This article describes how to utilize the PDF Scout inspector to analyze incoming plan review documents to eplansoft REVIEW (EPR).
Incoming plan review documents are uploaded to a temporary location on the eplansoft server. Scout performs a 'read analysis' to identify known issues that will prevent EPR from accepting the document for plan review.
Once the Scout inspection finishes, a json response is returned and the documents are deleted from the server.
All public facing portals/customer portals should implement calls to Scout to evaluate whether plan review documents are acceptable so the customer can resolve the issues prior to the documents being uploaded to API to check or pre-flight PDF files.
- PDF files are uploaded to Scout.
- A Scout process will analyze the PDF for pre-configured checks such as file size, known corrupted PDF data, page dimensions, etc
- Scout results are available via the url /api/scout (POST) in json format
Scout checks are required before PDF files can be used for plan review in EPR.
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EPR will not accept plan review documents rejected by Scout. All plan review documents must be submitted in PDF format. |
Prerequisites
See: PDF Scout PDF Inspector Tool
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SCOUT API Step-by-step guide
Contact us here to request API credentials for authenticating calls to Scout.
Scout inspections are performed asynchronously.
To inspect a .PDF file using Scout APIs, follow these steps:
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Get a token.
Obtain the credentials from the EPR Environment/Partners page, see Accessing the Connect API for partner integration via Swagger.
- Use the credentials for an existing EPR administrator's account.
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Send email to lcao@eplansoft.com to get your SCOUT API credentials, please include your name company or agency name.
Postman collection to help with API development: scout-client.postman_collection.json.
Overview of PDF checking with Scout:
Get a scout token.
url: <scout-url>/api/auth (POST)
- API parameters: username/password
- Get an "upload" url
- Upload file using the "upload" url obtained from step 2
- Call Scout to get the json result.
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Tokens automatically expire after 3 hours of inactivity. |
Step 1. Get a token
POST https://scout-api.eplansoftreview.com/api/auth
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| Code Block |
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{
"success": true,
"token": "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJ1c2VybmFtZSI6ImVwbGFuYWRtaW4iLCJpYXQiOjE1MjU0NDk2MDcsImV4cCI6MTUyNTQ1MzIwN30.5uRl1WIjpGwJaA-qVbnYI_wenzKl0bRy6RPuvp2WUzo"
} |
Step 2. Get an Upload Url
GET https://scout-api.eplansoftreview.com/api/uploadUrl?filename=your_filename
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| Code Block |
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{
"success": true,
"message": "Use the method and url to upload file to Scout server.",
"data": {
"method": "PUT",
"url": "https://eplan-scout.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/1525449678912evil.pdf?Content-Type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAIGT7NUYPP3IOYOBA%2F20180504%2Fus-west-2%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20180504T160118Z&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-Signature=0cf8ad94edf98902134f7909246549d2b1059fc228bb2054f9fea42d33f2f1a2&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host",
"contentType": "application/pdf",
"filename": "sample.pdf",
"filePath": "1525449678912sample.pdf"
}
} |
Step 3. Upload file to Scout Server
PUT [url_from_last_step]
Note: You must upload file using the PUT method.
Step 4. Call Scout api to get the result
POST https://scout-api.eplansoftreview.com/api/scout
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{
"success": true,
"data": {
"filename": "1525449678912sample.pdf",
"filesize": 73121,
"numPages": 1,
"outlines": null,
"results": [
{
"key": "accessible",
"success": true,
"value": null
},
{
"key": "version",
"success": true,
"value": "1.7"
},
{
"key": "size",
"success": true,
"value": "0.07MB"
},
{
"key": "rotation",
"success": true,
"value": null
},
{
"key": "pageAccess",
"success": true,
"value": null
},
{
"key": "annotation",
"success": true,
"value": null
},
{
"key": "resolution",
"success": true,
"value": null
}
],
"pages": [
{
"pageNumber": 1,
"dimension": {
"pageNumber": 1,
"mediaBox": [
0,
0,
1728,
1296
],
"rotate": 0,
"orientation": "Landscape",
"width": 1728,
"height": 1296
},
"pageAccess": {
"value": null,
"errMessage": null,
"debugData": null
},
"annotation": {
"value": null,
"errMessage": null,
"debugData": null
},
"resolution": {
"value": null,
"errMessage": null,
"debugData": null
}
}
],
"pageDimensions": {
"1": {
"pageNumber": 1,
"mediaBox": [
0,
0,
1728,
1296
],
"rotate": 0,
"orientation": "Landscape",
"width": 1728,
"height": 1296
}
},
"author": "",
"version": 1.7,
"isPassed": true
}
} |
Determining the Results
Check "isPassed" value in the response body to see if the file passes Scout.
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