The FileNet P8 Platform object model describes how objects receive their properties and security from the class on which they are based. The automatic classification framework is a means whereby the values assigned to some of those properties are derived from the content of the document itself.
You specify automatic classification when you create a document. For example, when you create a document using the Create New Document wizard, you select the Automatically classify this document check box. After the document is checked in, Document Classification Manager determines which classification component, or classifier, to use to classify the document based on the document's content type (MIME type). Document Classification Manager starts the appropriate classifier; after control returns from the classifier, Document Classification Manager sets the classification status on the target document to indicate success or failure, depending on the error status returned by the classifier.
See Classification flowchart for information about the steps involved when using the XML Classifier.
Content Engine processes automatic classification asynchronously. Asynchronous processing means that classification occurs within a separate transaction and that the server does not wait until the classification operation has completed before returning control to the client. When you request that a document be automatically classified during checkin, the checkin action is typically complete before the automatic classification transaction is completed.
Content Engine guarantees execution of asynchronous automatic classification requests. This guarantee means that asynchronous automatic classification requests cannot get lost; that is, requests result in either the successful classification of the target document or the recording of an appropriate error.
A document's security and system generated properties (date and time, initial storage location, and so on) are determined by the document's class, or one of the subclasses that a document is initially assigned to before being automatically classified. These settings are not changed when you assign the document to the target document class by using automatic classification.
Asynchronous automatic classification executes with the access permissions of the user that initiates the classification request. For example, if you request a document to be asynchronously automatically classified, the classifier that carries out the operation executes as if it were invoked by you directly. It is capable of gaining access to any object that you have access rights to and prevents access to any object for which you have insufficient access rights.
The document object includes a read-only property called Classification Status whose value is automatically assigned by the system. This property indicates the automatic classification status of a document, thereby providing client applications a means of discovering whether a particular document was subject to automatic classification and whether the operation was successful.