FilesAnywhere Connector

9 minute read Last updated on September 21, 2023

FilesAnywhere Icon

The FilesAnywhere Connector node allows you to distribute documents to FilesAnywhere, a file hosting service that offers Cloud storage and file synchronization. Documents can be sent to FilesAnywhere via an automated workflow, or you can access FilesAnywhere directly at the MFP panel.

Note: To use the FilesAnywhere Connector, you must have an account with FilesAnywhere.

To open the FilesAnywhere Connector node’s properties window, add an output node for FilesAnywhere to your workflow and double-click on it.

FilesAnywhere Node

  • Check the Enabled box when there are multiple output locations. When unchecked, this output will be ignored. While the workflow will still validate, documents will not be output and may be lost.

  • In the Node Name field, enter a meaningful name for the FilesAnywhere Connector node.

  • In the Description field, enter a description for the FilesAnywhere Connector node. Although this is not required, it can be helpful to distinguish multiple destination nodes from each other. If the description is long, you can hover the mouse over the field to read its entire contents.

Configuring the Files Anywhere Connector

To configure the FilesAnywhere Connector, you must first receive an authorization token from FilesAnywhere to connect to your account; this is done by entering your FilesAnywhere credentials in the node properties window.

Connecting to FilesAnywhere

To begin, you must first enter FilesAnywhere credentials. Do the following:

  1. In the FilesAnywhere Authorization area’s Username and Password fields, enter your FilesAnywhere credentials (the username used when setting up the account and your FilesAnywhere password) and the Client ID that was assigned to your company.

    Note: If you are using a personal FilesAnywhere account, you do not need to enter the Client ID.

    When creating an automated workflow (e.g., uploading files from Input Folder to FilesAnywhere automatically), you must log into FilesAnywhere at least once from the FilesAnywhere node properties window in order to receive a valid token from FilesAnywhere.

  2. Change the seconds allotted for the time without communication (after the initial connection to the server) before a timeout occurs using the Connection Timeout field, if necessary. The default timeout value is 60 seconds.

  3. When you are done, select the Login button. Once authorization is successful, a new Clear Session button will appear, as in the following illustration:

    Clear Session

    If the token is no longer valid, select the Clear Session button; then select the Login button again.

Selecting a Folder

Once connected, the right hand side of the FilesAnywhere node properties window displays a tree-view of your folders, sub-folders, and files in FilesAnywhere. You can use this area to browse through your FilesAnywhere folder structure and choose a folder to store your documents in.

See the following illustration for an example:

Select A Folder

Sending Documents to a New Folder

You can also choose to create a new folder in FilesAnywhere to send documents to. Do one of the following:

  • Select the New folder icon on the top right-hand side of the window (New Folder) or press Ctrl + Shift + N. In the Create New Folder window that appears, enter the name for the new folder in the Name field; then select the Create button. The newly created folder will now appear in the Folder view. In the following illustration, a new folder called “Notes” is being created:

    Create New Folder

    • Enter a new folder name in the Folder Path field.

    • Use metadata to specify a folder path at run time. For example, you could use zonal OCR to extract client names from incoming documents and then use that OCR metadata in the Folder Path field. In this case, a folder name with the client name will be created in FilesAnywhere and documents will be automatically uploaded to that new folder at run time.

    Note: You cannot create a folder within a folder that does not already exist. For example, you cannot use two different metadata variables to create a folder within a folder (e.g., {bates:Counter}/{file:name}).

    To use metadata, do the following:

    1. Select the Metadata button to open up the Metadata Browser window.

    2. On the Metadata Browser window, select the metadata variable you are interested in; then drag-drop it to the Folder Path field. You may have to manually add the metadata’s page number to the variable. For example: {ocr:zone.Name[1]} would find the metadata on the 1st page. Or, you could add empty brackets (e.g., {ocr:zone.Name[]}) to find the first document-level occurrence of the metadata.

    3. Select the Close button on the Metadata Browser window.

File Name Restrictions

The following restrictions apply to file names:

  • File names cannot start with a space or end with a space.

  • You cannot start a file name with two period characters (..).

  • Non-printable characters cannot be included in a file name (tabs, newlines, etc.)

  • Do not use <  >  :  "  /  \  |  ?  *

View Options

You can adjust the view of your FilesAnywhere folders/files in the node properties window by using the icons on the top right-hand side of the window. Do the following:

Icon Click To…
Tree View Enable/disable the tree view of folders.
Files Show/hide files included in FilesAnywhere folders.
Refresh Refresh the current view with the most up-to-date folders/files.

Creating a FilesAnywhere Connector Index Form

You can create an index form that allows you to log into FilesAnywhere at the MFP and upload scanned documents to FilesAnywhere. Do the following:

  1. Make sure that your workflow includes a MFP Panel node and FilesAnywhere Connector node.

  2. Open up the Index Form Builder from the MFP Panel node. You should see a FilesAnywhere Connector button under the Workflow Index Fields area.

  3. Drag and drop the FilesAnywhere Connector button to the Index Form work area. A Scan to FilesAnywhere index form will automatically appear, as in the following illustration:

    FilesAnywhere Index Form

  4. Save and close the Index Form Builder.

  5. The FilesAnywhere Connector node properties window will be automatically populated with the variable names of the fields on the Index Form. Although you cannot edit the fields on this window, you can click on the wrench tool button to go to that section or field in the Index Form Builder. See the following illustration:

    FilesAnywhere Index Form

FilesAnywhere Configuration

You can also manually configure a query to retrieve data (e.g., list of folders, validation, etc.) from FilesAnywhere.

Using the Index Form Builder, do the following:

  1. Add a new field, such as a drop-down list.

  2. Define an On Load event for the field; then add a Query.

  3. Choose FilesAnywhere Data Source from the Query drop-down list.

  4. The FilesAnywhere Data Source Configuration window appears, which allows you to perform specific actions in order to retrieve data from FilesAnywhere.

    FilesAnywhere Data Source Configuration

    • In the Friendly Name field, enter an identifying name for the FilesAnywhere data source configuration.

    • In the Action area, you can choose what kind of action to perform on the FilesAnywhere data source. Options include:

    • Validate FilesAnywhere Login – Once you click on this option, you will see Username, Password, and Client ID fields appear in the left-hand side of the window. In the following illustration, these fields are already filled out with Index Form metadata:

    Validate FilesAnywhere

    This option is designed to validate the login credentials that are entered at the MFP (FilesAnywhere Username, Password, and Client ID) against the FilesAnywhere data source. This action returns the following records:

     -   \[result\] - The result of the login: true or false
    
     -   \[message\] - Text regarding a successful or unsuccessful login.
    
    • Get FilesAnywhere Folders - Use this action to display a list of folders within a specific FilesAnywhere Folder Path. When you select the Get FilesAnywhere Folders item, new fields will appear for configuration, as in the following illustration:

    Get FilesAnywhere Folders

    • Folder Path – Enter the name of the FilesAnywhere root folder that you want displayed at the MFP panel.

    • Show new folder option – Check this option to allow the user to create a new FilesAnywhere folder at the MFP.

    • Show Files - Check this option to display files in FilesAnywhere folders at the MFP.

    • Enable folder search – Check this option to display a Search field that can be used to filter the list of FilesAnywhere folders displayed on the panel. Note that the Search field includes type ahead functionality. This option is enabled by default.

    • You can select the Test Connection button to make sure that you are connected properly to FilesAnywhere.

Using FilesAnywhere Connector Index Form with Multiple Inputs

Once you associate your FilesAnywhere Connector node with a MFP Panel node’s index form, all the information necessary to connect and route to FilesAnywhere is entered at the MFP. Because of this, you cannot connect any other types of collection nodes (Input Folder, MFP User Box, etc.) to that indexed FilesAnywhere Connector node in your workflow. In this case, if you need to add other collection nodes to your workflow, you must add a new FilesAnywhere node that is not connected to an Index Form.

FilesAnywhere Index Form on MFP

At the MFP, the FilesAnywhere Index Form will be separated into three separate screens, as follows:

1st screen: FilesAnywhere Log In

FilesAnywhere at MFP

2nd screen: Choosing a FilesAnywhere Folder / Creating a New FilesAnywhere Folder

FilesAnywhere at MFP

A Search field is provided for you to use to narrow the list of folders. This field features type-ahead functionality to help you quickly filter the folders displayed on the screen. You can begin entering characters into the field and the folders will be filtered accordingly. The search operation will be conducted on any folders and sub-folders within the root directory.

  • A wildcard asterisk (*) can be used to represent more characters in a string of characters. For example, if entering inv* in the Search field, the folder results would display any folders that begin with those three letters (e.g., inv01, inv02, invoice, etc.). Or, if entering *inv in the Search field, the folder results would display any folders that end with those three letters (e.g., 01inv, 02inv, etc.)

  • A wildcard question mark (?) can be used to represent an arbitrary character. For example, if entering INV0? in the Search field, the folder results would display INV01, INV02, INV03, etc.

3rd screen: Viewing Search Results

FilesAnywhere at MFP

Once the folder list is filtered per your search, you can do the following:

  • Tap on the Use button to select that particular folder.

  • Tap on the View button to return to a directory structure view of that particular folder.

  • Release the filter by tapping on the X button next to the Search field.

  • Tap on the Search icon next to the field to submit the search criteria again.