Technical FAQs
Introduction
A large government agency with millions of employees needed to manage personnel records and payment information while also making documents and images easily accessible for all users. Each document trail spanned the duration of the employee’s time with the agency, resulting in a repository containing hundreds of millions of documents. The existing system used a combination of custom-developed, Windows-based image viewers that were cumbersome, difficult to maintain, and presented security risks.
Overview
As the system struggled to keep up with demand, employees became increasingly frustrated with the system. Rather than viewing documents within the system, they began using workarounds like printing out files or saving them to another device, both of which presented serious security risks since the records contained personally identifiable information. The agency needed a solution that could manage hundreds of millions of documents while still providing users with simple, secure, and quick access to personnel records and payment information.
Although the document repository’s legacy viewing solution was no longer able to meet the agency’s needs, developing a new document viewer was prohibitively expensive and required expertise its IT team did not possess. Rather than building a solution from scratch, it made more sense to evaluate viewing integrations available on the market. The agency set out to find a viewer that could support multiple document types, including TIFF and PDF/A, for both viewing and archival purposes. Whatever solution the IT team chose to adopt would have to integrate smoothly into the existing legacy system to avoid a costly and time-consuming overhaul.
Challenges
After evaluating several options, the agency turned to Accusoft’s PrizmDoc® for Java, formerly VirtualViewer®. As a Java-based viewer that uses HTML5 to render files for viewing, PrizmDoc® for Java would allow the document repository to access files quickly and easily. PrizmDoc® for Java’s extensive file format support allowed the agency to render PDF, Word, Excel, AFP, DWG, TIFF, and more in one universal viewer. The integration’s built-in library eliminated the need for a third-party application or additional license, further simplifying the agency’s document management processes.
Another key priority was giving employees the ability to access documents from multiple devices. In the past, the system’s legacy viewer only allowed them to open and view documents on a desktop with the right software installed. To streamline the employee experience, the agency required a viewer that could be accessed from any device that supports a web browser, including tablets and smartphones. PrizmDoc® for Java’s true cross-platform support and complete mobility provided the flexibility the agency needed to access documents from anywhere, at any time. The integration’s HTML5 technology and Java-based viewing allowed users to view and manipulate files within the browser, eliminating the need for an external application.
PrizmDoc® for Java’s quick installation and integration process made it the ideal solution for the agency. Installing PrizmDoc® for Java’s document viewer took less than 10 minutes for proof of concept (POC) testing on any desktop, laptop, or virtual machine. The integration also provided APIs and developer tools to make integrating and leveraging the technology simple and easy, including RESTful content handlers that allowed for a more flexible development and deployment process.
Results
PrizmDoc® for Java’s high-speed viewing for large files allowed document rendering and processing to be split between the server and browser, delivering an extremely high-speed response. The integration’s advanced features, including annotation, redaction, splitting, merging, and more, provided far more functionality than was possible under the legacy viewer. PrizmDoc® for Java’s robust thumbnail panels also simplified working on large documents using full-panel thumbnail displays, as well as the option to adjust thumbnail size.
By implementing PrizmDoc® for Java, the government agency was able to provide more streamlined access to personnel and payroll records, saving employees and HR personnel time and money while eliminating security and management issues associated with the previous viewing solution. Millions of users are now able to view critical information related to their records via any device that has access to a web browser. PrizmDoc® for Java’s robust document support and easy-to-use interface made it an essential tool for the agency’s document management and collaboration processes. The agency was able to continue using their existing repository system while also gaining the benefits of a modern, user-friendly document viewer.
About Accusoft
Founded in 1991, Accusoft is a software development company specializing in content processing, conversion, and automation solutions. From out-of-the-box and configurable applications to APIs built for developers, Accusoft software enables users to solve their most complex workflow challenges and gain insights from content in any format, on any device. Backed by 40 patents, the company’s flagship products, including Docubee, PrizmDoc Viewer, and ImageGear, are designed to improve productivity, provide actionable data, and deliver results that matter. The Accusoft team is dedicated to continuous innovation through customer-centric product development, new version release, and a passion for understanding industry trends that drive consumer demand. Visit us at www.accusoft.com.
Finovate and Informa Engage surveyed fintech and banking companies on behalf of Accusoft to gain a better idea of the current capabilities available in document management systems, and the challenges these firms face in using them more efficiently. Learn what we found.
TAMPA, FL, UNITED STATES, August 19, 2021 — The Tampa Bay Software CEO Council, founded by Tampa Bay Tech, selected Tampa Bay Area non-profit Computer Mentors as the recipient of the group’s annual fundraising efforts. This month, they presented Computer Mentors founder and Executive Director Ralph Smith with a check for more than $10,000.
“Every year we look for a local charity to connect with and the work Computer Mentors is doing to promote tech with area kids completely aligns with our mission,” said Jack Berlin, CEO of Accusoft. “The work they’re doing to empower kids to pursue careers in tech is instrumental to the future of Tampa Bay as a growing tech hub.”
Computer Mentors works to build opportunity through expertise for the underserved youth of the community. By establishing and building upon a fundamental skillset covering programming, entrepreneurism, public speaking, and more; Computer Mentors gives its students the tools and talent they need to become savvy, self-starting achievers in a tech-centric world.
The Software CEO Council comprises the area’s premier businesses, executives, and entrepreneurs of Tampa Bay’s technology community. Its mission is to create the largest communal ecosystem for tech startups in the state of Florida and put Tampa Bay on the map as a beacon for innovation and success, to foster talent and fuel growth. Council companies include A-LIGN, Accusoft, AgileThought, Bond-Pro, CrossBorder Solutions, Digital Hands, Geographic Solutions, Haneke Design, MercuryWorks, Sourcetoad, Spirion and SunView Software.
https://www.tampasoftwareceos.com/
“Tampa Bay Tech’s Software CEO Council represents several of our area’s most innovative, growing companies, and we are honored to be the recipient of their generous gift to our kids,” said Smith. “Donations like this help fund much-needed programs to help level the playing field for our kids and develop the next generation of talent right here in Tampa Bay.”
About Tampa Bay Tech:
Tampa Bay Tech is a 501(c) 6 non-profit technology council that has been engaging and uniting the local technology community for 20 years. Through their membership and partnerships their mission is to build a radically connected, flourishing tech hub where opportunity is abundant for all. With over 125 companies representing thousands of tech employees – as well as thousands of students within the area’s colleges and universities – Tampa Bay Tech provides programming and initiatives to connect the community, provide development opportunities, and support Tampa Bay’s growing workforce.
Jill St Thomas
Tampa Bay Tech
jill@tampabay.tech
About Accusoft:
Founded in 1991, Accusoft is a software development company specializing in content processing, conversion, and automation solutions. From out-of-the-box and configurable applications to APIs built for developers, Accusoft software enables users to solve their most complex workflow challenges and gain insights from content in any format, on any device. Backed by 40 patents, the company’s flagship products, including OnTask, PrizmDoc™ Viewer, and ImageGear, are designed to improve productivity, provide actionable data, and deliver results that matter. The Accusoft team is dedicated to continuous innovation through customer-centric product development, new version release, and a passion for understanding industry trends that drive consumer demand. Visit us at www.accusoft.com.
Barcode Xpress and ImageGear .NET. Barcode Xpress is a leading barcode reading SDK. While it supports a variety of image formats, Barcode Xpress works with ImageGear to support even more obscure image formats. For example, Barcode Xpress does not support reading barcodes on PDFs. Combined with ImageGear, developers can support a myriad of image formats and PDFs. With Barcode Xpress & ImageGear working together, developers can integrate a barcode reader that can detect barcodes on almost any kind of document.
Barcode Xpress accepts images in multiple different object types, such as System.Drawing.Bitmap. Using the method ImGearFileFormats.ExportPageToBitmap we can easily take any image that ImageGear supports and export it to a System.Drawing.Bitmap object that we can then pass to Barcode Xpress. So, only a tiny amount of code is required to recognize barcodes with ImageGear .NET and Barcode Xpress. Below, we’ll show various ways to pass different types of images and documents to Barcode Xpress.
Image:
// Load the image into the page.
ImGearPage imGearPage = ImGearFileFormats.LoadPage(stream, 0);
// Export the image to a bitmap and pass that bitmap to Barcode Xpress
Result[] results = barcodeXpress.reader.Analyze(ImGearFileFormats.ExportPageToBitmap(imGearPage));
PDF:
We need slightly more code for a PDF. First, we specify a page number when calling LoadPage. Second, we must dispose of the ImGearPage object after we’re done with it.
// Load the specified page of the PDF as an ImGearPage object
ImGearPage imGearPDFPage = ImGearFileFormats.LoadPage(stream, pageNumber);
// Export the image to a bitmap and pass that bitmap to Barcode Xpress
Result[] results = barcodeXpress.reader.Analyze(ImGearFileFormats.ExportPageToBitmap(imGearPDFPage));
(imGearPDFPage as IDisposable).Dispose();
Now that we’ve explained the most important part, we’ll show you a simple console app that recognizes barcodes on a PDF using the method above.
The code below assumes you’ve installed an evaluation or development license for both Barcode Xpress and ImageGear .NET.
using System;
using System.IO;
using Accusoft.BarcodeXpressSdk;
using ImageGear.Core;
using ImageGear.Evaluation;
using ImageGear.Formats;
using ImageGear.Formats.PDF;
namespace BXandIGDotNet
{
class Program
{
static int pageNumber = 0;
static string fileName = @"Path/To/Your/PDF..pdf";
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Initialize evaluation license.
ImGearEvaluationManager.Initialize();
// Initialize common formats.
ImGearCommonFormats.Initialize();
// Add support for PDF and PS files.
ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Insert(0, ImGearPDF.CreatePDFFormat());
ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Insert(0, ImGearPDF.CreatePSFormat());
ImGearPDF.Initialize();
using (FileStream stream = new FileStream(fileName, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.Read))
using (BarcodeXpress barcodeXpress = new BarcodeXpress())
{
// Load the specified page of the PDF as an ImGearPage object
ImGearPage imGearPDFPage = ImGearFileFormats.LoadPage(stream, pageNumber);
// Export the image to a bitmap and pass that bitmap to Barcode Xpress
Result[] results = barcodeXpress.reader.Analyze(ImGearFileFormats.ExportPageToBitmap(imGearPDFPage));
(imGearPDFPage as IDisposable).Dispose();
// Print the values of every barcode detected.
for (int i = 0; i < results.Length; i++)
{
Console.WriteLine("#" + i.ToString() + " Value: " + results[i].BarcodeValue);
}
Console.ReadKey();
}
}
}
}
Using Barcode Xpress and ImageGear in Other Languages & Linux
You can also use Barcode Xpress and ImageGear together outside of the .NET framework. Barcode Xpress supports several different programming languages and frameworks including .NET Core, Java, NodeJS, Python, C, and C++. All of which can be used on Linux.
ImageGear for C/C++ also supports Linux. Barcode Xpress Linux, which is a C/C++ library, ships with a sample called “ReadBarcodesIG”, that shows how to integrate Barcode Xpress Linux and ImageGear for C/C++. You can find the sample code after downloading our SDK here! For more information on Barcode Xpress, visit our Developer Resources page on the website. In addition, you can also find more information about ImageGear .NET on its respective Developer Resources page as well.
October 11, 2023 – Tampa, FL – Accusoft is pleased to announce the newest additions to PrizmDoc’s industry-leading document processing capabilities: video playback and an advanced optical character recognition (OCR) API integration. These new additions allow PrizmDoc to provide even more support to developers looking to add essential features to their applications.
PrizmDoc’s new video playback feature makes it easy for clients to natively embed videos into their software without having to rely on external hosting platforms or third-party plug-ins. The feature not only enhances security, but also delivers a seamless user experience that today’s customers expect from their applications.
With PrizmDoc’s new advanced OCR API, web developers can now access Accusoft’s optical character recognition technology that was previously only accessible via an SDK. The features included in the new OCR API enable full page and zonal recognition for document and forms processing as well as support for location and confidence information for each character. With a simple API call, PrizmDoc can extract searchable text from any supported raster file. The new OCR API add-on option for PrizmDoc also offers support for 60+ languages plus an option for Asian languages.
“Today’s applications need more than the ability to view and manage documents,” says Jack Berlin, CEO of Accusoft. “By enabling video playback and allowing developers to tap into our proven OCR technology with a simple API call, we’re making it easier for PrizmDoc customers to deliver an all-in-one solution for their customers that provides a better overall user experience.”
To learn more about PrizmDoc or to download a free trial and experience the new video playback and OCR API features first-hand, visit our website.
About Accusoft
Founded in 1991, Accusoft is a software development company specializing in document processing, conversion, and automation solutions. From out-of-the-box and configurable applications to APIs built for developers, Accusoft software enables users to solve th most complex workflow challenges and gain insights from content in any format, on any device. Backed by 40 patents, the company’s flagship products, including OnTask, PrizmDoc, and ImageGear, are designed to improve productivity, provide actionable data, and deliver results that matter. The Accusoft team is dedicated to continuous innovation through customer-centric product development, new version release, and a passion for understanding industry trends that drive consumer demand. Visit us at www.accusoft.com.
TAMPA, Fla. – Accusoft is proud to announce its new VP of Sales, Greg Barker. This leadership shift in the sales team will empower Accusoft to focus on new growth strategies.
As Vice President of Sales, Greg will lead Accusoft’s sales, support, and customer success teams, while driving strong top and bottom line impacts across the organization.
“As a growing company in Tampa Bay, we need a sales leader that can set a growth strategy to propel us forward,” says Jack Berlin, CEO of Accusoft. “We are excited to announce that Greg Barker will now be leading the sales team with a new forward-thinking strategy that strengthens our approach and empowers our sales professionals to excel.”
Greg Barker has held executive roles at Greenway Health, Kelly Services, and most notably, Oracle. As Vice President of Oracle’s Industry Business Unit, Greg was responsible for Oracle’s go-to-market strategy and mergers-and-acquisitions across their entire product portfolio. Prior to joining Oracle, Greg served in the United States Air Force for 10 years, where he ended his military career working in the intelligence community at the Pentagon. Greg holds a BS in Computer and Information Sciences from the University of Maryland.
To learn more about Accusoft’s management team, please visit our website at accusoft.com/management-team.
About Accusoft:
Founded in 1991, Accusoft is a software development company specializing in content processing, conversion, and automation solutions. From out-of-the-box and configurable applications to APIs built for developers, Accusoft software enables users to solve their most complex workflow challenges and gain insights from content in any format, on any device. Backed by 40 patents, the company’s flagship products, including OnTask, PrizmDoc™ Viewer, and ImageGear, are designed to improve productivity, provide actionable data, and deliver results that matter. The Accusoft team is dedicated to continuous innovation through customer-centric product development, new version release, and a passion for understanding industry trends that drive consumer demand. Visit us at www.accusoft.com.
In document viewing and processing solutions, change is inevitable and often necessary to keep pace with evolving technologies and market demands. As such, we are thrilled to announce the rebranding of VirtualViewer® to PrizmDoc® for Java. This transformation accentuates Accusoft’s unwavering commitment to providing cutting-edge, secure document-viewing solutions to our valued customers and partners.
Why the Change?
Several key factors drove the decision to rebrand VirtualViewer® as PrizmDoc® for Java, aligning with our mission to deliver innovative and streamlined solutions to the market.
Rebranding VirturalViewer® to PrizmDoc® for Java solidifies Accusoft’s dedication to offering state-of-the-art document-viewing solutions. By folding VirtualViewer® into the PrizmDoc® brand, we can present our current and potential clients with a more cohesive and comprehensive product lineup. This streamlined experience makes it easier for customers to navigate our offerings and find the perfect solution to meet their document-viewing and processing needs.
Renaming VirtualViewer® as PrizmDoc® for Java clarifies its positioning within our product portfolio. Prospects can now readily identify PrizmDoc® for Java as Accusoft’s Java-based option for document viewing and processing. This clear delineation enhances brand recognition and facilitates informed decision-making for potential customers.
What Does PrizmDoc® for Java Have to Offer?
Renaming VirtualViewer® as PrizmDoc® for Java solidifies Accusoft’s commitment to offering our customers options for Document Viewing and Processing that meet their unique needs. PrizmDoc® for Java boasts robust features designed to empower users with unparalleled document-viewing capabilities. From rendering high-fidelity documents with lightning speed to enabling seamless collaboration and annotation, PrizmDoc® for Java is engineered to optimize productivity and efficiency across various industries and use cases. You’ll also still get the same robust document support, easy-to-use format in any environment, and quick installation/integration that you’re used to with VirtualViewer®.
Moving Forward
PrizmDoc® for Java represents a new name and a bold step forward in our ongoing mission to redefine the document-viewing landscape. This rebranding supports Accusoft’s commitment to offer innovative, secure document-viewing solutions. VirtualViewer’s® transition to PrizmDoc® for Java signifies more than just a name change—it exemplifies our commitment to excellence and dedication to providing superior document-viewing solutions.
To learn more, visit the PrizmDoc® for Java product page.