Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Laserfiche SDK?

The Laserfiche Software Development Toolkit (SDK) is a set of libraries that allows you to create your own custom applications. With the SDK, you can automate Laserfiche-related tasks or develop custom integrations with third-party applications. See this overview for a list of what is part of the SDK.

I’ve read that overview. I created a new Visual Studio project. Which of those libraries do I need to reference?

Most likely, Laserfiche.RepositoryAccess.dll. Repository Access is the gateway to accessing your Laserfiche repository. You’ll find classes that let you log in to your repository, manage Laserfiche metadata, create and modify documents, administer Laserfiche security, configure users, and more. If you also want to import or export documents, you will need DocumentServices. See the tutorial on basic document manipulation as a starting point.

What if I don’t know the location or ID of a document that I want to modify, but I know other information about this document?

Use Laserfiche search. The search tutorial shows how to retrieve the entry IDs of documents that meet the criteria of a search. Also see examples of searches, an overview of the concepts essential to searching in Laserfiche, and the SearchClient sample project located in the samples repository.

How do I convert a ____ file into TIFF?

If you want to convert an electronic document that is already in a Laserfiche repository to TIFF files, use Client Automation Tools.

If you are outside of Laserfiche, Snapshot is installed, and you are comfortable with accessing Windows printer drivers, you can try using Laserfiche Snapshot to print electronic files. For Snapshot configuration, see the DocumentServices.SnapshotDriver class and the SnapshotDriverSample sample project for more information.

If you are outside of Laserfiche, and want to convert a PDF file to TIFF prior to importing into a Laserfiche repository, there are a variety of third-party products that can assist you.

How do I programmatically add a custom toolbar button to the Laserfiche Client?

Client Automation Tools provides tools for configuring the toolbar in the Laserfiche Client. See the CustomButtonManager sample project.

How do I use the SDK in Workflow?

You can insert an SDK script within a Workflow process. This uses Workflow’s connection to the Laserfiche Server and does not require you to start a new session within the SDK. The Workflow SDK toolkit comes with Workflow and does not require an additional SDK license or installation of the Laserfiche SDK. This is possible because Workflow itself comes with an installation of RepositoryAccess. However, you must make sure to install the Workflow SDK component when you install Workflow.

Any Workflow SDK script you write is distributable between multiple Workflow processes.

How does licensing work with the SDK?

When users access Laserfiche through your custom application, they need to have the appropriate number of user licenses required for all the connections made from the SDK to the Laserfiche Server. All connections are made with a named user account, so that named user will need to be allocated to the appropriate Laserfiche Server.

How to I create a connection with a Keyed Integrator’s license (Application Key)?

Use Laserfiche Directory Server to assign Keyed Integration licenses to specific Laserfiche Server instances. These licenses help you to license concurrent sessions to third party applications such as the custom applications you create with the SDK.

When creating a RepositoryAccess session, assign a key value to the Session.ApplicationId property. Key values can be found in two ways:

  • In the appropriate Laserfiche Server license file, locate the <KeyedConcurrentLicenses> block. Within that block there will be 1 or more <KeyedConcurrentLicense> elements. For each <KeyedConcurrentLicense> element, note the value of the key attribute.
  • In the Directory Server administration website, edit a Laserfiche Server registered instance or register a new Laserfiche Server instance. Under the Allocate Application Key concurrent connections section, note the available keys.

In the code sample below, the key you intend to use should go where MyKey1 is.

RepositoryRegistration myRepoReg = new RepositoryRegistration("LFServerName", "LFRepositoryName");
Session mySess = new Session();
mySess.ApplicationId = "MyKey1";
mySess.LogIn(myRepoReg);