entry and select Create Entry>Output Entry… Click OK. d. Publish the new workflow, which will not require any conditions nor a schedule. It should Validate without errors, but if you get any warnings or errors, correct the issue and then republish. Validation will run and then you can press No when asked if you want to create start rules. Since the Forms process starts the workflow, there is no need to give Workflow any start rules for this workflow. Thanks, Kyle! Now that readers have had a chance to practice and complete all three steps, it’s now time to create some contracts by filling out a Form. If you have any questions or wish to speak with a CDI professional team member, contact us at support@cdi.support.

This month’s Consultant’s Corner article focuses on managing records with Laserfiche’s Workflow 10.4. We connected with Kyle Knebel, Software Trainer, here at CDI, to give us a quick overview on the new activity made available to automated records management functions. Kyle, what is new in Laserfiche regarding Records Management and Workflow in version 10.4? With the release of version 10.4, Laserfiche has made it possible to apply Records Management properties to folders and documents, without having to use formal Records Series or Records Folders. For many clients this can possibly do away with the need for “Transparent Records Management.” In addition, Laserfiche Workflow now has a new activity with seven records management actions designed to automate records management functions, minimizing the Records Manager’s workload. With the new changes in Laserfiche 10.4 giving Workflow the ability to manage records, what can it do? The new Set Records Management Properties activity is in the Workflow toolbox within the “Laserfiche Actions” group. Simply drag the action to the designer canvas and configure the action properties. Below are examples of the seven available records management actions in the activity: 1. Set filing date 2. Set Event date 3. Cutoff 4. Set Retention Schedule 5. Add Hold 6. Remove Hold 7. Assign Cutoff Instruction What are Holds and how can workflow help? A Hold, formerly called “Freeze,” is used to mark a record from being disposed of during normal Records Management. The record still exists in the Records Management lifecycle but can’t be deleted. Can Workflow take disposition actions on Records? Laserfiche Workflow is not allowed to dispose of records; either deletions or accessions. This should always be managed and completed by the Records Manager, so that they can be sure of a proper disposition. Thank you, Kyle! We always appreciate your timely updates and insight on the newest functionality available from Laserfiche. We hope you enjoyed this month’s discussion with Kyle and are excited to now have the ability to apply Records Management properties to your folders and documents. If you have any questions or would like more information on how to use the tools discussed today, be sure to contact the CDI consulting team for further assistance.

This month’s CDI Consultant’s Corner focuses on Laserfiche’s Settings Lockdown for Advanced Laserfiche Administration. We took a moment to sit down with Kyle Knebel, Software Trainer, here at CDI, to give us a quick overview on these advanced settings. Kyle, what is Laserfiche Settings Lockdown? With Settings Lockdown, you can limit the ability of a user to change certain sets of options in the Windows Client and the Web Client; either for the entire repository or for specific users or groups. A Laserfiche Administrator can go into the Everyone Group properties and create a new [Lockdown] entry in the attributes tab. The Settings Lockdown prevents that user or group from changing specified Options in that locked category. 1. What types of settings can be secured using the Laserfiche Settings Lockdown? There are 5 different categories of settings you can lockdown. These categories are: SearchSettings - for example, search results limits and fuzzy search settings DocViewPanes - prevents affected users from opening, closing, or rearranging the panes in the Laserfiche Windows client's document viewer - this setting has no effect on the web client. AnnotationStyle - all annotations created by affected users will be public annotations QuickSearch - control which searches will be performed when affected users use the quick search bar in the Laserfiche web or Windows client. AdvancedImport – for example, PDF image page generation, default volume, or document name conflict settings. For more information about the specific settings that can be locked in each of these 5 categories, go to the following Laserfiche Support Site URL here. 2. How do you implement the Laserfiche Settings Lockdown? There are several steps in locking the settings for a user or group. First, you will want to set the defaults for each of the specific settings to be locked in the categories. This means that in the Everyone Group’s attributes tab, the administrator will pre-configure any settings they want to make as the default for the user or group being locked. Note: each category has several options, but you don’t have to set them all, just the ones you intend on locking down. Next, you’ll need to obtain the SID (Security ID) of the user(s) or group(s) you want to lock down. The administrator will need to navigate to the Users and Groups node in the Laserfiche Admin Console, highlight the user or group, and then Export the trustee XML. (You’ll save it locally, and then view the XML file to find the SID number.) Do this for each trustee you will be locking down. You can right-click on the trustee, choose All Tasks>Export as XML. Or highlight the trustee and select Action>All Tasks>Export as XML from the File Menu. Open the file and look for the SID number. It looks something like “S-1-1-0” or it could be longer, as shown in the example below. Then, you will lockdown the overall category. Note: Since Settings Lockdown is applied to specific users or groups, those who are not affected can change their Options settings at any time. However, they will be assigned the same default settings you applied prior to locking down the settings. To Lock Down a user or group, you will proceed to the Everyone Group properties and click on the Attributes tab. Click on the View Subset list and select “Lockdown”. Press the Add button on the right side to configure the attribute for this user or group. You will need to configure a separate attribute for each user or group to lock down. To lock a setting for all users, lock the Everyone Group (SID: S-1-1-0). Here’s an example of the syntax for the attribute: Below is an example of a Lockdown attribute fully configured. (this example SID is made up – don’t use it in your system!) Once locked down, when the user goes to their options settings they will see a message informing them that some settings have been locked, see image below. 3. What are recommended best practices when using Laserfiche Settings Lockdown? We recommend as a best practice that you only change the defaults on the least amount of options, so that you don’t overly impact those users (possibly the majority) with settings they will need to change. Use the attributes of a user that you have tested with, then copy their attributes to the Everyone Group. Once they are copied, then you can add the Lockdown attributes for each user or group that will be restricted. Thanks, Kyle! Great information, as always. If and when your organization needs to limit Laserfiche options for your repository or just for specific users or groups, you’ll now have the how-to knowledge to take control. If you have questions or would like more information on these settings, be sure to contact the CDI consulting team for further assistance.

This month’s Consulting Corner focuses on Laserfiche’s new Microsoft Office Preview Service; available in the Laserfiche Web Client. We sat down with Kyle Knebel, Software Trainer, here at CDI, to give us the quick run-down on this new feature. Kyle, how do you use the Laserfiche Office Preview Service? There are two ways to preview Microsoft Office documents in the Web Client. The first method allows you to display the document in the document viewer. The second method allows you to display it in the folder browser preview pane (formerly called the “Unified Metadata pane”). Method #1: Display Document in Document Viewer Select the document you want to preview Expanded the folder browser preview pain, select Preview Click, Show Preview Method #2: Display Full Document in Folder Browser Preview Pane Click on the document name hyperlink. Typically, another browser tab will open, allowing you to view the Office document *If you need to edit the file, select the Edit With button near the top right corner Do you need to setup the Office Preview Service in the Web Client? No, there is nothing to setup or configure for the Office Preview Service; it is part of the Laserfiche 10.4 Web Server. Do you need a Microsoft Office Online account or an Office installation to preview documents? No, there is no need to have an account on Microsoft Office Online, nor do you need an existing installation of Microsoft Office on your computer. A new feature in the Laserfiche Office Preview Service allows users to create Office documents directly in the repository without needing to first create them externally and import them. What types of Office documents can be created using the Laserfiche Office Preview Service? You can create three Microsoft Office document types: Microsoft Word Microsoft Excel Microsoft PowerPoint. What are recommended best practices when creating documents using the Office Preview Service? There are a couple steps I like to take to make my life easier when using Office documents in the Web Client, especially when I need to edit them. Step #1 I first add two icons to my Toolbar; the Check-Out Document and the Check-In Document buttons. They dynamically activate when you select an Office document. When the file is not yet checked out, the “Check Out” button is only visible. When the file is already checked out, the “Check In” button is only visible. How cool is that? Step #2 After I create a new blank Office document, I use these toolbar icons to open the document. It is a Best Practice to use the Check-Out/Check-In feature so that you don’t lose edits if your computer becomes disconnected from the Laserfiche Repository. Are there any caveats to using the Office Preview Service that users should be aware of? Excel files will usually display only the first “worksheet” of the document, if possible. Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint previews will show the first 4-5 pages/slides. And, if you have generated text on any of these documents, the text will be displayed in the preview pane. Thanks, Kyle! As you can see, the new easy to use Microsoft Office Preview Service has some impressive and true time saving features. If you have questions or would like more information on this tool, contact the experts on the CDI consulting team for further assistance.

The Workflow Condition Editors play a major role in workflow operation, and when used incorrectly can cause problems with workflow instances. This article discusses the types, importance, and best practices using the Workflow Condition Editor. What is the Workflow Condition Editor? Workflow Condition Editors allow users to configure actions, activities, or particular business processes to occur in a Workflow when specific criteria are met. A workflow can contain several different conditions within a workflow including conditions for various activities. Types of Conditions Wait Conditions – This condition holds an entry from moving forward in the Workflow process until a specific criterion is met and the condition is satisfied. For example, a client agreement document must be reviewed and signed off on before it can get delivered to a client folder. The user may be required to change a template field from For Review to Approved; in this case the entry would wait for the change before proceeding to the next step. Decision Conditions - Workflow can route a document to different people based on conditions. Decision conditions are configurable when routing decision activities are used. For example, Workflow could be monitoring specific folders for a change. When change A occurs a document is routed to B. When X happens the document goes to Y. Starting Rule Conditions – Configuration of starting rules includes determining the condition(s) that will initiate the workflow. Business Process Requirements – Condition editors for business processes signify when a business process is allowed to be started from Laserfiche Web or Windows Client. Creating a Condition The condition editor contains several different features, let’s break it down here. It is worth noting that you can add as many conditions as you need, but add them carefully . The best practice is to keep it simple. Group – The group text allows users to specify the predominant condition that all the subsequent conditions in the group must meet. Condition Type – The condition types available in the condition editor are assigned through a series of nested menu options that begin as a comprehensive set of options but become more specific. Point to the entry, document, or folder that the condition will involve. The condition is satisfied when a user performs the action that is specified in the other criterion. Searching – When defining a condition that includes fields, tags, or tokens you can search within these categories to quickly find the metadata or token. If you want to locate a template field quickly narrow down your search by selecting the template so only its fields will display. Operator – This text is a keyword that tells the relationship between the condition type and the value on the right. The available operators depend directly on the condition type text that is selected. Condition Value – Complete the condition by setting a specific value. The operator that is chosen will play a key role in ensuring that the condition is met. Users have the option to use token values or even regular expressions in some cases. Ordering Conditions Logical Groups – Conditions are evaluated in a top-down order. It is important to keep that in mind when ordering groups of conditions. In the example below, all of the conditions from the first group must be met before it will even look at the second group. Performance – In the interest in keeping workflows operating at optimal efficiency, the condition’s order can effect workflow performance speed. Once a condition evaluates to false the entire condition evaluates to false, from top to bottom. When you place a condition that takes less time to evaluate at the top of the condition list, Workflow can skip the remaining conditions, going from the least time to evaluate, to the most. Fast – Laserfiche sends this information over with the notification from a Laserfiche Server - these conditions do not require a call back from the Laserfiche repository. Medium – This condition requires a call to the Laserfiche Server to retrieve field values for that entry. Slow – These conditions require calling the Laserfiche Server and request specific information and have Laserfiche calculate data and count or check if there is a document in a folder with the condition you are trying to locate. Recommendations for Conditions Certain actions can prevent conditions from being evaluated. Follow these recommendations to mitigate potential issues. Use one type of condition or the other. For example, if you combine folder and entry conditions in the same wait condition, changes to one of the conditions may not be evaluated. Group conditions when possible. Grouping conditions helps to keep it simple but remember to organize your groups logically since they are evaluated from the top-down. Carefully consider multi-value field tokens. When multi-value-field tokens are used, the condition will be satisfied when any of the values meet the condition. Keep it simple. The simpler the better. As you make the conditions more complex, they can become harder to manage. This can result in a condition that cannot be satisfied. Test your workflow conditions before deploying. A poorly configured condition can cause non-functioning workflows, runaway workflows, or even suspended workflows. We hope that you found this information helpful. The condition editors are a powerful tool within the workflow application, and can help you to automate efficiently. If you need additional help configuring workflows or setting up conditions from starting rules to decisions, please contact the CDI Consulting Team.