Easy Archive

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1. What is Easy Archive?

Easy Archive is a digital archival and retrieval system. It is simple but powerful and affordable. You can use it from a single desktop or laptop, through an internal network (Intranet or Extranet) or across the Internet. You get one centralized and accessible repository of your documents and files.

2. How to get Easy Archive?

A. Download ea.zip - zip file, 2.07 MB (2,070,156 bytes, updated Feb. 12, 2012), unblock it (right-click, properties, security section, unblock) and extract/unzip it to a temporary folder. Setup instructions are in the Easy Archive Setup Guide (in PDF format). See question 7 for system requirements.

3. How do I register my Easy Archive copy, and how much does it cost?

A. If you decide to buy the full version, you provide us with your Client ID and get a license key. You will find a link to purchase Easy Archive online under the About tab (in your copy, not this demo - which will also display your Client ID). Make sure you enter your Client ID carefully with your order (the Client ID box is on the checkout screen). Your license is sent immediately after you place your order. See the screen shot to the right for the location of the Client ID, order link and where to enter your license key. After you enter your license key, you should see the word (Registered) next to your Client ID and no further text shows. There is no user limitation on the license (for the same sub-web application).
Online (secure) orders of Easy Archive cost $650 ($455 after 30% discount if still applicable). Payment options: credit card, PayPal or wire transfer.
Our e-commerce provider is FastSpring.

4. Is Easy Archive good for us (or how small/large are small and medium institutions)?

A. Institution size is an oversimplification. The workload, number of users, precise needs and requirements as well as existing systems (authentication and content management) are better guidelines. Easy Archive may be used by a Fortune 500 institution, yet a 10 employee organization may find it limiting. For example, if you need to collaborate on document creation, control versioning, establish workflow or comply with some regulations, then Easy Archive may not be your best tool. Easy Archive assumes you are storing final versions.

5. Do we need special hardware or software or Internet Connection or a public website?

A. Short answer is no. You do need at least one computer with licensed operating system and enough disk space to store your files. Some additional updates may need to be installed (all are free). Easy Archive works on a single computer, or over a network (local or public). If you are archiving hard copies, you will need a scanner. See also Q5.

6. What can I archive with Easy Archive?

A. The sky is the limit. Examples include, but are not limited to, daily correspondence, periodic and annual reports, court cases, press releases, press clippings, applications, tenders, ads, product/job specifications, product reviews, knowledge articles, research papers, publications, learning objects (ex. SCORM files), old cabinet files (scan to pdf), pictures, audio and video files, graphic and CAD designs, contracts, certificates, project documents training materials, internal procedures and regulations, newsletters, standard forms and templates, meeting minutes, important e-mail messages (copy to a document) etc.

7. What are the system requirements?

A. Before installing Easy Archive, you should have the target computer ready. This will include an installed copy of .Net Framework 4 or later (release, not beta), MVC3 Framework or later (release), a copy of MS SQL Server Express 2005 or later with preference to SQL Server Express 2008 R2 (or your own licensed copy if you have one), SQL server user account with db creator role and a functioning (within your environment) default website on IIS 7 or later or IIS Express. For the operating system, a 64 bit Windows server 2008 is recommended although Windows 7 Professional is adequate. You will need enough hard disk space to store your files and your backups. There is no memory recommendation except that needed by the operating system. The frameworks, MS SQL Server Express and IIS Express are free, you just need a licensed operating system (including client access for your users).
To check if .Net4 is installed, use the MS official article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/318785/en-us (or check an application pool properties in IIS, the .Net Framework version drop down). For MVC3, unless you know already it is installed, you can just go ahead and install it (basically, the application will fail if it is not installed with an error that reads, in the message section (Parser Error Message), something like: "Could not load file or assembly System.Web.Mvc"). You may also see "404 - File or directory not found" based on the configuration file (default).

8. What are the limitations of the trial version of Easy Archive?

A. The trial version has full functionality, but it is limited to 25 records

9. Where can I download the required updates?

A. It is recommended to use the Web Platform Installer (http://www.microsoft.com/web/downloads/platform.aspx) first. This will make installation of other updates easier. Dot Net 4 is at http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=17851 (web install) or http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/confirmation.aspx?id=17718 (download), IIS Express: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=1038, MVC3: http://www.microsoft.com/web/gallery/install.aspx?appid=MVC3 (web install) or http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=4211 (download). Notice that MVC3 requires .Net4 to be installed already. For sql server express: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=26729 (SQLEXPRADV_x64_ENU.exe is the 64 bit and SQLEXPRADV_x86_ENU.exe is the 32 bit - get the 64 if your operating system is 64 bit).

10. I have uploaded the same filename (from different folders on my desktop) in two records. They also happen to belong to the same year. Did I just overwrite my first file?

A. No. The system generates unique filenames in the storage area but returns the filename you selected when you uploaded the file. You can verify this if you view/download each file.

11. I am using IE (Internet Explorer) or another browser/web agent and the interface looks awful. What can I do?

A. Easy Archive uses parts of the HTML 5 standard (working draft to be accurate). Earlier versions of IE do not have full standards support, but IE9 and later are fine. Easy Archive does not have any preference in terms of web browsers and it is not enhanced to work with a certain browser. You just use browser of personal preference (unless your organization has browser policy). If you already have FireFox, you can use it instead (or upgrade IE). You may also use Chrome. We implemented a work-around to support IE7/8 and you may be able to use those versions as well (at least according to our tests).

12. Can we change the colors and/or logo?

A. Colors and the user interface in general is controlled by a style sheet (EasyArchive.css). A few other styles are set in EasyArchive js files. You should not try to adjust the styles if you do not have enough technical experience (make a backup copy of the original files first). The logo.png is an 87 by 77 pixels image and you may replace it by your institution logo of same size. You can change the display name (Easy Archive) under the logo by setting the OrganizationName key in the web.config file. Changing both logo and display name may violate the license terms. Issues arising from logo and style changes are not eligible for technical support.

13. We use Windows authentication (active directory). Can we use Easy Archive?

A. You will need to make changes to the application configuration file and map the roles to Windows security groups and then assign (windows) users accounts to those groups. We are not supporting installation with Windows authentication at this time.

14. We have our site (domain) hosted with a commercial hosting service and would like to use Easy Archive, can we?

A. Yes (in most cases). This will depend on features enabled by your hosting provider or provided by your control panel or other self-service configuration interface. You will need access to MS SQL server (regular or express) and most Windows hosting providers offer either or both. You also need to make sure the server has the .Net framework 4 or later and MVC3 framework or later.

15. The font size, especially on my laptop, is very small. What can I do?

A. Most browsers have a zoom in or magnify functionality. Try CTRL+ (CONTROL and + keys together) to increase font size and CTRL- to decrease it. You can do that several times to get the size you want. To reset the size back to default value, user CTRL0 (zero)

16. We use both Arabic and English or only Arabic. Does Easy Archive support other languages?

A. Although the user interface is in English, you can use Arabic as well. Other languages are supported, but we using English as a standard language for communication at this time.

17. What is that Remember Me! checkbox on the login screen?

A. usually, if you walk away from your screen or do not use the system for a while, your session will time out and you will be asked to re-login. With Remember Me! checked, you ask the system to keep you logged in for a longer period. You should determine whether or not to use this feature based on your security environment (ex. not if you log in from a public pc).

18. What if we need to retrieve more records than the search function allows? Or can we export data to Excel?

A. Users with Super Admin role can export data to Excel based on selected criteria and without limit.

19. As a super admin, I exported data that has some Arabic text, but some Excel version is not displaying the Arabic correctly

A. The csv file is in UTF-8 but Excel tries to open it as plain text. The work-around is to use the data import wizard in Excel (do not double-click)

20. I am trying to upload a large file for a certain record without success. What can I do?

A. A maximum file size is usually enforced by your organization. Easy Archive has a default maximum size of 10 MB. Please check with the person responsible for system maintenance to adjust the limit if accepted.

21. We have established a set of rules and guidelines for our data entry staff (a great thing!). How can we disseminate it to our users?

A. Convert it to PDF, name it EasyArchiveDataEntryGuide.pdf and upload it to the Content folder under the application (an empty file with the same name exists, so just replace it). A menu item under Help will link to your file. This file has no security and you should not put sensitive date in it.

22. What about backup and file security?

A. Files are only served by the web application according to record protection. If you have control over your web server, you can store the documents (files) outside the web application folder (recommended) and create a virtual directory under your web application that points to your secure store folder (your application pool must be able to write to the physical folder). You only need to backup the store folder (regularly) as well as your database. If you have the full version of MS SQL Server, you can schedule the database backup from the management studio (can set the backup disk to the same location as store folder so your database backup is included with your regular files). For MS SQL Express, you can use Windows task scheduler to run a daily backup script using SQLCMD (recommended). We can send you sample script if you ask. You could also try (on your own, we cannot provide support for this): http://sqlbackupandftp.com/ (free version allows up to 2 databases)

23. I can't get the application to install. I just get "500 internal server error" when I try to run the application

A. If you have access to IIS manager, try to check (do not make changes) an item like Connection Strings under ASP.Net. You will be notified if the configuration file in invalid. Also, make sure the parent site is working correctly.

24. What about records that require more than one file (ex. a proposal with a Word document, Excel budget and PowerPoint presentation)?

A. There are two option: you can either use a zip file to keep all related documents together or add the supporting documents as other records and relate them to the main record. If you are archiving hard copies, you can scan them together into one PDF file.

25. How do I know about updates to Easy Archive?

A. The download file ea.zip in question 2 is the latest version. If you have already downloaded and installed Easy Archive after February 12, 2012, you can download the latest ea.zip file and only replace the contents of the /bin folder in your web application. No changes to the database or any other file unless explicitly specified here.

26. Can we customize the help system?

A. The help files are static html files. You can edit or expand them (or even change the language) if you know how to work with html. It is recommended to make backup copies in case you break something (will not affect the application functionality, but the affected help file will not display correctly). Another easy option is to edit the EasyArchiveDataEntryGuide.pdf file in the help folder for both guidelines and how to.

27. I still have a question!

A. If you have any questions related to Easy Archive, please feel free to contact us.