Technical FAQs

Question

How can I enable content encryption in PrizmDoc Viewer?

Answer

First, you need to enable content encryption on the PrizmDoc Server in the central configuration file. To do this, find the viewing.contentEncryption.enabled section and change the value to true. Save the changes to the file and restart the PrizmDoc services for the change to take effect.

The file paths for the central configuration file are: 

Linux: /usr/share/prizm/prizm-services-config.yml
Windows: C:\Prizm\prizm-services-config.yml

Next, you need to enable content encryption in the Viewer. To do this, in the index page of your viewer (Default.aspx in C#, index.php in the PHP sample, index.html, etc.), provide the encryption option in the viewer options parameter as follows so that the Viewer can handle encrypted data:

function buildViewerOptions() {
    ...
    var optionsOverride = args.pop(); // always last arg
    var options = {
        ...
        encryption: true
    };
    var combinedOptions = _.extend(optionsOverride, options);
    embedViewer(combinedOptions);
}

For more in-depth information on enabling content encryption in PrizmDoc, please refer to our documentation here.

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Question

I have already licensed PrizmDoc. Where can I find my license key?

Answer

At the very top of the prizm-services-config.yml file located at C:/Prizm/ on Windows and /usr/share/prizm/ on Linux, you can locate the license key:

######################### PrizmDoc Configuration ###############################

############################### Licensing ######################################

license.solutionName: ________
license.key: 2.0...
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The healthcare industry has undergone a profound change in the 21st century. A combination of technological advancements and regulatory pressures has encouraged providers to adopt new software platforms and update their existing IT stack. Gone are the days of physical file archives and cramped server rooms; today’s healthcare organizations are instead embracing innovative Internet of Things (IoT) devices, cloud-based file systems, and colocated server deployments that enhance their service capabilities and efficiency.

Unfortunately, not every provider is implementing new technology at the same pace. As science fiction author William Gibson famously observed, “The future is already here. It’s just not evenly distributed yet.” Today’s healthcare organizations must navigate a complex landscape of software solutions and overcome compatibility challenges in order to provide better service and care patients deserve.

The Drive for Interoperability

One of the key components of the 2010 Affordable Care Act was the push to promote interoperability among healthcare providers. The logic was fairly simple: for a healthcare marketplace to work effectively, patient information needs to be able to move freely between providers. That meant the myriad healthcare technology platforms being adopted by different organizations needed to be able to communicate with one another and share a common set of file formats.

The combined pressures of digital transformation and interoperability have led most hospitals and specialized health providers to implement picture archiving and communication systems (PACS). These digital archives and file management platforms allow providers to easily, store, retrieve, distribute, and present a variety of medical images, such as CT, MRI, and DR scans. They have largely replaced the expensive and complex manual filing systems used to store physical film and provided a far more secure means of protecting patient data.

Healthcare Image Processing

One of the advantages of shifting to digital scan formats is the ability to compress images while maintaining the ability to decompress them back to their original images. Poorly optimized compression tools can deteriorate the integrity of a high-resolution image, potentially obscuring key diagnostic indicators. In order to overcome these challenges, healthcare systems need image processing features capable of supporting rapid data compression, lossless transmission, and image cleanup.

Software developers working on PACS platforms and medical applications can turn to image processing SDKs like PICTools Medical to incorporate extensive compression and decompression capabilities into their solutions. These SDK tools can help overcome a variety of diagnostic imaging challenges, ensuring that complex medical files can be processed without any degradation of quality for easy viewing and management across multiple PACS platforms.

The Role of EHR Systems

Part of the push for interoperability included the adoption of electronic health records (EHR) systems, which digitized patient files to make them easier to share between healthcare providers. One of the challenges that came along with this adoption, however, was the handling of high-resolution medical images. While most healthcare providers have implemented some form of an EHR system, many of them do not have a PACS solution, especially if they don’t do any kind of medical scanning on-site. That means their ability to view certain types of medical images is quite limited. 

In theory, the medical industry has already solved this challenge with the development of the DICOM standard. Short for “digital imaging and communications in medicine,” DICOM was originally developed in a joint venture between the American College of Radiology (ACR) and National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) to ensure that healthcare providers would be able to view medical images no matter which vendor’s modality originally created them.

Unfortunately, the size and complexity of DICOM files often make them difficult for providers to manage. For instance, most EHR systems can transmit DICOM files (through a DICOM out or DICOM send functionality), but they often cannot view or annotate them. That’s because Windows doesn’t recognize DICOM files as image files. More importantly, large DICOM files often exceed the digital transfer limits of common communication channels like email. That leads to DICOM images being transferred on physical mediums, like discs or flash drives, that include viewer software.

Unlocking the Potential of DICOM 

Healthcare technology developers can help expand EHR functionality and realize the potential of DICOM by building viewing, conversion, and compression capabilities into their applications. Medical imaging SDKs like ImageGear Medical can not only convert DICOM files into a variety of easily viewable formats, but also perform essential cleanup functions to ensure that images maintain the highest integrity possible. High-level APIs can abstract or redact the details of a DICOM file to ensure the anonymity of the patent data as well as to compress it without degrading the image, making it easy to transfer files over secure channels rather than resorting to physical mediums or non-compliant public cloud platforms.

The ability to convert DICOM files into more easily managed formats also helps providers to share more information with patients. Diagnostic scans, for instance, can be quickly opened on IoT devices like a tablet and viewed entirely within the local application without having to use special equipment. Images can even be transferred directly to patients, allowing them to conveniently view them on their own devices. And thanks to lossless compression, medical offices can transmit the source DICOM files to other organizations when referring a patient to an outside provider.

Accusoft Medical Imaging Toolkits

With more than two decades of experience working with the imaging needs of the healthcare industry, Accusoft offers a variety of medical imaging toolkits to help software developers enhance their healthcare applications. Whether you’re developing a standalone imaging solution or adding viewing, compression, and cleanup features to your EHR system, our collection of SDKs and APIs can provide core medical image functionality so you can focus on building a better user experience and get to market faster. Learn more about how our medical imaging toolkits are improving outcomes in the healthcare industry and accelerating digital transformation trends.

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Question

When viewing an Excel document with hidden content in the viewer, the content remains visible when otherwise expected to remain hidden. Is this intended behavior?

Answer

Short answer: Yes.

Currently, both PrizmDoc Cloud and PrizmDoc Viewer (Self-Hosted) are configured to render hidden content by default, so this is expected behavior.

For PrizmDoc Viewer (Self-Hosted) users, this rendering behavior is configurable using the central configuration file.

The file paths for the central configuration file are:

  • Linux: /usr/share/prizm/prizm-services-config.yml
  • Windows: C:\Prizm\prizm-services-config.yml

Simply add/modify the following parameter:

fileTypes.excel.renderHiddenContent: false

Setting the render option to false will hide content as expected, whereas true will render it.

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Question

We wanted to upgrade our previous version of PrizmDoc to the most recent release. However, when trying to install the latest version, the installation is failing. What do I need to do to get the latest version installed?

Answer

Typically, this issue may occur if you are upgrading from an older major version to a new major version, such as from PrizmDoc 11 to PrizmDoc 12 or PrizmDoc 13. If you are upgrading from one minor version to another, such as PrizmDoc 13.1 to PrizmDoc 13.6, then it should be seamless.

If you do have issues in either circumstance, it is usually due to files, folders, or registry settings that were left behind from the older version.

In order to fix the installation, please follow the process below to ensure the previous version is completely removed.

  1. Ensure previous installation folders are deleted:

    \Prizm and \ProgramData\Accusoft.

  2. Back-up your Windows registry, and then click on Start > Run, and type in regedit

  3. Click Edit and select Find, and then type Prizm

  4. When it finds a match, right-click on the registry key and select Delete

  5. Click F3 to find the next match, and repeat Step 4 for each key.

  6. Repeat Step 5 until the search comes back with “Finished Searching Registry”

  7. Reboot Server and attempt to re-install.

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Question

What causes Session Expired errors in PrizmDoc?

Answer

Session expired errors normally occur when a viewing session is open for longer than 20 minutes. 20 minutes is the default value of viewing.sessionLifetime in the PrizmDoc central configuration file, and you can increase it if you would like your Viewing Sessions to be active longer. On PrizmDoc Cloud this value is set to 5 hours.

You can find the relevant config file using the following file paths:

  • Linux: /usr/share/prizm/prizm-services-config.yml
  • Windows: C:\Prizm\prizm-services-config.yml
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Question

I need to share a large file with Accusoft support. What should I do?

Answer

Accusoft FTP

EXISTING CUSTOMERS:

If you are an existing customer, you can access our server using any of the following with your current credentials:

Protocol URL Port
FTPS ftp.accusoft.com 21
SFTP ftp.accusoft.com 22
HTTPS https://ftp.accusoft.com 443

To access the server with FTPS/SFTP using a browser, you may need to install/enable a plugin or extension. To access using HTTPS, you would use the URL shown above. FTPS and SFTP are accessible using most any FTP Client (e.g. filezilla, WinSCP etc.) Windows 10 b1803 and newer have sftp.exe built-in. This is a command-line-only utility for transferring files using SFTP.

Share with us from your Cloud Storage

You can share your files with us through your choice of service. Here are some of our suggested options below:

Google Drive

Dropbox

OneDrive

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Question

We want to use one PAS instance for multiple customers while ensuring their calls and data are separated so that other customers cannot access them. Is there a way PrizmDoc can accomplish this?

Answer

How To:

Use the following steps to set up the multi-tenancy feature:

  1. Add a new line inside of /usr/share/prizm/pas/pcc.nix.yml (Linux) or C:\Prizm\pas\pcc.win.yml (Windows) in the following format:

undocumentedFeature.multiTenancy: “enabled”

  1. After enabling this feature, all requests to PAS must include the header accusoft-tenant-id. The following shows an example request for creating a new viewing session:
POST /ViewingSession HTTP/1.1
Host: localhost:3000
Content-Type: application/json
accusoft-tenant-id: myUniqueTenantId
cache-control: no-cache
Postman-Token: 5edd698a-5e4f-46d2-b93a-42cc57371dce
  {
  "source": {
  "type": "document",
  "fileName": "1040ez.pdf"
   }
  }

NOTE: All Tenant Ids are converted to lowercase and must be unique between tenants. This means that in terms of the application both “MyTenant” and “mytenant” are equivalent and would be able to see the same files. Tenant Ids are not generated for the application and must be generated and handled by the integration components. Tenant Ids are also strictly alphanumeric at this time.

File storage including Documents, markupXml, formDefinitions and markupLayerRecords will now be appended with the
{tenantId} as shown in the above example with a Documents configuration of /usr/share/prizm/Samples/Documents. The request would attempt to create a viewing session from the following file: /usr/share/prizm/Samples/Documents/myuniquetenantid/1040ez.pdf

Viewing Package data stored in the database will have the tenantId included in the composite index as well as include an accusoftTenantId column.

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Question

Why do the fonts in my document look different when rendered in PrizmDoc?

Answer

There are times when a document was created on a machine where a user installed a non-standard font (e.g., Maestro-Regular). When the document is viewed on another system, without that font installed, the text will look different.

PrizmDoc uses the fonts installed on the server where it is running when converting the document. If the document has a non-standard font, and the font is not installed on the server where PrizmDoc is running, then it will render the document with a default font.

To fix the issue, you need to install the font onto the PrizmDoc server that converted the document. The procedure below outlines how to install the font on a Windows server. You will need to ensure that you are logged in as the same UserId that the Prizm Service is using.

  1. Identify the name of the font that needs to be installed and download the font file associated with that font. The font file name will typically be in the format of fontname.ttf.
  2. Copy the .ttf file to the server running PrizmDoc.
  3. On the server, right-click the .ttf file and select Install from the menu.
  4. Stop all of the Prizm services.
  5. Clear all folders under \Prizm\Cache – this will clear the previously rendered files that had the wrong font rendered.
  6. Reboot the server and attempt to open the document again.
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Question

After restarting the Prizm Services, you may notice that the http://localhost:18681/admin status page shows a status of “unhealthy” and in the Internal Services section, the mongo-manager-service is showing a clock, and the text-service is showing a red x.

How can this be fixed?

Answer

Reason:

This will typically occur when the mongo-manager-service detects an unclean shutdown and the cache gets corrupted.

How to Verify:

You can do a search in the C:\Prizm\logs\mongod.log file on Windows or the /usr/share/prizm/logs/mongod.log file on Linux for the word "unclean" and you may find the following error:

Detected unclean shutdown -
C:\Prizm\cache\mongo-manager-service\data\mongod.lock is not empty.

Resolution:

  1. Stop the Prizm Services.

  2. For PrizmDoc 13.3 and above, clear out all subfolders under prizm\cache (leave the prizm\cache folder).

  3. For PrizmDoc 13.2 and prior, clear out all files and subfolders under C:\Prizm\services\mongo-manager-service\bin\mongodb\data

  4. Start the Prizm Services.

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Question

I have just installed PrizmDoc to my Windows server. When checking the status using http://localhost:18681/admin, the service is showing in a starting phase and ms-office-conversion-service is showing a clock icon, but it never starts.

What are some reasons as to why this might occur?

Answer

This can happen if your PrizmDoc license has the MSO feature enabled and you do not have Microsoft Office 2013 or 2016 installed, or Office 2013 or 2016 is not activated.

To fix this issue you can either:

  • Install Microsoft Office 2013 or 2016, activate it, and reboot the server.

Or:

  • Switch PrizmDoc to use LibreOffice until you are able to install Microsoft Office by modifying C:\Prizm\prizm-serivices-config.yml and updating the line: 
    #fidelity.msOfficeDocumentsRenderer: auto

    to:

    fidelity.msOfficeDocumentsRenderer: libreoffice
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The COVID-19 pandemic may not be the first pandemic to impact global supply chains, but its impact has been orders of magnitude greater than previous public health crises. Businesses around the world have been forced to contend with the twin challenges of transitioning to a remote workforce and overcoming severe supply chain disruption. As 2020 winds down to a close, it’s becoming clear that the pandemic may well represent a “new normal” for logistics strategy rather than a temporary situation.

3 Critical Supply Chain Challenges 

From implementing new technology to establishing relationships with alternative vendors, organizations across multiple industries are taking steps to meet the challenges confronting their supply chains in both the immediate and long-term future. One of the biggest areas of focus is barcode integration. Although they may not seem like they belong at the forefront of innovation, barcodes are scanned more than six billion times every day and serve an incredibly important role in modern supply chain management.

Here are a few of the biggest challenges organizations are facing:

1. Supply Chain Visibility

Speed and flexibility are competitive advantages in today’s on-demand marketplace. Customers want products delivered faster and will quickly lose faith in brands that fail to meet their expectations. According to a 2019 survey of online consumers, 72.7% of respondents were unlikely to order from a company again after a poor delivery experience. Given those high stakes, it’s incredibly important for organizations to maintain high levels of visibility into their supply chains.

Barcode technology makes it possible to track products and materials throughout the entire production and distribution process. A quick scan is all that’s needed to update an item’s status every time it’s processed at a location. That information feeds into inventory tracking software that allows businesses to get a more accurate picture of how shipments move through their supply chain. This visibility makes it easier to identify potential problems and enhance overall logistics efficiency. 

2. Digital Transformation

Despite the growing emphasis on digital transformation across the economy, the average supply chain is still held back with inefficient, legacy infrastructure. Small and medium-size businesses face the greatest challenges, with only 21% of them using digital tools to integrate their supply chain operations with other departments. In the retail industry alone, bad processes and data disconnects cost companies over $500 billion annually. As the holiday season draws nearer and promises to bring with it a massive increase in online shopping, having a fully digital supply chain in place with enough speed to handle that demand is essential.

Implementing the right digital technology tools can help organizations to streamline their supply chains and gather the data they need to make better decisions. Barcode integration software is a foundational component of this transformation because it forms a bridge between the physical and digital elements of logistics management. Shipments can be instantly scanned into tracking systems to provide a wealth of data points across the supply chain, making it easier to adapt to disruptions and develop better processes. Barcode libraries also need to be able to scan and decode both traditional 1D codes and newer 2D codes quickly and accurately to keep products moving swiftly and smoothly to consumers.

3. Automation

As many organizations have put social distancing protocols in place during the pandemic to protect the health of both employees and customers, automation has become more important to supply chain performance than ever before. These COVID-19 pressures are sure to accelerate what was already a growing push toward implementing automated software and systems. Gartner even projected in 2019 that 30% of warehouse workers will be replaced by collaborative robots by 2023, which will further drive the demand for automated scanning and inventory management tools to accompany them.

For these automated systems to work effectively, they will need robust software that can withstand the difficult working conditions of warehouses, assembly lines, and distribution centers. A barcode integration that struggles to accurately read damaged or broken barcode images, for instance, won’t last very long in such an environment. The software powering automated systems must be able to function under a variety of conditions and be adaptable enough to overcome obstacles without constant oversight from on-site workers.

Unleash Your Supply Chain With Barcode Xpress

Building software capable of meeting the needs of a truly digital supply chain is no easy task. That’s especially true when it comes to integrating barcode reading capabilities into supply chain applications. With so many barcode formats in use, developers need an SDK with the ability to accurately detect, read, and write both common and uncommon barcode types used across all industries.

Accusoft’s Barcode Xpress is a multi-language barcode integration capable of reading and writing more than 30 different barcode types quickly and accurately. A truly robust SDK solution, Barcode Xpress leverages the imaging functionalities of ImagXpress to repair damaged orbroken barcodes that other readers are unable to read.

Speed

Barcode Xpress is capable of detecting and decoding multiple barcodes on a page at speeds of up to 1,000 pages per minute. It doesn’t matter where the barcode is located, what type of code it is, or how many are present. The control is able to read them regardless of orientation within milliseconds.

Accuracy

Every time Barcode Xpress detects a barcode, it not only provides the information encoded within the image, but also reports a confidence value to ensure high levels of accuracy. Damaged, broken, or poorly printed barcodes can also be scanned thanks to the SDK’s image processing capabilities. Black noise, white noise, erasures, low resolution, white line streaks, and other common barcode problems are reconstructed and scanned automatically to keep the supply chain moving.

Versatility

With the ability to detect, read, and write over 30 different barcode types, Barcode Xpress is available in multiple configurations for Windows and Linux-based operating systems. The SDK library supports 24-bit color images, 8-bit grayscale images, and 1-bit black and white images, as well as providing more than 80 additional image processing and editing functions thanks to its ImagXpress integration.

Experience Barcode Xpress Today

Easy to deploy and utilize, Barcode Xpress is a true all-in-one solution for desktop and web applications seeking barcode recognition capabilities. Just a few lines of code is all it takes to unlock the full potential of your supply chain technology.

Find out just how simple barcode integration can be with Barcode Xpress. Sign up today to download a free trial or talk to one of our SDK specialists today to learn more.

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