Alchemy Search

Release 8.3
User Guide

Captaris, Inc., 301 116th Ave SE, Suite 400, Bellevue, Washington 98004-6446
Phone +1 (425) 455-6000, www.captaris.com

Alchemy is a registered trademark of Captaris, Inc. All rights reserved. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their
respective companies. Other products and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
1992-2008, Captaris, Inc. All rights reserved

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1
GETTING STARTED ................................................................................................................... 1
1

ALCHEMY OVERVIEW .................................................................................................................... 1

WHAT THIS GUIDE ASSUMES ............................................................................................................ 2
DOCUMENTATION CONVENTIONS ...................................................................................................... 3
SUPPORTED HARDWARE .................................................................................................................. 4
CHAPTER 2
NAVIGATING
2

ALCHEMY SEARCH ............................................................................................... 5

UNDERSTANDING THE ALCHEMY WORKSPACE................................................................................... 5

USING THE TREE VIEW PANE ..................................................................................................... 6
USING THE VIEWER PANE .......................................................................................................... 6
USING THE PROFILE PANE ....................................................................................................... 11
SUMMARY OF PANE DISPLAY .................................................................................................... 13
MOVING A WORKSPACE PANE .................................................................................................. 14
SIZING A WORKSPACE PANE..................................................................................................... 14
USING THE STATUS BAR .......................................................................................................... 14
OPENING AND CLOSING DATABASES ............................................................................................... 15
OPENING A DATABASE BY BROWSING ....................................................................................... 15
OPENING A READ-ONLY DATABASE USING THE ALCHEMY URL PROTOCOL ................................. 15
OPENING A SECURE DATABASE ................................................................................................ 16
CLOSING A DATABASE ............................................................................................................. 17
VIEWING DATABASE OR FOLDER CONTENTS .................................................................................... 17
VIEWER PANE TOOLBAR BUTTONS ............................................................................................ 17
DATABASE SHORTCUT MENU .................................................................................................... 18
FOLDER/DOCUMENT SHORTCUT MENU ...................................................................................... 18
DATABASE ROOT FOLDER SHORTCUT MENU .............................................................................. 18
MOVING BETWEEN ITEMS ......................................................................................................... 18
AUTOMATICALLY BROWSING DATABASE CONTENTS ................................................................... 19
BROWSING PREVIOUSLY VIEWED DOCUMENTS .......................................................................... 20
CHAPTER 3
VIEWING AND EDITING DOCUMENTS ........................................................................................ 23
3

VIEWING AND EDITING DOCUMENTS ........................................................................................ 23

DOCUMENT TYPES DISPLAYED BY ALCHEMY VIEWER ...................................................................... 24
ADJUSTING DOCUMENT DISPLAY SETTINGS ..................................................................................... 24
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Contents

CHANGING DEFAULT DISPLAY SETTINGS ................................................................................... 24

CHANGING THE DISPLAY OF INDIVIDUAL DOCUMENTS ................................................................ 26
USING THE ALCHEMY VIEWER THUMBNAIL PANE ............................................................................ 28
OPENING AND CLOSING THE THUMBNAIL PANE.......................................................................... 29
NAVIGATING MULTI-PAGE IMAGE DOCUMENTS USING THUMBNAILS.............................................. 29
ADJUSTING DOCUMENT MAGNIFICATION USING THUMBNAILS ...................................................... 29
CHANGING THUMBNAIL DISPLAY SIZE ........................................................................................ 29
PRINTING DOCUMENTS USING THUMBNAILS ............................................................................... 30
EDITING UNBUILT IMAGE DOCUMENTS ............................................................................................. 30
VIEWING DOCUMENT PROPERTIES .................................................................................................. 31
VIEWING LINKS IN DOCUMENTS ...................................................................................................... 32
USING MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER TO VIEW LINKS IN COMPRESSED DATA CONTAINERS .... 33
DYNAMIC LINKS ....................................................................................................................... 34
NAVIGATING BACKWARD AND FORWARD BETWEEN HTML DOCUMENTS ...................................... 34
COPYING PORTIONS OF A DOCUMENT ............................................................................................. 34
SELECTING INFORMATION ........................................................................................................ 34
DOWNLOADING DOCUMENTS .......................................................................................................... 35
PRINTING DOCUMENTS .................................................................................................................. 35
PRINTING DOCUMENTS ............................................................................................................ 35
PRINTING SELECTED PAGES IN A MULTI-PAGE DOCUMENT ......................................................... 36
PRINTING SELECTED PORTIONS OF A DOCUMENT ...................................................................... 37
E-MAILING DOCUMENTS ................................................................................................................. 37
DETAILS ABOUT SPECIFIC DOCUMENT TYPES .................................................................................. 38
MULTI-PAGE IMAGE DOCUMENTS .............................................................................................. 39
PDF IMAGE DOCUMENTS ......................................................................................................... 40
TEXT DOCUMENTS ................................................................................................................... 40
AUTOCAD IMAGE DOCUMENTS ................................................................................................ 41
VIEWING COMPOUND DOCUMENTS ........................................................................................... 43
CHAPTER 4
RETRIEVING INFORMATION FROM DATABASES ......................................................................... 45
4

RETRIEVING FILES AND PROFILE DATA ............................................................................................ 45

RETRIEVING A DOCUMENT WITH AN ATTACHED OVERLAY ................................................................. 50
RETRIEVING A DOCUMENT WITH ANNOTATIONS ............................................................................... 51
CHAPTER 5
SEARCHING DATABASES ........................................................................................................ 53
5

GENERAL SETTINGS THAT AFFECT SEARCHING ............................................................................... 53

ENTERING SEARCH CRITERIA ......................................................................................................... 54
LOOKUP TABLES ...................................................................................................................... 54
BOOLEAN OPERATORS ............................................................................................................. 54
WILDCARDS ............................................................................................................................ 55
PHRASE SEARCHING ................................................................................................................ 55
ADJACENCY SEARCHING .......................................................................................................... 56
PROXIMITY SEARCHING ............................................................................................................ 56
NUMERIC AND DATE RANGE SEARCHING ................................................................................... 56
PERFORMING A SIMPLE SEARCH..................................................................................................... 57
PERFORMING AN ADVANCED SEARCH ............................................................................................. 58
CREATING A SEARCH QUERY (ADVANCED SEARCH MODE).......................................................... 59
CONFIGURING SEARCH SETTINGS (ADVANCED SEARCH MODE)................................................... 61
SAVING A SEARCH QUERY (ADVANCED SEARCH MODE).............................................................. 62
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Contents

EDITING A SAVED SEARCH QUERY (ADVANCED SEARCH MODE) .................................................. 63

DELETING A SAVED SEARCH QUERY (ADVANCED SEARCH MODE) ............................................... 63
SEARCHING WITHIN A FOLDER........................................................................................................ 64
SEARCHING WITHIN A DOCUMENT ................................................................................................... 64
SEARCHING WITHIN A TEXT DOCUMENT .................................................................................... 64
SEARCHING WITHIN AN IMAGE FILE WITH ASSOCIATED OCR TEXT .............................................. 64
SEARCHING WITHIN SEARCH RESULTS ............................................................................................ 65
SEARCHING A DATABASE THAT SPANS MULTIPLE DISCS ................................................................... 65
SEARCHING A DATABASE UNDER LIBRARY SERVICES ...................................................................... 67
APPENDIX B
ACCESSIBILITY FOR DISABLED PERSONS ................................................................................ 69
A

A.1 WORKING IN ALCHEMY............................................................................................................ 69

A.2 WORKING WITH MENU COMMANDS ........................................................................................... 70
A.3 WORKING IN DIALOG BOXES .................................................................................................... 71
A.4 KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS FOR WORKING WITH ONLINE HELP ....................................................... 71
A.5 EDITING DOCUMENT PROFILE INFORMATION IN LIBRARY SERVICES ............................................ 72
A.6 ACCESSING ALCHEMY FUNCTIONS AND FEATURES.................................................................... 73
A.7 ALCHEMY SCAN COMMANDS .................................................................................................... 73
A.7.1 SCAN MENU ................................................................................................................... 73
A.7.2 OCR TEMPLATE MENUS ................................................................................................. 74
A.8 ADDITIONAL KEYBOARD COMMANDS ......................................................................................... 74

INDEX .................................................................................................................................... 75

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Contents

iv

Getting started

CHAPTER 1

GETTING STARTED

This chapter includes important information you should review before using Alchemy Search. It
includes the following sections:
Alchemy overview, page 1
What this guide assumes, page 2
Documentation conventions, page 3
Contacting Captaris, page 4
Supported hardware, page 4

ALCHEMY OVERVIEW
Alchemy document management software from Captaris helps you create the electronic file
cabinets we've all been talking about for years. By scanning, capturing and storing documents in
secure digital archives, Alchemy makes physical storage space unnecessary and frees up computer
disk space, too. Alchemy is flexible enough to create unique solutions that even a government
compliance auditor can appreciate. And your colleagues will appreciate Alchemy too, because it
provides instant access to critical documents, at workstations, desktops or via the Web. Which means
vital business processes are supported and the profits can be realized.
Alchemy will manage from 1 to 1 billion documents. Every document is indexed for lightning-fast
retrieval; including the full text inside documents. You can store the document repository on a single
CD-ROM, on a server hard disk, or on a huge networked optical library. There is no other document
management software that can start so small and grow so big. Alchemys search engine is legendary
for resolving index field and full text queries within seconds, regardless of the repositorys size or the
age of the documents.
Alchemy is:
Flexible: Alchemy can preserve and manage everything from scanned documents to Microsoft
Word documents, Adobe Acrobat Files, CAD drawings, mainframe reports, charts, graphs,
email, forms and more on CD-ROMs, server hard disks or networked optical libraries.
Scalable: Being able to start small and then easily expand, deftly handling from one to one
billion documents. And, its easy to deploy across all departments with anywhere from one to
thousands of users.

 Mobile: With Alchemy, your databases can fit on a single CD-ROM or be accessed via the
Internet.
Intuitive: Simple to implement, easy to learn and use with little or no training at all.
Speedy: Data stored in Alchemy repositories is compressed by a ratio of up to 10:1, which
means Alchemy performs lightning-speed searches, rapid retrievals and also saves space.
Secure: Documents are protected by Alchemy with secure data containers, password protection
down to the documents themselves, plus an extra layer of Windows security.
Searchable: Hundreds of built-in viewers allow users to easily display and retrieve documents.
Full text indexing is included so searches can be performed by content as well as file type, file
name or date created. Searchable document profiles, folder profiles and annotations are
supported as well.
Expandable: By combining Alchemy products and extensions, you can create a total document
management solution with functionality that's customized to your company's needs.

THE ALCHEMY DATABASE ARCHITECTURE

Information Management Research, Inc., now part of the Captaris family, developed a unique flat-file
object database structure that is at the heart of Alchemy, which is field-proven in thousands of
business applications. Its large installed base makes this database architecture one of the most widely
used databases for imaging and COLD applications. And experience in real world applications
continually shows that when it comes to indexing and storing large numbers of object files, the
Alchemy architecture is more efficient with smaller overhead and is easier to maintain when
compared to a relational database.
The database structures are optimized for full-text operations and the integration of document
properties and metadata. Originally developed for slow access CD-ROMs, Alchemy's retrieval
performance is even more impressive when the databases are stored on RAID or other hard disks.
Unlike any other database used in imaging and COLD applications, Alchemy has highly developed
end user interfaces that are completely tuned for one fundamental application: filing and finding
documents and data. As a result, Alchemy does not require any special database administrator
training. Typical users are deploying their first Alchemy database the same day as installation.
Alchemy's unique architecture allows the read-only database index files, the data containers and the
Search program to be located anywhere on a network, or packaged all together on an archival disc.
This unusual flexibility enables the end user to configure an Alchemy system to meet his/her specific
needs, not the other way around.
While the database has many unique features and is virtually maintenance-free, it is also open to other
applications through the ODBC driver interface.

WHAT THIS GUIDE ASSUMES

This guide assumes that you are familiar with the following concepts and procedures:
The Microsoft operating system environment for both client-and-server-based operating
systems.
Windows-based HTML and/or WinHelp help systems.

 The ability to install and operate supported storage and scanning devices.
The administration and operation of Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft SQL Server databases.
The administration and operation of Microsoft Exchange.

DOCUMENTATION CONVENTIONS
THIS MANUAL USES THE FOLLOWING CONVENTIONS:
Menu and dialog box options, including buttons, appear in bold as depicted in the application.
Instructions and descriptions for the options are formatted in regular text. For example:
Name: Type the name of the user, or user ID, in this box. For example, an administrator might just
type admin in this field.

File names and extensions appear in bold, e.g., alchemy.ini, or the INI file.
Key-strokes, i.e., the instruction to press a specific key on the keyboard, appear as follows: ALT,
which represents the Alt key on the keyboard. If you need to press two or more keys
simultaneously, the keys are connected with a plus sign (+). For example:
Press ALT+F4 to close the window.
NOTES, TIPS AND CAUTIONS APPEAR USING THE FOLLOWING FORMAT:
This is a Note:

Notes are used for clarifications, or in special cases, to qualify important points.
This is a Tip:

Tips are used for positive suggestions that help users apply information described in the
documentation to meet their specific needs.
This is a Caution message:

Cautions use negative alerts that inform software users and administrators that a particular
action can result in data loss, data corruption, security problems, or performance problems.

SUPPORTED HARDWARE
For the latest information about the hardware that this release supports, contact Technical Support at
1-520-320-7070 or [email protected], or visit the Captaris Web site.

Navigating Alchemy Search

CHAPTER 2

NAVIGATING ALCHEMY SEARCH

The Alchemy workspace is divided into three panes: the Tree View pane, the Viewer pane, and the
Profile pane. The display and functionality of the Viewer and Profile panes are based on what is
selected in the Tree View pane. All workspace panes can be opened, closed, sized, and repositioned as
needed.
The following topics describe how to navigate Alchemy:
Understanding the Alchemy workspace, page 5
Opening and closing databases, page 15
Viewing database or folder contents, page 17

2.1 UNDERSTANDING THE ALCHEMY WORKSPACE

The Alchemy workspace is divided into three panes: the Tree View pane, the Viewer pane, and the
Profile pane, as shown in the illustration below (hover over an area to display its name.) A status bar
at the bottom of the workspace displays various data. Click the appropriate area of the workspace for
more information.

Understanding the Alchemy workspace

2.1.1 USING THE TREE VIEW PANE

The Tree View pane, displayed by default in the Alchemy workspace, provides a hierarchical view of
your databases that can be displayed in various ways. Click the Tree View button
close this pane.

to open and

At the bottom of the Tree View pane, the following tabs are displayed, which allow you to display
various views of your data:
Contents: Displays the contents of all open databases. You can expand or collapse items, much
like viewing information in Windows Explorer. If no databases are open, only the Databases
root folder is shown.
Results: Displays a list of items found as the results of a search. Documents are displayed
within the database they are located.

2.1.2 USING THE VIEWER PANE

The Viewer pane, displayed by default in the Alchemy workspace, displays a selected documents
contents, and also lists the contents of a selected database or folder. Click the Viewer button
open and close this pane. The following image illustrates some of the Viewer display modes.

to

Database selected in Tree

View pane, details mode of
the Viewer pane.

Document selected in
Tree View pane.

Multi-page TIFF file

selected in Tree View pane,
thumbnails mode of the
Viewer pane.

When viewing the contents of a database or folder, the Viewer pane has three display modes: list,
details, and thumbnails. Click the appropriate icon on the toolbar to change display modes.

List mode: When a database or folder is selected in the Tree View pane, the Viewer
displays a list of its contents.

Understanding the Alchemy workspace

Details mode: When the Viewer is in list mode, click this toolbar button to display detailed

information about each document. You can customize the columns in the details mode to display
file information and information from other profile fields. Click a column title to sort the
documents in ascending order by the data in that column. See Changing the columns in the
viewer pane on page 9 for more information.

Thumbnails mode: Click this toolbar button to display each document in the selected
database or folder as a small image in the Viewer pane. You can also use this mode to display all
of the pages in a multi-page document. See Viewing documents in thumbnails mode on page
10 for more information.

MANAGING THE ALCHEMY VIEWER TOOLBARS

The Alchemy Viewer contains the following toolbars that you can use when viewing files supported
by the Alchemy Viewer:
File
Image Edit
Search
Tools
Viewing
Navigation
Annotation
You can customize the Alchemy Viewer by displaying or hiding toolbars, adding or removing buttons
from toolbars, and rearranging the order of buttons on the toolbars.
Do any of the following to customize the appearance and functionality of the Alchemy Viewer:
To display or hide a toolbar, right-click the Alchemy Viewer toolbar and select or clear the check
box next to the toolbar you want to display or hide.
To display, hide, or rearrange the buttons on a toolbar, right-click the toolbar and select
Customize (toolbar name) on the shortcut menu to display the Customize Toolbar dialog box. To
add buttons to the toolbar, select the buttons in the Available toolbar buttons list and click Add.
To remove buttons from the toolbar, select the buttons in the Current toolbar buttons list and
click Remove. To rearrange the buttons on the toolbar, click the button yoyu want to move in
the Current toolbar buttons list and click either Move Up or Move Down. When finished, click
Close.
DISPLAYING MULTIPLE VIEWER PANES
By default, the Viewer pane displays one document at a time. You can view more than one document
simultaneously by opening additional Viewer panes.
1 In the Tree View pane, click a document.

Understanding the Alchemy workspace

2 Position your mouse cursor over the section of the Viewer panes title bar where the document
file name is displayed until the cursors appearance changes from a pointer to a hand, as shown
in the following image.

3 Drag the window to a different location.

4 Click another file in the Tree View pane to display its contents in the original Viewer pane. The
display in the pane you moved to the new location does not change; it still displays the first
document you selected, along with the documents profile, as shown in the following
illustration.
After dragging
the pane to a
new location,
click a different
document in the
Tree View pane.
The Viewer
pane displays
the new
document.

The display in the

Viewer pane you
moved does not
change; it displays
the first document
you selected. This
window also
displays the
documents profile.

When you click again in the main window, it may cover the pane you moved. To display all open
Viewer panes, right-click the Windows task bar and select a method of displaying all open windows
(cascade, tile, etc.).

The number of Viewer panes that you can open depends on your systems resources.

Understanding the Alchemy workspace

CHANGING THE COLUMNS IN THE VIEWER PANE

When the Viewer pane is in details mode, you can add new columns or change the display of existing
columns.

To create a new column:

1 Right-click anywhere in the column header of the Viewer pane and click New Column on the
shortcut menu to display the Insert a new column dialog box.
2 In the Columns list, select a system or custom profile field. The contents of the selected field
are displayed in the column in the Viewer pane.
3 From the Justification options, select an alignment method. The alignment selected here will be
applied to both the column heading and the text that appears in the column.
4 Click OK.
To modify an existing column:

1 Right-click in the header of the column to change and click Modify Column on the shortcut
menu to display the Modify column attributes dialog box.
2 In the Columns list, select a new field.
3 From the Justification options, select a new alignment method. The alignment selected here
will be applied to both the column heading and the text that appears in the column.
4 Click OK.
To delete a column:

Right-click the header of the column to delete, and then click Delete Column on the shortcut menu.
The column is deleted from the Viewer pane without confirmation.
To move a column:

1 Click the header of the column you want to move.

2 Drag and drop the column to a different location.
To automatically size a column:

1 Place the mouse cursor over the columns right separator bar in the header until the cursor
changes to a double-sided arrow.
2 Double-click to automatically size the column to fit the displayed text.
To copy a column configuration from one database to another:

1 Right-click anywhere in the column header and click Copy Settings on the shortcut menu.
2 Click the database in the Tree View pane to which you want to copy the settings.
3 Right-click in the column header and click Paste Settings on the shortcut menu.

Understanding the Alchemy workspace

VIEWING DOCUMENTS IN THUMBNAILS MODE

The thumbnails mode in the Viewer pane displays thumbnails (small images) of database contents,
folder contents, or documents in the Viewer pane.

Alchemy cannot display thumbnails of LZW-compressed TIFF files.

To use thumbnails mode, highlight a database, folder, or image document in the Tree View pane, and
. The Viewer pane displays a thumbnail of the first page of
then click the Thumbnails button
each document (text or image) contained in the selected database or folder, as shown in the following
illustration.
Use the Thumbnails button
to display a thumbnail of the
first page of each text
document in the highlighted
database or folder.

When a single- or multi-page image document is highlighted, the Viewer pane displays a thumbnail of
each page, as shown in the following illustration.

10

Understanding the Alchemy workspace

2.1.3 USING THE PROFILE PANE

The Profile pane, displayed by default in the Alchemy workspace, displays different tabs depending
on which operations have been performed. Click the Profile button
The following image illustrates some of the tabs in the Profile pane.

to open and close this pane.

The possible tabs displayed in the Profile pane are:

Database: Displays metadata about the selected database, and provides access to the database
properties through the Properties button.
Security: Displays a list of existing security groups, and contains buttons for creating,
modifying, and deleting security groups.
Database Log: Displays the contents of the database log file, which you can search or delete.
Profiles: When a folder or document is highlighted, the Profile pane displays either a Folder
Profile or Document Profile tab. These tabs display whatever profile fields you choose to view.
History: When audit logging is turned on for a database under Alchemy Server control, the
Profile pane contains Database, Folder, or Document History tabs that display an event log for
the selected item.
OCR: After optical character recognition (OCR) has been performed on an image file, Alchemy
associates the OCR text with the file and populates designated profile fields if Zone OCR was
performed. After you OCR an image file, you can search for OCR text within the file using the
Alchemy Viewer Find
online Help.

button. For more information about OCR, see the Alchemy Scan

Forms Overlay: If at least one has been defined for a database, the Profile pane contains a
Forms Overlay tab that allows you to select an overlay to apply to a document, or to disable
overlays.
VIEWING DATABASE METADATA
Open any of the following tabs in the Profile pane to view additional information about a selected
database:
Database tab: Displays metadata about the selected database, and provides access to the
database properties through the Properties button. Information displayed on the Database tab
includes:
database title
file name

11

Understanding the Alchemy workspace

date created
number of unbuilt and built documents
size in bytes of uncompressed and compressed documents
number of written tracks
Security tab: Displays group security information for the selected database. If you have
administrator rights to the database, you can add or edit group security information for the
selected database.

The Security tab appears only for databases that do not use a database-level password.
Database Log tab: Displays database build log information. You can search the contents of the
log file by clicking the Search Within This Document button
contents of the log file by clicking the Clear button

, and you can clear the

SELECTING DISPLAY FIELDS FOR FOLDERS OR DOCUMENTS

Folder and document profiles contain metadata about the selected folder or document. You can view
template fields, custom fields or all fields for the selected folder or document. The setting you choose
applies to all documents and folders.
1 In the Tree View pane, select a folder or document.
2 With the Profile tab selected, right-click anywhere in the profile pane, and then click View on
the shortcut menu.
3 Select any of the following:
Template Fields: Displays only those profile fields placed on the profile template by the
creator of the database.
Custom Fields: Displays the document title field, followed by only custom fields that
were created by the designer of the database.
All Fields: Displays all available fields, regardless if they were added to the profile
template when it was designed. This option displays all custom fields as well as all system
profile fields, including file name, document ID, file directory, file size, file format, and
file date.
VIEWING EVENT HISTORY
The Database/Folder/Document History tab appears on the Profile pane when audit logging is turned
on for the database in which the selected item resides. If the database is selected, the Database History
tab is displayed; if a folder is selected, the Folder History tab is displayed; and if a document is
selected, the Document History tab is displayed.
This tab displays the event history for the selected item, including:
a time stamp (date and time the event occurred)
product name
event description
12

Understanding the Alchemy workspace

user name
The Event Details button
opens the Event Details dialog box, which displays specific
details about the events associated with the selected item. Click Next or Previous in this dialog box
to scroll through the events for the selected item.

2.1.4 SUMMARY OF PANE DISPLAY

The following table summarizes what each pane displays when the item listed in the first column is
highlighted in the Tree View pane (with the Contents or Results tab opened).
Highlighted item

Viewer pane

Profile pane

Database

Expandable list of database contents

Database information and statistics

Folder

List of folder contents

Folder profile and event history

information

Document

Document contents

Document profile and event history

information

Compound document

Master document contents

Document profile and event history

information

The following list summarizes what each pane displays when the named object is selected in the Tree
View pane.
Database: In List mode, the Viewer pane lists the contents of the database (double-click to
collapse/expand contents).
The Profile pane shows database information and statistics including: database title, file name,
date and time created, the number and size of unbuilt and built files; database security
information; database log information; database event history.

Built document statistics apply to those documents already built to the database. Unbuilt
document statistics apply to documents that appear in the Tree View pane, but have not
been built to the database. This information is updated every time files are added or
databases are built.
Folder: The list mode of the Viewer pane lists the contents of the folder (double-click to
collapse/expand contents). The document titles, file names, original file directories, and other
user defined fields are displayed in the Viewer panes columns.
The Profile pane shows folder profile and event history information.
Document: The Viewer pane displays the document or image.
The Profile pane shows document profile and event history information.
Compound Document: The Viewer pane displays the master document.

13

Understanding the Alchemy workspace

The Profile pane shows document profile information. Double-click the master document to
expand and collapse a list of its sub-documents in the Tree View pane. When you click a master
document, a book icon
displays on the Viewer pane toolbar. This button acts as a toggle
between viewing the contents of the master document and viewing a list of its sub-documents.
See Viewing compound documents on page 61 for more information.

2.1.5 MOVING A WORKSPACE PANE

Each workspace pane can be moved to a different position.
1 Position the cursor over the pane handle (the double vertical lines in the upper or lower right of
each pane) until the cursor changes to a hand icon, as shown below.

2 As you drag the pane around, a positioning box indicates where it will be when you release it.
When you have located the desired position, release the mouse button to drop the pane.

2.1.6 SIZING A WORKSPACE PANE

Each workspace pane can be sized according to your needs. Workspace panes are separated by a
splitter bar.
1 Position the cursor over the bar to move until the cursor changes to two lines between opposing
arrows, shown below.

2 Drag the bar to the desired size.

To reset the default settings of workspace panes after you resize the panes, on the View menu,
select Reset Panes. This option does not close any additional workspace panes you may have
created. Additional workspace panes must be minimized or closed separately.

2.1.7 USING THE STATUS BAR

The status bar at the bottom of the workspace displays:
A single line description of the menu command or toolbar button currently under the mouse
pointer.
Resolution information about a currently displayed image.
For multi-page images only, the current page number out of the total number of pages (for
example, Page 1 of 8).

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Opening and closing databases

Free disk space (in bytes) on the hard drive where the database is located.

Free space is only calculated for databases that reside on a hard drive, not for databases
that reside on removable media.

2.2 OPENING AND CLOSING DATABASES

The following topics describe how to open and close databases:
Opening a database by browsing, page 15
Opening a read-only database using the Alchemy URL protocol, page 15
Opening a secure database, page 16
Closing a database, page 17

2.2.1 OPENING A DATABASE BY BROWSING

1 On the File menu, select Open Database.
2 On the Open Database URL dialog box, click Browse, then select either:
File system to display the Open Database dialog box, where you can browse to the
database or databases you want to open.
Alchemy Server (ACMS only) to display the Alchemy Server Databases dialog box,
where you can browse to the network machine where databases that have been added to
Alchemy Server are located.

Databases added from the file system rather than the Alchemy Server are not under
server control, and therefore do not have the servers security features or restrictions
applied.
3 Select the database or databases you want to open, and then click Open on the Open Database
dialog box or OK on the Alchemy Server Databases dialog box.

You can also browse the network with Windows Explorer to open a database, but if you already
have Alchemy open, the database that you open using Windows Explorer is displayed in a new
instance of Alchemy.

2.2.2 OPENING A READ-ONLY DATABASE USING THE ALCHEMY URL PROTOCOL

When you use this method of opening a database, you cannot clear the database, delete the
database, purge files, build the database, run DataGrabber, or scan information.
1 On the File menu, select Open Database.

15

Opening and closing databases

2 In the Type the address of a database to open box, type the Alchemy database URL using
the Alchemy URL protocol.
3 Click OK to open the database.
ABOUT THE ALCHEMY URL PROTOCOL
The protocol uses the following standard naming conventions:
alchemy://<server>:<port>:<database>

where:
alchemy:// is the Captaris proprietary URL protocol
<server> is the network name or IP address for the server
<port> is the data port number for the server

Unless the client workstation has read access to the server registry, the user must supply
the port number in the Alchemy URL.
<database> identifies the database that the server manages
For example, you would type the following URL to access the sales database managed by the
Alchemy Server running on the ntserver.anywhere.com server and listening on the 3234 data port:
alchemy://ntsrvr.anywhere.com:3234/sales

The following URLs are also valid and/or necessary under certain conditions:
alchemy://ntsrvr:3234/sales: You can abbreviate the server name, e.g., from
ntsrvr.anywhere.com to ntsrvr, if the name is unique within the domain.
alchemy://172.54.8.23:3234/sales: You can use an IP address instead of a server name.
alchemy://ntsrvr.anywhere.com:3234/databases/sales: If the database name is not unique on
the server, you need to include the directory path to the specific database that you need to access.
alchemy://ntsrvr/sales: You can eliminate the data port number if the client has read access to
the following key in the server registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Information Management Research,
Inc.\Alchemy Server

2.2.3 OPENING A SECURE DATABASE

Security is implemented when a database is opened. When you open a database that uses , you are
prompted to enter a valid group name and a password.

16

Viewing database or folder contents

1 Open the database to display the Database Login dialog box.

2 In the Group name box, type the name of the security group to which the administrator assigned
you.
3 In the Group password box, type your group password.
4 Click OK to open the database.

2.2.4 CLOSING A DATABASE

1 In the Tree View pane, select the database or databases you want to close.
2 Right-click the database or databases, and then click Close Database on the shortcut menu.

2.3 VIEWING DATABASE OR FOLDER CONTENTS

The icons on the Viewer pane toolbar change to provide access to the appropriate functions for the
highlighted item. The selections on the shortcut menu are also context-sensitive, and they change as
well, based on whether you right-click:
a database.
a folder or document.
the Databases root folder.
You can also browse through the contents of the database by manually or automatically browsing, or
by browsing previously viewed documents.

2.3.1 VIEWER PANE TOOLBAR BUTTONS

Synchronize Contents
: Synchronizes the Tree View and Viewer panes by highlighting the
same object in the Tree View pane that is displayed in the Viewer pane.

Up One Level
Thumbnails

: Moves up one folder level at a time.

: Displays a thumbnails view of the database or folder contents.

List
: Displays a list of documents and/or folders contained in the highlighted folder or
database.

17

Viewing database or folder contents

Details
: Displays a list of documents and/or folders contained in the highlighted folder or
database, and shows profile information according to which fields are selected to be displayed as
a column in the Viewer pane. See Changing the columns in the viewer pane on page 9 for
more information.

2.3.2 DATABASE SHORTCUT MENU

To access this menu, right-click a database in the Tree View pane. Since these functions are not
specific to viewing information, they are described in detail in the appropriate sections of this Help.

2.3.3 FOLDER/DOCUMENT SHORTCUT MENU

To access this menu, right-click a folder or document in the Tree View pane. Since these functions are
not specific to viewing information, they are described in detail in the appropriate sections of this
Help.

2.3.4 DATABASE ROOT FOLDER SHORTCUT MENU

To access this menu, right-click the Databases root folder in the Tree View pane. Since these
functions are not specific to viewing information, they are described in detail in the appropriate
sections of this Help.

2.3.5 MOVING BETWEEN ITEMS

You can easily move between items displayed in the Tree View pane using the Next, Previous, Back,
and Forward functions. To do so, select a database item in the Tree View pane, for example the
database title, folder or file, and then click:
The Next button
to display the next document in the Tree View pane. Folders automatically
expand as necessary.
18

Viewing database or folder contents

The Previous button

to display the previous document in the Tree View pane. Folders
automatically expand as necessary.

See Automatically browsing database contents on page 19 for instructions on browsing

through the Tree View items automatically.
to display the previously viewed document, based on the history of the
The Back button
documents that you have viewed during the Alchemy session. See Browsing previously viewed
documents on page 20 for more details.
The Forward button
to display the next viewed document, based on the history of the
documents that you have viewed during the Alchemy session. See Browsing previously viewed
documents on page 20 for more details.

Viewing history for online links is not tracked; therefore, when you navigate between
HTML documents in a database, and jump from these documents to links that take you to
documents on the Internet, the Back and Forward buttons might not accurately display
documents in proper order.

2.3.6 AUTOMATICALLY BROWSING DATABASE CONTENTS

You can navigate forward and backward through your databases using the Next or Previous buttons,
as described in Moving between items on page 18. Alternatively, you can navigate through the
database automatically, displaying each document for a specified time interval.
1 On the Tools menu, select Settings to display the Settings dialog box.

19

Viewing database or folder contents

2 On the General tab, in the Advance Next/Previous box, type a value between 1 and 100
seconds and click OK.
3 Select the database item in the Tree View pane where you want to begin navigating through the
database.
4 To automatically navigate forward through the database, click the Next button
automatically navigate backward through the database, click the Previous button

. To
.

Alchemy displays the first file in the Viewer pane. Following the elapsed time you set in the
Advance Next/Previous box, Alchemy continues to automatically display the next file in the
database until it reaches the end of the database or until you stop the action.
5 To stop the auto-advance:
If navigating forward through the database, click the Next button.
If navigating backward through the database, click the Previous button.
6 To automatically switch directions, select or click the opposite menu item or button. For
example, if you are navigating forward through the database, click the Previous button to
automatically begin navigating backward through the database.

2.3.7 BROWSING PREVIOUSLY VIEWED DOCUMENTS

The Back and Forward buttons allow users to navigate backward and forward between the last 20
documents viewed. These buttons only move backward and forward between documents. To navigate
between pages in a multi-page document displayed in the Viewer pane, use the Next and Previous
buttons.
When you use the Back button to open a previously viewed document and then open a new
document, the documents in between are removed from the browse sequence. The following
illustration shows how Alchemy Administrator manages the list of previously viewed documents.
1
a. Open 5
documents in
order from 1
to 5.

1
3

c. With document #3 displayed in

the viewer, open a new document
(#6) by clicking it in the Tree View
pane. This removes documents 4
& 5 from the list of previously
viewed documents, and disables
the Forward button.

20

1
6

b. Use the Back and

Forward buttons to
browse documents 1
through 5.

3
6

d. Then when you use

the Back button, you
will go to document #3,
then #2, and then #1.
Forward will be
enabled after you open
the next document and
go back to a previously
viewed document.

Viewing database or folder contents

The history of viewed documents only applies to those viewed in the main Viewer pane.
Documents viewed in a separate viewing window are not included in the list of previously
viewed documents.

21

Viewing database or folder contents

22

Viewing and editing documents

CHAPTER 3

VIEWING AND EDITING DOCUMENTS

VIEWING AND EDITING DOCUMENTS

Alchemy supports viewing a wide variety of document types that have been added to databases. To
provide the best viewing and editing features for each type of document, Alchemy uses several
different viewing technologies. As a result, you may see different toolbars and menu options
depending on the type of document you are viewing. Because of this, some of the tasks described here
will not be available for certain document types.
The following topics describe how to work with documents:
Document types displayed by Alchemy Viewer on page 24
Adjusting document display settings, page 24
Using the Alchemy Viewer Thumbnail pane, page 28
Editing unbuilt image documents, page 30
Viewing document properties, page 31
Viewing links in documents, page 32
Copying portions of a document, page 34
Downloading documents, page 35
Printing documents, page 35
E-mailing doc uments, page 37
Details about specific document types, page 38

23

Document types displayed by Alchemy Viewer

DOCUMENT TYPES DISPLAYED BY ALCHEMY VIEWER

Alchemy Viewer is a tool that is used within the Viewer pane to display certain types of documents.
The following is a list of document types that are automatically displayed in Alchemy Viewer:
.bmp
.dcx
.dib
.g3n
.gif
.jif
.jpg
.pcx
.pdf
.png
.tga
.tif or .tiff
GRP 3, 4
.txt

Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents are converted to .pdf documents and
displayed in that format in Alchemy Viewer.

ADJUSTING DOCUMENT DISPLAY SETTINGS

Alchemy offers numerous ways for you to manipulate the display of your documents. You can change
several default settings that will affect all documents, or you can change the display of an individual
document.

CHANGING DEFAULT DISPLAY SETTINGS

You can make changes to Alchemy Viewer display settings in the Preferences dialog box.
CHANGNG CAPTARIS VIEWER DISPLAY SETITINGS
1 Open a document type that is supported by Alchemy Viewer.

Do not select a .txt file, for which the Alchemy Viewer has special display settings. See
Setting viewing preferences on page 40 for details.

24

Adjusting document display settings

2 Right-click anywhere in the Viewer pane, and then click Preferences on the shortcut menu.
3 In the left pane of the Preferences dialog box, click General and select from the following
options:
Enable Anti-Aliasing: Select this check box to enable anti-aliasing for viewed images.
Anti-aliasing smooths jagged edges on displayed images, making the images easier to view
on the screen.
Enable GIF Animation: Select this check box to enable the viewing of animated GIF
images. If you do not select this option, you will still be able to view the GIF image, but it
will not be animated.
Display Image Annotations: Select this check box to view image annotations added to
files.
4 In the left pane of the Preferences dialog box, click Display and select from the following
options:
Default view mode: Select the default view mode for displayed files. The options are
Viewer only, Thumbnails only, or Viewer and Thumbnails.
Default page layout: Select the default page layout for displayed files. The options are
Single page, Continuous, Continuous-Facing, or Facing pages.
Default zoom: Select the default magnification for displayed files. The options are Pixel
Size, Actual Size, Fit In Window, Fit Width, or Fit Height.
Default thumbnail size: Select the default size for thumbnail images shown in the
Navigation pane. The options are tiny, small, medium, or large.
Border (Viewer Pane): Select the default border type for the Viewer pane. The options are
None, Single, Shadow, Sunken, or Button.
Color (Viewer Pane): Use this to select the default color of the Viewer pane border.
Border (Thumbnail Pane): Select the default border type for the Thumbnail pane. The
options are None, Single, Shadow, Sunken, or Button.
Color (Thumbnail Pane): Use this to select the default color of the Thumbnail pane
border.
5 In the left pane of the Preferences dialog box, click Full Screen and select from the following
options:
Advance every __ seconds: Select this option to automatically advance the page for
multi-page files in full screen mode. You can set the rate at which pages are advanced in
seconds.
Advance on any click: Select this option to advance the page for multi-page files when
you click in the full screen viewer.
Loop after last page: Select this option to automatically loop back (return) to the first
page of a multi-page file when you advance past the last page of the file.
Escape key exits: Select this option to use the Escape key to exit full screen mode.
Default transition: Use this to select the default transition when advancing to the next or
previous page in a multi-page file. The options are Replace - no transition, Blinds
Horizontal, Blinds Vertical, Wipe Left, Wipe Top, Wipe Right, Wipe Bottom, Box In,
Box Out, or Dissolve.

25

Adjusting document display settings

Mouse cursor: Use this to determine the behavior of your mouse cursor when viewing
files in Full Screen mode. The options are Always Visible, Always Hidden, or Hidden
After Delay.
Toolbar: Use this to determine the behavior of the toolbar when viewing files in Full
Screen mode. The options are Always Visible, Always Hidden, or Hidden After Delay.
Background color: Use this to select the background color for the Full Screen viewer.
6 To return the settings for the displayed category (General, Display, or Full Screen) back to the
default settings, click Set Defaults.
7 Click OK.
Changing the display of individual documents

CHANGING THE DISPLAY OF INDIVIDUAL DOCUMENTS

You can override the default display settings by adjusting the display of an individual document. You
can change:
the display size: see Sizing documents on page 26
the rotation: see Rotating documents on page 27
the screen: see Displaying documents in full screen mode on page 27
the display mode: see Changing the display mode on page 27
SIZING DOCUMENTS
You can resize a document in a number of ways. Depending on the type of document that is
displayed, you can change the magnification using one or more of the following steps:
Click the Zoom-in toolbar button

or the Zoom-out toolbar button

Expand the toolbar zoom percentage list

list.

and select the desired magnification in the

Right-click anywhere in the Viewer pane, point to Size on the shortcut menu, and then click the
desired option on the list.
Use thumbnails (Alchemy Viewer only). See Adjusting document magnification using
thumbnails on page 29.
To resize the image to fit in the window, click the Fit in Window toolbar button
, or rightclick anywhere in the Viewer pane and click Fit in Window on the shortcut menu.
To resize the image to fit the width of the Viewer pane, click the Fit Width toolbar button
or right-click anywhere in the Viewer pane and click Fit Width on the shortcut menu.
, or right-click
To return a page to its actual size, click the Actual Size toolbar button
anywhere in the Viewer pane and click Actual Size on the shortcut menu.

You can select a default display mode for all documents viewed within the Alchemy Viewer.
For instructions, see step 4 of the Changng Captaris Viewer display setitings topic.

26

Adjusting document display settings

Rotating documents
Displaying documents in full screen mode
Changing the display mode
ROTATING DOCUMENTS
You can rotate any document that is supported by Alchemy Viewer.
To rotate a document, right-click anywhere in the Viewer pane, and then click Rotate Right or
Rotate Left on the shortcut menu.
Sizing documents
Displaying documents in full screen mode
Changing the display mode
DISPLAYING DOCUMENTS IN FULL SCREEN MODE
You can display any document that is supported by Alchemy Viewer in full screen mode. In full
screen mode, document pages fill the entire screen. The application user interface is hidden. You can
use full screen mode to easily view entire pages of single or multi-page documents. When viewing
multi-page documents, you can also use automatic page advancement and transitions, as described in
step 5 of the Changng Captaris Viewer display setitings topic.
1 On the status bar, click the Full Screen view button

2 If you have not set automatic page advancement options, you can manually navigate through the
document using the following methods:
To page through the file, press the RETURN, PAGE DOWN, or DOWN ARROW key. To page to
the last page of the file, press the END key.
To page backward through the file, press the SHIFT+RETURN, PAGE UP, or UP ARROW key.
To page backward to the first page of the file, press the HOME key.
Right-click anywhere in the window, and then click the desired navigational direction on
the shortcut menu.
If available, use the navigation tools on the toolbar at the top of the screen.
3 To exit full screen mode, either press the ESCAPE key or click the Close button
toolbar at the top of the screen.

on the

Sizing documents
Rotating documents
Changing the display mode
CHANGING THE DISPLAY MODE
Display modes are only available for multi-page image documents. You can use four page layouts:
Single page layout displays one page at a time. On the status bar, click the Single Page button
.

27

Using the Alchemy Viewer Thumbnail pane

Continuous layout arranges the pages in a continuous vertical column. On the status bar, click
the Continuous button

Facing layout arranges the pages side by side in the Viewer pane. This configuration
accommodates a two-page spread display and multiple-page viewing in the window. If a file has
more than two pages, the first page is displayed on the right to ensure proper display of two-page
spreads. On the status bar, click the Facing button

Continuous-Facing layout arranges the pages side by side. This configuration accommodates a
two-page spread display and multiple-page viewing in the window. If a file has more than two
pages, the first page is displayed on the right to ensure proper display of two-page spreads. The
remaining pages are arranged two at a time in a continuous vertical column. On the status bar,
click the Continuous-Facing button

To view two-page spreads most efficiently, use the Continuous-Facing page layout with
Fit Width page view (see Sizing documents on page 26 for details).

You can select a default display mode for multi-page image documents. For instructions, see
step 4 of the Changng Captaris Viewer display setitings topic.
Sizing documents
Rotating documents
Displaying documents in full screen mode

USING THE ALCHEMY VIEWER THUMBNAIL PANE

Alchemy Viewer includes a Thumbnail pane which you can use for navigating documents.
Thumbnails are miniature previews of the image or pages displayed in the Viewer pane. Thumbnails
allow you to adjust the view of the current image or jump to a specific page of a multi-page image
document.
The following topics describe how to use the Alchemy Viewer Thumbnail pane:
Opening and closing the Thumbnail pane, page 29
Navigating multi-page image documents using thumbnails, page 29
Adjusting document magnification using thumbnails, page 29
Changing thumbnail display size, page 29
Printing documents using thumbnails, page 30

Alchemy Viewer is displayed in the Viewer pane when a supported document type is open.

28

Using the Alchemy Viewer Thumbnail pane

OPENING AND CLOSING THE THUMBNAIL PANE

To open or close the Thumbnail pane, either click the Thumbnail pane toolbar button
or click
on the status bar. You can adjust the width of the Thumbnail pane as necessary by clicking and
dragging the border between the Thumbnail and Viewer panes.

You can have the Thumbnail pane open or closed by default whenever the Alchemy Viewer tool
is used. For instructions, see step 4 of the Changng Captaris Viewer display setitings topic.
Navigating multi-page image documents using thumbnails
Adjusting document magnification using thumbnails
Changing thumbnail display size
Printing documents using thumbnails

NAVIGATING MULTI-PAGE IMAGE DOCUMENTS USING THUMBNAILS

To display a specific page of a multi-page image document, in the Thumbnail pane, click the
thumbnail of the page you want to view.
Opening and closing the Thumbnail pane
Adjusting document magnification using thumbnails
Changing thumbnail display size
Printing documents using thumbnails

ADJUSTING DOCUMENT MAGNIFICATION USING THUMBNAILS

On the desired thumbnail, place the mouse cursor over the lower right corner of the red box that
appears within the thumbnail image. The cursor will change to a resize arrow
click and drag to reduce or expand the view of the document.

, which you can

If you magnify a document to a size larger than the window, click and drag the red box in the
thumbnail image to move the portion of the document that is displayed.
Opening and closing the Thumbnail pane
Navigating multi-page image documents using thumbnails
Changing thumbnail display size
Printing documents using thumbnails

CHANGING THUMBNAIL DISPLAY SIZE

To change the size of the thumbnails, right-click anywhere in the Thumbnail pane, and then click the
thumbnail size you want on the shortcut menu. You can select Tiny, Small, Medium, or Large
thumbnails.

29

Editing unbuilt image documents

You can change the default thumbnail size for the Thumbnail pane. For instructions, see step 4
of the Changng Captaris Viewer display setitings topic.
Opening and closing the Thumbnail pane
Navigating multi-page image documents using thumbnails
Adjusting document magnification using thumbnails
Printing documents using thumbnails

PRINTING DOCUMENTS USING THUMBNAILS

Right-click on the desired thumbnail, and then click Print Pages on the shortcut menu. See Printing
documents on page 35 for additional instructions.
Opening and closing the Thumbnail pane
Navigating multi-page image documents using thumbnails
Adjusting document magnification using thumbnails
Changing thumbnail display size

EDITING UNBUILT IMAGE DOCUMENTS

Users accessing Alchemy Web through an Anonymous user account will be unable to edit
unbuilt image documents.
You can edit unbuilt image documents that are displayed by the Alchemy Viewer in various ways. See
Document types displayed by Alchemy Viewer on page 24 to see which image document types are
supported. The options available to edit your image documents depend on the type of image
document you are editing.
1 Display the unbuilt image document you want to edit.
2 Click the Edit Image toolbar button

to display a drop-down list of editing options.

3 Select from the following options:

Undo: Reverses all changes made during this session.
Invert: Inverts all pixels in an image to produce a negative image.
Mirror: Rotates the image 180 along its vertical axis. Selecting this option displays a
mirror image of the graphic.
Flip: Rotates the image 180 along its horizontal axis.
Crop: Removes everything outside a selected area, leaving only the selected area as the
image. To crop an image, select the area of the image you want to keep, then click the Edit
Image button and click Crop.

30

Viewing document properties

Clear: Deletes the contents of the selected area on the image. To clear an area of an image,
select the area of the image you want to remove, then click the Edit image button and click
Clear.
Rotate Left: Rotates the image left (counter-clockwise) 90. Selecting this option once
places the image on its left side.
Rotate Right: Rotates the image right (clockwise) 90. Selecting this option once places
the image on its right side.
Rotate by: Rotates the image right or left by the specified number of degrees.
Deskew: Attempts to straighten images that are slightly tilted as a result of document
alignment or scanning imperfections.
Despeckle: Clears the image of stray spots and marks.
Remove Black Borders: Removes black borders around pages that appear as a result of
the scanning process.
Convert to Gray: Converts a color image to grayscale.
Convert to Monochrome: Converts a color image to black and white.
Brightness and Contrast: Controls the brightness and contrast of the image.
4 To save your changes, navigate away from the image, then click Yes on the Save Image dialog
box.
Smooth: Shows less detail, causing the images grain to appear smoother.
Remove Lines: Removes lines drawn on a page, such as lines that enclose table cells.
Repair Lines: Repairs lines drawn on a page, such as lines that enclose table cells.
Remove Holes: Removes the three-hole punch marks from scanned pages.

VIEWING DOCUMENT PROPERTIES

You can display the properties of any document that is supported by Alchemy Viewer.
To display the file properties, right-click anywhere in the Viewer pane, and then click Properties on
the shortcut menu. The File Properties dialog box displays the following information for each page in
the displayed file:
Name
Location
Size
Modified
Page
File Type
Width
Height
Horizontal Resolution
Vertical Resolution
Bit Depth
Color Representation

31

Viewing links in documents

Compression
To view properties for specific pages of a file, click the Next Page button
button

or Previous Page

until the page you want to review appears. Click the Last Page button

last page in the file, or click the First Page button

to move to the

to move to the first page in the file.

VIEWING LINKS IN DOCUMENTS

The viewing of linked and embedded documents is supported for the following file formats:
HTML
PDF

zipped archives
Microsoft documents
Hyperlinks and images contained in documents behave differently depending on whether they link to
another document or file in the database, or to an external document or file. The build status for a
document determines this behavior. For example, you might add an HTML document without adding
the documents or images to which the document links. When you click a link or open an unbuilt
HTML document that displays an image, Alchemy Administrator will locate the source file and
display the correct link or image. Before you build the database, the links in the document remain
live.
After you build the database, though, the document is added to the data container. From a data
container, there is no way for Alchemy Administrator to locate an external source; therefore, after a
document is built into a database, any links to external source files will not function properly.
However, when you add both the document and the documents and/or files to which it links using the
appropriate directory structure, the data container retains all links in the document after you build the
database. The links are functional as long as the linked file is in a supported format. Also, be careful
that you add files appropriately when your links use relative path names.
In HTML and PDF documents, links point to another file or address. If the linked file is present in the
database in a supported file format, Alchemy displays the file when a user clicks the link.
Click a zipped archive file to display in the Viewer pane a list of files contained in the archive. Click a
file in the list to display it in the Viewer pane (or in a separate window, depending on selected
settings).
Microsoft documents may contain linked documents and/or embedded documents. Alchemy
Administrator supports both types of links so that when a user clicks a link, and if the linked file is
present in the database in a supported format, Alchemy displays the file. Embedded documents are
displayed in their specified positions within the main document in the Viewer pane.

32

Viewing links in documents

The following illustration provides an example of how linked and embedded documents are
displayed.

Here the Viewer pane displays a Microsoft Word document

that contains a linked document and an embedded document.
When a user clicks the linked document, depending on
settings selected in the Settings dialog box, the linked file
opens in a shortcut window or replaces the document in the
Viewer pane. Links within HTML and PDF documents are
displayed in the same way.
Alchemy displays the contents of the embedded document in
its designated position within the main document in the
Viewer pane.

See the following topics for more information:

Using Microsoft Internet Explorer to view links in compressed data containers
Dynamic links
Navigating backward and forward between HTML documents

USING MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER TO VIEW LINKS IN COMPRESSED DATA CONTAINERS

This information applies to all documents that contain links to embedded files (for example, HTML
documents, CAD files, and XREFs). Links in these documents do not properly function if the
following conditions apply:
You use Internet Explorer to view the document.
The documents were built to a database with both the Copy files to data containers and
Compress data containers options selected.
The links will work if you build the documents to the database with the files copied to data containers
and you do not compress the data containers. This situation is an issue only when you click the
Launch Application button to use Internet Explorer to view files containing links due to the method
Internet Explorer uses to open documents from compressed data. You will not encounter this problem
when you use Alchemy Administrator to view documents containing links.
Dynamic links

33

Copying portions of a document

Navigating backward and forward between HTML documents

DYNAMIC LINKS
Many HTML files contain dynamic scripts that use alternate images based on some event such as
passing the mouse over some text or other item. Alchemy Administrator cannot dynamically locate
these files from a database and, therefore, cannot display them. An HTML error page might appear in
place of the image.
Using Microsoft Internet Explorer to view links in compressed data containers
Navigating backward and forward between HTML documents

NAVIGATING BACKWARD AND FORWARD BETWEEN HTML DOCUMENTS

Alchemy Administrator does not track the viewing history for online links; therefore, when you
navigate between HTML documents in a database, and jump from these documents to links that take
you to documents on the Internet, the Back and Forward buttons might not accurately display
documents in proper order.
Using Microsoft Internet Explorer to view links in compressed data containers
Dynamic links

COPYING PORTIONS OF A DOCUMENT

You can select all or portions of a document, which you can then drag and drop to another application
or copy to the Windows clipboard and then either print it or paste it into another application.

SELECTING INFORMATION
1 Click a document in the Tree View or Results pane to display its contents in the Viewer pane.
2 Select the section of text or portion of the image that you want to copy or print. To select the
entire document, right-click anywhere in the document and click Select All on the shortcut
menu.
To clear the selection, place the mouse pointer anywhere in the document and click the mouse
button.

To select content as text when viewing a document that contains text, such as a PDF or
Microsoft Office document, you must first select the Text Select Tool button
toolbar to enable text selection.

on the

3 Do any of the following:

Drag and drop the selection into a RTF-capable text editor such as WordPad or MS Word.
To copy the selection to the Windows clipboard, right-click anywhere in the document and
click Copy on the shortcut menu.
You can then either print the selection or paste it into another application.

34

Downloading documents

When you copy an image to the clipboard, it is converted to bitmap (BMP) format. Therefore, if
the original image is in another image format, the file size of the copied image might increase.

DOWNLOADING DOCUMENTS
You can download a document from a database accessed through Alchemy Web to your computer so
that you have access to it even when you are not connected to the Internet and Alchemy Web.
1 Click the Explore tab to open Explore view.
2 From the database selection list in the upper left corner of the Tree View pane, select the
database that contains the document you want to download.
3 In the Tree View pane, select a folder to display its contents in the Viewer pane, or expand the
folder node to display the folder contents in the Tree View pane.
4 In the Viewer pane, click the Download Item button
want to download.

to the right of the document that you

5 In the File Download dialog box, click Save.

6 In the Save As dialog box, browse to the location where you want to save the document, modify
the file name as necessary and click Save.

You can download a document when viewing it in the Viewer pane or in a separate browser
window. If your Alchemy Web administrator set the file type to view in its native application,
you may be prompted to save it to your local computer or open the document. To save the
document to your local computer, click Save and follow the procedure described in this topic.

PRINTING DOCUMENTS
If enabled by your Alchemy administrator, Alchemy Web provides you with the ability to print
documents, portions of documents, or selected pages in documents.

PRINTING DOCUMENTS
1 View the document that you want to print by selecting the document title from the Tree View,
Viewer, or Search Results pane.
2 Click the Print button

on the toolbar to display the Print dialog box.

3 Specify the following:

Printer
Print range
Number of copies
Print to file
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Printing documents

4 If available, select the print options you want.

Print options available for the Alchemy Viewer appear on the Alchemy Viewer Print
dialog box. The text file Print dialog box does not offer any print options.
5 On the Print dialog box, click OK to print.
To print OCR text in the Alchemy Web client:
1 Display the file whose OCR text you want to print.
2 On the Captaris Viewer toolbar, click the Text Content
text.

button to display the file's OCR

3 Click the Print button.

4 On the Print dialog box, click Print.

Only the OCR text from the currently viewed page in a multipage file is printed. To print the
OCR text from other pages in a multipage file, you must first view the page whose OCR text
you want to print.
Printing selected pages in a multi-page document
Printing selected portions of a document
CAPTARIS VIEWER PRINT OPTIONS
Shrink oversized pages to paper size: Select this check box to reduce the size of the selected
items to fit the page when printed.
Expand small pages to paper size: Select this check box to enlarge the selected items to fill
the page when printed.
Auto-detect page orientation: Select this check box to automatically orient the page to the
page orientation of the item being printed. For example, if you are printing an image that uses a
landscape orientation, when you select this check box, Alchemy changes the page orientation of
the paper to match the page orientation of the image before printing.
Center pages: Select this check box to center the selected items on the page when printed.
Pages per sheet: Use the features below to print more than one document or image on a page.
Pages across: Type or select the number of documents to tile across the page when
printed. The range is 1 - 99.
Pages down: Type or select the number of documents or pages to tile down the page when
printed. The range is 1 - 99.

PRINTING SELECTED PAGES IN A MULTI-PAGE DOCUMENT

Alchemy Viewer gives you the ability to print selected pages of multi-page documents by selecting
thumbnail images of the pages you want to print. For more information about using the thumbnail
pane in Alchemy Viewer, see Using the Alchemy Viewer Thumbnail pane on page 28.

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E-mailing doc uments

1 View the document that you want to print by selecting the document title from the Tree View,
Viewer, or Search Results pane.
2 Open the thumbnail pane.
3 Select the pages you want to print.
4 Right-click the images you selected to print, and then click Print Pages on the shortcut menu.
The Alchemy Viewer Print dialog box appears.

On the Print dialog box, the Selection option should be automatically selected in the Print
range area.
5 Select print options as desired, and then click OK.
Printing documents
Printing selected portions of a document

PRINTING SELECTED PORTIONS OF A DOCUMENT

You can select and print portions of text and image documents in Alchemy.
1 View the document that you want to print by selecting the document title from the Tree View,
Viewer, or Search Results pane.
2 Select the portion of text or image that you want to print, and then click the Print button
the toolbar to display the Print dialog box.

on

On the Print dialog box, the Selection option should be automatically selected in the Print
range area.

3 Select print options as desired.

4 Click OK to print the selected area.

Alternatively, you can copy/paste the selection into any application and print from that
application. Areas selected as images or from image files must be pasted into an application that
supports RTF formatting, such as Wordpad or MS Word.
Printing documents
Printing selected pages in a multi-page document

E-MAILING DOCUMENTS
Alchemy Web gives you the ability to e-mail selected documents from the Viewer pane in either the
Explore or Search Results view, or from the View Item page while viewing a document.

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Details about specific document types

E-mail functionality is not available when accessing the Alchemy Web site using anonymous
user access.
To e-mail selected items from the Viewer pane:
1 Do either of the following:
In Explore view:
In the Tree View pane, select the database that contains the documents you want to
send from the Database list.
Select a folder to display its contents in the Viewer pane.
In the Viewer pane, select the check box of the document(s) that you want to send.
In Search view:
In the Viewer pane, select the check box of the document(s) that you want to send
from the Search Results list.
2 Click the E-mail Items button

3 In the Set E-mail Properties page, type your information in the appropriate fields as necessary.
4 Click Send E-mail.
5 After confirming that you successfully sent your document, close the Set E-mail Properties page
either by doing one of the following:
Click the Back link.
Click the Close link
To e-mail a document or image you are viewing:
1 View the document you want to send.
1 In the View Item page, click the E-mail Items button

2 In the Set E-mail Properties page, type your information in the appropriate fields as necessary.
3 Click Send E-mail.
4 After confirming that you successfully sent your document, close the Set E-mail Properties page
either by doing one of the following:
Click the Back link.
Click the Close link

DETAILS ABOUT SPECIFIC DOCUMENT TYPES

The following topics provide additional information about certain document types, including:
Multi-page image documents, page 39
PDF image documents, page 40
Text documents, page 40
AutoCAD image docum ents, page 41
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Details about specific document types

Viewing compound documents, page 43

MULTI-PAGE IMAGE DOCUMENTS

The following topics describe what you can do when viewing multi-page image documents:
Moving between pages, page 39
Multi-page TIFF image documents, page 39

MOVING BETWEEN PAGES

Alchemy Viewer provides buttons, menu commands, and keyboard shortcuts for paging through a
multi-page file. You can go to another page in any of the following ways:
To go to the next page, click the Next Page button
on the status bar, press the PAGE DOWN
key, or press the DOWN ARROW key (Continuous or Continuous-Facing page layouts only).
on the status bar, press the PAGE
To go to the previous page, click the Previous Page button
UP key, or press the UP ARROW key (Continuous or Continuous-Facing page layouts only).
Use the Thumbnail pane to display a specific page as described in Navigating multi-page image
documents using thumbnails on page 29.
To go to the first page, click the First Page button
To go to the last page, click the Last Page button

on the status bar, or press the HOME key.

on the status bar, or press the END key.

In the Current Page box

on the status bar, select the current page number, type the
page number to jump to and press ENTER.

MULTI-PAGE TIFF IMAGE DOCUMENTS

Once a multi-page TIFF image document has been added to a database, and before the database is
built, the pages can be manipulated while in thumbnails mode in the following ways:
Drag and drop thumbnails to new locations to change the order of pages.
Drag and drop new TIFF or bitmap files to the thumbnail display to add new pages.
To delete an page from the document, right-click the thumbnail and click Delete Selected
Pages on the shortcut menu. If the images were added from your hard drive or network, they are
removed from the database only. The source image files still reside in their original locations. If
the images were scanned into the database, their files are also deleted from the Images directory
of the Alchemy database.
After changes have been made to a TIFF image document, two things can happen: 1) If you have
write access to the file, Alchemy will save the changes you have made; 2) If for some reason you do
not have write access to the file, you will be prompted to save it with a new name and location. In the
second instance, the new, changed file must be re-added to the database.

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Details about specific document types

PDF IMAGE DOCUMENTS

Depending on what is installed on your computer, Alchemy uses either Adobe Acrobat or Adobe
reader to view PDF files. The first time you view a PDF file, Alchemy may prompt you to install a
plug-in to your installed version of Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader that will allow you to view PDF
files and give you access to Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader functionality in Alchemy.
For information on how to use the Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader functionality available in
Alchemy when viewing PDF files, please see the appropriate Adobe user documentation.

If you do not install the plug-in you will not be able to view PDF files in Alchemy.

TEXT DOCUMENTS
The following topics describe what you can do when viewing text documents:
Displaying or hiding rulers, line numbers, and greenbars, page 40
Adjusting the page setup options, page 40
Setting viewing preferences, page 40
DISPLAYING OR HIDING RULERS, LINE NUMBERS, AND GREENBARS
With a text document displayed, right-click anywhere in the document, and then click the desired
option on the shortcut menu, either Ruler, Line Numbers, or Greenbar. Once you have selected an
option, you can click it again to clear the selection.

You can choose to display or hide any of these options by default. See Setting viewing
preferences on page 40 for instructions.
Adjusting the page setup options
Setting viewing preferences
ADJUSTING THE PAGE SETUP OPTIONS
With a text document displayed, click the Page Setup button
Setup dialog box. Select the desired options and click OK.

on the toolbar to display the Page

Displaying or hiding rulers, line numbers, and greenbars

Setting viewing preferences
SETTING VIEWING PREFERENCES
1 With a text document displayed, right-click anywhere in the document, and then click
Preferences on the shortcut menu.

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Details about specific document types

2 In the left pane of the Preferences dialog box, click General and select from the following
options:
Tab Size: Controls the tab delimiter for non-formatted text files.
Greenbar Background: Select this check box to display the greenbar paper mode.
Line Length: Controls the line length delimiter for non-formatted text files.
Display Line Numbers: Select this check box to display line numbers on the left hand side
of the Viewer pane.
Display Ruler: Select this check box to display the horizontal ruler at the top of the Viewer
pane.
3 In the left pane of the Preferences dialog box, click Color and select from the following options:
Colors: Displays a list of items for a text file for which you can select and control the
display color.
Foreground: Controls the color of the foreground color of the selected item in the Colors
list.
Background: Controls the color of the background color of the selected item in the Colors
list.
Displaying or hiding rulers, line numbers, and greenbars
Adjusting the page setup options

AUTOCAD IMAGE DOCUMENTS

AutoCAD image documents with the extension .dxf, .dwg, or .dgn can be viewed in Alchemy. The
following topics describe what you can do when viewing AutoCAD image documents:
Sizing the document display, page 42
Selecting layers, page 42
Opening named views, page 42
Using panning view, page 43

The larger the AutoCAD file, the longer it takes to display. To interrupt the display of large
AutoCAD files, either click Cancel in the progress box or press the ESC key.

Notes:

You cannot view .dgn files in Alchemy Web.

When viewing CAD documents in Alchemy Web, only the base CAD drawing is automatically
loaded. XREF files associated with the base CAD drawing must be loaded individually before
they can be viewed in Alchemy Web.

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Details about specific document types

SIZING THE DOCUMENT DISPLAY

To scale the AutoCAD document to fit the Viewer pane, click the Fit in Window button on the
toolbar.
Selecting layers
Opening named views
Using panning view
SELECTING LAYERS
AutoCAD documents can contain many layers, similar to the transparent overlays drafters use to
create pencil drawings. For example, a drawing of a house may have wall lines on one layer, the
electrical wiring on a second layer, and plumbing on a third. In many cases, each layer is color-coded
so you can tell them apart. Viewing all layers at the same time can be confusing, so the visibility
controls allow you to display only the layers you want to view.
1 Display an AutoCAD document.
2 Click the Layers button

on the toolbar to display the Layers dialog box.

3 Select or hide layers by either clicking the check box for the layer or by selecting the layer and
clicking Visible or Hidden. To change the display status of multiple layers, hold down the CTRL
key while you select each layer. To select several contiguous layers, click the first layer and hold
down the SHIFT key while you click the last layer. Once the desired layers are selected, click
Visible or Hidden to change the display status of those layers.
4 Click OK to accept the changes and refresh the display.
Sizing the document display
Opening named views
Using panning view
OPENING NAMED VIEWS
Some AutoCAD drawings may be imported with views that were created in their native program. The
Named Views option allows you to access these views or choose a different way to view the drawing.
1 Click the Named Views button on the toolbar to display the Named Views dialog box.

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Details about specific document types

2 In the Named Views dialog box, double-click a view to display the drawing in that view.
3 Click OK.
Sizing the document display
Selecting layers
Using panning view
USING PANNING VIEW
The Panning View window displays the full view of an AutoCAD document so that when the image
is enlarged in the Viewer pane, you can track which portion of the image is displayed.
1 Open an AutoCAD image document in the Viewer pane.
2 Click the Panning View button on the Viewer pane toolbar to display the Panning View
window.
3 Zoom in on the image in the Viewer pane.
As you zoom, the focus area in the Panning View window changes size and location to outline
the area of the image that is displayed in the Viewer pane.
4 Click and drag the focus area in the Panning View window.
As you drag the focus area around, the Viewer pane displays the corresponding portion of the
image.
5 Close the Panning View window by doing one of the following:
Click the Close button in the upper right corner of the window.
Clicking again on the Panning View button on the Viewer pane toolbar.
Sizing the document display
Selecting layers
Opening named views

VIEWING COMPOUND DOCUMENTS

In Alchemy Web, compound documents are designated by a book icon
compound document, do the following:

. To navigate through a

1 In the Tree View pane, expand the contents under the master document.
2 Do one of the following:
To view the master document, click the document title next to the book icon

To view a subdocument, click the title of the document under the master document.

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Details about specific document types

44

Retrieving information from databases

CHAPTER 4

RETRIEVING INFORMATION FROM DATABASES

Alchemy allows you to retrieve documents, portions of documents, profile data, and OCR (optical
character recognition) text from a database. The following topics describe how to retrieve
information:
Retrieving files and profile data, page 45
Retrieving a document with an attached overlay, page 50
Retrieving a document with annotations, page 51

RETRIEVING FILES AND PROFILE DATA

The Retrieve Files dialog box contains options that allow you to retrieve a document and its profile
data independently.

When using Alchemy Search, you may not be able to retrieve or print documents if the designer
of the database has disabled these functions.
1 In the Tree View, Viewer, or Results pane, right-click a database, folder, document, or group of
documents, and then click Retrieve Files on the shortcut menu.

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Retrieving files and profile data

The Retrieve Files dialog box appears.

These options in the Retrieve
Files dialog box allow you to
select exactly what to retrieve.

When retrieving profile

information, the Profile Options
tab allows you to select which
profile fields to retrieve, and in
what format the profile text
appears in the designated
output file.

When you retrieve profile

information in comma-delimited
format for use with DataGrabber,
the output file specified here is
the data file to use in conjunction
with the definition file (.def) that
is automatically created during
the retrieval process. When you
select an output file using the
Browse button, the file is
automatically saved with a .dat
extension.

2 In the To box on the Retrieve Files tab, type or browse to select the location to which you want
to retrieve the files.
3 In the What do you wish to retrieve? section, select one or more of the following options:
Non-image Files: Select this check box to retrieve only non-image documents.
Image Files: Select this check box to retrieve only image documents.
OCR Files: Select this check box to retrieve any OCR text associated with the image
documents. See the Alchemy Scan Help for more information about OCR.
Profiles: Select this check box to retrieve only profile information for the documents.
When this option is selected, you can specify which profile fields to retrieve and in what
format using the Profile Options tab (described later in this topic).
Folders: Select this check box to retrieve only profile information maintained on the folder
level for the selected folder(s). When this option is selected, you can specify which profile
fields to retrieve and in what format using the Profile Options tab (described later in this
topic).

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Retrieving files and profile data

Auto Rename: Select this check box to rename any duplicate file names. Duplicate file
names may occur if you have documents of the same name residing in different folders of a
database. This feature will add the files record ID to the name of any duplicates
encountered, i.e. filename_recordID.ext.

If you do not select this check box and duplicate files are discovered during the
retrieval process, you will be prompted to select what you want to do with each
duplicate.
4 If you are retrieving more than one document or a compound document, select from the
following additional options:
Include Annotations: Select this check box to retrieve any annotations associated with the
image documents. You only have the option to turn off annotations if the database builder
did not force annotations on.
Include Overlays: Select this check box to retrieve any form overlays associated with the
non-image documents. If a form overlay has not been associated with a document, it will
be retrieved as an ASCII text file and will not include a form overlay. This overrides the
Disable Overlay option on the View menu.
Include sub-documents: When retrieving compound documents, select this check box to
retrieve the compound document and its sub-documents. When retrieving the contents of a
database or folder, select this option to retrieve all the documents in the database or folder.

When you retrieve documents at the database or folder level, in order to retrieve
profile information, select Include sub-documents on the Retrieve Files tab of the
Retrieve Files dialog box.
Save to single file, separate using: When retrieving multiple documents (including
compound documents and their sub-documents), select this check box to place them all in
one file. If you did not specify a file name in the To box, as described in step 2, either the
title of the master document or the title of the first document is used. You can separate the
documents in the following ways:
Page breaks: This option places a page break between each document in the file.
Blank lines: This option places blank lines between each document in the file. Type
the number of lines by which to separate the documents in the file.
5 If you selected the Profiles check box in step 3, open the Profile Options tab and continue to the
next step to specify what profile data should be retrieved. Otherwise, skip to step 9.
6 In the Output file box, type or browse to select the path to the output file in which the profile
field contents will be saved. This file can have any extension except .def. If you browse to the
location, the file is automatically saved with a .dat extension.
7 In the Fields to choose from list, select the profile fields you want to retrieve and move them
to the Fields to retrieve list using the right-arrow button

In addition to available profile fields, you can select the following options in the list:

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Retrieving files and profile data

$FILE$: Full path of the file retrieval destination specified in the To box (described in step
2).
$FOLDER$: Folder path where the file resides in the database. When the file resides in the
database root folder, this is blank.

When retrieving profile information for compound documents, the $FOLDER$

information is displayed differently. for an example of how this works.
$OCR$: Full path of the OCR file retrieval destination specified in the To box (described
in step 2).
8 In the Format section, select one of the following output file formats:
Label value: Displays the profile field name, followed by a colon, followed by the contents
of that field; one profile field per line. Each set of fields is separated by a blank line.
Example:
When Document Title, File Directory, and $FILE$ are selected from the Fields to choose
from list, you get the following output:
Document Title:International Space Station Contract
File Directory:D:\customers\contracts
$FILE$ C:\My Documents\contracts\contract.doc
Document Title:Income Statement 1995
File Directory:D:\financials\income statements
$FILE$C:\My Documents\financials\inc10s.wk3
Document Title:Income Statement 1998
File Directory:D:\financials\income statements
$FILE$C:\My Documents\financials\income 1998.xls
Comma-delimited: Displays each profile field text in quotes, one set of profile fields per
line.
Example:
When Document Title and File Directory are selected from the Fields to choose from
list, you get the following output:
International Space Station Contract, D:\customers\contracts
Income Statement 1995",D:\financials\income statements
Income Statement 1998",D:\financials\income statements
One per line: Displays only the contents of the profile field, one profile field per line. Each
set of fields is separated by a blank line.
Example:
When Document Title and File Directory, and $FILE$ are selected from the Fields to
choose from list, you get the following output:
International Space Station Contract
D:\customers\contracts

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Retrieving files and profile data

C:\My Documents\contracts\contract.doc
Income Statement 1995
D:\financials\income statements
C:\My Documents\financials\inc10s.wk3
Income Statement 1998
D:\financials\income statements
C:\My Documents\financials\income 1998.xls
Custom: Allows you to create a custom display. Use character sequences with this option
to specify when to begin a new line and to create columns of text. The following list shows
the most commonly used character sequences:
%s: Represents one profile field. To properly retrieve all selected profile fields, the
number of %s symbols must exactly correspond to the number of profile fields
selected.
\n: Denotes a new line.
field width: A number that specifies the number of spaces from the start of each
column to the start of the next column.
- (minus sign): The minus sign aligns text to the left.
Character sequence examples:
%s\n: Writes to the specified output file the information from one profile field on a
separate line for each document.
%s,%s,%s\n: Writes to the specified output file the information from three profile
fields, separated by commas, on a separate line for each document. Any other
punctuation to separate profile field text can be entered in this same way.
%-20s%-20s%s\n: Creates a table of three columns of text in the specified output
file. Each column is separated by 20 spaces from the start of one column to the start
of the next. Each row contains profile field information from one document (denoted
by the /n character at the end of the line).
Total Sales: %s\n: Writes to the specified output file the contents of the Total Sales
field on a separate line for each document, preceded by the text label Total Sales. A
line in the output file might look like this:
Total Sales: 346,908
9 Click OK to retrieve the documents. The selected documents are copied to the specified
directory, and their original file names and format are used.

If you receive the Confirm File Replace dialog box, this means that a duplicate file name
was encountered. Select from the Confirm File Replace options.

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Retrieving a document with an attached overlay

RETRIEVING COMPOUND DOCUMENT PROFILE INFORMATION EXAMPLE

In the compound document shown left, the main document and its
associated sub-documents each have different profile information.
When Document Title, File Name, Employee (custom profile field),
and $FOLDER$ are selected for retrieval, the output is as shown in
the table below. Note that the folder for a sub-document is the file
name of the main document.
Document

Document Title

File Name

Employee

$FOLDER$

Main doc: February 98

February 98

feb98.xls

Fromohio

Sub-doc: January 98

January 98

jan98.xls

Hurley

feb98.xls

Sub-doc: March 98

March 98

mar98.xls

Watt

feb98.xls

RETRIEVING A DOCUMENT WITH AN ATTACHED OVERLAY

You can retrieve documents with attached overlays from a database into a directory on your hard
drive. When you retrieve a document with its associated overlay, the files are converted to a single
TIFF file image. You can then use these documents and their profile information, if retrieved with the
files, to create a new database from documents found, for example, as the result of a search.
1 In the Tree View, Viewer, or Results pane, select a database, folder, document, or group of
documents.

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Retrieving a document with annotations

2 Right-click and click Retrieve Files on the shortcut menu to display the Retrieve Files dialog
box.

3 In the To box on the Retrieve Files tab, type or browse to select the retrieval destination.
4 In the What do you wish to retrieve? section, click to select the Non-image Files check box.
5 In the Options section, click to select the Include Overlays check box.

If a form overlay has not been associated with a document, it will be retrieved as an ASCI
text file and will not include a form overlay. This option overrides the Disable Overlay
option on the View menu.
6 Click OK.
Selected documents are retrieved into the specified destination on your hard drive as TIFF image
files. When the retrieve operation is finished, the Retrieve Files results dialog box appears.
Documents retrieved with their associated overlays are counted as overlay files by Alchemy.
Documents retrieved without associated overlays are counted as non-image files by Alchemy.

RETRIEVING A DOCUMENT WITH ANNOTATIONS

If annotations were not forced on, Alchemy users have the option of whether or not to include
annotations when they retrieve files.

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Retrieving a document with annotations

When you retrieve files from a database for which annotations were forced on, the original file
is modified to include the annotation(s).
1 In the Tree View pane, select a database.
2 On the File menu, select Retrieve Files to display the Retrieve Files dialog box.
3 On the Retrieve Files tab, in the Options section, select the Include Annotations check box.
4 Click OK to save your settings and retrieve your files into the selected database.

52

Searching databases

CHAPTER 5

SEARCHING DATABASES

You can search the contents of Alchemy databases in many powerful ways across multiple
databases using exact phrases, for words that appear together, using Boolean search operators and
wildcard characters, and with fuzzy search word matching for extremely fast search results.
Alchemy automatically indexes all words within text documents, enabling instant retrieval of any
stored document based on its content. Unlike other full text software, however, Alchemys indexes are
highly compressed, which speeds up the search process.
The following topics describe how to search databases:
General settings that affect searching, page 53
Entering search criteria, page 54
Performing a simple search, page 57
Performing an advanced search, page 58
Searching within a folder, page 64
Searching within a document, page 64
Searching within search results, page 65
Searching a database that spans multiple discs, page 65
Searching a database under Library Services, page 67

GENERAL SETTINGS THAT AFFECT SEARCHING

Alchemy includes two general settings that apply to all databases and affect searching. To access
these settings, on the Tools menu, select Settings, and then click the General tab.

The following options on the General tab affect searching:

Jump to first highlight: Select this check box to have the viewer go to the first occurrence of
the search term. This option is not selected by default.

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Entering search criteria

Open first search document: Select this check box to automatically display the first document
in the search results list. This option is selected by default.

ENTERING SEARCH CRITERIA

Alchemy provides the following tools for entering search criteria for text and profile fields when
performing simple or advanced searches:
Lookup tables, see page 54
Boolean operators, see page 54
Wildcards, see page 55
Phrase searching, page 55
Adjacency searching, see page 56
Proximity searching, see page 56
Numeric and date range searching, see page 56

Search fields are not case-sensitive. For example, typing COMPUTER finds computer and
Computer. Also, when you need to search using the profile fields, remember to clear any text
that might appear in the Type your query here box on the Document Contents tab.

LOOKUP TABLES
A fields lookup table (or word wheel) contains a list of all words that appear in the contents of all
the indexed documents in the database. The number of Hits shows the number of documents in which
a word appears. You can use lookup tables to insert search criteria into fields.

Lookup tables are unavailable when you search multiple databases or unindexed documents.
1 To display the word wheel, click the Lookup Table button

to the right of a field.

2 Double-click a word from the lookup table to place it in the field.

3 Then, place the cursor after the word in the field and type a space. When you do not type a
space, the last word in the field is replaced with the newly selected word.
4 Double-click another word in the lookup table to insert it at the cursors position.

BOOLEAN OPERATORS
Alchemy Search supports the Boolean logic operators AND, OR, and NOT. Boolean searches allow
you to search for multiple terms in the same field. When more than one word is typed in the box and
no Boolean operators are used, the AND operator is assumed.

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Entering search criteria

You must use the NOT operator in conjunction with either the AND operator or the OR
operator. Therefore, you cannot use NOT CONFIDENTIAL to find all documents that do not
contain the word confidential.
EXAMPLES:
Type ADDITION OR ABILITY to locate all documents that contain either the word addition
or the word ability, or both words.
Type ADDITION OR (ABILITY AND CONFIDENTIAL)to locate documents that contain the
word addition or documents that contain both ability and confidential.
Type (ADDITION OR ABILITY) AND CONFIDENTIAL to locate all documents that contain
both addition and confidential or documents that contain both ability and confidential.
Type (ADDITION OR ABILITY) AND NOT CONFIEDENTIAL to locate all documents that do
not contain the word confidential, but do contain either the word Addition or the word
Ability.

WILDCARDS
Alchemy Search supports the use of DOS wildcard characters. The asterisk (*) can be used to replace
an indeterminate number of characters in a word. The question mark (?) can be used to replace one
character in a word.

When you perform a fuzzy search, the search words cannot begin with a wildcard character.
EXAMPLES:
Type RED* in the File Name box to find all documents whose file name begins with red. Files
such as redpage.one, red.txt, and redy1 are found, but not nored.doc.
Type CA? in the File Name box to find all documents with a three letter file name that begins
with ca regardless of the file extension. The search will find the files cat.txt and cap.bmp,
but not cape.tif because it has four letters.

PHRASE SEARCHING
Use phrase searching to search profile fields that have indexed spaces or special characters.
To search for a phrase that contains multiple words, use the backslash character to indicate a space.
The backslash (\) character tells Alchemy to interpret the next character literally, which is used for
special characters, as well.
For example, if you type the indexed words President Roosevelts Bear in the Type your
query here box, Alchemy searches for documents that contain the word President, the word
Roosevelt, and the word Bear, but not necessarily next to each other. To search for the indexed words
President Roosevelts Bear, type President\ Roosevelt\s\ Bear.
The first and last backslash precedes the space between the words so that these characters are
interpreted literally. The second backslash precedes the apostrophe (single quote). Now Alchemy
finds the desired documents containing the text President Roosevelts Bear.

55

Entering search criteria

ADJACENCY SEARCHING
Use adjacency searching to retrieve only those documents where the specified search words appear
next to each other, even if one or all of the words are unindexed.
For example, you can search for North Carolina or Dr. Smith.
To find words that appear next to one another, type the word combination enclosed in quotes. For
example, type October sales to find all documents that contain the word October next to the
word sales.

PROXIMITY SEARCHING
Use proximity searching to search for words that appear within a certain range using the following
syntax:
<word1> within n <word2>

where
<word1> represents a word
n represents a numeric value
<word2> represents a word

For example, to find each occurrence where random appears within 4 words of aquarium, type
the following statement in the Type your query here box on the Document Contents tab of the
Search dialog box:
random within 4 aquarium

In this example, you would find a document that contains random fish aquarium (aquarium
appears within 2 words of random) or random fish in the aquarium (aquarium appears within 4
words of random), but not the document that contains random fish swim in the aquarium
(aquarium appears within 5 words of random).

NUMERIC AND DATE RANGE SEARCHING

Numeric and date fields are only supported in Release 6 (and above) databases. When numeric or date
field types are added to a database's document or folder profile, the following operators are available
for searching those fields:
> (greater than)
< (less than)
>= (greater than or equal to)
<= (less than or equal to)
EXAMPLES:
When a Check Number field has been added to a profile, to find all documents with check
numbers between 1025 and 1050, type the following statement in the Check Number box:
>= 1025 AND <= 1050

When searching a Date field, any non-numeric separator can be used in the date. To Alchemy,
10-25-97 is the same as 10/25/97. All four digits for the year do not have to be entered. The
implied century rule is implemented, that is that if the year is less than or equal to 29 that the
assumed century is 2000, if the year is greater than 29 and less than 100, then the implied
century is 1900. So, if a user types 25 for the year, the system will store the year as 2025; if a
user types 59 for the year, then the system will store it as 1959.

56

Performing a simple search

When a Date field has been added to a profile, to find all documents with dates between 5-1-96
and 5-1-97, type the following statement in the Date box:
>= 5-1-96 AND <= 5-1-97

PERFORMING A SIMPLE SEARCH

You can perform simple or advanced searches using the Search dialog box.
1 Open the database or databases you want to search.

Only built databases can be searched using the lookup table (word wheel).Text profile and
ID searches can be used with both built databases and unbuilt documents yet to be
included in a database.
2 Click the Search button

on the toolbar to display the Search dialog box.

3 If the Search dialog box is not in simple search mode (only the Query tab is displayed), click the
Simple Search button

in the upper left corner.

The binoculars button in the upper left corner of the Search dialog box toggles the display
between simple search mode and advanced search mode. When you are in simple search
appears. When you are in advanced search
mode, the Advanced Search button
mode, the Simple Search button appears. The mode that is displayed when the Search
dialog box opens depends on the mode that was displayed the last time the Search dialog
box was opened.

57

Performing an advanced search

4 Enter your search criteria into the fields provided on the Search dialog box. The fields displayed
here depend on whether the database designer created a query profile for the database(s).
5 Click Search to display a list of matching documents in the Results mode of the Tree View
pane.
6 If desired, refine your search by searching the search results.

PERFORMING AN ADVANCED SEARCH

1 Open the database or databases you want to search.

Only built databases can be searched using the lookup table (word wheel).Text profile and
ID searches can be used with both built databases and unbuilt documents yet to be
included in a database.
2 Click the Search button

on the toolbar to display the Search dialog box.

3 If the Search dialog box is not in advanced search mode (several tabs are displayed), click the
Advanced Search button

in the upper left corner.

The binoculars button in the upper left corner of the Search dialog box toggles the display
between simple search mode and advanced search mode. When you are in simple search
mode, the Advanced Search button appears. When you are in advanced search mode, the
Simple Search button

58

appears.

Performing an advanced search

4 In the Select where to search section of the Document Contents tab, select the target database
or search group from the list.

A search group is a selection of databases you can select in future searches.

5 Either create a new search query or open a saved search query by opening the Saved Search tab
and selecting the query from the Saved Query Selection list.
6 Click Search to display a list of matching documents in the Results mode of the Tree View
pane.
7 If desired, refine your search by searching the search results.

CREATING A SEARCH QUERY (ADVANCED SEARCH MODE)

In advanced search mode, you have many options for creating search queries. You can search the full
text of documents, all profile fields, selected profile fields, and/or the annotations associated with
documents.

These instructions assume you are on step 5 of Performing an advanced search on page 58.
1 If you want to search for specific text, enter the search criteria in the Type your query here box.
To only search for specific profile field data or any numeric-type profile fields, skip to the next
step.

When you type more than one word in a field, the default Boolean operator is AND.
2 By default, the Document contents check box is selected in the What would you like to
search? section, which means that the full text of documents in the database(s) will be
searched. You can change where to search by selecting or clearing any or all of the check boxes
in this section, including Document profile fields and Annotations. You must select at least
one check box.

Although you can include unbuilt documents in a profile fields search, the search will take
longer. Also, you must select an option in the Search unindexed documents section of
the Settings tab, as described in Searching unbuilt documents on page 61. You cannot
search the document contents or annotations for unbuilt documents.
3 If you want to search for specific profile field data (in addition to or instead of anything
specified in the previous step), open the Document Profile and/or Folder Profile tabs and enter
the search criteria.

If you want to search the File Date field, see Searching for a file date on page 60.

59

Performing an advanced search

By default, template fields are displayed in these tabs. To display custom fields or all
fields, right-click anywhere on the tab background, point to View on the shortcut menu,
and then click the desired option, as described below. The All Fields and Custom Fields
options only display indexed (searchable) fields.
Template Field: Displays all of the profile fields on the profile template as designed by the
database creator. This option will include all custom and system profile fields that were
added to the profile template when it was designed.
Custom Fields: Displays the Document Title field and only those fields that were defined
by the database creator.
All Fields: Displays all available fields, regardless of whether they were added to the
profile template when it was designed. This option displays all custom fields, as well as all
system profile fields, including file name, document ID, file directory, file size, file format,
and file date.
4 If necessary, make adjustments to the search settings on the Search tab.
5 If you have Library Services and want to include search criteria related to databases under
Library Services, click the Library Services tab and follow the steps in Searching a database
under Library Services on page 67.
6 If desired, save the query for future searches.
Return to step 6 of Performing an advanced search, found on page 59.
SEARCHING FOR A FILE DATE
Before you can search on the File Date field, you must index the field and include the field in the
document profile.

For databases created before Alchemy R7, you must first index the File Date field, clear the
index for the database, and then rebuild the database.
To index the File Date field:

1 Select the Index field with indexing method check box on the System Field (File Date) dialog
box, which you access from the Design Fields dialog box.
2 Add the File Date field to the document profile.
To search on the File Date field:

1 Select the database to search in the Tree View pane, open the Search dialog box, and open the
Document Profile tab.
2 In the File Date box, type the date range that you want to search.
The following list provides examples of valid criteria for a date range search:
>4/11/2000 and <4/13/2000
>4/15/2000 01:58:00pm

60

Performing an advanced search

>4/16/2000 0:0:0

You cannot use wildcards in this box.

3 Click Search.
The search results appear in the Tree View pane on the Results tab.
SEARCHING UNBUILT DOCUMENTS
When unbuilt (unindexed) documents are searched, Alchemy uses a sequential search method rather
than the indexed search method used to search built documents. Sequential searching is slower than
indexed searching; therefore, when you have a large number of unindexed documents to search, the
search might take longer. To speed up the search process, build the database before you perform a
search.
The following restrictions apply to searching unbuilt documents:
You can only search profile fields. You cannot search document content because full-text
searching requires the use of an index.
You can only search fields that have an indexing method.
Numeric and Date fields are not searched sequentially, therefore, range searching is not
supported for unbuilt documents.
Results ranking and fuzzy search are not supported for unbuilt documents.

CONFIGURING SEARCH SETTINGS (ADVANCED SEARCH MODE)

Search settings are displayed on the Settings tab of the Search dialog box when in advanced search
mode. These settings can also be accessed by selecting Settings on the Tools menu, and then opining
the Search tab.

1 In the Word Matching section, select the Rank search results check box to rank documents in
the search results list by relevancy. If desired, use the slider bar beneath the check box to enable
fuzzy word matching.

61

Performing an advanced search

Alchemy does not support multiple field fuzzy searches. When you want to perform a
fuzzy search, you must perform the search one field at a time.
2 If desired, change the default operator to use between fields by selecting or in the Boolean
operator to use between fields section.

This operator determines the search relationship between: 1) the Type your query here
box on the Document Contents tab, and the profile fields on the Document Profile tab,
and, 2) each field within a profile tab (either the Document Profile tab or Folder Profile
tab). Since folder profiles are meant to narrow document profile or document content
searches, the default Boolean operator between fields on the folder profile and fields on
any other tab is always and, and cannot be changed. However, the default Boolean
operator between fields within the folder profile is controlled by this setting.
3 Select one of the check boxes in the Searching unindexed documents section to search
unbuilt documents. Select In addition to searching the index (can be slow) to search for
unindexed documents, which might increase the length of the search, or select Only if
searching the index finds no hits to tell Alchemy only to search unindexed documents if no
matches are found in built documents.

SAVING A SEARCH QUERY (ADVANCED SEARCH MODE)

Because advanced search queries can become complicated, Alchemy allows you to save up to 25
search queries and their associated settings for queries that you use frequently to search files
contained within databases. These queries can be edited as necessary.
1 Once you have created a search query, open the Saved Search tab.

62

Performing an advanced search

2 In the Saved Query Selection box, type a name for the query.
3 Click Save to save the query along with its associated settings.

EDITING A SAVED SEARCH QUERY (ADVANCED SEARCH MODE)

If you have saved a search query, you can edit it using the following steps.
1 Click the Search button

on the toolbar to display the Search dialog box.

2 Open the Saved Search tab, and then in the Saved Query Selection list, select the query you
want to edit.
3 Make your changes to the search query, and then click Save.
4 A message appears asking if you want to overwrite the existing query. Click Yes to overwrite
the existing query, or No to cancel the operation.

DELETING A SAVED SEARCH QUERY (ADVANCED SEARCH MODE)

If you have saved a search query, you can delete it using the following steps.
1 Click the Search button

on the toolbar to display the Search dialog box.

2 Open the Saved Search tab, and then in the Saved Query Selection list, select the query you
want to delete.
3 Click Delete.
4 A message appears asking if you want to delete the search query. Click Yes to delete the search
query, or No to cancel the operation.

CREATING A SEARCH GROUP

1 On the Search dialog box, open the Document Contents tab and click Define to display the
Define Search Groups dialog box.

63

Searching within a folder

2 In the Group Name box, type a name for the search group.
3 In the Databases to choose from list, double-click the databases you want to add to the group
to move them to the Databases in group list.
4 Click Save to save the group, and then click Close to return to the Search dialog box.

SEARCHING WITHIN A FOLDER

Using Alchemys Search Here feature, you can limit your simple and advanced searches to a specific
folder within your database.
1 In the Tree view pane, right-click the database folder you want to search.
2 On the shortcut menu, click Search Here to display the search dialog box.
3 In the Search dialog box, select either simple or advanced search and then enter your search
criteria as desired.
4 Perform your search.

SEARCHING WITHIN A DOCUMENT

Use the find feature to locate a word in a text document or an image file with associated OCR text
that is displayed in the Viewer pane.

SEARCHING WITHIN A TEXT DOCUMENT

1 With the contents of a text document displayed in the Viewer pane, click the Search Within This
Document button

on the Viewer pane toolbar.

2 In the Type your query here box, type a search word or phrase.
3 Click Next to find the next occurrence of the word or phrase.
Click Previous to find the previous occurrence of the word or phrase.
Each occurrence of the word is highlighted when it is found. A notification message is displayed
when you reach the beginning or end of the document.
4 Click Cancel to exit.

SEARCHING WITHIN AN IMAGE FILE WITH ASSOCIATED OCR TEXT

1 With an image file that has been OCRd displayed in the Viewer pane, click the Find button
located on the Alchemy Viewer toolbar.
If the Find button is not visible, see Managing the Alchemy Viewer toolbars on page 7 for
information about displaying Alchemy Veiwer toolbars and toolbar buttons.

64

Searching within search results

2 In the Find what box, type a search term.

3 Select search options as desired.
4 Click Find Next.
The first instance of the word or phrase in the document is located and selected. If search
highlighting is active, all instances of the word or phrase are highlighted in the document.
5 To continue searching the image file, do one of the following:
Scroll through the document to view all instances of the word or phrase.
Click Find Next to select the next occurence of the word or phrase in the document.
Close the Find dialog box, then click the Find Next button
button

or the Find Previous

on the Alchemy Viewer toolbar.

6 When finished, if necessary, click Close to exit.

SEARCHING WITHIN SEARCH RESULTS

You can refine a search by searching the results of a previous search.
1 Perform a search, as described in Performing a simple search on page 57 or Performing an
advanced search on page 58.
2 Open the Search dialog box again.
3 In the Search groups list on the Document Contents tab, select Search Results. This option
only appears in the list after documents have been found by a previous search.
4 Enter the desired search criteria and click Search to display the results.

SEARCHING A DATABASE THAT SPANS MULTIPLE DISCS

Alchemy supports writing and retrieving data across multiple discs, using a powerful feature called
CD-SPAN. Each CD-ROM that is part of a CD-SPAN database set is referred to as a volume. In a
CD-SPAN set, one search locates files regardless of their location in the set.
If you have a set of CD-ROMs that were created with Alchemy, you might need to complete the
following steps to view, print, or copy a document from the Tree View or Results panes.

To locate files across multiple CDs, run Alchemy Search from the hard drive or the network
rather than from the CD.

To include unindexed documents added since you first opened the database, select View |
Refresh before you perform your search. You must refresh at the database level to include any
new (unbuilt) documents.

65

Searching a database that spans multiple discs

1 If a file is not on the CD-ROM that is currently loaded in your CD Reader, Alchemy will prompt
you to load the CD-ROM identified in the Volume label field.

You can use Windows Explorer to identify volume labels.

2 Depending on whether you need to map the disk volume, do one of the following steps:
If you have the disk, load it and click OK to continue without mapping the disc volume to
the local drive.
To map the disc volume, select Map disc volume, and type the volume label and path. You
can use a wildcard to map an entire database or to map all databases on the disk source. See
the following examples for more information:
Example of mapping an entire database:
In the first box, type the database file name, followed by an asterisk, followed by a colon.
alldocs*:

In the second text box, after the equal sign, type the following:
d:\all databases\alldocs*

So the mapping will look like this:

alldocs*: = d:\all databases\alldocs*

Example of mapping all databases on the disc source:

In the first box, type an asterisk followed by a colon:
*:

The second test box, after the equal sign, type the following:
d:\all databases\*

So the mapping will look like this:

*: = d:\all databases\*

3 If a complete CD-SPAN set is mounted and online, Alchemy locates the required CD-ROM
based on the path you entered in the Alchemy.ini or Ausearch.ini file, see the Searching discs
in a jukebox section below. This makes Alchemy CD-SPAN ideal for CD jukeboxes or CD
towers attached to a LAN.

SEARCHING DISCS IN A JUKEBOX

When using a large jukebox, there may not be enough drive letters to assign a drive letter to each CD.
A common procedure is to map a drive letter to the jukebox and each CD becomes a sub-directory of
that drive. In this case, Alchemy will not be able to find the CD unless you map each CD in the
jukebox with a Paths statement in the INI file.
When using Alchemy Search, add the Paths statement to the AuSearch.ini file. When using Alchemy
Administrator, add the Paths statements to the Alchemy.ini file.
Sample Paths statement:
cd volume name:= path mapped by the jukebox software

66

Searching a database under Library Services

When running Alchemy Search from a network configuration, we recommend that you place
the statements in the following examples in the AuSearch.ini file. The reason for using the
AuSearch.ini file for these statements is that the AuSearch.ini overrides the local Alchemy.ini
settings. The network administrator will therefore only need to change one network file
(AuSearch.ini) as opposed to changing individual (local) files on individual computers.
EXAMPLE 1:
In this example, TEST001: is the volume name of the CD created by Alchemy, J:\TEST001 is the
path to the CD as mapped by the jukebox software, and TEST001 is the folder assigned to the CD by
the Jukebox software. This example assumes the drive letter remains constant.
TEST001:= J:\TEST001

You can use a wildcard to map to multiple paths.

EXAMPLE 2:
This example assumes that the drive letter will vary for network users.
TEST001:= \\SERVER NAME\TEST001

or
TEST*:= \\SERVER NAME\TEST*

This statement is stored in the AuSearch.ini file:

[PATHS]
TEST*:=J:\TEST*

SEARCHING A DATABASE UNDER LIBRARY SERVICES

You can search a database that is under Library Services the same way as you do other databases. In
addition, you can include the following search criteria:
Documents checked out by you
Documents checked out by other users
Documents checked out during a specific time period
These criteria can be found on the Library Services tab of the Search dialog box when in advanced
search mode. You can combine these criteria with any other search options you select while
performing an advanced search.
1 If you do not already have the Search dialog box open, click the Search button
toolbar to display the Search dialog box.
2 If necessary, click the Advanced Search button

on the

to view advanced search mode.

3 In the Select where to search section on the Document Contents tab, select the Library
Services database that you want to search in the Search groups list.
The Library Services tab appears.

67

Searching a database under Library Services

You cannot use search groups when searching databases under Library Services.
4 Open the Library Services tab.

5 To search all documents in the selected database that you currently have checked out, select
Display all files checked out by me.
6 To search all documents in the selected database that are currently checked out by other users,
select Documents checked out by other users. Then, in the text box below this option, type
or browse to select the name of the user, using the following syntax: domain name/user
name

7 To find all databases checked out during a specific time period, select the Date check box, and
then define the date range using the Between and And options.

You can combine these options to find all documents checked out by a specific user during
a specific time period.
8 Click Search.
Alchemy displays your search results on the Results tab.

68

APPENDIX B

ACCESSIBILITY FOR DISABLED PERSONS

Under certain circumstances, users may be unable to use a mouse to navigate through an application
or execute commands, or a mouse may not be available. In such instances, Captaris provides
keyboard shortcuts (key combinations that mimic mouse actions). Using keyboard shortcuts, you can
navigate through the Alchemy user interface, dialog boxes and help window, access Alchemy menus,
and execute menu commands and other Alchemy functions.
The keyboard shortcuts listed in this appendix refer to the U.S. keyboard layout. Keys on other
keyboard layouts may not correspond exactly to the key on the U.S. keyboard. In addition, some key
combinations used in Alchemy may not correspond to key combinations used in other MS Windows
applications. This is due to the use of different elements within Alchemy and the presence of certain
third party file and image viewers used to display files. Where keyboard shortcuts cannot be used to
navigate through an element or access a function, alternative methods are listed.
The following topics describe Alchemys accessibility options:
Working in Alchemy, page 69
Working with menu commands, page 70
Working in dialog boxes, page 71
Keyboard shortcuts for working with online help, page 71
Accessing Alchemy functions and features, page 73
Editing document profile information in Library Services, page 72
Alchemy Scan commands, page 73
Additional keyboard commands, page 74

WORKING IN ALCHEMY
Use the following keyboard combinations to navigate and work in Alchemy:
Press
F1
F10
ALT+Underlined letter
ALT+F4
F6
CTRL+TAB

To
Open the Help Window.
Activate the menu bar.
Activate a specific menu on the menu bar.
Close the active application.
Switch to the next pane.
Move forward through tabs.
69

Working in the Tree View pane

Press
DOWN ARROW
UP ARROW
END
HOME
RIGHT ARROW
LEFT ARROW
NUM LOCK+ASTERISK on numeric
keypad (*)
NUM LOCK+PLUS SIGN on numeric
keypad (+)
NUM LOCK+MINUS SIGN on numeric
keypad (-)
CTRL+TAB
DELETE
INSERT

To
Select the next database, folder, or document.
Select the previous database, folder or document.
Select the last visible item in the Tree View.
Select the first visible item in the Tree View.
Display the current selection if its collapsed, or select
the first subfolder.
Collapse the current selection if its expanded, or select
the parent folder or database.
Display all items under the selected item.
Display the contents of the selected database or folder.
Collapse the contents of the selected item.
Move forward through the Tree View tabs.
Delete the selected folder or file.
Insert a new folder to the selected database.

Working in the Viewer pane

Press
Arrow keys
ENTER
DELETE
INSERT
+
-

To
Scroll through the displayed files.
Open the selected file.
Delete the selected file.
Insert a new folder to the selected database.
Zooms into a displayed image (makes image larger).
Zooms out of a displayed image (makes image
smaller).

Working in the Profile pane

Press
CTRL+TAB

To
Move forward through the Profile tabs.

WORKING WITH MENU COMMANDS

Use the following keyboard combinations to access menu commands:
Press
F10
ALT+Underlined letter
DOWN ARROW or UP ARROW (with
the menu or submenu displayed)

70

To
Make the menu bar active.
Make a specific menu on the menu bar active.
Select the next or previous command on the menu or
submenu.

Press
LEFT ARROW or RIGHT ARROW

ALT
ESC

To
Select the menu to the left or right; or, with a submenu
visible, switch between the main menu and the
submenu.
Close the visible menu and submenu at the same time.
Close the visible menu; or, with a submenu visible,
close the submenu only.

WORKING IN DIALOG BOXES

Use the following keyboard combinations to navigate and use dialog box functions:
Press
CTRL+TAB
CTRL+SHIFT+TAB
TAB
SHIFT+TAB
ALT+ letter key
ENTER
SPACEBAR
Arrow keys
F1
F4
ESC
Letter key
ALT+DOWN ARROW (when a list is
selected)
ESC (when a list is selected)

To
Move forward through tabs.
Move backward through tabs.
Move forward through options.
Move backward through options.
Select the option or select or clear the check box next
to the letter underlined in the option name.
Carry out the for the above active option or button.
Select or clear the checkbox if the active option is a
checkbox.
Select a button if the active option is a group of option
buttons.
Display online help.
Display the items in the active list.
Cancel the command and close the dialog box.
In the selected list, move to the next option that starts
with the letter you type.
Open the selected list.
Perform the action assigned to the default button in the
dialog box.

KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS FOR WORKING WITH ONLINE HELP

Use the following keyboard combinations to open and use the online help:
Working in the Help Window

Press
F1
ALT+SPACEBAR
ALT+F4

To
Open the help window.
Display the program Control menu.
Close the active help window.

71

Moving around in the Contents window or Navigation pane

Press
CTRL+TAB
CTRL+SHIFT+TAB
ALT+C (HTML help only)
ALT+S (HTML help only)
ALT+I (HTML help only)
ENTER
DOWN ARROW
UP ARROW
RIGHT ARROW
LEFT ARROW

To
Switch to the next tab.
Switch to the previous tab.
Switch to the Contents tab.
Switch to the Search tab.
Switch to the Index tab.
Open or close a selected book, or open a selected Help
topic.
Select the next book or Help topic.
Select the previous book or Help topic.
Open the selected book.
Close the selected book.

Moving Around in the Topic Window or Topic Pane

Press
ALT+LEFT ARROW (HTML help only)
ALT+RIGHT ARROW (HTML help only)
TAB
SHIFT+TAB
ENTER
ESC
UP ARROW
DOWN ARROW
PAGE UP
PAGE DOWN
HOME
END
CTRL+P
CTRL+A (HTML help only)
CTRL+C

To
Go back to a Help topic you viewed previously.
Go forward to a Help topic you viewed previously.
Go to the first or next hyperlink.
Go to the last or previous hyperlink.
Activate a selected hyperlink.
Close a pop-up window.
Scroll toward the beginning of a Help topic.
Scroll toward the end of a Help topic.
Scroll toward the beginning of a Help topic in larger
increments.
Scroll toward the end of a Help topic in larger
increments.
Move to the beginning of a Help topic.
Move to the end of a Help topic.
Print the active Help topic.
Select the entire Help topic.
Copy the selected items to the clipboard.

EDITING DOCUMENT PROFILE INFORMATION IN LIBRARY SERVICES

Use the following keyboard combinations to edit document profile information when a document is
checked out through Library Services
Press
F2

72

To
Places the selected profile field into edit mode.

Press
DOWN ARROW

UP ARROW

CTRL + DOWN ARROW

CTRL + UP ARROW
CTRL + ENTER
TAB
ENTER
ESCAPE

To
Edit mode: scrolls down through multiple lines of text
in the profile field
Selected field: scrolls down through the fields in the
document profile pane.
Edit mode: scrolls up through multiple lines of text in
the profile field
Selected field: scrolls up through the fields in the
document profile pane.
Scrolls down through the fields in the document profile
pane.
Scrolls up through the fields in the document profile
pane.
Edit mode: inserts a new line into the field.
Saves the information in the field and opens the next
field for editing.
Saves the information in the field and opens the next
field for editing.
Cancels edit mode.

ACCESSING ALCHEMY FUNCTIONS AND FEATURES

Use the following keyboard combinations to use Alchemy functions and features:
Press
CTRL+P

To
Print the contents of the selected database or folder, or
the selected file.
Copy the selected items of the active file to the
clipboard.
Copy the selected text from multiple documents into a
single notepad file.
Select the entire contents of the active file
Refresh the contents of the Viewer pane.
Activate or disable document overlays.

CTRL+C
CTRL+G
CTRL+A
F5
CTRL+O

ALCHEMY SCAN COMMANDS

SCAN MENU
The commands listed below appear on the Scan menu on the main menu bar only when Alchemy
Scan has been installed.
Command
Scan

Keyboard
Alt+S, S

Description
Opens the Scan dialog box, where you can scan a document or
documents to your hard drive.

73

Command
Rescan

Keyboard
Alt+S, R

OCR

Alt+S, O

Settings

Alt+S, E

Description
Opens the Scan dialog box, where you can rescan an image. The
original image is replaced with the new one.
Opens the OCR dialog box, where you can select a template,
specify other OCR options, and start OCR recognition.
Opens the Scan Settings dialog box, where you can set up
scanner profiles and document types.

OCR TEMPLATE MENUS

These commands are available on the OCR Template window, which you access by selecting OCR
Templates on the Design menu, and then clicking the Edit, New, or Copy button.

Command
File | Open Image

Keyboard
Alt+F, O

File | Save Template

Alt+F, S

File | Exit

Alt+F, X

Zones | Create Zone

Alt+Z, C

Zones | Clear All Zones

Alt+Z, A

Image
Help

Alt+I
Alt+H

Description
Displays the Open and load a sample image dialog
box, where you can open an image file to use as an
OCR template.
Opens the Save OCR Template dialog box, where
you can name and save the OCR template.
Exits the OCR Template Designer and returns you
to the Alchemy workspace.
Opens the OCR/Barcode Fields dialog box, where
you can associate the selected area of the image
with a profile field. During the OCR process, profile
fields will be populated with the text from its
associated zone.
Removes all zones from the currently open OCR
template.
Opens the Image menu options.
Opens the Alchemy Administrator or Alchemy
Index Station online help.

ADDITIONAL KEYBOARD COMMANDS

Due to the limitation of third-party viewers used to display files in Alchemy, you must use the
Microsoft Mouse Keys accessibility feature in Windows in order to access file-specific tool bars and
manipulate open files in the Viewer pane using the keyboard. You can activate Mouse Keys from
Accessibility Options located in the Control Panel.
For more information regarding the activation and use of Mouse Keys, please refer to the appropriate
Microsoft documentation for your version of Microsoft Windows.

74

INDEX

A
additional keyboard commands B-74
adjacency searching 5-56
adjusting document display settings 3-24
advanced search mode
creating queries 5-59
criteria 5-54
deleting queries 5-63
editing queries 5-63
performing 5-58
saving queries 5-62
settings 5-61
Alchemy
overview 1-1
Alchemy Server
history tab 2-11
opening databases 2-15
Alchemy Viewer
default display settings 3-24
thumbnail pane 3-28
toolbars 2-7
Alchemy.ini file
jukeboxes 5-66
AND operator 5-54
annotations
displaying 3-25
retrieving with files 4-51
anti-aliasing 3-25
architecture of Alchemy databases 1-2
audit logging
viewing event history 2-12
AuSearch.ini file
jukeboxes 5-66
AutoCAD
image documents 3-41
auto-next 2-19

B
black borders, removing 3-31
Boolean operators 5-54
borders, removing 3-31
brightness of images 3-31
browsing

database contents 2-19

previously viewed documents 2-20

C
CD-SPAN 5-65
clearing
images 3-31
closing
databases 2-15, 2-17
Thumbnail pane 3-28, 3-29
compliance, section 508 B-69
compound documents
profile information 4-50
viewing 3-43
compressed data containers 3-33
Contents tab 2-6
continuous display mode 3-28
contrast in images 3-31
converting
to grayscale 3-31
to monochrome 3-31
copying
portions of a document 3-34
text 3-34
Viewer pane columns 2-9
creating
multi-page TIFF files 3-39
search queries 5-59
Viewer pane columns 2-9
cropping images 3-30

D
databases
browsing 2-19
closing 2-17
opening 2-15, 2-16
statistics 2-11
viewing contents 2-17
date range searching 5-56
default document display settings 3-24
deleting
search queries 5-63
Viewer pane columns 2-9

B-75

Index

deskewing
unbuilt images 3-31
despeckling
unbuilt images 3-31
detail mode 2-7
DGN files 3-41
dialog box keyboard commands B-71
display mode 3-27
displaying
annotations 3-25
database statistics 2-11
documents, settings 3-24
multiple documents 2-7
document profiles
viewing 2-12
documentation
conventions 1-3
documents
downloading 3-35
emailing 3-37
printing 3-35
viewing properties 3-31
working with 3-23
DOS wildcard characters 5-55
downloading documents 3-35
DWG files 3-41
DXF files 3-41
dynamic links 3-34

E
editing
saved search queries 5-63
unbuilt images 3-30
emailing documents 3-37
embedded documents 3-32
event history 2-12

F
facing display mode 3-28
file date searching 5-60
files
downloading 3-35
retrieving 4-45
fitting document display 3-26
flipping images 3-30
folder profiles
viewing 2-12
folders
searching 5-64
viewing contents 2-17
B-76

form overlays
retrieving 4-50
full screen mode 3-27

G
general keyboard commands B-69
general navigation 2-5
GIF animation 3-25
groups
search 5-63

H
hardware, supported 1-4
hiding
layers 3-42
history view 2-12
holes in images 3-31

I
images
copying 3-34
editing 3-30
indexing
File Date fields 5-60
INI files
Alchemy.ini 5-66
AuSearch.ini 5-66
inverting images 3-30

J
jukebox searching 5-66

K
keyboard commands
accessing functions B-73
additional B-74
dialog box B-71
editing profile information B-72
general information B-69
menus B-70
OCR Template window B-74
online help B-71
Scan menu B-73
Tree View pane B-70
Viewer pane B-70

Index

layers in AutoCAD documents 3-42

Library Services
editing profile information B-72
searching databases 5-67
line numbers 3-40
lines in images 3-31
links, viewing 3-32
list mode 2-6
lookup tables
searching 5-54

panes
moving 2-14
Profile 2-11
resetting 2-14
sizing 2-14
Tree View 2-6
Viewer 2-6, 2-7, 2-9
panning view 3-43
pasting
portions of documents 3-34
PDF documents 3-24, 3-32, 3-40
phrase searching 5-55
prerequisites 1-2
previously viewed documents, browsing 2-20
printing
documents 3-35
documents using thumbnails 3-30
selected pages 3-36
selections 3-37
Profile pane 2-11
profiles
retrieving 4-45
viewing 2-12
properties
database 2-11
documents 3-31
proximity searching 5-56

M
menu keyboard commands B-70
metadata 2-11
mirror image 3-30
modifying
Viewer pane columns 2-9
moving
between items 2-18
Viewer pane columns 2-9
workspace panes 2-14
multi-page documents
display mode 3-27
navigating 2-20, 3-29
printing selected pages 3-36
thumbnail mode 2-7, 2-10
working with 3-39

N
named views 3-42
navigating Alchemy 2-5
negative images 3-30
NOT operator 5-54
numeric searching 5-56

O
online help keyboard commands B-71
opening
databases 2-15, 2-16
Thumbnail pane 3-28, 3-29
OR operator 5-54
organizing
workspace 2-5
overviews
Alchemy 1-1
Alchemy workspace 2-5

Q
queries, search 5-59

R
ranking search results 5-61
rearranging pages in multi-page TIFF files 3-39
refining a search 5-65
removing
black borders 3-31
holes in images 3-31
lines in images 3-31
repairing lines 3-31
resetting panes 2-14
resizing documents 3-26, 3-29
Results tab 2-6
retrieving
compound document profile information 4-50
documents with overlays 4-50
files and profile data 4-45
files with annotations 4-51
B-77

Index

rotating
documents 3-27
images 3-31
rulers 3-40

S
saving
search queries 5-62
searching
adjacency 5-56
advanced 5-58
Boolean operators 5-54
creating queries 5-59
criteria 5-54
defining groups 5-63
discs in a jukebox 5-66
folders 5-64
for file dates 5-60
for phrases 5-55
Library Services databases 5-67
multiple-disc databases 5-65
numeric and date range 5-56
proximity 5-56
queries 5-59, 5-62, 5-63
settings 5-53, 5-61
simple 5-57
unbuilt documents 5-61
using lookup tables 5-54
wildcards 5-55
within documents 5-64
within search results 5-65
word matching 5-61
section 508 keyboard commands B-69
selecting
pages to print 3-36
portions to print 3-37
text 3-34
sending documents as file attachments 3-37
settings
column 2-9
document display 3-24, 3-26
searching 5-53
workspace panes 2-14
shortcuts, keyboard B-69
simple search mode 5-57
single page display mode 3-27
sizing
documents 3-26
Viewer pane columns 2-9
workspace panes 2-14

B-78

smoothing images 3-31

status bar 2-14
supported hardware 1-4

T
text
copying 3-34
documents, working with 3-40
selecting 3-34
thumbnails
display mode 2-7
viewing 2-10
TIFF files
rearranging or creating 3-39
toolbars
Alchemy Viewer 2-7
Viewer pane 2-17
Tree View pane 2-6, 2-18, B-70

U
unbuilt
documents, searching 5-61
images, editing 3-30
undoing
image edits 3-30
URL protocol 2-15

V
Viewer pane
columns 2-9
displaying multiple 2-7
keyboard commands B-70
overview 2-6
toolbar buttons 2-17
viewing
compound documents 3-43
database statistics 2-11
database/folder contents 2-17
document properties 3-31
documents in thumbnails mode 2-10
event history 2-12
links 3-32
multiple documents 2-7
profile information 2-12

W
welcome to Alchemy 1-1
what this guide assumes 1-2

Index

wildcards 5-55
word matching 5-61
word wheel, see lookup tables
workspace 2-5, 2-14

Z
zooming 3-26

B-79