Ascent
Xtrata 1.5x Frequently Asked Questions
The Ascent Xtrata 1.8 Service Pack 1 product was released on 06/24/08 . It replaced the Ascent Xtrata 1.8 product release as the most recent release of the Ascent Xtrata product.
2. Can I get an evaluation copy of the new Ascent Xtrata product?
3. How does the Ascent Xtrata evaluation software work with my Ascent Capture evaluation software?
4. Does Ascent Xtrata require special certification from Kofax?
5. Where can I get printed product datasheets and brochures?
6. Notes for Removing Ascent Xtrata
1. What versions of Ascent Capture have been certified to work with Ascent Xtrata 1.5 SP2
2. How does Ascent Xtrata 1.5 SP2 licensing work?
3. What new features were introduced in the Ascent Xtrata 1.5 SP2 release?
4. Which of the new Ascent Capture 7.0 features are supported by Ascent Xtrata 1.5 SP2, and how?
6. "OCR Registration" is ignored when "Classification Only" is Enabled. What is happening? (SPR #17177)
1. What new features were introduced in the Ascent Xtrata 1.5 release?
2. How does Ascent Xtrata 1.5 licensing work?
If the FAQs below do not provide you with the information you need, please visit our Knowledgebase to search for the information.
Ascent Xtrata is an add-on to Ascent designed to improve forms processing through superior registration, classification and easy setup. Ascent Xtrata dramatically simplifies forms processing and slashes forms setup and maintenance costs. It is a Kofax-developed product offering functionality and price points not available in competitive products.
See the Ascent Xtrata Overview Web page for more detailed information.
2. Can I get an evaluation copy of the new Ascent Xtrata product?
Yes. You can download a copy of Ascent Xtrata 1.7 for evaluation purposes here: https://lotus.kofax.com/kofax/us/marketing/rvrsDwnld_KFXUS.nsf/xtrataDownload?openform.
Or you can request an evaluation copy of Ascent Xtrata by contacting your Kofax sales representative. Ascent Xtrata also is included with Ascent Capture 7.0 evaluation software.
3. How does the Ascent Xtrata evaluation software work with my Ascent Capture evaluation software?
Ascent Xtrata leverages the licensing of the Ascent Capture evaluation and works as long as you have volume left on your Ascent Capture evaluation license.
4. Does Ascent Xtrata require special certification from Kofax?
Your Ascent Capture certification covers any requirements for Ascent Xtrata.
5. Where can I get printed product datasheets and brochures?
All Kofax product literature can be ordered from the news.kofax.com Web site at the following address: http://news.kofax.com/Tools/Marketing/collateralRequest.cfm. Alternatively, you can contact your Kofax sales representative for assistance in obtaining printed product materials.
6. Notes for Removing Ascent Xtrata
If you need to uninstall Ascent Xtrata from your computer, you should finish processing and release any batches in the system that were created with batch classes that contain Xtrata Server.
See Application Maintenance in Chapter 2 of the Getting Started with Ascent Xtrata guide for information about removing Ascent Xtrata.
Important Note for Upgrades:
The sections below apply to completely uninstalling Ascent Xtrata from your system. If you are uninstalling for the purpose of upgrading to version 1.5 SP2, do not follow these procedures.Unregistering Components
When uninstalling Ascent Xtrata, the removal process attempts to unregister Ascent Xtrata components. If this fails, you will be prompted to stop the uninstallation process. It is recommended that you stop the process, remove Xtrata Server from all batch classes using it, and then restart the uninstallation process.
If you ignore this recommendation and uninstall Ascent Xtrata without removing Xtrata Server from all batch classes, an Ascent Capture - Administration dialog will display with the following message, the next time you attempt to start the Ascent Capture Administration module:
"The following custom components cannot be found or are not registered with Ascent Capture:
XtrataAdmin.AdminControl
Click OK to start this module without the custom components.
To avoid this message the next time you start this module, register or remove the custom components"Clicking OK starts the Administration module, and the Custom Module Manager dialog box will appear.
If you highlight the Xtrata Server and click Remove, an Ascent Capture - Administration dialog will appear with a message similar to the following:
"It is being used by the following batch classes and cannot be removed.
Training
XtrataDefinition"If this occurs, click OK to dismiss the message. Then, remove Xtrata Server from the indicated batch classes. (SPR 10659)
Workaround: Remove Xtrata Server from all batch classes before you completely uninstall Ascent Xtrata from your computer. If you imported the Xtrata definition batch class (XtrataDefinition), you can delete it since it is only useful with Xtrata Server.
- To delete the Xtrata definition batch class:
From the Definitions panel in the Ascent Capture Administration module, right-click XtrataDefinition and select Delete. This will remove the Xtrata definition batch class.
To remove Xtrata Server from batch classes
- From the Definitions panel in the Ascent Capture Administration module, right-click on a batch class that includes Xtrata Server and select Properties. This will display the Batch Class Properties dialog box.
- Select the Queues tab to view the queues selected for the batch class.
- Select Xtrata Server from the list of Selected Queues and click Remove.
- Click OK to save your settings.
- Repeat for each batch class that contains Xtrata Server.
Xtrata Folders Not Removed
The maintenance program for uninstalling Ascent Xtrata does not remove Xtrata folders added to your Ascent Capture installation folder. This applies to uninstalling the product with the Ascent Xtrata Setup Maintenance program or the Windows Add/Remove Programs utility.
Workaround: To completely uninstall Ascent Xtrata from your computer: After you run the Ascent Xtrata Setup Maintenance program or the Windows Add/Remove Programs utility, manually delete the Definition, ReImport, and XtrataDB folders from your Ascent Capture installation location.
1. What versions of Ascent Capture have been certified to work with Ascent Xtrata 1.5 SP2
Ascent Xtrata 1.5 SP2 has been certified for the following versions of Ascent Capture.
The Ascent Xtrata 1.5 SP2 licensing mechanism is dependent on the installed Ascent Capture version. For Ascent Capture version 6.1, an Xtrata volume license is needed. For Ascent Capture 7.0, no special license is needed.
With Ascent Capture 6.1
Ascent Xtrata 1.5 SP2 requires an Xtrata volume license. The Ascent Capture License Utility’s display reflects purchased and activated licenses. Refer to Chapter 2 of the Getting Started with Ascent Xtrata guide for details about the activation of Ascent Xtrata licenses.
Each page processed through Xtrata Server for which classification and/or registration are performed decrement the volume page count by one.
Xtrata Server performs classification on:
- All loose pages
- All pages of documents that have at least one of the following options enabled: Check All Pages, Reorder Pages, or Auto rotation 180 degrees
- The first page of all multipage documents for which no form type is assigned prior to Xtrata Server processing (because Xtrata Server only classifies the first page of these documents)
Xtrata Server performs registration on all pages that contain at least one index zone.
Note that no classification or registration is performed on eDocuments.
With Ascent Capture 7.0
Ascent Xtrata 1.5 SP2 does not need any special license for Ascent Capture 7.0. The Ascent Capture License Utility’s display shows Xtrata’s volume licensing entry, but it is no longer used and will not be decremented.
3. What new features were introduced in the Ascent Xtrata 1.5 SP2 release?
The following key new feature was added to the Ascent Xtrata 1.5 SP2 product.
OCR Registration
Standard Ascent Xtrata registration corrects small shifts, skew, and linear stretching by adjusting the image using graphical elements, such as lines and other background items. With OCR registration, the image is aligned to the machine printed text of the document. The advantage of this option is that it can correct for larger shifts, skew, and linear stretching than standard registration, or can be used for documents having only a few graphical elements. The disadvantage is that it requires more computing time, because full text OCR must be performed for all pages. OCR registration is most effective when at least 80-90% of the image text matches the text on the sample pages. A scan resolution of 300 dpi is recommended to get good OCRresults.
To enable OCR registration, select the OCR registration option from the Xtrata Settings for Batch Class dialog box.
4. Which of the new Ascent Capture 7.0 features are supported by Ascent Xtrata 1.5 SP2, and how?
Ascent Xtrata 1.5 SP2 work with the Ascent Capture Folders and Table Fields features.
The following sections describe how Ascent Xtrata 1.5 SP2 works with the Ascent Capture Folders and Table Fields features.
Folders
You can use Xtrata Server in batch classes for which folder classes are defined. However, folders cannot be created or filled during Xtrata processing for this release.
Table Fields
Ascent Xtrata 1.5 SP2 does not support the Ascent Capture 7.0 Table Fields feature. If you attempt to publish a batch class that includes Xtrata Server along with document classes for which table fields are defined, the following error will occur:The batch class contains at least one table. However, a selected queues does not support tables.
5. Sometimes I get Xtrata Server Errors during a Microsoft Cluster Server failover. What should I do?
When Xtrata Server is processing batches during a Microsoft Cluster Server failover, certain types of errors may cause messages to be presented to the user. If this happens, the batch will be sent to the Quality Control module, where it may be manually processed, or the batch can be closed and reprocessed by Xtrata Server. (SPR 17207)
6. "OCR Registration" is ignored when "Classification Only" is Enabled. What is happening?
The Xtrata Settings for Batch Class dialog box allows both the "OCR registration" and "Classification only" options to be enabled (checked on the dialog box) at the same time. For example, if "OCR registration" is enabled and you then enable "Classification only," the "OCR registration" option will remain checked. However, if both options are checked for a batch class, Xtrata Server will ignore the OCR registration setting and perform classification only.
This causes no problems within the Xtrata Server, but the user may be expecting OCR registration to be performed when it is not. (SPR 17177)
7. Sometimes, I receive a "Registration failed. : Invalid argument specified." when I process documents, what is wrong?
When processing certain documents, Xtrata Server may return the following warning message:
Registration failed. : Invalid argument specified.
This message may be misleading because it suggests registration was not performed due to an invalid argument. In fact, registration is not performed for documents with more than 5% distortion as compared to the sample page. (SPR 17210)
Workaround: Check if the sample page is representative of typical processed pages, and if not use a better sample. If the sample page is good, but you have many documents with excessive distortion, you can try using OCR registration instead. This feature can process documents with greater shifts and skews, but is slower. For further details see OCR Registration on page 5.
1. What new features were introduced in the Ascent Xtrata 1.5 release?
The following key new features were added to the Ascent Xtrata 1.5 product.
Multipage Support
Ascent Xtrata 1.5 adds enhanced multipage document support for your Ascent Capture processing. New Xtrata Server functionality includes the ability to do the following:
- Classify one or more pages of a multipage form
- Enforce the fixed page length specified for the form type
- Detect if pages are out of order and optionally reorder them
- Register each page on which zones are defined
For zone definition, Xtrata can perform segmentation on each page of a multipage form for which at least five images exist. Then, you can accept the results, add additional zones, and otherwise set up the zones using Xtrata Forms Setup and Ascent Capture methods.
Note: With the introduction of multipage support, Xtrata supports more than one sample page per form type. Therefore, a new hierarchy level for sample pages has been added to the Xtrata Forms Setup interface. In version 1.0, a form type could have only one sample page and therefore the sample page hierarchy level was not displayed. Many functions and properties previously available from the context menus for form types have been moved to the context menus of the sample pages. The functions themselves work in the same way on each single sample page as they did in version 1.0.
New Segmentation Features
Ascent Xtrata’s segmentation process analyzes images and identifies form fields that are candidates for zones. As a rule, the images should be from filled-in forms. This powerful technology greatly enhances form type set up.
Ability to Use Blank Form
With version 1.5, you can improve segmentation results by including an image from an unfilled (blank) form as one of the sample images. Internally, Xtrata will use the unfilled image as a key decision maker for segmentation, thus improving segmentation results. This is primarily useful for improving segmentation of OMR zones.
Defaults for Segmentation Zones
Xtrata Forms Setup allows you to specify default recognition profiles and field types for segmentation zones types. Then, zones found during segmentation are automatically assigned the specified recognition profile and field type.
To display this dialog box, start Xtrata Forms Setup and select Tools | Defaults for Segmentation Zone Types.
Exporting Xtrata Batch Classes
You can export Xtrata batch classes and import them to an Ascent Capture system where Xtrata Server is installed. The export process requires that you export the batch class from Ascent Capture and the Xtrata data from Xtrata Forms Setup. The import process requires that you copy the Xtrata data to an Xtrata folder and import the batch class.
Refer to Exporting/Importing Xtrata Batch Classes in the Getting Started with Ascent Xtrata guide for complete instructions.
Enhanced Xtrata Settings
Ascent Xtrata 1.5 provides new settings for your Xtrata batch classes. In conjunction with these enhancements, Ascent Xtrata provides an updated Xtrata Settings for Batch Class dialog box.
Default Form Type
Ascent Xtrata 1.5 allows you to specify a default form type as an Xtrata batch class setting. Then, during processing, Xtrata Server will assign the default form type to documents for which no other form type fits within the classification thresholds. All form types defined for the document class associated with the batch class are available for selection. By default, <none> is selected, which means that no default form type is specified.
Enforce Fixed Number of Pages
In conjunction with Ascent Xtrata’s multipage support, you can have Xtrata Server enforce a fixed number of pages for a form type. For example, if a form type is defined as having five pages, Xtrata Server will use that page length when creating documents.
By default, Xtrata Server will reject documents that do not have the correct number of pages. However, you can override this default behavior by enabling the “Ignore fixed page errors” option. See the next section for more information about new error handling options.
Error Handling
The typical workflow for Xtrata batches includes Recognition Server as the next queue after Xtrata Server. With version 1.0, Xtrata Server passed batches to Recognition Server, even if they Ascent Xtrata 1.5 SP2 Release Notes contained documents that could not be classified within the specified threshold. Then, Recognition Server would reject any documents that could not be identified and make the
batches available to Quality Control.With version 1.5, Xtrata Server can reject batches that contain classification, reordering, or fixed page errors. This is the default behavior. However, new error options as shown in Figure 6 are available to override the default behavior. The error options are disabled by default.
Enhanced Assign Index Zones Dialog Box
Xtrata Forms Setup provides an enhanced Assign Index Zones dialog box which can be used to assign zones to an index field, and view zones already assigned to an index field. You can also change the recognition profile and field type assignments from this dialog box.
To display the dialog box, start Xtrata Forms Setup and select View | Assign Index Zones. (It is also available from the context menus of form types and sample pages.) The dialog box can be docked (just double-click the title bar) or floating (just use your mouse to position it at desired).
2. How does Ascent Xtrata 1.5 licensing work?
Ascent Xtrata requires an Xtrata volume license. The Ascent Capture License Utility’s display reflects purchased and activated licenses. Refer to Chapter 2 of the Getting Started with Ascent Xtrata guide for details about the activation of Ascent Xtrata licenses.
Each page processed through Xtrata Server for which classification and/or registration are performed decrement the volume page count by one.
Xtrata Server performs classification on:
- All loose pages
- All pages of documents that have at least one of the following options enabled: Check All Pages, Reorder Pages, or Auto rotation 180 degrees
- The first page of all multipage documents for which no form type is assigned prior to Xtrata Server processing (because Xtrata Server only classifies the first page of these documents)
Xtrata Server performs registration on all pages that contain at least one index zone.
Note that no classification or registration is performed on eDocuments.
The Kofax Capture / Ascent Capture Technical Support group is comprised of three subgroups (discussed on the Support Options Web page), whose members are knowledgeable in all aspects of the Kofax Capture / Ascent Capture product and Kofax / Ascent modules, including installation, configuration, operation and development. Each group receives ongoing product training from our Engineering department relating to the general Kofax Capture / Ascent Capture product and their specific area of expertise. These groups have in depth knowledge of networking, databases, hardware, and programming which they use when assisting all supported Kofax Capture / Ascent Capture customers.
The Kofax Capture / Ascent Capture Installation, Configuration, Operation, and Web product's Technical Support group can assist with installation and configuration of the base Kofax Capture / Ascent Capture products as well as troubleshooting problems that occur in production. They have lots of experience with installation problems, batch class setup, patch code and bar code problems, hardware key issues, OCR engines, MSDE etc. They provide support for the Ascent Xtrata and Kofax Capture Import Connector - Fax / Ascent Fax products. They also can assist with the Kofax Capture / Ascent Capture Web products such as the Kofax Capture Network Server / Ascent Capture Internet Server and the Kofax Capture Import Connector - Web Services / Ascent Collection Server. They can assist with installation or connectivity problems across LANs, WANs or the Internet.
For details regarding technical support available for all Kofax products, please review the current Support Overview & Options and Product Support Eligibility Matrix Web pages.
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