Benchmarks tests on DiscoveryAssistant:

Benchmark processing:

On a 2 Ghz system, converting a mix of doc / xls / pdf / html / msg files (with or without attachments), our rated speed is one page per second.

Hardware Recommendations:

Because file conversion is a diskbound process the greatest determining factor for performance is file access speed.  The greatest performance increase will be realized by moving input files to a local hard drive and have output files written to a local hard drive.  All applications such as Word, Excel, Acrobat, etc. also need to be accessed from the local drive.

Multi-processor machines are not recommended.  I don't believe the performance increase would be significant especially in relation to hardware cost.

Available memory is a factor (more memory means less swapping to disk).  512mb or greater recommended.

Processor speed is a factor.  1.8G or greater recommended.

Specifics:

Test Suite:

235 documents approx. 3,000 pages.      Compaq 1.8G P4 512mb ram

Mix of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, HTML, Text

TIF G4 300dpi	45 pages per minute
TIF G4 200dpi Windows Fast Dithering	120 pages per minute
Apple LaserWriter 16/600 PS PostScript 600dpi	220 pages per minute

Larger documents (more pages per document) produce more dramatic differences.

Word Document test only on a Pentium 4 2.6 Ghz

Tested 7 WORD files (simple graphics, lots of text) with the following page sizes:

3, 71, 3, 5, 16, 3, 204

3.2 GHZ machine, no hyper-threading.  Lots of memory and big hard drive.

Output DPI	Output Format	Pages per Minute	Page Per Minute without the last File
300	G4	84	70
300	G3	87	70
300	G3	257	206*
200	G4	150	130
200	G3	150	130
200	G3	332	270*

* dithering set to Windows Fast Dither

Basic trend:

Speed is greatly enhanced by setting the default dither output to 'Windows Fast Dither'  (image quality can be slightly compromised).

 More graphically complicated files take longer to convert.

 The higher the output resolution, the slower the conversion.

                                Additional processing for MSG and PST results in slower conversion.

                                There is a slight performance penalty for saving in G4 format.

 

The Windows Fast Dither uses a reduced memory area for conversion, and 'dithers' the text and graphics to B&W as they are being written to the surface.  The Error Diffusion Dithering method dithers the whole image when it is being written to file (and can take up significantly more memory).

                As you increase the dpi (dots per inch) of the output file, the speed to create each page goes up.

At 200 dpi, the page contains 3.7 million pixels.

At 300 dpi, the page contains 8.4 million pixels.

Current installation default is 300 dpi and 'Windows Fast Dither' set to on. 

Error Conversion Codes:

    -1     "General error",

    -2     "Job cancelled",

    -3     "ShellExec call failed",

    -4     "Control Dialog communication failed",

    -5     "Pipe not found",

    -6     "Connect timeout",

    -7     "Bad UNC name",

    -8     "Path too long",

    -9     "Remote request requires UNC names for input and output files",

    -10    "Timeout total time",

    -11    "Timeout job start",

    -12    "Timeout first page",

    -13    "Timeout next page",

    -14    "Timeout max pages exceeded",

    -15    "Input file zero length",

    -16    "Timeout waiting for print queue to clear",

    -17    "No suitable printer available",

    -18    "Specified printer does not exist",

    -19    "File association does not exist",

    -20    "PrintTo command does not exist",

    -21    "Print command does not exist",

    -22    "Input file does not exist",

    -23    "Output path does not exist",

    -24    "Disk corrupted",

    -25    "Spooler Restarted",

    -26    "Unable to set DEMO stamp",

    -27    "Timeout waiting for exclusive access to document type",

    -28    "Timeout waiting for available printer",

    -29    "Could not set default printer",

    -30    "Print aborted",

    -31    "Aborted from Print Manager",

    -32    "Memory allocation failed",

    -33    "Disk write failed (probably disk full)",

    -34    "Disk write failed (probably file access)",

    -35    "Page too long to make into landscape mode",

    -36    "Unknown file type specified for output",

    -37    "Unknown file type",

    -38    "Generic FAX write error",

    -39    "Print aborted from control dialog",

    -40    "Unable to read from named pipe",

    -41    "Terminated by parent application",

    -42    "Cannot find named pipe",

    -43    "Error calling 16-bit MFX",

    -44    "Error pipe closed (likely means driver timed out)",

    -45    "Shell execute failed",

    -46    "Create process failed",

    -47    "Output file type unsupported",

    -48    "Failed to restart spooler"

Support for Conversation Topic and Conversation Index in Outlook:

All internally generated 2003 Outlook email contains a "Conversation Topic" and "Conversation Index" value.

As email is routed back and forth, the index value is incremented with additional characters.  In a sorted list of Topic values and index values, the longest index value is the last email in the chain.

Idea is lawyers can reduce the amount of data by producing only the last item in the chain AND the unique attachments in previous emails (draft attachments).

Note: Once an email leaves the office (transmitted as MIME), the index and topic values are lost.

Details: The PR_CONVERSATION_INDEX property is used in conjunction with the PR_CONVERSATION_TOPIC property to allow a conversation thread to be followed.

ConversationIndex property - the first 22 bytes are the same for all messages in the thread. Each message adds 5 bytes to the conversation index of its parent message.

Note however that ConversationIndex property is broken in all versions of Outlook except 2003

Microsoft MSDN reference:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms527425.aspx

For more information on conversations, see Tracking Conversations.

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms528947.aspx

Setting up Discovery Assistant to do conversions running as a service:

1.       Confirm that Discovery Assistant is working correctly, then shut down Discovery Assistant.

2.       Run XDCLauncher in the \program files\ImageMAKER\Discovery Assistant directory.  This will start up a system tray application in the bottom right hand corner of the screen.

3.       Right click on XDC Launcher system tray item, and select 'run as a service'.  You will be prompted for a user login name and password.  You need to provide a valid login user name and password.   Conversions must happen as a logged in user.  (Applications can't seem to print to a print driver in the 'system account'. Not sure why this is.).

4.       If you do want to change or review the service, go to Services Manager (can run services.msc from the run command, or you can go into Control Panel / System / Services).  Locate the XDCService, and right click to select properties.  From the Log On, you can re-set the username, password. From the General tab, you can manually start/stop the service.

5.       Restart Discovery Assistant, and try converting some files that previously converted.  Files will convert, but you won't see any screen activity.

6.       Everything should work.  Note, because we are opening documents, the machine will be busy.  Also, if you are converting Word, Excel, or Acrobat file types, you can't be using Word, Excel, or Acrobat. 

7.       Should there be any conversion problems, you need to stop Discovery Assistant, switch back to using xdcService in normal mode, then re-convert to try and determine the problem.

8.       At any time, you can also run imglog.exe and the XDC Admin to get more logging information on conversion progress.

Handling Password Protected Files:

If the file is password protected, our current default behavior is to time out waiting for the application to print.  We then kill the application. The default timeout value is 30 seconds.   If there are a lot of password protected files, then conversion is going to go very slowly.

Failed files can be 'moved' to another directory, and then set up for password cracking.  Our understanding is that cracking a password can take multiple hours per file, and not something to try in real time.

Some password protected files will put up a user dialog, prompting for a password.  The operator can enter the password at this point.   This would include entering passwords for RAR and ZIP files (at time of import), or passwords for XLS, PDF, and DOC (at time of conversion).

There is limited specialized code to handle the automation of passwords for XLS handling.  If the password for all your XLS files is the same, then you can enter the password as a registry value, and Discovery Assistant will use that password on all password projected XLS files.  The registry location is HKLM\Software\ImageMAKER\ExcelPrintTo\Settings - "password=".

Note: there are a number of 3rd party applications designed to handle password detection and cracking for: Excel, Access, Word, RAR, PDF, Outlook.

    Detection:

        http://www.ozgrid.com/Services/find-protected-files.htm

    Cracking: 

        http://www.ozgrid.com/Services/access-password-recover.htm

Setting up Distributed Processing:

If you have two or more machines with Discovery Assistant installed, then you can set these machines up in a master/slave architecture to drive conversion speed.

1.       Install Discovery Assistant on each machine

2.       Test conversions of multiple type of files to ensure everything is installed

3.       For Distributed processing to work, all machines must be logged in as the same user.  Slave server machines cannot be Windows XP home, and need to be upgraded to Pro.

Machines should be able to access each other's shared drives, and should all have the same date/time setting.  

To synchronize times settings, you may need to designate the Master machine as the time source.  Can do this from DOS prompt as follows:  net time \\computername /set

4.       On the Slave machine, run the XDCAdmin program.  Under Configure, set the HUB machine to the name of the Master machine.

You can confirm that the connection worked, because in the log display for XDCAdmin, you should see:

[02/06/08 16:40:37]Successfully connected to registry on machine: MASTER

[02/06/08 16:40:37]Successfully added pipe name \\SLAVE\pipe\ImageMaker XDC Service1 to registry

[02/06/08 16:40:37]Successfully connected to registry on machine: MASTER

[02/06/08 16:40:37]Successfully added machine name SLAVE to registry

 

Do this same exercise for every Slave machine you want to control through the Master.

Current recommendation is that you then 'stop' the XDCAdmin program, (stopping the XDCService.exe application), and then go over to the Master machine to try a connection.

5.       On the Master machine and run Discovery Assistant.  Discovery Assistant will try to connect to registered slave machines (servers) at start-up.  To see what servers are active, go to Options / Servers, and hit the Manage Servers button.  Servers should be listed in the display dialog with their current status.

Note: under the Options / Servers dialog, you can also manage the list of available Slave machines. Best for now to do it from each Slave though, as this ensures that the xdcService.exe application is properly running.

6.       Queue up files to convert on the Master machine, and start the conversion process.

Notes:

Error:

Unable to connect to server [SLAVE].

Fix:

Check if SLAVE has a firewall enabled.  Need to disable the firewall.

 

Error:   

Unable to establish connection from server to SLAVE to local machine for reporting events.  Probable cause is insufficient permissions.

Fix:

Stop Discovery Assistant on MASTER.

Start up xdcAdmin on SLAVE.  Confirm in task manager that there is only one xdcService running.  Then re-start Discovery Assistant on MASTER.

 

Error:

XDC Server on machine [SLAVE] was unable to provide a share point.  Try rebooting that machine.

Fix:

You may have to manually create a Server\share on the slave machine.  Possibility is that XDCService did not have the proper permissions to create the share.

To do so, map C:\Program Files\ImageMaker\Discovery Assistant\StagingArea to "XDCServerShare" on the slave machine.

Setting up a permanent Server Share:

When the xdcService application runs on the slave machine, it sets up a \\machine\XDCServerShare that can be accessed by the Master.  

The share maps to the StagingArea sub-directory in the installation directory.

Default share maps to: "C:\Program Files\ImageMaker\Discovery Assistant\StagingArea".

Normally when XDCService starts up, it creates the share, then when it exists, it removes the share.  If the share already exists before startup, then it leaves the share there on exit.

Setting up and configuring DCOM:

There is a whole tutorial on setting up and using DCOM between machines with  different login's.  Also, there is a way to do DCOM across domains.

                http://www.opcactivex.com/Support/DCOM_Config/dcom_config.html

                There's a utility called DCOMCNFG.EXE that you can also use to set up DCOM settings.

 

 

Support for RAR files:

Support has been added for the following RAR file types:

·         standard RAR

·         password protected RAR - prompts for password

·         multi-part Rar:  Looks for additional RAR files with extensions:

o   filename.part1.rar

o   filename.part2.rar

o   filename.part3.rar

Using Discovery Assistant as a preview tool:

Discovery Assistant has been designed mainly as a eDiscovery Processing tool.  It imports source files and exports formatted data that can be loaded in to a case management package ready for discovery.

We recognize that the higher up you cull data in the chain, the less processing there needs to be done closer to production. 

Typical requirements of a preview tool are to review source documents and tag them as:

Privileged, Non Privileged, Responsive, Non-responsive.

Only responsive non-privileged documents are produced as TIFF files to the other side.

I believe that in the context of Discovery, the Preview process can be performed using one of the following scenarios:

Using just Discovery Assistant:

1.       Import files into Discovery assistant

2.       Open each document one at a time, then assign flags based on content.

Requires a lot of individual steps to flag each item, slow and cumbersome, can't be distributed.

A slightly more refined approach:

1.       Use a separate tool to extract files into source files within a directory.

2.       Use QuickView Plus type tool to review source files and mark with tags.

3.       Import the responsive source files into Discovery Assistant for processing.

Risk of losing the parent/child relationships and polluting the metadata.

How some of our other customers do it:

1.       Import all files into Discovery Assistant.

2.       Process MetaData only, assign DocID, and export Source only.

3.       Export to Summation / Concordance / Ringtail hosted review tool (load file).

4.       Review documents in Summation / Concordance / Ringtail application (includes an integrated search and source file viewer).

5.       Multiple users can review/categorize/tag documents.

6.       When done, a file list of Document ID's is produced.

7.       Back in Discovery Assistant, select files using the DocumentID list, and queue only those ID's that are selected.

8.       Produce TIFF files from selected documents.

Requires importing a lot of data into Discovery Assistant / Summation / Concordance / Ringtail.

The ultimate solution we're working towards:

·         Crack input files into source files + metadata and load into SQL library.

·         Use an integrated SQL interface to perform searches through SQL stored metadata - and assign tags.

·         Use an integrated dtSearch to perform searches through indexed source files  - and assign tags.

·         Use an integrated QuickReview tool to review indexed source files and assign tags.

·         Process selected files as necessary (to TIFF/Text)

·         Export source + TIFF + TEXT + metadata into DiscoveryAssistant file for final review, and export to load file.

These features are currently only available through hosted services (Still not built yet as an end-user application).

MSG Handling (under the hood):

At time of import of PST or MSG files, the following takes place:

1.       Message contents and Message metadata are extracted to the projectname.tmp directory in TXT format.

2.       MD5Hash value is calculated based on the TXT message contents.

 

At time of conversion, the following takes place:

1.       If the metadata file has been deleted, Metadata is re-generated.

2.       Message contents are extracted to HTML, RTF, or TXT, and converted using one of the registered converters, and saved in the projectname.cnvt directory as .TIF and .TXT. Log information is saved as .LOG.  If the metadata file already exists in the tmp directory, it is copied over from there and then deleted.

If you re-queue a file for conversion, all four related files in the projectname.cnvt directory are deleted, including the metadata file.

If you go to the AllFiles tab, and hit 're-check', metadata and extracted text information is regenerated in the projectfile.tmp directory, and the MD5-Hash value is re-generated.

If you select 'Project / Remove Temp Files' from the menu, all temp files for the entire project are deleted.

If you get a message 'problem generating metadata for item...', what we recommend is to save the project, stop Discovery Assistant, re-open the project, and re-check that file (re-check button).

Questions and Answers

http://discoverassistant.com/QandA.asp

Application Details:

Clustered-server support:

Discovery Assistant currently supports single machine conversion, and a simple client/server     configuration (client controls the server).

Support for clustered-server support, with many client machines connected to many server machines is currently in development and should be ready for testing Oct 2004.

Doc current dates

One way we can solve the 'cur date' issue is to look at the source document date (date last modified), then set the system date to that date before doing the conversion. User must specify that is what they want. We would then change the date back to the saved date on completion.

Backend Database used:

Currently using an XML data representation.   Can migrate to using a MDB file (Microsoft database format).  If the user is contemplating managing large data sets, then we need to look at substituting a MDB file with a SQL type interface.

Format of Exported Data:

     Currently output to Summation DII type 1 formatted file.

     MetaData includes the email subject, address, and message body.

MetaData files are formatted as follows:

    Name:SAMPLE ZIP.ZIP

    Size:39 KB

    Type:WinZip File

    Modified:11/11/2003 3:15 AM

    Attributes:A

 

Additional information for MSG files

    Type:Outlook Mail Item

    From:Ken Davies

    To:Jian Huang (E-mail)

    Cc:(null)

    Bcc:(null)

    Subject:Test Message

    Sent:08/30/04 12:50:34

    Received:08/30/04 12:50:34

    Number of Attachments:0

    Body:

       ... details in message body, formatted as either TXT, RTF or HTML

 

    Modify Date        - date email message was last replied to, or moved into folder

    Create Date        - date email message was stored to the folder.

    Sent Date/Time     - date/time message was sent. (GMT).

    Received Date/Time - date/time message was received (GMT)

 

    To export email that was sent/received within a specified time period:

1.       Process as Metadata only.

2.       Export metadata: FileID, Modify date, SentDate and Received Date to a CSV file

Be sure to select 'use parent Sent and Received date/time for attachments in the 'More Export' options

3.       In a spreadsheet, create a column based on following:

Received date if it exists.
Sent date otherwise
Modify date otherwise

4.       Sort the new column in Excel

5.       Save as a FileID list and 'formatted date'  (YYYYMMDD)

6.       Import the list - User Fields - assign from CSV.

7.       Sort the user field to identify what files fall within the date range in question.

8.       Re-process just those files.

 

Adding a new file association:

   To create a file association for a file that you can open, but cannot print:

1.       go to Admin / Configure / Document,

2.       select the 'greyed' matching file type extension (.xyz)

3.       select Modify, choose 'over-ride', and put in the override print command. 

   To create a brand new file association:

1.       go to Admin / Configure / Document,

2.       Select 'new'. 

3.       In the New dialog, choose 'CopyFrom' to grab default settings similar to your file type (for example, file type XYZ may be close to how you currently handle TXT)

4.       Modify the settings, and save.

Support for .JPG:

On some systems there may not be a default browser for .JPG files.

Quick fix is to run imgview.exe (Start / ImageMAKER Discovery Assistant / Imgview) From the menu Options, choose 'set as default viewer', then select JPEG as one of the files we handle.

Go back to unconvertible tab, and do a re-check.  files should be automatically moved over to convertible.

Imgview.exe handles most JPEG formats.  However, if there is a problem with Imgview, you can switch

to using Internet Explorer to handle the printing:

To force Internet Explorer: go into the Discovery Assistant / Admin / Configure / Documents tab.

Look for HTML, do a modify, check what the PrintTo command is.  Should look something like:

rundll32.exe %SystemRoot%\System32\mshtml.dll,PrintHTML "%1" "%2" "%3" "%4"

Can then go to JPG (which is now pointing to or ImgView.exe application), hit Modify, select the 'override default command'  then paste in the rundll32 command above into the 'Override Cmd' text edit box.

Support for GIF:

We use the native installed application on your computer to handle printing GIF files.

Normally, the XP Windows Picture and Fax Viewer can print these files.

On Windows XP and Windows 2003, the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer can do the job. To set the default, go into explorer, do a search for GIF, then open a GIF. At that point, the file association will be set.  Can then do a re-check from  Discovery Assistant, and the GIF files will be convertible.  Same process for JPEG.

On a Windows 2000 machine, run the Imaging For Windows application, and set the menu item: Tools / General Options - open images in Imaging.

Support for LZW compressed TIFF:

Our standard IMGVIEW.EXE application handles converting most TIF, DCX, BMP and JPEG formats.

To set imgview as the default viewer (conversion application), run imgview.exe, then select Options / Set default viewer.

If you need conversion support for LZW compressed TIFF, then need to revert to standard Microsoft viewers.   This is the same process for any version of Windows:

Basic idea is to:

1.       Open Discovery Assistant, and select Admin.

2.       From Admin, select Config / Documents tab

3.       From the file type list, highlight .TIF, then select the Modify button.

4.       Set the following check-boxes on:

AutoKill application if timeout occurs
Override default PrintTo command
set the Override Cmd to be (substitute the correct system directory)
WinXP:

rundll32.exe F:\WINDOWS\system32\shimgvw.dll,ImageView_PrintTo /pt "%1" "%2" "%3" "%4"
Win2000:

"C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories\ImageVue\KodakPrv.exe" /pt "%1" "%2" "%3" "%4"

Under Win2000, you also have the option of running Imaging For Windows, then selecting Tools / General Options / Open images in Imaging.

Support for iCalendar and vCalendar File Formats (ICS / VCS):

Discovery Assistant includes native ICS / VCS formatting support.

Support for Microsoft Office Document Imaging (MDI):

Need to install Microsoft Office Document Imaging 2003 (or higher).

Product only has a 'Print' file association.  Requires that we simulate PrintTo by setting the default printer to be the Discovery Assistant print driver (Controlled through Discovery Assistant).

"D:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\MODI\11.0\MSPVIEW.EXE" /p "%1"

Quality Control Support in Discovery Assistant:

Users import files into Discovery assistant from three main sources:

Directories on hard drives (or CD Roms).

PST files.

ZIP files.

 These files are then listed in Discovery Assistant under the following tabs:

All Files

Non Convertible

Convertible

Queued

Converted

Failed

Stamped.

 During the conversion process, files are moved from the 'all files' category through to the 'stamped' category through a series of steps.  Each tab contains a subset of the 'all files' list - representing the stage at which the conversion process has reached for those files.  For various reasons, not all files make it over to the stamped directory - and this is where the auditing features become important.

 Audit features implemented in Discovery Assistant ensure that users can confirm that "files in" == "files out".  These features include:

1.       Sort by Field Heading:

Lists can be sorted by name, modify date, type, and size.  For email attachments we substitute 'subject'  for the name, and 'received date/time' for the modify date.  (There currently isn't a 'from' column heading).

Because documents come from different sources / different directories, users have the ability to specify a filter before reviewing the list.  Filters can be turned ON or OFF.  With a filter set to ON, the displayed list contains only those files that match the filter criteria.  Typically the filter criteria is defined as: 'comes from this folder or sub-folder', or is part of the following ZIP or PST file. 

For example, users can set the filter to include only files from a certain PST file, or PST file folder, or Zip file.  Then users sort by name / date / type, consistent with how Explorer / WinZip / Outlook works, and can then compare files that are listed in Discovery Assistant with files that are listed in Outlook/Explorer/Winzip using the exact same sort order.

 

2.       View native file

At any point in the process, users can 'click' on the displayed file, and see it in the native application.  If the file is in a ZIP or PST file, it is automatically extracted first in order to be displayed.

3.       View converted file, meta data, and txt contents.

Converted files can be viewed as TIFF, TXT, or meta-data only.

4.       Reporting provisions:

At any point, the current 'list' can be exported to another format for further processing. 

                Currently these formats include: Summation DII file types, comma separated value, and XML.

Supported File Types:

Discovery Assistant supports any file type for which there is a Print or PrintTo file association.  To confirm what file types are supported, go to the Discovery Assistant / Admin / Configure / Documents tab.

This provides a list of documents that are supported on the machine you are converting on.

For certain file types listed below, there are additional setup instructions that you can follow to tweak the behavior.

To identify the filetype, we match the document against the signature stored in the fassoctable.txt file.

We check contents first.  if we recognize contents, then we return 'content type'. If we don't recognize content, then we return 'document extension type' If the file type is included in the 'Strict' section, then we only return that type if we recognize the contents.

The current advantage of how things work is that if we don't recognize the file, then the extension is used by default.

   Not in Strict List:

      WordFile.DOC     - return DOC

      WordFile.xxx     - we force to DOC

      WordFile         - we force to DOC

   *  Unknown.doc      - we don't know what it is, so call it DOC

 

   In strict List:

      WordFile.DOC     - return DOC

      WordFile.xxx     - we force to DOC

      WordFile         - we force to DOC

   *  Unknown.doc      - we don't know what it is, so call it UNKNOWN

 

   Not in Table:

      WordFile.DOC     - return DOC

      WordFile.xxx     - return xxx

      WordFile         - return unknown

      Unknown.doc      - return DOC

 

 

Microsoft Excel:

    There are a number of custom settings for Excel.  To configure Excel printing, Goto Admin / Configure / Excel Options to set the following:

    Set all worksheets to active before printing

        Clear print area before converting (print all cells)

        Clear headers

        Clear Footers

        Orientation

        Scale / Fit To.

        Comments

        Order

        Print Quality

        Paper Size

        Advanced:

           Un-hide hidden worksheets before printing.

           Un-hide hidden cells, columns, and rows.

           Export formulas to text file.

           Clear print area (prints entire sheet, not just specified area)

           Macros (never run)

           Recalculation (on demand)

           Column Widths (set each cell individually)

           Column Width threshold

           Row Heights (set all cells on sheet at once)

           Grid Lines (force disabled).

      

    Excel can print some extremely large TIFF files (1000's of pages).  Normally this isn't a problem unless there happens to be a lot of grey scale (dithering) in the image.  If the image size exceeds 2Gigs, then Discovery Assistant has problems handling the image.  To get file sizes down for grey scaled large XLS files, need to set the printer dithering (printer properties / General Tab / Printing Preferences / Advanced / Color Mode to: 'Color - Dither from 256 colors', and Dither Pattern to: Big 2x2 (5 shades).

Adobe Acrobat 7.0: (PDF)

Need to set the default 'Comments and Forms' settings in the Acrobat print dialog to:

Document and Markups.

Previous setting was:

Document and Stamps

This is a global setting.  From now on you will get Markups (like signatures and highlights).  I guess that means though - you will no longer get stamps.

To get different sized pages (legal and letter) need to do the following:

·         Open Acrobat (either Acrobat 6.0 or Acrobat 7.0)

·         Open a PDF file.

·         Under File / Print menu item, open Print Dialog

·         In Print Dialog, set

o   Page Scaling: Fit to Paper

o   Choose Paper Source by PDF page size.

o   Print to any printer (ImageMAKER xxx is fine).

·         Close Acrobat

To get all pages the same size, turn off 'choose paper source by PDF page size'.

To turn 'flatten' off (speeds up conversion), open a PDF file, then from the File / Print Dialog, under 'advanced', choose 'print as image'. (Acrobat 8.0).

To turn 'autoupdates' off:

Under the Edit menu, select 'updates', and toggle the following:

·         do not automatically check for critical updates ON

·         Display notification dialog at startup OFF

·         Display installation complete dialog OFF

 

   [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\7.0\Updater]

       "iUpdateFrequency"=dword:00000000

       "bShowInstCompDialog"=dword:00000000

       "bShowNotifDialog"=dword:00000000

 

Our method of printing (to Acrobat 8) is as follows:

·         start and stop Acrobat for each document

·         use Print rather than 'Print To' when printing documents

·         use the DDE Print method, not commandline method.

 Known problem issues with Acrobat that we handle are:

·         if we don't shut Acrobat down, then it leaks memory.

·         user must make sure Acrobat does not prompt for software updates.

·         odd sized pages (Legal, A4, etc) get cut off when printing to letter sized paper.

·         some documents print with garbled text.

Internet Explorer:  (HTML)

Under Page Setup, need to remove the header and footer.

Also, in the same dialog, best to increase the left and right margins to as wide as possible (avoids anything getting cut off when printed).

Under the Tools / Internet Options / Advanced / Printing section, set the 'Print background colors and images' value to ON.

.GIF and .JPG

Windows XP default viewer for .GIF and .JPG is the Windows Picture and Fax viewer.

To set up this viewer as the default, need to use Windows Explorer to find one of these images (Gif or Jpg), then double-click on the file to open it.  This forces the viewer to register itself.  Stop and re-start Discovery Assistant to register the new supported file types.

Outlook: (PST, MSG)

Discovery Assistant supports all Outlook Items that are stored in message folders. 

Discovery Assistant does not do Contacts at the moment. 

 Here is the definitive list of Outlook items we handle:

     MailItem

    ApptItem

    ContactItem

    DistListItem

    JournalItem

    MeetingItem

    NoteItem

    PostItem

    ReportItem

    TaskItem

    TaskRequestAcceptItem

    TaskRequestDeclineItem

    TaskRequestItem

    TaskRequestUpdateItem

    Attachment

 

If the PST file has any corruption in it, we only get out partial data, and this can lead to problems, possibly at time of export.

To check for PST problems, we've included code to identify any corrupt messages at time of scan.  Any identified corrupt files are moved to the 'failed' folder, and a dialog box is displayed on completion of scan indicating the problem.

We've found that if you then subsequently 'move' these failed messages out of the PST file, either into another PST file, or save as MSG files, that Outlook does a fairly good job of fixing the corruption, and they generally convert and export properly from there.

You can check for PST problems using scanPst.exe (see comments in scanpst.hlp).

On our machine, the EXE is in: "C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Mapi\1033\NT" Note: Make a copy of the PST file before using the scan tool.  The scan tool modifies the PST file, and information can be deleted.

Outlook Express: EML and DBX

DBX files can be imported from a Store Directory into Outlook Express.  EML files can be dragged in from Explorer into a folder.

To convert EML and DBX files:

1.        Drag / copy / load the separate EML files into your Outlook Express application. 

                Can organize into folders, place them in the in-box, etc. 

2.       Export to Outlook by going through File / Export / Messages.  Can choose all folders, or select which folders to export.   These files will then end up in those same folders in your Outlook mailbox. 

OR...

Close Outlook Express, then from Outlook, do an 'File Import / Import Internet Mail and Addresses'.  This will go out and look for Outlook Express mailboxes to import.

3.        Save these folders as a PST file, and then load the PST file into Discovery Assistant.

At some point in the future we'll look at doing native EML support.  We've done some prototypes that use CDO, and can do the required enumeration of data items, but it's messy.

Access Database (MDB)

To process Access dadabase files (MDB), best to do the following:

1.       download and install the Stand-alone TIFF print driver from http://www.discoveryassistant.com/Download/Downloads.asp

2.       do a passthrough of the Access file.

3.       create an access report that can print out the data.

4.       In the QC module, manually print the Access database (using the Access Report format) to the stand-alone TIFF print driver.  Replace the place-holder with the TIFF file.

 If you have 100's of access reports that need to be automated, then provide us with the specifics, and we'll work with you to define an automated solution.

Autocad: (DWG DXF and DWF)

First Choice:  45 day evaluation period, after which you need to pay $99

ABViewer from Cad Soft Tools.

ABViewer is the quick CAD viewer and converter. As a multi-purpose application ABViewer     has advanced functions for dragging, zooming and centering images.

CAD file formats DWG, DXF, HPGL, SVG and CGM supported.

http://www.cadsofttools.com/en/products/abviewer.html

1.       From Windows Explorer, choose Tools / Folder Options / File Types, and look for DWG.

2.       If it's there, delete the entry

3.       Select NEW

4.       For File Extension, type in DWG

5.       In the 'Details for DWG Extension' section, select 'Advanced',

In the 'choose icon' section, select Browse, and look for the application: "D:\Program Files\ABViewer 5\ABViewer.exe"

6.       Select 'New', and add the following:

                Action:  Open

Application Used: "D:\Program Files\ABViewer 5\ABViewer.exe" "%1"
(quotation marks required)

7.        Select 'New' and add the following:

                Action: Print

Application used: "D:\Program Files\ABViewer 5\ABViewer.exe" /p "%1"
(quotation marks required)

8.        Repeat steps above for any additional file formats.

                Supported formats include:

·         AutoCAD DXF

·         AutoCAD DWG

·         HPGL

·         EMF Enhanced Windows Metafile

·         WMF Windows Metafile

·         CGM Computer Graphics Metafile

·         SVG Scalable Vector Graphics

·         EPS Encapsulated Postscript Images

·         RPF Alias/Wavefront images

·         SGA SGI Images

·         and many more...

 

9.       Close Windows Explorer, Open Discovery Assistant.

10.   Open a DWG file using ABViewer. 

11.    To close the 'Trial' dialog that comes up, From Discovery Assistant / Admin / Config / AutoClose, select ADD.

Drag the magnifying glass out of the box, and drag over the AbViewer 'Trial' dialog (whole dialog has a black box around it).  

12.   To ensure the graphics lines are all printed, In the Start / Settings / Printer Properties dialog for "ImageMaker XDC Service1", in the general tab, under 'preferences / advanced', set the image render options / color mode to "Color - error diffusion dithering"

2nd Choice:

Auto-Vue from Cimmetry Systems http://www.cimmetry.com   $500 for release version.

demo version sets up with no user changes.

places a watermark on the image.

 

3rd Choice:

Download and install the Autocad Volo® View 3 Viewer:

 

start page:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=3239384

 

"Turn your design reviews into an efficient electronic process with Volo® View 3, the high-performance digital design review tool from Autodesk. Get the information to everyone who needs it—even those without access to the originating software such as AutoCAD® or Autodesk Inventor®."

Three things you then need to do to get things working:

1.  set the ImageMaker XDC Service1 as the default printer.

 

2.  Add a 'PrintTo' file association for .DWG .DXF and .DWF (Do this by copying the contents of 'Print').  Can get to this from the  Windows Explorer application / tools / folder options / file types.

 

3.  In the Admin dialog, under Configure / AutoClose,   ADD an entry, and train it to 'close' the VoloView print dialog.

Other viewers that support Viewing and Printing:

Microsoft Viso can open and view autocad drawings.  May or may not be able to print to the default printer (still to be investigated).

 

Solid Works has a free downloadable DWG/DXF.SolidWorks viewer(eDrawings Viewer).

http://www.solidworks.com/pages/products/edrawings/viewer.html

VectorWorks .MCD

Note: To download the VectorWorks 12.5 viewer: http://www.nemetschek.net/downloads/index.php

Need to open a .MCD file, and manually print once to the 'ImgMaker Batch Converter'. Then close the application.  This sets the following registry value:

   HKCU\software\Nemetschek\VectorWorks 12\Preferences

Previously Used Printer:  [need to set this to 'ImageMaker XDC Service1']

QuickView support (converting unsupported file types)

Quick View Plus 8 from Avantstar / Stellent can be used to print file types for which you do not already have an application viewer installed.  For example, quickView can be used to view/print TXT files that have a non TXT file extension - such as .INI, .XML, and .REG.

To set up a Quick View fil;e association, go to the Admin Dialog / Configure / Documents, and select a document type.  If the document extension is not there, you need to add it.

From the Modify Dialog, select the following settings:

AutoKill application if timeout occurs.

Allow only one conversion at a time for this document type.

Simulate PrintTo by using Print and temporarily changing default printers.

Override default PrintTo command

Override Cmd:

"C:\Program Files\quick view plus\Program\qvp32.exe" -bprn "%1"

(need to substitute proper application directory).

If the file type extension does not exist, then you must go into Windows Explorer, and do the following:

1.       From Tools / Folder Options / FileTypes, select ADD

2.       Add the filetype  '.123'.  Can associate this filetype with QuickView.

3.       Edit the 'Advanced' section, and add a 'Print' association. 

                Can associate the filetype with QuickView.

If these instructions do not make sense, go and look at the FileType association settings for .TXT.

4.       Do this for all missing filetypes.

5.        Go back to DiscoveryAssistant / Admin / Configure / Documents, and do a re-fresh list.

                Should now see these filetypes.

6.        Can now 'edit' the file association information.

The file PrintTo override is set up in the registry as follows (one for each supported file type):

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ImageMaker\xdc\DocumentTypes\.reg]

"AutoKill"=dword:00000001

"UseShellExec"=dword:00000000

"UseOverride"=dword:00000001

"OverrideCmd"="\"C:\\Program Files\\quick view plus\\Program\\qvp32.exe\" -bprn \"%1\""

"Exclusive"=dword:00000001

"SimulatePrintTo"=dword:00000001

 

For more info on downloading and installing Quick View:

http://avantstar.com/metro/home/Products/QuickViewPlus10

7-Zip

7-Zip software is used by Discovery Assistant to extract items from 7z, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, ARJ, CAB, CHM, CPIO, DEB, DMG, HFS, ISO, LZH, LZMA, MSI, NSIS, RPM, UDF, WIM, XAR and Z files.

1.       DA uses parts of 7-Zip namely 7z.exe.

2.       7-Zip is licensed under the GNU LGPL license.

3.       Visit www.7-zip.org for source code.

Contact Information

For additional sales and technical information, contact:

ImageMAKER Development Inc.

Sales: Toll Free (866) 525-2170 or (604)  525-2170  sales@imgmaker.com

Support: (604) 525-2108   support@imgmaker.com

Fax: (604) 520-0029

Web: www.imgmaker.com

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