Batch User Card/Identity Update

In PaperCut NG a unique card/identity number can be associated with each user. This number may represent student or employee numbers and can assist in searching for a particular user using the quick find. (Do not confuse this number with the TopUp/Pre-Paid Cards.) The number may also be used as an alternative to usernames/passwords for authentication at software release stations, or at hardware terminals attached to photocopiers.

The batch user card/ID update feature allows the administrator to update user card/ID numbers and optionally import or update PINs by reading data from a simple text file. User card/ID numbers may also be imported using the batch user import/update feature (see the section called “Batch User Data Import and Update”) or from a directory server such as Active Directory or LDAP (see the section called “Importing Card/Identity numbers from Active Directory or LDAP”).

Example: To update/import the card/ID numbers or PINs of all the users in the import.txt file on a windows system.

            C:\> cd C:\Program Files\PaperCut NG\server\bin\win
            server-command batch-import-user-card-id-numbers "C:\card numbers\import.txt"
            

Note that the import path should be quoted if it contains spaces.

Important

The card/ID number must uniquely identify a user, so care should be taken to ensure that no two users have the same card/ID number. This means that the card/ID numbers defined in the import file should be unique. If PaperCut NG encounters a non-unique card/ID number that user will not be updated.

A batch user card/ID update may be performed by calling the batch-import-user-card-id-numbers server-command. Use of server-command is detailed in the section called “Server Commands (server-command)”. The import file format is detailed in the section called “Batch User Card/Identity Update File Format”.

Caution

Batch updates are a major operation modifying data en masse. Best practise suggests:

  • Always run a backup before proceeding with the import.

  • First experiment/test the update process with a small batch of users before moving onto the full batch.

Batch User Card/Identity Update File Format

The import file is in tab delimited format and contains the following fields in the given order.

No.FieldDescriptionOptional?Limitations

1.

Username

The user's username.

Mandatory

Max. 50 characters

2.

User Card/ID Number

A unique card/ID number for this user.

Optional (card/ID number not set if blank)

Max. 100 characters. To specify that the number should be set to blank, enter a hyphen (-).

3.

User Card/ID PIN

The user's card/ID PIN.

Optional (card/ID PIN not set if blank)

To specify that the PIN should be set to blank, enter a hyphen (-).

Table 6.3. User Card/Identity Update File Format

Other limitations: Although any actual limit to the size of an update file should be large enough for any purpose, we recommend keeping the file size below 10MB.

If your card/ID numbers are stored in an external database, see the section called “Looking up card numbers in an external database”.

Tip

A simple way to create a tab delimited file is to create a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel, then save it in the Text (Tab delimited) format.