Database Link is the document management solution natively integrated with webgate400. It creates a direct connection between your ERP data and any type of document or file, directly from the active fields in your business applications.
With Database Link, you can attach documents, images, drawings, and files in any format, generate new documents, use company templates, manage revision levels for each document, and define exactly who can read or modify each item.
You can also generate documents that merge real-time DB2/400 data into a single Word template, using multiple data sources managed through SQL statements.
Organized, configurable document management, accessible from anywhere
Attached documents are organized into configurable document classes, with separate storage directories for original and published documents. You can define precise confidentiality rules so only specific users or user groups can create, view, edit, or delete documents. Authorized users can therefore find all relevant documents in just a click, wherever they are.
At document-class level, you can activate automatic PDF conversion through a server in the webgate400 environment, so documents can be viewed and sent in this format while the original file remains available for any later changes.
Thanks to the link concept, documents can be associated with multiple business entities without duplication or wasted space. With a simple configuration, related entities can also be linked automatically to the main one, making retrieval even easier.
Database Link allows you to eliminate the paper version of any document, from correspondence to work files
The integrated Protocol Management module handles each document’s authorization workflow in a simple, complete way, eliminating physical stamps and signatures. Dedicated support for viewing electronic invoices is also available: you can automatically assign XML viewing templates, including custom ones, based on the document class.
Multi-level document revision
Documents attached to active webgate400 fields can be managed by revision level. Every change is stored together with the date, time, and user who made it, making it quick and easy to retrieve any previous version.
The view of archived documents can be customized for each user, choosing whether to show all revisions or only the final one.
Prerequisites
- webgate400
- Optional: scanners supporting the TWAIN standard
- Optional: OMNIFIND for hypertext search (available from V6R1M0)
Feeding the document management system
Create documents from real ERP data
Database Link ensures a clean, orderly layout while preserving the formal quality of the content extracted from the database. You can generate text documents that combine information from multiple databases, such as customer master data for addresses, offer headers for commercial terms, and offer line details for item codes, descriptions, quantities, prices, and discount percentages.
During generation, you can define one or more company templates to ensure consistent styling and match them to the relevant document class.
Database Link supports templates for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OpenOffice, Lotus solutions, and other formats.
Archive in seconds, from any source
With drag & drop, you can quickly upload files in any format, choosing the entity to link them to during upload or archiving them without linking them to a specific entity.
You can select multiple files at once and link them to one or more entities in a single operation.
Archive from external sources too
Documents can come from several sources:
- directly from scanners (TWAIN standard)
- printouts produced by the ERP and archived as PDFs
- any file on the computer or network
- and any file produced by third-party programs
With the PSG Report Editor and Deferred Document Acquisition add-on modules, all documents that are produced or acquired are automatically archived in the correct Database Link document class.
From a document, access the entire ERP directly
With Omnilink, you can start from an archived document and open any ERP program connected to that document’s content.
When viewing an order, for example, you can directly open maintenance for the order, the customer, the items on the order, the delivery note, and so on, without navigating menus or re-entering data.
Send documents via email directly from document management
Documents archived with Database Link are ready to be sent by email without any additional steps.
They can be sent as individual documents, using the company address book or a mailing list. An automatically generated sending log keeps the full history of each email.
Attached documents are immediately identifiable, even visually
The “Check attachments” function is available in every screen grid and is activated with the right mouse button.
A paperclip in the left corner of the grid and the red color immediately indicate the presence of attached documents, without the need to search for them.
Find any document in seconds, even by searching within the text
Through a dedicated function, you can search all documents archived in the document management system by title, description, three fixed keyword fields, and categorization fields configurable according to your needs.
A hypertext search within the document content is also available, with support for Boolean operators to refine results—useful, for example, for finding all documents containing a specific item in the text.
Deferred document archiving: scan whenever you want, without blocking work.
By separating the handling of the paper document from the scanning process, you gain all the benefits of dematerialization without slowing down business processes.
A dedicated monitor lets you keep every stage of the process under control.
Evolution, not revolution
For nearly 25 years, one principle has never changed: don’t become a company forced to chase technology; stay focused on what you do best in your industry.
Our job is to give you the tools to stay competitive, modern, secure, and scalable without losing what already works today.
