What is DataBridge2?

DataBridge2 is a document retrieval client for the Precision Micrographics Inc. document archival system. Once your documents have been converted to digital images and indexed, DataBridge2 allows you to retrieve your files by typing in search criteria. DataBridge2 can function as a stand-alone retrieval station that pulls data from CD-R's or as a network client. There are a lot of applications out there for document retrieval, but none of them are as intuitive as DataBridge2.


How are my documents organized?

Think of DataBridge2 as a digital file cabinet. The indexing information DataBridge2 stores for each file is similar to the folder label or cabinet label. Once you've chosen a file and opened it, the view tab opens to the first page of the file, and lets you thumb though the file. So why not just keep using the file cabinet? With DataBridge2 there are no trips to the file cabinet, no lost or misfiled documents, and more than one person can view a file at a time. (Not to mention finding your documents is a snap.)

How do I find my documents?
 


Select a field from the 'Look in' menu. Type in your search criteria and click on the search button. Any matches to your search will be displayed at the bottom of the search screen.
The fields are chosen when your application is setup. The fields are the information that is entered from your documents after the scanning process is complete. This is generally information that is specific to the type of documents in the system. For example, hospital patient files need a name, social security number and admit number, while service invoices are typically indexed with an invoice number, date, and client name. We take care of this detail, but it's important it makes more sense if you view the system as a whole.
 

What is needed for DataBridge2

Hardware Requirements:

Software Requirements:

Getting Started with DataBridge2

Introduction

DataBridge2 divides the task of searching for and viewing documents into two different tabs on the main window. The functionality related to searching for a document is on the search tab. All the functionality related to viewing a document is on the view tab. To perform the first search, you'll need to be on the search tab.

How to perform the first search

  1. First, ensure that the appropriate application will be searched by selecting the correct item from the "Current Application" drop-down box.
  2. The easiest way to start the first search is by typing a "?" into the "Search for..." box.
  3. Click on the "Search" button. If "?" is entered in the "Search for..." box, the entire database will be searched. If the database is extremely large, the user may notice a slight delay in finding files.
  4. Double click on the record you would like to view or hit enter to view the first record.

To conduct a more specific search:

  1. Enter the desired information into the "Search for..." box
  2. Change the "Look In" box name to the index to be searched
  3. Click-on the "Start Search" button

Any files that match the criteria typed in the "Search for..." box will appear at the bottom of the screen. These are called hits. To view a particular hit, simply double-click anywhere on the hit and the first image in that file will appear. The user can also select a file by:

  1. Clicking-on the line once to highlight it
  2. Clicking-on the "View Images" tab

To return to the search screen, click-on the "Search" tab.

How to start a new search


The "Clear" button is right next to "Search" on the tool bar. "Clear" removes all search results, blanks out the currently displayed image, clears all the "Search for..." boxes and returns all the "Look in.." boxes to their default field.

Last Updated: April 28, 2004