So you want to learn Datacap?

I was recently asked to mentor a new hire at my workplace. The person was hired as a senior developer and had a lot of programming and analytical experience. He had just never worked in the Enterprise Content Management (ECM) space and was especially new to the world of Document Capture and OCR technologies. The goal was to train him so that he could help with the customer projects that involved Datacap as part of the solution.

Datacap isn’t something that anyone could just pick up quickly and take on complex tasks. I knew that we needed to give the individual ample time to grasp the basic concepts before he can dive into custom development.

We intended to send him for official IBM training eventually but we thought it would be a good idea to spend a week or two to understand the concepts.

I thought it would be a good idea to put together a list of online resources that would help anyone get started. I thought I would share this list here:

1. Introduction to IBM Datacap by Sean Patrick Scott

This video uses an older version of Datacap for demonstration but its a great place to start learning about Datacap.

Duration: 34 Minutes

2. IBM Datacap Techjam August 2010

This is an old PowerPoint deck but an excellent source for understanding basic Datacap concepts. The deck covers the following topics:

• Datacap Product Briefing
  • About Datacap
  • Task Profiles, Rules, Functions, Actions
  • Demonstration
• Competitive information
• Resources

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3. IBM Datacap 9.0 Overview

This YouTube video is created by ECM Demos

This demo showcases how an auto insurance company uses IBM Datacap to help process a new claim. An insurance agent can use Datacap to capture, classify, and extract important information from documents that were received during the submission of the claim. Likewise, a claims adjuster can use Datacap to collect all the documents relevant to the case and follow the claims process through to completion.

4. IBM Datacap Redbook October 2015

Title: Implementing Document Imaging and Capture Solutions with IBM Datacap

This is excellent resource to keep handy. It is a complete reference to understand the concept and the toolkit. This document introduces Datacap and its imaging capabilities.

Pages: 352

5. IBM Redbook Datacap Accounts Payable

Title: IBM Datacap Accounts Payable Capture

This document introduces IBM Datacap Accounts Payable Capture Application. It shows how using several techniques, it can learn new instances of known documents when they are introduced to the system.

Pages: 44

6. IBM Datacap 9.0, 9.0.1, 9.1.0, and 9.1.1 DDK sample applications

These are excellent sample Datacap applications provided by IBM. These application provide real-world examples to implement basic and complex features in Datacap:

Link to the page: Link

7. IBM Datacap Developer Kit 9.x

The IBM Datacap Developer Kit provides applications and files that allow unlimited extension and customization of the product. These customizations can be used to tailor your application to perform unique functionality or operate in a manor specific to the needs of your organization. The downloads included as part of this development kit are listed below.

8. IBM Datacap Application Development Guide

The is one of the best resources out there to walk you through the steps involved in developing a Datacap application. The information combines concepts with practice – describing general techniques used in the various stages of the Datacap workflow, and then provides hands-on instructions so you can implement some of those techniques using the Datacap application development tools.

9. Datacap Objects (DCO) API Guide

You can use Datacap object APIs to create or modify runtime batches and document hierarchies, and to obtain or modify recognition confidence levels, field values, text values, and object types.

10. Custom Actions Development Guide

When you cannot perform an application function by using standard and built-in actions, you can write custom actions to fulfill your processing needs. This short guide helps you learn just that.