The ImportDocuments workflow can accept XML files referencing binary data already in the system instead than exetrnal files provided to the workflow. In this case the workflow does NOT parse the data - to extract thumbnails and other information - but it relies on extra information in the XML itself - e.g. importing

  <root>

    <image id="image0001">

      <data mime="image/tiff" size="3914532">self://localhost/do.ashx?cmd=data&dataId=4999</data>

      <info>

        <value name="pixWidth">2019</value>

        <value name="pixHeight">1597</value>

        <value name="width">17.094</value>

        <value name="height">13.521</value>

        <value name="colorUsage">RGB</value>

        <value name="iccProfile">Adobe RGB (1998)</value>

        <data name="thumbnail" mime="image/jpeg" size="19422">self://localhost/do.ashx?cmd=data&dataId=4997</data>

        <data name="preview" mime="image/jpeg" size="92336">self://localhost/do.ashx?cmd=data&dataId=4998</data>

      </info>

    </image>

    <video id="video001">

      <data mime="video/mpeg4" size="560439">self://localhost/do.ashx?Cmd=Data&DataId=6925</data>

      <info>

        <value name="pixWidth">320</value>

        <value name="pixHeight">240</value>

        <value name="duration">7</value>

        <value name="frameRate">0</value>

        <data name="thumbnail" mime="image/jpeg" size="12151">self://localhost/do.ashx?Cmd=Data&DataId=6923</data>

        <data name="preview" mime="image/jpeg" size="10303">self://localhost/do.ashx?Cmd=Data&DataId=6924</data>

        <data name="videoPreview" mime="video/x-flv" size="769414">self://localhost/do.ashx?Cmd=Data&DataId=6926</data>

      </info>

    </video>

    <audio id="audio001">

      <data mime="audio/mpeg" size="1186482">self://localhost/do.ashx?cmd=data&dataId=5050</data>

      <info>

        <data name="audioPreview" mime="audio/mpeg" size="1186409">self://localhost/do.ashx?cmd=data&dataId=5051</data>

        <value name="duration">148</value>

        <value name="sampleRate">44100</value>

      </info>

    </audio>

  </root>

will create an image, a video and an audio copying all their data (including thumbnails and previews) from the specified existing binary data contents, and setting information like pixel width from the values supplied directly in the XML.

In this way ImportDocuments can be used to archive data coming from the same system.