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Watcher Data Source Integration

The MARS Watcher component serves as a central monitoring and ingestion hub, capable of integrating with a wide variety of data sources common in enterprise environments. This allows it to monitor for and receive new data files, reports, documents, and scanned images intended for processing within the MARS ecosystem or for delivery to target systems.

Supported Integration Methods and Sources:

  • Network Protocols: Watcher can monitor and retrieve files using standard network file transfer protocols:
  • FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
  • FTPS (FTP Secure - SSL/TLS)
  • SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol)
  • Printer Protocols: It can receive data sent via common network printing protocols, effectively capturing print jobs:
  • LPR (Line Printer Requester)
  • LPD (Line Printer Daemon)
  • Managed File Transfer (MFT): Support for enterprise-grade file transfer solutions like NDM (Connect:Direct).
  • Message Queuing: Ability to receive data or notifications via message queue systems like IBM MQ.
  • Network File Systems: Can monitor designated directories on network file shares (Mounts) accessed via protocols like SMB/CIFS or NFS.
  • API Calls: Can receive data pushed via custom API integrations.
  • Scanner Output: Integrates with the Helix MARS Scanner to receive batches of digitized documents and extracted metadata.

This broad range of integration capabilities enables Watcher to act as a versatile ingestion point for ongoing "Day Forward" data flows originating from diverse legacy and modern applications or systems.