Technical FAQs

Question

Currently we are using PAS for viewing packages and it is pointed to our Accusoft Cloud subscription API key. PAS is installed locally and we store the viewing package artifacts in our S3 bucket. We are using 600 GB of storage on S3 for the viewing package artifacts we already have converted.

We would like to start using Accusoft’s Cloud PAS API to create viewing packages and no longer wish to host our own PAS and have the following questions:

  1. Is there a way we can migrate our current artifacts from our S3 bucket to Accusoft’s S3 bucket?

  2. Is there an additional charge for storing the artifacts at Accusoft?

  3. Is there a way to point the Cloud PAS to our existing S3 bucket?

Answer

Q: Is there a way we can migrate our current artifacts from our S3 bucket to Accusoft’s S3 bucket?

A: We do not currently offer an API for directly importing your existing viewing packages. However, you can re-create your viewing packages in PrizmDoc Cloud using the original source document.

Q: Is there an additional charge for storing the artifacts at Accusoft?

A: At this time there is no additional charge. However, this is
subject to change.

Q: Is there a way to point the Cloud PAS to our existing S3 bucket?

A: There is currently no setting available to configure your PrizmDoc Cloud account to use an S3 bucket which you own. If you use PrizmDoc Cloud, the storage is managed by Accusoft. If you need to own and manage the storage yourself, you’ll want to use your own Self-Hosted PAS.

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Question

What is the proper way of using affinity tokens in cluster mode where multiple file IDs using multiple affinity tokens need to be combined?

Answer

If you are using PrizmDoc Server in cluster (multi-server) mode, and you are using Content Conversion Services to merge multiple files into one, or whenever multiple file ids using multiple affinity tokens need to be combined; your requests need to use a single affinity token. Because affinity tokens need to go in the header, you might think you are required to include all/both of the files’ affinity tokens in the header.

If you find yourself in this situation, the correct method is to re-use the first affinity token you get for all subsequent resources you create. For example, if you create a work file, you’ll get an affinity token back in the response. That affinity token needs to be set in the Accusoft-Affinity-Token request header of any subsequent resources (work files, content converter, viewing sessions, etc.) that you create later and want to use together.

An example is located here:

https://help.accusoft.com/PrizmDoc/latest/HTML/affinity-tokens-and-cluster-mode.html

The main takeaway here is that the initial request that is made to the server for a workfile will return an affinity token. This very same affinity token must be used in the header Accusoft-Affinity-Token for all subsequent requests in this conversion/stitching process.

The most relevant quote from that page is:

“In cluster mode, the PrizmDoc Server API will automatically generate an affinity token when it receives a POST request for a new ViewingSession, WorkFile, MarkupBurner, RedactionCreator, or ContentConverter resource and return it in the response. Once you have obtained an affinity token, you will need to pass this in with related requests using the Accusoft-Affinity-Token HTTP custom header.”

Here is a separate custom example of stitching two TIFF images together by converting them to a PDF.

First TIFF image

Request with no affinity token:

POST /PCCIS/V1/WorkFile HTTP/1.1
Host: prizmdocservername:18681
Content-Type: application/octet-stream

Response:

{
    "fileId": "I3GRFEfrw_K8fX4VJ7Z1bQ",
    "fileExtension": "tif",
    "affinityToken": "ZSTudgjA42h1CVCj0KkGuYiKn5nEFhmFrvA0AkMxDxc="
}

Second TIFF image

Request:

POST /PCCIS/V1/WorkFile HTTP/1.1
Host: prizmdocservername:18681
Content-Type: application/octet-stream
Accusoft-Affinity-Token: ZSTudgjA42h1CVCj0KkGuYiKn5nEFhmFrvA0AkMxDxc=

Response:

{
    "fileId": "I-CTRdFnaL8FLNQDUawTHw",
    "fileExtension": "tif",
    "affinityToken": "ZSTudgjA42h1CVCj0KkGuYiKn5nEFhmFrvA0AkMxDxc="
}

Content Conversion

Request:

POST /v2/contentConverters HTTP/1.1
Host: prizmdocservername:18681
Content-Type: application/json
Accusoft-Affinity-Token: ZSTudgjA42h1CVCj0KkGuYiKn5nEFhmFrvA0AkMxDxc=

{
    "input": {
        "sources": [
            { 
                "fileId": "I3GRFEfrw_K8fX4VJ7Z1bQ"
            },
            { 
                "fileId": "I-CTRdFnaL8FLNQDUawTHw"
            }
        ],
        "dest": {
            "format": "pdf"
        }
    }
}

Response:

{
    "input": {
        "dest": {
            "format": "pdf",
            "pdfOptions": {
                "forceOneFilePerPage": false
            }
        },
        "sources": [
            {
                "fileId": "I3GRFEfrw_K8fX4VJ7Z1bQ",
                "pages": ""
            },
            {
                "fileId": "I-CTRdFnaL8FLNQDUawTHw",
                "pages": ""
            }
        ]
    },
    "expirationDateTime": "2018-10-03T19:12:52.005Z",
    "processId": "1u6k5Y_l7yRfhWyfL1t4Yw",
    "state": "processing",
    "percentComplete": 0,
    "affinityToken": "ZSTudgjA42h1CVCj0KkGuYiKn5nEFhmFrvA0AkMxDxc="
}

Content Conversion Request:

/v2/contentConverters/{processId}

GET /v2/contentConverters/1u6k5Y_l7yRfhWyfL1t4Yw HTTP/1.1
Host: prizmdocservername:18681
Accusoft-Affinity-Token: ZSTudgjA42h1CVCj0KkGuYiKn5nEFhmFrvA0AkMxDxc=

Content Conversion Complete Response:

{
    "input": {
        "dest": {
            "format": "pdf",
            "pdfOptions": {
                "forceOneFilePerPage": false
            }
        },
        "sources": [
            {
                "fileId": "I3GRFEfrw_K8fX4VJ7Z1bQ",
                "pages": ""
            },
            {
                "fileId": "I-CTRdFnaL8FLNQDUawTHw",
                "pages": ""
            }
        ]
    },
    "expirationDateTime": "2018-10-03T19:12:52.005Z",
    "processId": "1u6k5Y_l7yRfhWyfL1t4Yw",
    "state": "complete",
    "percentComplete": 100,
    "output": {
        "results": [
            {
                "fileId": "tK4UbzryHWFoqOC6JJAjAg",
                "sources": [
                    {
                        "fileId": "I3GRFEfrw_K8fX4VJ7Z1bQ",
                        "pages": "1"
                    },
                    {
                        "fileId": "I-CTRdFnaL8FLNQDUawTHw",
                        "pages": "1"
                    }
                ],
                "pageCount": 2
            }
        ]
    }
}

Download The WorkFile:

/PCCIS/V1/WorkFile/{fileId}

GET /PCCIS/V1/WorkFile/1u6k5Y_l7yRfhWyfL1t4Yw HTTP/1.1
Host: prizmdocservername:18681
Accusoft-Affinity-Token: ZSTudgjA42h1CVCj0KkGuYiKn5nEFhmFrvA0AkMxDxc=
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convert pdf

PDFs are everywhere. Vice calls them “the world’s most important file format,” and that’s not far off the mark. The sheer number of documents converted to, from, and often back to PDFs is astounding. The hard truth? They’re also frustrating to work with. Start a Google search with the word “convert” and three of the top five results involve PDFs. 

While this portable document format lives up to its namesake by making it easy for users to attach and send documents across their organizations, PDFs often run into problems when it comes to conversion, collaboration, and communication. While many tools offer piecemeal PDF functionality, they lack a complete cadre of critical capabilities, in turn forcing software engineers to use multiple software solutions for seemingly simple tasks. 

ImageGear offers a different take on the standard software development kit (SDK) designed to help developers maximize their PDF potential. Here’s how it works. 

The Value of PDF Conversion

While PDF conversion is one of the top sought-after functionalities, there’s another area that’s often overlooked: modifying the characteristics of PDFs on-screen. With companies now handling PDFs from multiple sources that may include everything from computer-generated form data to handwritten information and images, it’s no surprise that staff encounter a wide variety of viewing issues.

ImageGear PDF helps solve these problems by allowing users to call the shots on PDF content at scale with features such as:

  • Conversion
  • Metadata Management
  • Content and Font Editing
  • Text Extraction
  • PDF Watermarking
  • Container, Dictionary, and Layer Creation
  • 3D Asset Modification

ImageGear PDF also helps improve document processing with document cleanup and advanced optical character recognition (OCR). With the ability to encrypt and decrypt entire images (or part of an image), automatic ImageClean correction of white text blocks, borders, and inverted images, plus intelligent re-sizing, any PDF can be cleaned and made more readable for the user. 

OCR support for almost any document type is also a benefit. This includes those produced on typewriters, dot-matrix printers, ink-jet printers, laser printers, and photocopied, scanned, and faxed documents. ImageGear PDF helps users control and customize multiple PDF variables, making it a fully functional PDF conversion solution for your application.

PDF Pain Points

One of the biggest PDF frustrations? The inability to break apart and combine PDF documents. Let’s imagine you have a massive legal PDF or in-depth medical file. In these circumstances, professionals only need a portion of the PDF, but without the right tools they’re stuck sending entire files when all they need is a single page. In other cases, employees might have a host of related PDFs that are part of the same project, but can’t be easily combined to save space and time.

ImageGear PDF has you covered with the ability to easily delete or insert PDF pages, render pages in a single PDF, split a PDF, merge two or more PDFs into a single file, or even merge specific pages from two or more PDFs into a single PDF. This not only makes a massive difference in time spent working with PDF documents, it helps reduce unnecessary storage and transmission of multiple files. 

Convert PDF: Multiple File Formats for Conversion

Conversion is critical for PDF success. Instead of creating complexity by forcing end-users to stick with original file formats, implementing an SDK with cutting-edge conversion empowers corporate consistency and saves on storage space. ImageGear PDF supports a host of common file formats for conversion including Microsoft Office, JPEG 2000, CAD, and SVG.

Of course, no feature forward PDF framework is complete without robust annotation, redaction, and commenting capabilities. These features make it easy for other users to see exactly what’s been changed, when, and why, along with providing a critical, auditable paper trail to meet evolving compliance and regulatory standards.

PDF Functionality for Your Application

Best of all, ImageGear isn’t designed to replace your current software, but integrate alongside existing workflows. Rather than adding another application to already-overloaded IT arsenals, straightforward SDK integration means everything happens within your own application, making it easy for everyone to find exactly what they’re looking for within familiar territory. Need help jumpstarting your SDK deployment? Check out our full list of ImageGear .NET samples for ASP.NET, CAD, OCR support, and more.

PDFs remain eternally popular and continually frustrating. Solve for document viewing, split and merge, and conversion issues and streamline employee efforts with ImageGear.

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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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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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