SAP CIM and DOX - how are they known to each other?.

[peter_munt4]

Hi

I've learnt from Jie Xiong that SAP CIM is a DOX powered application. I can see that now in the Architecture diagram

I had installed SAP CIM and for a few days was testing the OCR scanning of Supplier Invoices. But I was not happy with the OCR as it was missing elements like the Price and UOM - unless I had a simple Invoice layout it was happy with. Then I stumbled upon Document Information Extraction (DOX).

So I had SAP CIM working in my BTP without even having DOX installed in my BTP !!. So in fact I did not even know that you had to install DOX - well in fact it is not required as it works (poorly) without it.

So I then installed DOX.

During CIM install there was no mention of DOX or Document Information Extraction in the guide (4N6_Set-Up_EN_XX.pdf - ok it is mentioned briefly in the Help). In the set up of DOX - I used the BTP Booster there is no mention of CIM nor in its help

So how do the 2 know about each other ?. If I had SAP CIM DEV, QAS & PROD and SAP DOX DEV & PROD how would they know which one to check ?

[FranckDupasSAP]

Hello,

There is no mention of the installation of Document Information Extraction service when installing SAP Ariba Central invoice Management simply because it is needed. It comes automatically and embedded when you install SAP Ariba Central invoice Management because it is using a special instance already installed.

It also implies that the use of Document Information Extraction service by SAP Ariba Central invoice Management is fixed. Even if you install your own instance of Document Information Extraction service, it cannot be used by your SAP Ariba Central invoice Management system. You cannot use special functions of Document Information Extraction service like templates with the embedded instance.

Alternatively, SAP Ariba Central invoice Management offers two APIs which allow you to integrate it with another OCR service. They are documented here: SAP Central Invoice Management API Reference | SAP Help Portal, in the Enrichment APIs. You could thus connect yourself your own instance of Document Information Extraction service on a project basis if you wish.

[peter_munt4]

Hi Frank

we may not have the time or appetite to go off down the API route to get this to work - seems in that case we'd need to involve the Integration Suite and APIs etc and it therefore increases the complexity of the SAP CIM more than we anticipated - I'm only guessing what is required as there are no real guides on how it can be achieved. But for our small company any development is a big deal and will likely be the end of our CIM journey. I feel that I have wasted weeks of effort in setting up the CIM in the first place. Had we known this from the beginning we'd not have done it.

I have raised a Improvement Request Details - Customer Influence (sap.com)