Sonar Image is a complete document imaging and text retrieval product. It combines scanner control, optical character recognition (OCR), data management and high speed text retrieval functions in a single comprehensive software package. It can be thought of as part electronic filing cabinet, part photocopier, and part research assistant. It takes paper-based documents and saves their images to disk. Then these scanned documents, along with standard word processing files, can be viewed, printed and most importantly searched at extremely high speeds.

Designed for archiving, researching and annotating large bodies of text, Sonar Image allows you to search through thousands of documents at extraordinary speeds. Typically 12,500 pages of text can be searched in a second! So even highly complex searches which compare a number of variables can be conducted almost instantly.

The search results displayed on the screen can include both page images and the recognized text of those images, side-by-side. Printing the images produces the equivilent of a photocopy of the original pages. For documents that are not scanned, like word processing files, there is no image associated with the pages, only text. In either case, the found search phrase is highlighted in the text window. The content of the text can be easily copied and pasted into other applications.

Automatic Scanner Control & OCR

Sonar Image scans your documents then converts their images into text for rapid searching. When automatic scanning is enabled simply placing documents into the scanner's sheet feeder triggers the scanning/OCR process. Double-sided originals are scanned in two passes and are automatically collated by the software. The automatic function can also be set to operate much like a photocopier, sending the scanned images immediately to your printer.

Simple Document Indexing

The incredible speed and search capabilities of all Sonar products come from the initial setup of an index - Sonar's own "dictionary" of all the words and their exact position in your documents. An index session can process a single folder, groups of nested or separate folders, even entire disks. It can run unattended and will automatically index new or changed documents.

High-Speed Boolean Searching

All versions of our Sonar products can search at speeds exceeding 12,500 pages per second. Complex search queries using synonyms, phonetic matches, wild cards and word proximities can be easily created. A typical query would look for any synonym of the word "Bronco" ("utility vehicle", "sport vehicle", "Ford", "truck", etc.) within 10 words of either June 17th or any word starting with "injur" (injury, injuries, and so on).

Search Results

After a search, Sonar displays the full text of each document that was found. Occurrences of key words and phrases are highlighted. At any point a search can be suspended, allowing you to perform additonal searches while still retaining the results.

Drill Down

This unique feature greatly simplifies the process of repeated searching. Drill down enables you to specify that additional searches only include those documents already found by the last search. You are able to continually refine search criteria, thereby narrowing the number of documents examined. This becomes especially valuable when key words or phrases are very common in a large number of documents.

Automatic Relevancy Ranking

Occurrences of key words or phrases are displayed in order ranked by frequency. You can also choose to view searched documents ordered by name or date. Double-clicking on the document title brings the full text of the document to the screen.

Search Summaries

After a search, an instant index can be created which shows every document and page where a search phrase is found. Alternatively, a shorter list can be generated showing each document and the number of times the search phrase appears in that document. You can also display each occurrence of a key word or phrase within a single line of context. Clicking on an occurrence takes you directly to the full text of the document. These features provide a way to review large amounts of information quickly.

Built-In Notes

Pages can be annotated in a separate window. These notes are automatically "attached" to a page and appear in the Notes window whenever that page is on the screen. Notes can be printed and searched.

Sidetracking

While viewing the results of a search, Sonar Professional allows you to "suspend" the functions you are performing and begin another search. When you are done, simply use "resume" to continue where you left off.

Instant Report Compilation

All occurrences of a search phrase can be printed or saved in context. The context consists of the document name, page number, a specified number of words on either side of the search phrase and any associated notes.

Hypertext Linking

Sonar Professional allows you to use hypertext links to create electronic connections between people, places and things. When entering these "EasyLinks" you are prompted to include the context which connects the items. Context can be any text within the searched documents, manually-entered notes or virtually any type of file - even pictures and QuickTime movies. EasyLinks can automatically launch other applications making viewing of context items a seamless process. Creating a link automatically highlights all occurrences of the key word or phrase throughout all documents being searched.

Document Information Database

A database record, including the document's name and creation date, is created for each document as part of the initial indexing process. A user-specified "Keyword" field can contain any word or phrase you assign, allowing you another way to identify information that may not necessarily be present in the text of the documents being searched. The database also has fields which can be customized by the user. All fields can be searched using the Complex Search command either independently or in conjuntion with full-text searches of documents and notes.

Phonetic Searching

A built-in phonetic dictionary lets you search for words with a similar sound. For example, you would be able to locate all occurrences of both 'Phil' and "fill' using a single search command. The phonetic dictionary can be edited.

Associated Word and Associated Subject Display

All words or subjects found near a search phrase can be displayed by relevancy or in alphabetical order. For example, if "Suspect" was your search phrase and "knife" appeared frequently near it, then "knife" would appear near the top of the Associated Word list. Selecting "knife" would then take you to the places in the documents where "knife" and "Suspect" appear.

Associated Subjects is similar, but the English around the search phrase is parsed and any subjects are extracted. For example, a subject found near "Suspect" might be "John Q. Smith" or "Switchblade knife."

Limit Searches to Blocks/Fields

Searches can be limited to specified blocks within individual documents. This allows you to either define fields or break single files into any number of sub-documents. For example, Block/Field searching can be used to look through a group of resumes which have been setup by fields - name, age, experience, geography and so on. It can also be used to search through a string of wire service news stories even though they are combined into a single file. Each individual story can be examined as if it were a separate document.

A Software-Only Solution

The Sonar family of products provides software for all the features described here while preserving your ability to select hardware. That means that you can use almost any Power Macintosh or Windows 95/98/NT computer, and any of dozens of compatible scanners. So you can utilize equipment you already have, or easily and inexpensively build your own system to fit your exact needs and budgetary requirements. Of course if you need help assembling a complete package, Virginia Systems can supply a list of recommended configurations that can be filled by your local computer dealer. Macintosh and Windows Sonar products can operate in a cross-platform environment.

Expandable With Multi-Station Capabilites

The complete searching and annotating functions of Sonar Image are available in Sonar Professional. This allows you to add additional search stations which don't control the scanner or perform Optical Character Recognition but otherwise duplicate all of Sonar Image's functionality. We offer a variety of software configurations and bundle prices to accommodate all sizes of organizations.

Compatible With All Drives And All Networks

Any form of drive can be used with our Sonar products - hard disks, all forms of removable disks including CD and DVD drives. Archived files can be kept off-line to maximize storage capacity. During a search our Sonar products will identify the disk or disks containing pertinent documents so you can load them as needed.

Sonar Professional and Sonar Image can operate over a network and simultaneously share files. All of our Sonar products can search across a network and work with all types of networks and network operating systems.

See For Youself

Download one of our demos and try out Sonar Professional. Just click the "Downloads" button on the left side of the screen.

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