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.
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”.
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.
The import file is in tab delimited format and contains the following fields in the given order.
| No. | Field | Description | Optional? | 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”.
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.
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