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Web Scanner

The Advanced Web Scanner Service provides a secure and improved process of scanning the images. User can download the Advanced Web Scanner Service on their client machines. You can configure the switch for storing the scanned images on the local system or server (TIFF files are always stored on the server as they are used for OCR processing). Another switch can be configured for backward compatibility if you want to use the existing process.

The Advanced Web Scanner Service supports both the protocols HTTP and HTTPS. The service runs on a specific port range defined in the application for HTTP (50001 to 50005) and HTTPS (60001 to 60005). During the installation, the installer assigns a port available for each protocol to run the service. Configuring the HTTPS protocol requires to import a certificate on the client machine.

The user can also see information about batches created via Web Scanner. For this purpose, a pop-up window is displayed once the batch scanning is completed and the Finish button is clicked on the Web Scanner screen. The scanning completion pop-up includes the following information:

  • Batch Instance Id

  • Batch Instance Name

  • Batch Instance Description

  • Batch Page Count

The pop-up window also contains a cookie-based "Don't ask me again" option. Once this option is selected, the pop-up will not be displayed upon scanning completion.

Configure the Advanced Web Scanner switch

  1. Go to Ephesoft > Application > WEB-INF.
  2. Open the web.xml file in your local editor.
  3. By default, the switch is ON. In case it is not, Turn on the Advanced Web Scanner Switch by changing the following: 
    <init-param><param-name>advancedWebScannerSwitch</param-name><param-value>ON</param-value></init-param>

    This will redirect the Web Scanner URL from /webscanner.html to the Advanced Web Scanner URL i.e. /advancedwebscanner.html.

    Turn off the advancedwebscanner switch from the web.xml file if you want to use the existing scanning mechanism (value = OFF).

Install the Web Scanner service

If you are running the application on a client machine and have admin rights, you can install the Web Scanner Service from the application UI itself. In case you do not have the admin rights, you can also go with the manual installation process.

Install from the application interface

To perform this procedure, you need administrator rights on the client system.

  1. Go to the application home page and click Web Scanner.
  2. If the Advanced Web Scanner switch is ON, the application checks whether the Web Scanner service is installed and running on your local machine.
  3. If the service is not installed (running), a popup message appears with an OK and Download Service button.
  4. Click OK if the service is not up and Download Service if not installed.
  5. Click Download Service to start downloading the installer.
  6. Once the installer is downloaded, run the installer manually to install the service on your local computer.
  7. The installation assigns a port for each protocol (HTTP and HTTPS) to the service.

Install from the Ephesoft folder

To perform this procedure, you need to have the Transact server on your computer and have administrator rights.

  1. Go to Ephesoft > SharedFolders.
  2. In this folder, you will find the installer: EphesoftScannerService.msi
  3. Open the command prompt as Administrator and install the service. 
    msiexec /i
EphesoftScannerService.msi

Install manually

You can perform this procedure if you do not have administrator rights.

  1. Download the .zip folder on your local computer.
  2. Unzip and place the folder at the desired place. Make sure the folder name remains the same, such as EphesoftScannerService.
  3. Run EphesoftScanner_Click_Me.exe, which sets up the service. Make the necessary changes on the file and place the required file on the startup folder so that the service automatically starts upon the system startup.
  4. To start the service, run EpheSoftScannerServiceStart.bat.
  5. To stop the service, run EphesoftScannerServiceStop.exe.
  6. Whenever you want to change the location of the service folder, stop the service and copy the whole folder to the desired location.
  7. Run EphesoftScanner_Click_Me.exe and start the service by executing the EpheSoftScannerServiceStart.bat file.

Configure the Advanced Web Scanner over HTTPS

The HTTPS protocol is enabled in the Advanced Scanner Service to avoid Mixed Content errors. When a user visits a page served over HTTPS, their connection with the web server is encrypted with TLS and is therefore safeguarded from hackers . If the HTTPS page includes content retrieved through regular, clear text HTTP, then the connection is only partially encrypted; the unencrypted content is accessible to hackers and can be modified by man-in-the-middle attackers, so the connection is not safeguarded. When a web page exhibits this behavior, it is called a mixed content page. Thus, if the Ephesoft server is running over HTTPS and web scanner is used then everything should work without the mixed content error. Also, it is assumed that Ephesoft server is running over HTTPS with valid and verified certificate.

Since the Advanced Web Scanner Service always executes over the client's local domain (localhost), no third party provides a valid signed SSL certificate. This is for the following reasons.

  • Misconfigured devices actually exist, in the wild, that wait for lookups before resolving localhost from /etc/hosts

  • If a router defines localhost.foo.local, it may cause localhost to resolve incorrectly

Transact has signed its own certificate on which the service would be running. The root certificate of Transact needs to be imported in all the browsers as a trusted CA certificate for everything to work as expected. It is available at EphesoftScannerService/Ephesoft-Browser-Cert.crt.

Import the certificate on Chrome

  1. Open the browser.
  2. Go to Settings.
  3. Click Advanced Setting.
  4. Scroll to the HTTPS/SSL section.
  5. Click Manage Certificate.
  6. Go to the Trusted Root Certification Authorities tab.
  7. Click Import.
  8. Complete the wizard with all default values.
  9. Close and reopen the browser to use Web Scanner.

Import the certificate on Firefox

  1. Open the browser.
  2. Go to Options > Advanced.
  3. Click View Certificates.
  4. Go to the Authorities tab.
  5. Click Import.
  6. Browse to the location of Ephesoft-Browser-Cert.crt.
  7. Check all the options in the Downloading Certificate pop-up.
  8. Click OK and close all the pop-ups.
  9. Close and reopen the browser to use Web Scanner.

Import the certificate on Microsoft Edge

  1. Open the browser.
  2. Click the Settings and more icon.
  3. Click Settings.
  4. Select the Privacy, search and services tab.
  5. Scroll down to the Security section.
  6. Click Manage certificates.
  7. On the Personal tab of the Certificates window, click Import.
  8. Complete the Certificate Import Wizard with all default values.

    Your certificate is now visible in the Edge certificates list and ready for use.

  9. Click Close to finish the import and reopen the browser to use Web Scanner.

Import CACERT to local keystore

If self-signed certificates are being used to configure the Advanced Web Scanner, the steps below must be followed. If your certificate is signed by a valid authority, the steps below may not be needed unless certificate errors persist after installation. Since self-signed certificates are being used, they must be imported as Trusted Root Certificates on a Web Scanning Machine (where Ephesoft Web Scanner Service is executing).

  1. Open certmgr.msc and select Trusted Root Certification Authorities and import the following certificates:
    1. Cacert.pem generated while generating server certificates. (CACERT represents a Certificate Signing Authority). Certificates being used for configuring Ephesoft Server are signed by this generated Certificate Authority (CACERT), thus importing this certificate as a trusted root certificate on a client machine makes it valid for communication with the client and the server. Make sure the snapshot certificate and HTTPS appear as valid to the browser.
    2. Import Ephesoft-Browser-Cert.crt present in EphesoftScannerService installation folder as the trusted root certificate. This step is also required to make communication between Web Scanner Client (browser) and Ephesoft Web Scanner Server (internal) valid. Make sure that the snapshot certificate and HTTPS appear as valid to the browser.
  2. Import self-signed CA (CACERT) generated above in EphesoftWebScannerService JRE Keystore using the command prompt. Locate and navigate to cacerts located at <EphesoftScannerService>jrelibsecurity.keytool -importcert -keystore <EphesoftScannerService>jrelibsecuritycacerts -storepass changeit -alias ephesoftrootCA -file cacert.pem. Substitute the path of cacerts and cacert.pem accordingly.
  3. Restart Ephesoft Web Scanner Service.
  4. Access Ephesoft Server with the same host name used while generating the server certificate; otherwise, communication will become insecure and the browser may not allow insecure communication.

Use external CA signed certificates to configure Web Scanner to HTTPS

If you do not want to use self-signed certificate provided by Transact for the Web Scanner, you can follow the steps below to replace the self-signed certificate in Web Scanner installation with your own certificate:

  1. Install the Web Scanner service by following the instructions described in Install the Web Scanner service above.
  2. Stop the Web Scanner service.
  3. Place your servercertificate.jks (server certificate with .jks extension) inside the Web Scanner service installation directory and rename it to self.jks.
  4. Open the properties file present inside the folder WebScanner_Installation_Directoryconfigapplication.properties in any text editor.
  5. Change the value of the property server.ssl.key-store from classpath:self.jks to just self.jks.
  6. Change the value of the property server.ssl.key-password to the actual password of the server certificate (self.jks).
  7. Import the cacert.pem (Root CA certificate with .pem extension, certificates with .crt and .cer extension can also be used) inside the keystore cacert present inside the folder WebScanner_Installation_Directoryjrelibsecurity by executing the following command at a Windows Command Prompt: 
    keytool -import -alias alias -file
certificate_file_name -keystore keystore_name
  8. Import the Root CA certificate in your local keystore (system's certmgr) and browser (if not already present) by following the instructions described in these procedures:
  9. Start the Web Scanner Service.

Local storage switch

Every scanned image is stored in three different formats:

  • TIFF: For batch processing.

  • JPG: For viewing image in large size in the right panel of the Web Scanner UI.

  • Thumbnail JPG: For viewing image in thumbnails in the middle panel of the Web Scanner UI.

In the existing web scanning mechanism, all the scanned images were stored at the server.

Path:

EphesoftSharedFolders\scannedImages BatchClassIdentifier_username_timestamp

Example:

EphesoftSharedFolders\scannedImages BC1_ephesoft_2016-06-13_03-24-26

In the Advanced Web Scanner service, the Local Storage switch is ON for each Profile by default. If the switch is ON, all the display images (JPG and Thumbnail JPG) are stored in a temp folder where you have installed the Advanced Web Scanner service.

Example:

C:\Program Files (x86)\EphesoftScannerService\temp\username

The TIFF files are always stored at server as they are used for batch processing.

Note the following:

  • If user started scanning with a Scanner Profile with Local Storage enabled, then another operation (insert, rescan, etc.) cannot be performed via another Profile with Local Storage disabled.

  • If the user is on Review/Validation screen and performing any operation like rescanning or insert, and navigates to the Web Scanner screen. The Local Storage switch will be OFF regardless of the Profile and the scanned files will go on server.

Configure timeout

If the Local Storage Switch is ON and the system is in idle state for Timeout duration (no scan operation is performed), then the application itself deletes all the images and folder where display images are stored and user will have to restart the scanning process.

To configure the timeout settings, do the following:

  1. Go to EphesoftApplication\WEB-INF\classes\META-INF
  2. Open the application.properties file in your local editor.
  3. Change the timeout settings with this property: 
    -webscanner_toolkit_session_timeout

    By default, it is set to 30 mins. 

    webscanner_toolkit_session_timeout=30

Configure log level

All the scanner service logs are available in the file WebScannerToolKitLogs.log located at:

C:\Program Files (x86)\EphesoftScannerService\logs

You can also configure the level of logs (INFO, ERROR, DEBUG) for the scanner service.

To change the log level, do the following:

  1. Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\EphesoftScannerService.
  2. Open the file logback.xml in your local editor.
  3. Change the log level from the logger tag. 
    <logger name="com.ephesoft" level="INFO">
     <appender-ref ref="LOGS" />
</logger>

Error handling

If any error occurs while performing any scanning operation, the relative error message will pop up.

But in case of Paper stream supported scanner, it is possible that the error message opens at background of the application UI. So, it is recommended to enable the Error Recovery Guide while installing the driver so that the error notification appears on the taskbar.

If you are experiencing problems with scanning process or the scanner service becomes unusable, make sure to check that the Multi Transfer Scanner Profile property is set to true. (This refers to all the Scanner Profiles used in a Batch Class while scanning). This property is available on the Scanner Profiles screen specific to each Batch Class. While the Default Profile has Multi Transfer property enabled automatically, the user has to ensure that it is set to true when copying or creating new profiles.

Recommendations

Transact and the Web Scanner versions must be in sync for each release. When upgrading the Transact product, all Web Scanner clients in use on client machines must be uninstalled and reinstalled to the latest version to be in sync with the Transact product.

DPI settings recommended for Scanning:

  • Black and White Images: Set the resolution to 200 DPI. If set above 200 DPI, buffering may occur.

  • Grey Scale: Set the resolution to 200 DPI. If set above 200 DPI, buffering may occur.

  • Colored: Set the resolution to 200 DPI. If set above 200 DPI, buffering may occur.

As a one-time activity after installation of the Web Scanner service. Typically the Web Scanner service is installed when you install or upgrade your Transact application, or after an Invalid Access error occurs. Perform the following steps:

  1. Log out from Transact.
  2. Reopen the browser and clear the browser cache.
  3. Restart Ephesoft Scanner Service.
  4. Enter the scanner URL.