Lasernet 11 Changes That Affect Existing Lasernet Configurations and Workflows

Due to changes and improvements made in Lasernet 11, some aspects of how Lasernet works have changed. This section describes the changes that explicitly affect Lasernet configurations and workflows and describes their impact on configurations:

• Lasernet will automatically make some changes to a Lasernet 10 configuration when you import it. This section describes how Lasernet will change your configuration.

• In some cases, you will need to manually change your configuration. This section describes what you need to do.

• In some cases, workflows that were possible in Lasernet 10 are no longer available. This section provides workarounds for these situations.

Removed Modules

The following Lasernet modules have been removed.

Azure Hybrid Connection Input

This module is no longer supported.

Affected systems: Workflows that use the Azure Hybrid Connection input module as a proxy relay.

Mitigation or workaround: Lasernet does not provide an alternative solution. The Lasernet workflow must be reconfigured to use an alternative non-Lasernet solution.

Exchange Input and Output

These modules are no longer supported.

Affected systems: Workflows that use Exchange to receive or send emails.

Mitigation or workaround: Replace the module with the Outlook Mail input (Graph API), Mail Input (POP3/IMAP), or Mail Output (SMTP) modules.

HTTP Input

This module is no longer supported.

Affected systems: Workflows that use the HTTP input module to get data from a HTTP Server.

Mitigation or workaround: Replace the module with a Scheduler input that uses an HTTP modifier with Verb set to GET.

Long-Term Archive Output

This module is no longer supported.

Affected systems: Workflows that use the Long-Term Archive output module.

Mitigation or workaround: Migrate from Long-Term Archive to Autoform DM.

Meta Input

This module is currently not supported.

Affected systems: Users of the Lasernet Meta app.

Mitigation or workaround: Contact Formpipe about a future Lasernet 11 update.

Module and Modifier Changes

The following modules and modifiers have relevant changes in Lasernet 11.

Scheduler Input and the Scheduling Tab of Other Modules

The schedule management UI/UX (user interface and user experience) on the Setup tab of the Scheduler input module and on the Scheduling tab of other modules has been improved.

Affected systems: Configurations that include a Scheduler input module or workflows that use the Scheduling tab on other modules to release jobs according to a schedule.

Mitigation or workaround: Lasernet automatically migrates any scheduling settings when a Lasernet 10 configuration is imported into Lasernet 11.

Important

Test the new scheduling settings to ensure that the Lasernet 11 configuration works as expected.

File Output and FTP Output

The File exist property is no longer supported.

Affected systems: Workflows that use File exist to specify whether (when an existing file has the same file name as the output file) Lasernet will overwrite the existing file, rename the output file, or skip outputting the file.

Mitigation or workaround: As Lasernet 11 always overwrites, you must create an appropriate solution that handles these “same file name” scenarios. One possibility is to build a JavaScript function that implements the preferred alternative behavior when an existing file has the same file name as the output file. Another option is to include JobID in the output file’s name so that output files always have a unique file name.

File Input (Sort Property)

The Sort property is no longer supported.

Affected systems: Workflows that contain File Input modules that have Sort set to Alphabetically on filename or As Windows returns them.

Mitigation or workaround: Lasernet 11 sorts input files in the same way as the On when file was created option in Lasernet 10. This behavior is the same as As Windows returns them. If behavior that is consistent with Alphabetically on filename is needed, the remote system must control the file sort order.

File Input (LNJOB Support)

File Input modules no longer unzip and process LNJOB files.

Affected systems: Systems used by users who want to process failed jobs manually for testing purposes.

Mitigation or workaround: None.

FTP/SFTP Input

The Verification tab has been removed. This tab was mistakenly included in Lasernet 10.10 and earlier.

Affected systems: None.

Mitigation or workaround: None.

FTP/SFTP Modifier

The FTP modifier is no longer supported.

Affected systems: Workflows that use the FTP modifier to upload or download files via the FTP(S) or SFTP protocols.

Mitigation or workaround: Use the File Retriever modifier to download files via the FTP(S) or SFTP protocols. Use the FTP / SFTP module to upload files. You must manually implement this workaround.

Web Server Input

The Web Service tab has been removed. All settings for configuring security roles and web service methods are combined into a single Web Server tab.

Important

Basic authentication is no longer supported for apps connecting to and posting data to the Web Server input module.

Affected systems: Workflows that use web services (configured in a Web Server input module) to post jobs to Lasernet.

Mitigation or workaround: The authentication model used by the app that is connecting to Lasernet must be reworked to support app registration (which is now the only supported authentication method).

App registrations are added and managed in the Lasernet Config web app.

Scripting

The script engine has been upgraded from Qt 5.15 to Qt 6.8.

Affected systems: Any workflows that use scripts.

Mitigation or workaround: No mitigation or workaround is required. There are no known issues. However, a script testing phase is crucial (see the following note).

Important

Test all the scripting functions that a migrated Lasernet 11 configuration uses to ensure that they work as expected.

Job Events

The Job Event feature, which is used to send status messages about running or succeeded jobs via modules, has been reworked. The format of the XML file with job information has minor changes in format.

Additional types of Job Event are added during processing of a job:

• Job Start

• Job Paused

• Job Scheduled

• Job Failed

• Job Combined

• Job End

Affected systems: Workflows that use Job Events.

Mitigation or workaround: You can pass the XML result of the Job Event through a form engine to redesign the XML format into your preferred format or to remove various types of Job Events.

Failover on Output Modules

Delivery and Destinations tabs in output modules no longer support the Reason option to forward a job if status is set to Success or Failure.

A new Failover tab that enables you to specify a number of retries and a single failover destination has been added.

Affected systems: Workflows that send jobs to an additional destination by using the status of the job as the reason to forward a copy of the job (to another destination).

Mitigation or workaround: Lasernet automatically migrates failover destinations when a Lasernet 10 configuration is imported into Lasernet 11.

Forwarding a job to another destination (when the job is successful) must be implemented in the configuration by using a JobEvent that has JobData as an embedded JobInfo.

Important

Test any implemented workaround to ensure that it works as expected.

Exit Modifiers and Post JobInfos on Output Modules

The Exit Modifier and Post JobInfos event points are no longer supported for output modules.

Affected systems: Workflows that depend on the ability to run an Exit Modifier or a Post JobInfo on any output module.

Mitigation or workaround:

• Add the Exit Modifier to the Data Written event point.

• Add JobInfos with the value from the Post JobInfo event point to the Pre JobInfo event point.

Modifiers Can Fail Jobs

If a modifier does not run successfully, the Job Engine will fail the current job. In previous versions of Lasernet, if a modifier failed, the Job Engine continued to process the job and generated a JobInfo error message.

The issues that can cause a modifier to fail include authentication failure, conversion error, failed communication with an endpoint or database lookup, scripting error, XML transformer error, and so on.

Affected systems: Workflows that depend on Lasernet continuing to process a job if a modifier fails.

Mitigation or workaround: None.

Settings and Modes for Lasernet Environments/Servers

The following settings and modes are affected.

Grab On and Off

Grab mode settings defined on the Lasernet server level are no longer maintained in the configuration files.

Affected systems: All

Mitigation or workaround:

• Use Lasernet Service Manager to specify the folder location for grab files. See Lasernet Config 11 > General tab > Server runtime data directory.

• Use the Lasernet Config web app to start and stop grab mode for each environment. You can also use the grab mode toolbar in the various editors in Lasernet Developer 11.

Job Mode

Job mode is no longer supported. As database settings for Lasernet environments are no longer available in Lasernet Developer, the Enabled checkbox and Retention setting that control job mode are not present in Lasernet 11. During processing, Lasernet holds job status data in memory (rather than in a database).

As a result, the Job Mode button is no longer present in Lasernet Developer.

Affected systems: All.

Mitigation or workaround: None.

Logging On and Off

Logging mode settings defined on the Lasernet server level are no longer managed in the configuration files.

Affected systems: All.

Mitigation or workaround:

• Use Lasernet Service Manager to set the folder location for log files (Server runtime data directory) for Lasernet environments and Lasernet Config Server.

• Use the Lasernet Config web app to configure logging for an environment.

Syslog Protocol

The syslog protocol is no longer supported for forwarding log messages to a remote syslog server.

Affected systems: Systems that send syslog messages to a remote syslog server.

Mitigation or workaround: None.

Database Settings for Environment/Servers

Database settings defined on the Lasernet server level are no longer managed in the configuration files.

Affected systems: All

Mitigation or workaround: Lasernet environments now use a SQLite database that the Lasernet Config 11 service creates. Use Lasernet Service Manager to specify the folder location for environment database files (Lasernet Config 11 > General tab > Server runtime data directory). Alternatively, modify RuntimeDataDirectory in C:\ProgramData\Formpipe Software\Lasernet 11\Config\Default\ServerSettings.json.

Environment/Server-Level JobInfos

JobInfos and values defined as server settings are no longer managed in the configuration files.

Affected systems: All.

Mitigation or workaround: Use the Lasernet Config web app to add environment-level JobInfos and values.

Input Management

OCR Forms Are Stored in Lasernet Config Server

OCR forms are no longer stored locally in a folder on the Lasernet Server (as defined in the OCR Engine). Storage of OCR forms is now centralized in the Microsoft SQL Server database used by Lasernet Config Server.

Identifier files in CSV format are no longer stored locally on the Lasernet Server (in a folder defined in the OCR Engine).

Affected systems: Lasernet input management solutions.

Mitigation or workaround:

• OCR Forms are imported through the OCR Editor > Forms List > Import window. The LNOCR form files in the selected directory are imported into the OCR Editor form list and are uploaded to the Lasernet Config web app > OCR page.

• Identifier content is posted in JSON format to Lasernet Config Server through the following endpoint: https://localhost/lasernet/api/OCR/EditIdentifierContent

• The new location for identifiers is Lasernet Config web app > OCR page.

OCR Dictionary Database

The Config Server no longer uses Lasernet Dictionary services. The Config Service in Lasernet 11 connects to a Dictionary database.

When you use Lasernet Service Manager to configure the Lasernet Config 11 service, you can enter a Dictionary database name (on the Database tab). A SQL Server administrator must manually create this database. After you enter the Dictionary database name, click Test Connection; Lasernet Service Manager will create the required tables and fields in the database.

Note

By default, the Dictionary database is empty and does not contain any language settings.

Affected systems: Users of the Input Management solution who have activated the Dictionary (to enable autodetection of OCR fields containing data in processed documents).

Mitigation or workaround: The Lasernet OCR Editor supports adding new languages with dictionary content to the Dictionary database.

Note

Formpipe plans to provide (in a future update) a migration tool for migrating dictionary content from Lasernet 10 and earlier to Lasernet 11.

Regional Profiles in Lasernet Developer Are Not Shared with Lasernet OCR Editor

The regional profiles defined in Lasernet Developer are no longer available to the Lasernet OCR Editor.

Affected systems: Users of Input Management solutions that rely on the OCR Editor being able to share the regional profiles that are managed by Lasernet Developer.

Mitigation or workaround: Lasernet OCR Editor 11 supports the same built-in number and date formats as previous versions. Check whether any of the imported OCR forms have dependencies on regional profiles that were created in Lasernet Developer 10 or earlier. If so, ensure that the built-in number and date formats are defined correctly in the OCR forms themselves (to enable Lasernet to correctly format data).

Other Notable Changes

The following changes in Lasernet 11 do not directly affect Lasernet configurations. However, it is crucial that your Lasernet 11 migration project considers the impact of these changes.

Lasernet Does Not Install SQL Server to Host the Lasernet Config Server Database

The Lasernet installer no longer installs Microsoft SQL Server 2017 LocalDB.

Affected systems: All Lasernet systems that used the bundled Microsoft SQL Server 2017 LocalDB.

Mitigation or workaround: You must create a database in a compatible standalone Microsoft SQL Server instance for Lasernet Config Server to use. As a part of the Lasernet 11 installation and setup process, you will configure Lasernet Config Server to connect to this database.

Note

Lasernet 11 includes a SQLite database that stores (in Lasernet Config Server) the temporary jobs produced by the job engines running in the Lasernet environments. No additional installation of database providers is required.

Changed Default Port Numbers

The default port for Lasernet Config Server and its communication with Lasernet environments has changed from 33443 to 443.

The default port for the Lasernet Printer Service has changed from 3278 to 443.

Affected systems: All Lasernet systems.

Mitigation or workaround: The Lasernet Config Server port number is configured in Lasernet Service Manager. The Lasernet Printer Service port number is configured in the Lasernet Config web app.

Removed Applications

Lasernet 11 does not include the following Lasernet applications.

Lasernet Client (as an Application)

This application is no longer available.

Affected systems: Systems in which the Lasernet Client application is provided to users.

Mitigation or workaround: Use Lasernet Web Client.

Lasernet Server License Manager

This application is no longer available.

Affected systems: All Lasernet systems.

Mitigation or workaround: Lasernet environment licensing is now managed by Lasernet Config Server. See Apply Licenses to Lasernet Services.

Lasernet Developer License Manager

This application is no longer available.

Affected systems: All Lasernet systems that use Lasernet Developer.

Mitigation or workaround: None required. Lasernet Developer 11 does not require a license.