The organisation of the archive is a hierachial directory structure of up to 5 levels, as shown in the screenshot.

Directory Structure

The directory names are the levels used by the archive program to navigate through the structure to reach the required document level. New directories are created automatically as required.

User defined key information is extracted from specified positions on the pages of each document at archive time. This is used to build up an 80 character document header record, where each word is then indexed and linked back to the document. At retrieval time, once the user has selected the required document type, the application displays a list of the header records for that document type. The user can then view the list and select one or more documents to view, print or fax. Alternatively the Word Search facility can be used to refine the list by entering one or more know key words. As each word in the header records is linked to a document, the word search can refine the list to contain only entries whose header record contained a match for all the search words. At this point the list can be viewed and the required document(s) selected.

The fact that the key fields are extracted at archive time and placed in a document header record, which acts as a document summary, greatly simplifies and speeds up the document retrieval process. There is no need to search individual documents or to specify search regions. The user simply views the list of header records to locate the required document(s) in the list.