Using Database Lookup

After configuring a job to do a Database Lookup, it is important to understand when the Lookup will be performed. The following are the common scenarios:

During Scanning - Populating index fields

When Disable Lookup during capture has not been checked, Lookups will occur on-the-fly during scanning.

The Lookup will only take place when the index field that is being used for the lookup has a value that was populated during scanning (e.g., as a result of a bar code or zonal OCR read).

During Scanning - Validating index fields

When Disable Lookup during capture has not been checked, Lookups configured for index field validation only will also occur on-the-fly during scanning.

The Lookup Validation will only take place when the index field that is being validated has a value that was populated during scanning (e.g., as a result of a bar code or zonal OCR read).

When Disable Lookup is not checked, Database Lookups will always be performed during scanning. Even if the Index Field setup option Check field during scanning is disabled, the database lookup validation will still be performed.

Edit Index mode

After scanning has been performed and the user enters Index mode (Index>Edit Index Fields), the Lookup will always be performed on a document whenever the document is navigated to while in Indexing mode.

If the index field that is being used for the Lookup already has a value (e.g., from bar code or zonal OCR) then the Lookup for a document will be performed automatically when navigating to the document.

If data is manually being entered in the index field, then the Lookup will be performed when the user leaves the index field. If the Tab key is used to navigate away from the index field just entered, the results of populating the other index fields will be displayed for verification. If the Enter key is used or one of the other Indexing mode function keys (i.e., F9, F10, F11) to navigate to another document, then the Lookup will be performed and the other index fields will be populated. However, you will not see the results of the Lookup as that document is no longer being displayed in Indexing Mode.

If the Lookup index field is populated using Drag n’ Drop OCR or clicking OCR, then the Lookup will be performed immediately and the results of populating the other index fields will be displayed for verification.

If the value being used for Lookup is only partially known, the asterisk character ' * ' may be used to replace the unknown character(s). The asterisk character must be the last character. For example, if the Lookup value is a phone number but only the first four digits are readable, the value "557-3*" may be entered. All phone numbers beginning with "557-3xx...." will be retrieved from the database and you may select the correct value.

When a Lookup is based on two values and only one value is known, the asterisk character may be used in place of the unknown value. For example, the Lookup is based on Last_Name AND First_Name and the Address will be looked up. If only the last name is known, it is entered in the index field "Last Name" and the asterisk character is entered in the index field "First Name".  If only one record is found for the last name entered, the first name and address will be populated. If multiple records are found for the last name, the Multiple Results dialog box will be displayed and the correct entry may be chosen.

Batch Output

Database Lookup only occurs on output if the Disable Lookup on Output option is not checked. When you click the Output tool, as part of Index field validation, Database Lookup for populating and validating index fields is performed immediately before the batch is queued for output processing. If a Database Lookup is populating index fields, errors will be ignored. If no record is found or multiple records are found, the current value in the index field will be unchanged or left empty. If a Database Lookup is validating index fields, an error will occur if no matching record is found.  The batch will not be submitted for output and the error must be corrected before the batch can be successfully output.

If a batch is output from the Batch Manager screen or is automatically output from the Job Setup, Database Lookup is performed right away as part of the background batch processing. If a Lookup fails, the batch will be put into Index Error status.

When the batch is opened to correct the error, the document that had the Lookup failure will be automatically displayed and you can go into Index mode to correct the indexing problem and re-submit the batch for output processing.