Docusnap and external Programs

3 minute read

Docusnap offers the possibility to switch from external programs to Docusnap and expand the Data Explorer to show a specific node.

To enable this, there is the DocusnapLink.exe. This program can either be called directly or started via the Docusnap protocol.

When opening Docusnap, several parameters can be specified. The first parameter is the ONC with the specific ONC path. The ONC path determines the object to be expanded. If you enter an invalid or no ONC path at all, Docusnap will only be launched, but no node will be selected in the Explorer.

If Docusnap is not running while you start the DocusnapLink feature, the system looks for a valid installation and starts it, if one is found. If Docusnap is active, the Docusnap window will get the focus.

ONC (Object Numbering Convention) refers to a coded path which takes you to an actual node in the Docusnap tree views. It uniquely identifies each node in Docusnap. When data is exported using Docusnap Connect, the ONC for every single entry is exported as well. This ensures that the ONC value is available when a database exported through Docusnap Connect is used.

Settings you define in the Options dialog will be stored in a configuration file located on the computer where Docusnap is running. If multiple employees want to use the same settings when working in Docusnap, it is possible to start the program using a shared configuration file.

This central configuration file should also be used if Docusnap is started by an external program in order to start Docusnap with the desired settings. In this case the parameter -UseConfig is specified with the path of the location of the central configuration file as an additional parameter. When the -SelectConfig parameter is used, a dialog appears before the Docusnap startup which allows you to select the path to the configuration file. Then, Docusnap will be started using the settings from the selected configuration file.

If the link to Docusnap does not work, the parameter -log can be specified to output error messages in the command line.

Docusnap Protocol

The Docusnap protocol can be called in Explorer or in Internet Explorer with docusnap: or docusnap: //. In the background, DocusnapLink is called, which then opens Docusnap. To open the Data Explorer from Docusnap to a specific node, the ONC is specified. This value is specified in the following format.

Docusnap: [1,1] \ [1,2]

For the protocol the additional parameters can be specified. The parameters are separated by a &, the ? is separating the ONC and the optional parameters. If no ONC is specified, the ? must not be specified before the parameter.

docusnap:[ONC]?Parameter1
docusnap:[ONC]?Parameter1&Parameter2
docusnap:?Parameter1&Parameter2
docusnap:Parameter1&Parameter2

docusnap:[1,1]\[1,2]?-SelectConfig
docusnap:[1,1]\[1,2]?-UseConfig&C:\Docusnap\Config.xml

DocusnapLink

The DocusnapLink.exe is used to start Docusnap with an external program. The Docusnap installer places this executable in the Bin folder. Parameters can be passed when starting this program: The first parameter is -ONC with the actual ONC path enclosed in quotation marks. Quotation marks are necessary if there is a space in the ONC so that the correct node can be opened.

The -UseConfig and -SelectConfig parameters are used to start Docusnap with the desired settings if a central configuration file is used. In this case -UseConfig is specified with the path of the location of the central configuration file in quotation marks as an additional parameter. For example -UseConfig “\sfile01\ita\Docusnap\Configuration.xml”. The -SelectConfig parameter is specified to select a configuration at startup.

If the link to Docusnap does not work, the parameter -log can be specified to output error messages in the command line.

The parameters for the path, the configuration and the logging can be specified in any order.