Using VDX you can request or receive Electronic Documents that are stored electronically. This enables the end user to obtain and view the requested item directly via their client machine. In summary:
Documents can be submitted for transmission by ’dragging and dropping’ them onto a selected request, or by scanning on Ariel workstations.
Documents can be transmitted by either Email or FTP or Ariel.
Documents can be received directly by VDX via either Email or FTP, or they can be received by Ariel.
Documents can be stored inside the VDX database, or on local or remote file systems.
Documents can be ”delivered” to end users through all the usual VDX request interfaces (ZPORTAL , WebAdmin, Windows Admin Client), or by attaching the document to a user alert, or by sending a user alert that contains a URL which, if followed, delivers the document to the end users Web Browser.
End user access to documents can be limited to a specified number of lookups, or a certain number of days from delivery or days from user notification. 'Expired’ documents are automatically deleted from their storage location.
Whether acting as borrower (requester) or lender (responder) VDX needs to know where to store the documents that it is transmitting or receiving. VDX can store Objects inside the VDX database or they can be stored on local or remote file systems too.
VDX knows where to store documents from the value of the VDX Setup: System Globals variable Default Document Store. This has to be configured in the Windows Admin.Client.
In addition, the FTP Document Receiver and File Document Receiver processes need to know where to find incoming documents, where to place troublesome documents that have failed to be received properly, and where to place temporary working files. These various file paths may all be local or remote to the VDX server machine. They are defined in the configuration details for the FTP Document Receiver and the File Document Receiver in the Windows Admin.Client.
The following delivery methods are supported by VDX:
If configured, VDX informs a user when an action has occurred on their ILL e.g. request has been RECEIVED by the borrower (requester) or SHIPPED by the lender (responder). Users are alerted by a suitably worded email. The email may include the electronic document as an attachment (irrespective of where the document is stored) or may include a url link to the document on the lender (responder)'s system.
For information about setting up these services see the System Administrator’s online help.