ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect - ABBYY Documentation

ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect runs as a Windows service and allows users to import documents into ABBYY FlexiCapture Cloud projects, export documents from ABBYY FlexiCapture Cloud projects, and synchronize data sets.

Diagram showing ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect running on a Windows server connecting through a firewall to ABBYY FlexiCapture Cloud over port 443.

System requirements

Requirement	Details
Operating system	Windows 10, Windows 11, or Windows Server 2012, 2012 R2, 2016, 2019, 2022, or 2025 (each with Desktop Experience).
RAM	At least 2.5 GB is recommended for a data set containing approximately 500,000 vendors.
Software compatibility	ABBYY FlexiCapture Application Server Release 3 or later; .NET Framework 4.6.1 or later.

Install and configure ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect

Use your service account to install and configure ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect.

Download and run the installer

If ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect is already installed and you are updating an existing version, first create a backup copy of the config.json file, which is located in C:\Program Files (x86)\ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect\config.json.Download and run the FlexiCapture_Connect_Installer_*.msi file from https://www.abbyy.com/flexicapture-downloads/cloud/.

Modify the configuration file

Modify the config.json file to suit your needs. For more information, see Configuration file reference.

Test the new configuration

Pause the ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect service.
Run the ABBYY.FlexiCapture.Connect.exe file. A console window with a detailed log opens.

Restart the service

Restart ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect.

Configuration file reference

This example config.json file imports documents into one project, exports the processing results, and synchronizes one data set.

{
  "url": "https://europe.flexicapture.com/",
  "tenant": "testtenant",
  "user": "user1",
  "password": "password1",
  "projects": [
    {
      "name": "project1",
      "import": {
        "directory": "C:\\HotFolder\\Import",
        "fileMask": "*",
        "settings": {
          "region": "US",
          "verification_type": "NoVerification",
          "export_format": "Xml"
        },
        "createDocument": "ForEachFile",
        "period": "00:01:00",
        "schedule": [ "12:00:00", "06:00:00" ]
      },
      "export": {
        "directory": "C:\\HotFolder\\Export",
        "period": "00:01:00",
        "schedule": [ "12:00:00" ]
      },
      "templates": [
        {
          "name": "template",
          "datasets": [
            {
              "name": "DataSet",
              "file": "C:\\HotFolder\\DataSets\\DataSet.csv",
              "period": "00:01:00",
              "schedule": [ "12:00:00" ]
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

General settings

The top-level properties identify the tenant and the service account.

Property	Description
`url`	The URL of the tenant (for example, `https://europe.flexicapture.com`).
`tenant`	The name of the tenant.
`user`	The user name of the service account.
`password`	The password of the service account.
`projects`	Contains settings for individual projects, such as document import and export parameters and data set synchronization parameters.

To import and export documents, set up the tenant account as an External User. To synchronize data sets, the tenant account needs either the Administrator role or both the Project Settings Editor and External User roles. By default, all projects are accessible to the tenant account. To change this, adjust the access rights granted to specific user roles. For more information, see Set up user roles and access rights.

Project settings

Each object in the projects array defines one project.

Property	Description
`name`	Project name.
`import`	Settings for importing documents.
`export`	Settings for exporting documents.
`templates`	Settings for synchronizing data sets.

Import settings

The import object of a project defines how and when documents are imported.

Property	Description
`directory`	The path to the folder from which documents are imported.
`fileMask`	A file and folder filter. The `*` and `?` wildcards are supported.
`settings`	Batch registration parameters.
`createDocument`	Possible values are `ForEachFile` (creates a separate document for each imported file) or `Automatically` (uses project parameters). To use `Automatically`, first select the Automatically when Document Definition is applied option in the ABBYY FlexiCapture project.
`period`	How often the task starts. For example, `"period": "00:02:30"` starts the task every two and a half minutes. You can set `period` and `schedule` independently of one another.
`schedule`	The times when the task starts. For example, `"schedule": [ "09:00:00", "19:00:00" ]` starts the task daily at 9:00 and 19:00.

A new batch is created each time files are imported. The batch name contains the current date and time.

Export settings

The export object of a project defines where and when processing results are exported.

Property	Description
`directory`	The path to the folder where exported files are stored.
`period`	How often the export task starts, in the same format as for import. You can set `period` and `schedule` independently of one another.
`schedule`	The times when the export task starts, in the same format as for import.

When documents are exported, a folder is created for each batch in the project that is currently at the Processed stage. These destination folders have the same names as their respective batches and contain all the processing results. If a destination folder is deleted, the program creates a new one with the same name and places the processing results there.

Document Definition settings

Each object in the templates array identifies a Document Definition and its data sets.

Property	Description
`name`	The name of the Document Definition related to the given section.
`datasets`	The data set synchronization parameters for the Document Definition.

Data set synchronization settings

Each object in the datasets array defines one data set to synchronize.

Property	Description
`name`	The name of the data set.
`file`	The path to the CSV file that contains the master data exported from the ERP system. The first line of the CSV file must contain the names of the data set fields separated by commas. Any values containing commas must be enclosed in double quotes.
`period`	How often the synchronization task starts, in the same format as for import. You can set `period` and `schedule` independently of one another.
`schedule`	The times when the synchronization task starts, in the same format as for import.

Synchronization replaces the current data sets with the new ones. Existing records modified by a verification operator (by editing, adding, or deleting values) are saved and synchronized. New records added manually are deleted and not synchronized. For very large data sets, synchronization may take several hours. In this example CSV file for a Vendors data set, the first vendor has multiple IBANs.

Id,Name,Street,City,ZIP,CountryCode,VATID,IBAN,IBAN,BusinessUnitId
1,MacWay,9 Route d'Eschau,Illkirch-Graffenstaden,67411,FR,1A345678901,FR1420041010050500012M02606,FR7630006000011234567890189,1
2,Bottled Water Ltd,Mary Ann St,Cardiff,CF102EN,GB,123456789,GB29NWBK60161331926819,,2
3,CCcompany Ltd.,2 Wilkins Grove,Welwyn Garden City,AL86JS,GB,234567890,GB27BOFI90212729823529,,3
4,MANZANA solutions,"Calle de la Botanica, 15",Madrid,28000,ES,E73895722,ES9121000418450200051332,,4

Store service account credentials in Windows Vault

Service account credentials can be stored either in the config.json file in the ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect service directory or, more securely, in Windows Vault. For more information, see the Microsoft documentation on Credential Manager and cmdkey.

Add credentials to Windows Vault

To let ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect retrieve service account credentials from Windows Vault, register them with cmdkey and run the service under the same Windows account.

Create or choose a Windows account

Create a new Windows account, or choose an existing Windows account.

Run cmd.exe under that Windows account, and run this cmdkey command. In the command, https://europe.flexicapture.com#tenant is a combination of the ABBYY FlexiCapture URL and the tenant name.

cmdkey /generic:https://europe.flexicapture.com#tenant /user:userName /password:p@ssword

Remove the credentials from the configuration file

Delete the user name and password from the config.json file located in the ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect service directory.

Run the service under the Windows account

Configure ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect to launch under the same Windows account you used to run cmdkey.

Run Windows Service Manager (services.msc).
In the Services properties, open ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect.
On the Log On tab, select This account and enter your Windows account credentials.

Screenshot of the Log On tab in the ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect service properties, with This account selected and Windows account credentials entered.

Remove credentials from Windows Vault

Open Credential Manager

Open Credential Manager.

Remove the credential

On the Windows Credentials tab, expand the credentials that you want to remove and click Remove.

Screenshot of the Windows Credentials tab in Credential Manager, with a credential expanded and the Remove option available.

Set up project export paths

To use ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect to export files from ABBYY FlexiCapture Cloud, adjust the export paths in your project.

Clear the export root path

On the General tab of the <project> Properties dialog box, make sure that the Export root path field is left empty. For more information, see Project properties.

Screenshot of the General tab of the project Properties dialog box, with the Export root path field empty.

Specify a relative export path

In the Export Settings dialog box, specify the export path relative to the root path specified on the General tab of the <project> Properties dialog box. Because you left this root path empty, specify the directory without the exact root path.

Screenshot of the Export Settings dialog box, with the export path specified relative to an empty root path.

The If file exists option is ignored. When files are exported from ABBYY FlexiCapture Cloud via ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect, a new file is created for each new document.

Limitations of ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect

Only data sets of up to approximately 500,000 records can be synchronized.
While a data set is updating, users cannot look up vendors on the web stations.
ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect does not recognize Hot Folder import profiles that are based on project settings.
ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect exports documents from all the batches available on the server. The project settings do not affect the name of the destination directory, which always has the same name as the originating batch.
ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect can only export an entire batch. If you disable the Wait for all documents in a batch option in the project’s Workflow Settings, the documents are still not exported separately.
ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect cannot export the results from all the documents in a batch into a single file. A separate file is created in the export directory for each document from the batch.
ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect cannot export the results from all the batches into a single file. A separate file is created in the export directory for each document from each batch.
The size of imported and exported files is limited to 199 MB.
Proxy servers are not supported.

Troubleshoot ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect errors

If you encounter an error, first review the log file, which you can find in %LocalAppData%\ABBYY\FlexiCapture\Connect\Logs. Errors can also be caused by incorrect or incomplete settings specified in the configuration file, so review the config.json file for any inconsistencies or omissions. If an error persists, contact ABBYY Support. Support may ask for both your config.json file and the log file.

​System requirements

​Install and configure ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect

​Configuration file reference

​General settings

​Project settings

​Import settings

​Export settings

​Document Definition settings

​Data set synchronization settings

​Store service account credentials in Windows Vault

​Add credentials to Windows Vault

​Remove credentials from Windows Vault

​Set up project export paths

​Limitations of ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect

​Troubleshoot ABBYY FlexiCapture Connect errors