IDP Connector

Integrate ProcessMaker IDP into your business Processes.

What is the IDP Connector?

IDP connector integrates ProcessMaker IDP into ProcessMaker Platform. ProcessMaker IDP is ProcessMaker's intelligent document processing (IDP) solution. Remember before working correctly with IDP Connectors, your administrator must configure IDP Settings.

Add an IDP Connector to the Process Model

Permissions

Your user account or group membership must have the following permissions to configure an IDP connector to the Process model unless your user account has the Make this user a Super Admin setting selected:

• Processes: Edit Processes

• Processes: View Processes

See the Process permissions or ask your Administrator for assistance.

Add an IDP connector from one of the following locations in Process Modeler:

• Object Panel: Located to the left of the Process Modeler canvas, the Object Panel contains various process model objects.

• Object Bar: Located at the bottom of the Process Modeler canvas, the Object Bar contains pinned Process model objects for quick access.

Add from the Object panel

Follow these steps to add an IDP connector from the Object panel to the Process model:

2. Click the IDP object from one of the following sections:

   • Pinned Objects: The IDP object appears in the Pinned Objects section when it is pinned.
3. Click the location in the Process model to place this connector. Follow these guidelines when placing this connector:

   • Optionally place this connector between two existing Process model objects already connected with a Sequence Flow element. See Place an object between two connected objects.

Add from the Object bar

Follow these steps to add an IDP connector from the Object bar to the Process model:

2. Click the IDP object's icon. This object's icon displays adjacent to the mouse icon to indicate this element type may be placed into the Process model.

3. Click the location in the Process model to place this element. Follow these guidelines when placing this connector:

   • Optionally place this connector between two existing Process model objects already connected with a Sequence Flow element. See Place an Object Between Two Process Model Objects Already Connected with a Sequence Flow Element.

Add boundary events

After adding the Object Element, consider adding the following Boundary-type Process model elements to design business solutions when your best-case scenarios don't happen:

• Boundary Timer Event element

• Boundary Error Event element

• Boundary Signal Event element

• Boundary Conditional Event element

• Boundary Message Event element

• Move a Process Model Object.

• Connect Two Process Model Objects with a Sequence Flow Element.

• Customize the Appearance of a Process Model Object.

• Copy Process Model Objects into the Clipboard.

• Clone Process Model Objects Without the Clipboard.

• Delete Process Model Objects.

Settings

The IDP connector has the following panels that contain settings:

• Configuration panel

  • Edit the connector name

  • Enter the Request variable containing the file(s) for processing

  • Select the document type

  • Split documents

  • Configure a destination folder

• Loop Activity panel

  • Specify characteristics to perform multiple instances of the connector

• Advanced panel

  • Edit the node's identifier value

Configuration Panel

Edit the Connector Name

A connector name is a human-readable reference for a Process model control. Process Modeler automatically assigns the name of a Process model connector with its connector type. However, a connector's name can be changed.

Follow these steps to edit the name for an IDP connector:

1. Select the IDP connector from the Process model.

Enter the Request Variable Containing the File(s) for Processing

During a Request, an IDP connector references a Request variable that stores the documents for processing. This Request variable may be linked to a File Upload control, where the documents were uploaded during a Task.

Follow these steps to enter the name of the Request variable that stores the documents to be processed by this IDP connector:

2. In the Variable Name setting, enter the Request variable name that stores the documents for processing without using mustache syntax, then press Enter.

Select the Document Type

Select the document type the IDP connector uses to process the documents. This setting does not refer to a file type, such as PDF or DOCX. Instead, this setting refers to the DOCUMENT_TYPE domain in ProcessMaker IDP that has been previously trained to process documents in your Dossier. Note that this setting requires the value in the DOCUMENT_TYPE Domain's Name setting, not its Pretty Name setting value.

Follow these steps to select a document type:

2. Do one of the following:

   • Select the Use Request Variable option, and enter a Request variable that contains a reference to the document type. Reference this Request variable without using mustache syntax.

   • Ensure that the Use Request Variable setting is not selected, then choose a document type from the drop-down list. The name of the document type must already exist in ProcessMaker IDP. This setting does not create a new file type. For more information, see IDP Settings.

Where do I find DOCUMENT_TYPE in ProcessMaker IDP?

Determine Which Document Type to Use

If necessary, log on to your ProcessMaker IDP instance to determine which Domain document type to use to process the document(s) for this IDP connector. Note that ProcessMaker IDP Administrator permissions are required to do this.

Follow these steps to determine which Domain in ProcessMaker IDP is used to train the documents in your Dossier:

1. Log on to ProcessMaker IDP. If you need assistance logging on, contact your ProcessMaker IDP Administrator for assistance.

3. The Domains page displays.
4. Locate the Document_Type domain, click its options menu, and then select the Edit option.
5. The Edit Domain page displays for the Document_Type Domain.
6. Click the Enum values option from the left-side pane. The Enum values for Domain page displays the enumeration values for the Document_Type Domain.
7. Browse the list of values for the Document_Type Domain, and then locate the Document_Type Domain value that this IDP connector uses to process documents.

8. Click the options menu for your document type, and then select the Edit option.
9. Make note of the Name value for your document type. Use this value for the IDP connector's Document Type setting. An example is highlight below. Do not use the Pretty Name setting value for your document type.

Split Documents

The Split Document(s) setting allows users to upload a multi-page PDF where each page is an independent document, such as multiple invoices in one PDF. The IDP Connector then splits the PDF into individual documents, creating a new document for every page when uploading to the IDP environment. This helps users manage and track multiple documents simultaneously, making workflows more organized and efficient. This is especially useful for large-scale operations where handling each document individually would be time-consuming.

Follow these steps to split a document:

2. Select the Split Document(s) option.

Note: New documents are assigned sequential names (with an underscore) derived from the original file name, such as NewAccountsQ2_1.pdf, NewAccountsQ2_2.pdf.

Select a destination folder for the processed documents

Select the folder where ProcessMaker IDP should store the processed documents. Follow these steps to configure a destination folder:

1. Expand the Configuration panel if it is not presently expanded, and then locate the Select Destination setting.

2. Do one of the following:

Loop Activity Panel Settings

Specify Characteristics to Perform Multiple Instances of the Connector

Use the Loop Activity panel settings to specify how to run multiple instances of this connector. The following loop modes are available for this connector:

No Loop Mode

Select the No Loop Mode option to perform this connector's function only once.

Follow these steps to specify characteristics to perform multiple instances of the connector:‌

1. Select the connector from the Process model. Panels to configure this element display.

2. Expand the Loop Activity panel. By default, the Loop Mode setting is set to No Loop Mode and the function is performed only once.

Loop

Select the Loop option to sequentially repeat this connector's function multiple times until an exit condition is True. This is useful when a function should be performed multiple times with the same set of data, such as, processing a credit card payment. This loop mode has the following characteristics:

• The connector's function is repeated until the exit condition is True or the maximum iterations limit is reached.

• At any given time, only one instance of the connector is active. The subsequent instance does not begin until the current instance completes.

• The same exit condition evaluates at the end of each instance; however, value(s) of the Request variable(s) used in the exit condition can change during an instance resulting in the exit condition to eventually evaluate as True.

• If any one instance of that function does not complete, workflow pauses.

• All active instances are terminated if an interrupting boundary-type event element triggers.

• ProcessMaker IDP does not allow multiple documents of the same name in the one folder. Therefore, an IDP connector cannot send more than one copy of a document to a folder while in a loop mode. To address this issue, use a different IDP connector to process the same document to a different ProcessMaker IDP folder.

Follow these steps to specify characteristics to perform multiple instances of the connector:‌

1. Select the connector from the Process model in which to specify multiple instance characteristics. Panels to configure this element display.

2. Expand the Loop Activity panel to display the Loop Mode Setting.

4. In the Maximum Iterations setting, enter an integer value representing the maximum number of times this Task should be performed.

5. In the Exit Condition setting, enter a condition in FEEL syntax. When this condition is True the loop activity is halted.

Multi-instance (Parallel)

Select the Multi-instance (Parallel) option to perform this connector's Task multiple times in parallel a fixed number of times. This is useful when performing any action in bulk, such as sending an email to several people. This loop mode has the following characteristics:

• Instances of the connector are governed by the size of an array-type Request variable where a new instance is created for each item in this variable. For example, an array with 10 items will create 10 parallel instances of this function that each contains data from its respective array index.

• All instances begin simultaneously when this connector triggers; however, they perform their function independently of each other.

• The function as a whole completes when all instances are complete.

• The output from each instance can either be saved in the source Request variable or a new array-type Request variable.

• All active instances terminate if an interrupting boundary-type event element triggers.

Follow these steps to specify characteristics to perform multiple instances of the connector:‌

1. Select the connector from the Process model in which to specify multiple instance characteristics. Panels to configure this element display.

2. Expand the Loop Activity panel to display the Loop Mode Setting.

3. From the Loop Mode setting, select the Multi-instance (Parallel) option. The settings for this loop mode display:
4. In the Request Variable Array setting, enter the name of an array-type Request variable. The size of this array will determine how many times this loop iterates.

5. In the Output Data Variable setting, enter the name of an array-type Request variable in which to store the results of all instances. Each instance of the loop saves to a separate JSON object within the array of the specified Request variable. If the Output Data Variable setting is not configured, then the output data replaces the source data in the Request Variable Array.

Multi-instance (Sequential)

Select the Multi-instance (Sequential) option to perform this connector's function multiple times sequentially a fixed number of times or until an exit condition is True. This is useful when sequentially repeating a function multiple times but with a different set of data each time. This loop mode has the following characteristics:

• Instances of the function are governed by the size an array-type Request variable where a new instance is created for each item in this variable. For example, an array with 10 items will create 10 parallel instances of this function that each contains data from its respect array index.

• At any given time, only one instance of the function is active. The subsequent instance does not begin until the current instance completes.

• At the end of each instance an exit condition evaluates and the loop activity halts if the exit condition is True.

• The function as a whole completes when all instances are complete.

• The output from each instance can either be saved in the source Request variable or a new array-type Request variable.

• All active instances terminate if an interrupting boundary-type event element triggers.

Follow these steps to specify characteristics to perform multiple instances of the connector:‌

1. Select the connector from the Process model in which to specify multiple instance characteristics. Panels to configure this element display.

2. Expand the Loop Activity panel to display the Loop Mode Setting.

3. From the Loop Mode setting, select the Multi-instance (Sequential) option. The settings for this loop mode display:
4. In the Request Variable Array setting, enter the name of an array-type Request variable. The size of this array will determine how many times this loop iterates.

5. In the Exit Condition setting, enter a condition in FEEL syntax. When this condition is True the loop activity is halted.

6. In the Output Data Variable setting, enter the name of an array-type Request variable in which to store the results of all instances. Each instance of the loop saves to a separate JSON object within the array of the specified Request variable. If the Output Data Variable setting is not configured, then the output data replaces the source data in the Request Variable Array.

Advanced Panel Settings

Edit the Node's Identifier Value

A Process node represents a component of a Process model, whether that is a BPMN element or a connector. Process Modeler automatically assigns a unique value to each Process node added to a Process model. A Process node's identifier value can be changed if it is unique to all other nodes in the Process model, including the Process model's identifier value.

Note: All identifier values for all nodes in the Process model must be unique.

Follow these steps to edit the identifier value for an IDP connector:

1. Select the IDP connector from the Process model in which to edit its identifier value.

2. Ensure that the Configuration panel displays. If not, show it. Panels to configure this element display.

3. Expand the Advanced panel if it is not presently expanded. The Node Identifier setting displays. This is a required setting.
4. In the Node Identifier setting, edit the IDP connector's identifier to a unique value from all nodes in the Process model and then press Enter.

Receive Notifications from ProcessMaker IDP

When using ProcessMaker IDP, users may receive notifications for the following events:

• A document attribute is updated.

• A document is successfully processed by IDP.

• There is a connection timeout while connecting to the IDP environment.