I seek a basic-features document management system. This DMS is to be used in a
ID: 661451 • Letter: I
Question
I seek a basic-features document management system.
This DMS is to be used in a Windows/.NET organization where users submit various documents via email, upload, scanning etc. These documents need to be stored and indexed and their metadata made readily available in the database. In addition to any front-end it may supply, the system would need a .NET API so that it can be invoked by the organization's applications.
Additional features such as OCR, Version Control etc. are not needed.
I haven't been able to come up with such a product.
Is something like this easy enough to implement in-house, or is there a product out there that fits the bill?
To summarize the requirements:
Windows XP/7 Compatible
Implements a storage and indexing scheme
Supplies a .NET API for programmatic access
May be a commercial product but price range not exceeding, say $1,000.
Explanation / Answer
Alfresco Community would do the job well.
You can upload documents by email (not activated by default as anyone can send emails).
You can upload documents via the Web interface (drag-and-drop to browser window).
You can set up CmisSync to automatically sync a folder between your computer and the server, and then configure your scanner to put all images inside this folder. That way, images will be automatically uploaded when scanned. (disclaimer: I develop this tool)
Data storage in internal database or external database for the metadata, and filesystem for the files themselves.
Metadata automatically filled, you can edit it via the web interface.
Windows XP/7 compatible (among others).
Both metadata and full-text are indexed and searchable.
.NET API: DotCMIS. This API is also compatible with most of the other document management systems (CMIS standard), so your organization's applications will continue to work even if you switch to another document management system, which is not the case with proprietary APIs.
Free on-premise. There is also a free limited cloud-hosted version if you prefer.
Version control is also available but off by default. There are many features that you won't use, but I don't think they will get in your way.