The Laserfiche SDK is a powerful software development toolkit that allows you to extend your enterprise content management capabilities with the creation of custom solutions. It is the same programming interface that Laserfiche developers use to develop all client-facing applications. Here are some ways to use the Laserfiche SDK.

SDK libraries

The Laserfiche SDK comes with different library types to choose from.

Laserfiche Server Objects (LFSO) – allows you to do everything that the Laserfiche Client and Administration Console can do when communicating with the Laserfiche Server.

• Example: If you need to create a script that automatically updates the metadata on a series of documents, you can use LFSO.

Document Processor – deals with importing/exporting documents, converting image formats and OCRing text.

• Example: If you are writing a utility that a user can run in order to import a batch of documents into the Laserfiche repository, you can use Document Processor.

Image Enable – allows third-party applications to manipulate the Laserfiche Client.

• Example: If you would like to display invoices in the Laserfiche Client corresponding to a particular Product Number from within your Accounting Application, you can use Image Enable.

.NET: Repository Access – enables third-party applications to communicate with the Laserfiche Server. It ships with an ADO.NET provider that allows the repository to be queried as a structured data source (more about this later on in this article).

• Example: If you would like to run a script from within your Accounting System that automatically stamps invoices in Laserfiche with the “Approved” stamp, you can use Repository Access.

.NET: Document Services – provides services for importing, exporting, OCRing and other operations related to Laserfiche repositories.

• Example: If you are writing a utility for importing documents into Laserfiche you can use Document Services.

PDF Exporter – allows conversion of Tiff images to PDF documents during export from Laserfiche.

• Example: If you are writing a script to export Tiff images and convert them to password-protected PDFs you can use PDF Exporter.

Java Repository Access (JRA) – mostly for document management with no admin functionality as of yet.

Use each of the libraries in the following situations:

• LFSO/Document Processor libraries- If you are already familiar with LFSO or are using unmanaged code.
• .NET libraries- If you are new to the Laserfiche SDK, as these are more condensed than the LFSO/Document Processor libraries.
• JRA libraries- If you are used to working with Java.

Detailed information about each of the libraries along with code examples can be found in the Laserfiche SDK help files that come with your Laserfiche SDK installation.